Lola and the Cherry Blossom Kids versus the Hanami-Go-Round

This is what early spring looks like in Hamamatsu, during the days when the sakura peak and the sun comes out. The wind was a little chilly, but Saturday saw Hamamatsu Castle Park thronged with families and friends out to enjoy the brief cherry blossom season and some nice weather by partaking in one of my favorite Japanese traditions- the hanami.

First we had to find this:

So into the park we went, up a sloping avenue lined with cherry trees:

And there he was, Tokugawa Ieyasu. The third of the great unifiers of Japan, he put down all rivals and initiated the Edo Period, about 250 years where Ieyasu and his heirs ruled Japan as shoguns.

Hamamatsu was one of Ieyasu's early castle towns. I think he murdered his first wife here, too. I can't remember the story (just that it was a political thing), but you can visit her grave and find out why and how.

He's a towering figure in Japan due to his accomplishments and the way he shaped the culture, but he's not everyone's favorite. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned human beings, bought and sold them. Not that this makes murder okay, or that, conversely, murder makes slavery okay. Just something to keep in mind.

What kind of person was he? What must he have thought about the things he did?

Fortunately, I was probably the only person thinking along those lines while staring at the statue. But we were out for fun, so even I didn't dwell on troubling thoughts for long. Here are my friends Mike and Kana:

And here they are again:

And here's just Kana. Isn't she photogenic? With her lavender and purple pastel scarves and white coat she looks a little like a sakura herself:

Here's this guy again. I don't know how he got into our photographs. He has a very large head, like a lion's. Like Aslan's after the White Witch shaved off his mane:

Tokugawa Ieyasu lived here. Well, he lived in the original. This is a ferro-concrete reproduction. That means it's steel and concrete. At some point some genius thought it'd be a smart idea to tear down all the castles. Only a few originals remain. Then an even smarter person decided to build replicas:

Startling red among the pale sakura:

Some came to the castle park on an intense, highly personal search for natural beauty and transformative experience:

Others came simply to enjoy a nice day:

The castle said nothing:

Years ago, the hill on which the castle stands was the highest point in Hamamatsu. It's been bested by various apartment buildings, hotels and the massive Act City tower, seen just over Mike's head in the background:

I took this photo from a terraced rise on the west side, with the sun behind me. This is a popular photography spot and we had to wait a few minutes while others snapped their pics. The guy who was next in line behind me asked me if I'd taken a beautiful photo. He asked me in Japanese and I can't remember exactly how he phrased it, but I understood. I smiled, nodded and said, "Hai, hai!"

Nice guy!

The afternoon was marred by several disputes that turned into violent altercations:

But they were all quickly smoothed over in the congenial atmosphere of the crowded park. I call this photo "Japanese Gothic:"

This guy!

Here's the Hamamatsu War Memorial:

Like many Japanese cities, Hamamatsu was bombed completely flat. I've met a lot of people who were children during that time so I've heard a few vivid stories of WWII's final days and the days immediately after when people barely had food to eat. I can't imagine what it's like to be witness to war, especially as a small child. I've never known a hardship or day of suffering in my life.

Since it's a coastal city, the U.S. Navy also shelled Hamamatsu.

Today, it's a lovely city full of music and warm, friendly people. It's the largest city I've ever lived in, yet it's the most comfortable. A little boring at times, though. It doesn't offer the overwhelming pop culture overload and sense-stimuli Tokyo does, but then again that challenging megalopolis is close enough for a day trip.

Kana told us what these trees with their slender, drooping limbs raining white blossoms were called, but I've forgotten:

The gardens at Hamamatsu Castle are... as you can see... lovely this time of year:

Mike did sumo moves on the bridge, but my camera battery died right after I took this photo:

I've Never Taken a Good Photograph of Mt. Fuji

And while I like to think it's not from lack of trying, since I haven't been to any of the more picturesque locations around its base you could probably make a cogent argument that, in fact, I haven't tried at all. The photos I've snapped of Mt. Fuji have all been from the shinkansen as we sped by.

My last attempt was in August 2007, during my summer vacation. On the way home from Tokyo the sky was a brilliant blue, so I had high hopes. But Mt. Fuji has its own weather:

You can see while the mountain is wearing a shawl of clouds, it's bareheaded. Bald even. During parts of the year snow rests on the peak and down its side like the long white hair of an ancient wise man. Or woman. Although sometimes it seems like Fuji has a beard. How can we best anthropomorphize this mountain so that we might create a vivid visual of wintertime Fuji when all we have are summertime pics?

