Day 5 – I have no words, but they sure do (AJIKAN LIVE!)

So, we just got back from the ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION concert down in Shibuya at the AX. Those of you who know me well enough by now know that I can come back from something like this and comfortably say “That was pretty cool,” or “It was a lot of fun.” This time, however, I am at a true loss for words, only able to utter “holy shit” over and over again. Yeah, that’s an understatement.

So, we got to the arena at around 17:00, with the doors expected to open at around 18:00 (show started at 19:00). We bought some shirts and souvenirs and chilled for a bit, where I got to play “spot the foreigner.” It’s a fun game that makes me realize that I’m the only fucking white guy at this show. Doors opened right on time, as expected, and ticketholders from the first floor standing section were called up by ticket number, in blocks of 10 then 20 at a time. Talone and I were in the 760-780 block (out of about 1500), and as expected, we were just about dead center of the crowd.

What we didn’t expect, however, was the mad rush for the stage when the band came out. Within seconds of the opening riff, we found ourselves at bottle-throwing distance (coined by Talone, it is roughly the minimum necessary distance to accurately throw a bottle at the band members if need be). I can assure you, there was no need.

 

Day 4 – A Visit to Yagyu Village and the Kindness of Strangers

So, I finally got our act together and organized a proper trip out to the old Yagyu family village. For clarification, it is in the middle of absolutely nowhere, far more than a full hour’s walk from the closest train station and only really publicly accessible by one major road. Needless to say, it was a bit difficult to coordinate. We had to get on the Osaka Loop Line at Fukushima (closest to our hostel here) to Osaka station, take a 30 minute light rail (people from home, think NJ transit here) to Nara, and from there it was an hour by bus to the center of the village.

We got out there after the long transit to be first greeted by a neat little shop that bore the family crest

 

Day 3 Part 2 by Talone

In Fukushima station, we ran across two others from the hostel, Nick and Brendan, both of them going of them also going to see the game, and the former we had already seen that morning at Osaka castle. The train to the game was littered with sports talk about hockey, football, and (of course) baseball, as well as some things about college and ourselves. Nick was from the DC area, a huge fan of the Capitals and Redskins, but moved to South Carolina, and Brendan went to college in Florida, and knew college football like the back of his hand.Arriving at the stadium, we were met by hundreds of people scattered around the place. The teams playing were the Hanshin Tigers hosting the something-something Lions. Our job apparently was to root for the Tigers. Seeing the many locals adorned in some sort of custom jersey, we decided to try and blend in and get some Hanshin Tigers merchandise in the nearby souvenir shop, the oddly-named “Tigers Shop Alps.” Gotta love Japanese “engerish.”

The shop was packed with Tigers fans, making navigating the place a little difficult. We decided to try and get some Tigers jerseys, and asked one of the salespeople who “the best” was. The player to look out for was number 6, Kanemoto, who (according to flags and towels around us) had hit the milestone of 2,000 hits and (either heading for or already reached) 400 HR. Brendan found that none of the shirts there (or in other places) had a shot at fitting him (he was a good head or two taller

 

Day 3 Part 1 by Talone

I wake up the next morning, and little do I know some of the coolest days of the trip (and hell, my life) are to follow. Breakfast was to be found at the local Mister Donut’s, the Japanese equivalent to Dunkin’ Donuts (a little pricier, but with more food options too, like noodle soups). They had quite the selection, and luckily for me, they had signs in English. There was the general standard fare, like glazed donuts, chocolate donuts, French crullers, etc. And then came the not so standard fare. My favorite of these: Curry-stuffed donuts, which were fantastic. There was also a variation of what I will call the “hot dog donut” (which can be found in Chinese/Vietnamese bakeries in the States), which was surrounded by a strudel-like pastry, with what I can only assume was mustard and ketchup inside.To begin our day, we decided to do two things: visit Osaka castle, or visit a Yagyu dojo near Tennoji station. Earlier on, Toomin suggested that we go see a baseball game in Osaka, which I agreed would be a good idea (more on this later on). In terms of what to do first, the train decided Osaka castle, as it was the first of the two destinations we would arrive at.

I’d like to make a brief digression on the trains: I really love the Japanese transit system. They’re ridiculously clean, ridiculously organized, and ridiculously well placed. The seats are all padded, the stations actually have markers as to where to enter your train, and of course, the Loop Line. The Loop Line, to my knowledge, exists in Osaka and Tokyo. It’s exactly what it says it is:

 

Day 3 – Osaka Castle and a Baseball Game

So, after effectively passing out for a very long time last night (we got lost in Osaka and wandered the city for at least 5 straight hours yesterday), we got up today and decided to head to Osaka-jo, that is, the Osaka Castle. It’s a pretty famous site and one of the few places in Osaka that were recommended to me back when I was planning this trip. Let me tell you this: it is fucking gorgeous (see pics on right when they’re uploaded).  Wow, just wow.  It really blew us away (almost literally; there was quite a breeze at the top)!  This was just one of those things that we really couldn’t put into words if we tried, so I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Right, so, baseball game.  Holy shit.  Major Tech School friends, think our hockey games on crack, but with no heckling.  This country’s too nice for shit talking.  Talone and I ran into two other dudes from our hostel who were going to go see the Hanshin Tigers (local major league team) play that night.  We joined them, and it was honestly the best night I’ve had in a very long time.  The game lasted around four hours, and we won against the Seibu Lions in the bottom of the 11th.  The big star of the team (who one of our new friends bought a jersey of before the game) got the winning run, so the place went nuts.  Everyone loved us there; the big loud Americans were the highlight of the game for most of these people.  Except for the random guy sitting in front of us.  He kept putting his hands over his ears and left after the 6th inning.  Also, we were in a general outfield section, right in front of

 

Days 1-2 by Talone

I’m naming my first daughter Akane. It’s settled then.