Maybe we should just shut up instead. See the problems created by my not being able to take a decent photograph? I have to rely on words instead and words are notorious tricksters.

Mt. Fuji as seen from the shinkansen dominates one of the ugliest, most beautiful landscapes in Japan. You come out of the dark green mountains and there it is, but sprawling all around it like children's toys- the kind the government makes manufacturers recall- are the smoke-belching factories of Shin-Fuji. The area is heavily industrialized, and thanks the rising slope of Fuji, it seems to spread out forever. Your eyes take in a massive array of buildings and houses all at once.

My first trip through here I actually missed Fuji. I didn't see it at all. My first glimpse of it came on the return trip at which point I felt foolish for not having seen it the day before. How could I have missed such a thing? When you fly from Nagoya to Tokyo, you get to look at Fuji the whole way, once you're at cruising altitude. That's how big it is. These photos don't do its size justice.

You have to be some kind of genius of unobservant behavior not to see Mt. Fuji from the shinkansen. A complete dumb ass.

What I like about these photos (certainly not the compositions) is they manage to capture the light quality of a blazingly hot and armpit-weepingly humid August day in Japan. The windows of Shin-Fuji glittered, insects probably zinged away among the leaves and in the small gardens of the houses beside the tracks, the people on the streets more than likely carried towels to wipe away the sweat.

While the heat and humidity work your body (stomach, lower back and kidneys) like rowdy strongarms on the payroll of some cosmic loanshark you hubristically stiffed, the sun and sky take turns slapping you in the face, left, right, left, right... leaving you stunned and senseless.

Anthropomorphic weather report courtesy the blogger whose imagination has taken a vacation of its own.

The Major League Baseball Season Started Here in Japan Last Night!

Hometown hero Daisuke "Dice-K" Matsuzaka made his first start of the season as the Boston Red Sox (enjoying a massive surge of popularity here in Nihon thanks to Dice-K's place in the starting rotation and their World Series victory last year) outlasted the Oakland A's 6-5 in a ten inning thriller. The opening game of the American baseball season played itself out in Tokyo in some kind of crazy trans-Pacific publicity stunt. Turns out jet lag and hardball mix pretty well with sushi and brass bands.

Actually, here in Japan Dice-K would be called Matsuzaka Daisuke. Family names come first. Or, more politely, Matsuzaka-san. Calling somone by his or her given name isn't really done except in certain situations and in certain relationships. Unless you're in an English conversation class where it's expected.

I didn't get to watch the game. For one thing, it started at 7pm and I work until 9. And for another, it wasn't televised on any channel I get. I did see some highlights from the earlier innings on some broadcast network. While the actual game itself was in the 10th inning.

Yesterday, I saw an amazing sight. Something you'd never see in the States where baseball is supposedly our "national pasttime" (which is actually stuffing our faces daily with enough food to feed six people). As I was riding my bike past an electronics store downtown, I saw a group of boys about 11 or 12 years old, crowded outside the window. They were watching Japan League baseball on a widescreen display TV.

And cheering as the shortstop turned a hard grounder into a bang-bang out at first.

You'd never see that at home. The only things kids cheer there is when Vin Diesel and the Rock shoot hell-demons in some nihilistic video game film adaptation, Paris Hilton flashes a nipple or when footage of bums hitting each other over the head with vodka bottles appears on an online video site. Whereas at least some young people here in Japan have their priorities exactly right.

Even if it is spring break and they're supposed to be doing homework. The sakura are blooming in white and the horsehide is flying over artificial turf. Spring is here.

Jazz Night!

I'm not sure what that was, actually. Dixieland? Swing? I saw a friend's final Japan gig last night. I believe 5 bands were on the bill, but I stayed through 4. The place reminded me a bit of the Flicker back in Athens. Not really set up for live performances, but they made the most of the limited space.

Some little pudgy guy singled me out as someone to get to know. Enthusiastically drunk, he slurred something about drums or drumming.

"I am a drummer," he said. Mushmouthed or rubberlipped from too much booze, speaking in a tongue not his own. He shook my hand three times, high-fived me twice, fell against the wall, his head lolling above his shoulders. "You like drums?"

"Yeah, I like drums."

"You a drummer? Drum is great!"

"No, no. Guitar. I play guitar."

My new friend turned suddenly serious. I'd offended him as evidenced by his sudden disgusted look. He backed away from me.

"Gomen neh. I'm sorry," he said.

"No, it's okay."

If I'd been Bill Murray or drunk myself I might've said something smart assed or self-assured: "Been drinking, huh? Had a little too much. You should go home and sleep it off, buddy." As it was I just laughed.

A few minutes later, he came and high-fived me again. "I want to speak English," he said. "But it is difficult!"

"Yeah, me too."

It's one thing to deal with a disaster after it happens. To become like a rock, a solid person who puts emotions aside and deals with the matter at hand. As a long-time drinker, as someone who's actually been that drunk guy, I recognized the signs of someone who would soon be reversing the flow. At some point, all that liquid fun was going to come back out of him in a rush and the people nearby would become very unhappy and perhaps begin building professional relationships with local dry cleaners Sunday afternoon. When that realization hit me, I understood I had within me the power to avoid such a situation. I could act decisively and avert the problem before it happened.

With that in mind, I found another place to watch the bands as far away from this guy as I could get and still be in the same room. After all, he had his other friends to look out for him. Later, I saw him dancing. The beats were hot, very danceworthy and he and another guy were going at it. He kept falling backwards onto a woman who was sitting on a bench trying to enjoy the show, and each time his pal would catch him and try to pull him against the wall. Hopefully they were forcing him to drink water, too.

Big night for the man who loves drums. He was happy all evening, but I doubt he feels so chipper this morning.

So, in honor of the bands that swung the joint last night, and my blubbery, blustery new pal and his throbbing headache, the high school jazz band that inspired the 2004 comedy hit Swing Girls is touring the United States. They'll be performing in Washington, DC, at the opening ceremony of the annual cherry blossom festival there. A big, exciting experience for these talented kids, I'm sure. And I'm sure they'll rock the festival. I've seen some impressive school bands and orchestras since I've been in Japan, and this one in particular has put out a CD, with another in the works.

"Linda Linda Linda"

This is the climactic scene from the 2005 movie Linda Linda Linda about a group of girls who learn a rock song to play at their school festival. What song do they learn? Take a wild guess. That's Maeda Aki on drums. You may remember her as Noriko- the nice girl- from the movie Battle Royale.

Meet Yoshimi P-We!

Yoshimi P-We (Yokota Yoshimi). Someone reading this may know more about her than I do. To others I know she's a brand new idea. Yoshimi plays trumpet, drums, guitar and keyboards. She's the longtime drummer for avant-garde noise band Boredoms (also evidently known as Vinfinitysignredoms), member of her own sound collective OOIOO, a collaborator with Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth in the punk supergroup Free Kitten, recorded an album with the awesome Yuka Honda of (now sadly defunct) Cibo Matto fame, and served as inspiration for and drummer on Flaming Lips' song "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots."

Those credits are enough to cement her as one of the most creative, talented human beings on the planet. But that's not all! Oh no... with Yoshimi P-We you get more! So much more! Tell us more, Don Pardo!

Don Pardo: This is Don Pardo! Not only does Yoshimi P-We create music, she also creates art (Yoshimi designs OOIOO's album covers), clothing and textile designs. Oh... and her scream is the loudest and shrillest since Faye Wray met a certain giant ape. Back to you!

Thanks, Don Pardo! And because of her inspirational status, she, perhaps more than anyone, is responsible for my being in Japan. Anyplace that produces people like Yoshimi P-We is all right by me. Of course, one of my goals is to see her perform here in her native country. Here's an ethereal OOIOO video for their song "Open Your Eyes You Can Fly:"



And here's more frenetic, tribal one for a newer song, "Umo:"



From what I understand, her first encounter with fellow Boredoms/Vooredoms bandmate Yamantaka Eye was during a UFO or Die show where- somewhat GG Allin-style- he was destroying a dead cat he'd found in the alley behind the club with a chainsaw. While what remained of the rest of the audience shrank back into a far corner to avoid flying bits of cat meat, Yoshimi found it somewhat boring and almost fell asleep. The next time Eye and UFO or Die played, Yoshimi was their drummer. From there she joined Boredoms and became a legendary presence in indie music.

Ah, what a tremendous, fearless, wonderful, giant of a woman! And one more thing. She's supposedly a big fan of the character Snoopy. She was billed at least once as "Yoshimi Snoo-Pe." I'm sure I read this somewhere, but I can't confirm it. So don't take its presence here as a fact.

Finally... presenting... "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots:"



Actually meeting her would be an outer space-type experience. Viewing the inner planets from the outer. But I'd settle for just knowing more creative people on my own level.