Where to begin? This has certainly been an interesting past week. To call them simply “interesting” would be an understatement. It wouldn’t quite do much justice to call something so indescribably…amazing simply “interesting.”

But let’s start from the beginning. Noted, I’m usually much better at preparing for vacations than this particular day. I attribute this to two reasons: A) It still hadn’t quite hit me that I would be going to Japan for two weeks, and B) I’ve entered the initial phase of summer lethargy following an equally long but fantastic (experience-wise) school year. With packing semi-finished, I took a quick nap, woke up, finished packing, and headed off to Philly for the flight out. Sure, 6 AM flights mean you’re in a non-busy, non-bustle airport, but you will be dying for rest. Luckily, with a brief three hour flight to Atlanta, followed by an even longer thirteen to fourteen hour flight to Tokyo/Narita Airport means sleep-time, right?

Wrong. That suggestion was met with a resounding “hell-no” from my head.

 

Day 1 – Flight and Arrival

So, we arrived in Japan earlier this afternoon after an excessively long (and fairly uneventful) plane ride. The only really funny moment was when they went around with the drink carts, and when the woman asked me what I wanted, the Japanese guy at the other end of the aisle roared out “BEER!” Hm, must’ve had a rough time in the States. That’s okay Drunken Japanese Man (having passed out after 4 cups of beer and 3 small bottles of wine), you’ll be back in the land of the Rising Sun soon.

Speaking of getting there, this was probably the smoothest airport exchange I’ve ever had. Besides the completely out-of-the-way stop in Atlanta (cuz it was Delta), our flight was about an hour and a half shorter than expected; there were no delays; and for the first time in 3 flights for me, no lost luggage!

From there we had to navigate the train system and take a light rail from Narita airport to Tokyo, a bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka, and then two separate subway lines in Osaka before we realized that we had absolutely no idea how to find our first night’s hostel after getting out at the right exit. With my horrible Japanese and a good mix of hand gestures and written notes, I was able to ask for directions and we were on our way. Talone is utterly passed out now (How much does this kid sleep? God damn…), so here’s a few first-glance observations at this country that so many people seem to want to visit:

The trains are perfect. There are no delays and no exceptions. Some of the stations are as packed as Penn Station in NYC, but everyone just seems to move through it so naturally that everything goes off without a hitch. Also, I got stared at. A lot. Talone was fine, since he’s Asian, though not Japanese. I am a white guy in a place where there aren’t quite so many of us, and while I’m just fine with that, people do give me weird looks on the trains (and sometimes take pictures!). Well, except for one guy who sat next to me, but he was mostly just playing pokemon (the original one) on his phone the whole time.

Right, cell phones. I feel weird even calling them “cell phones,” since that would put them in the same category as what we have, oh, everywhere else in the word. These things are insane. Think the new blackberry crossed with the new iPhone on a shot of pure cocaine in the same package as any standard size American flip-phone. My rental keitai has a fucking barcode scanner! What would I even need that for? Text messages aren’t really used here, since everyone’s phone just goes online and has its own email address. Also, I find it disturbing that my rental keitai has a nicer camera built-in than my family’s first digital camera.

That’s all I’ve got for you now folks, take care and rock on!

 

…and the start of another

So, as I sit here thinking of other exciting events in life to report on or music news that has already been covered by the light-speed dlyan over at ~ listen the world ~, I realize that I entirely forgot to mention the main point of this blog, which is to cover and report on the events of a trip that I have been planning for upward 3 months now. In less than 3 days’ time, I will be on a plane bound for Tokyo, Japan. My good buddy Talone (see: The end of an era…) and I are set to spend 2 weeks aimlessly wandering the countryside, seeking truth and fun.

The trip outline is as such:

• Fly out mad early from Philadelphia on May 23, arrive in Tokyo-Narita by early afternoon on the 24th.
• Immediately hop shinkansen to Osaka and chill there for 4 nights with various trips to Nara and Yagyu no Sato, weather depending.
• Head back to Tokyo on May 28 for ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION live show 「ワールドワールドワールド」 in Shibuya (at the AX), and spend the night there.
• Chill in Kyoto for 2 nights, and then head back to Tokyo for the remaining 6 nights.
• L’arc~en~Ciel concert 「Tour 2008 L’7~Trans ASIA via PARIS~」 (you can read dlyan’s review of the Paris show here) on June 1 at the Tokyo Dome.
• Chill in Tokyo.
• YUI concert 「3rd Tour 2008 “oui” ~I LOVED YESTERDAY~」 on June 3 at Oomiya Sonic City music hall.
• Visit Kamakura, Hakone, etc.
• Fly out Early afternoon June 6, arrive same evening in Philadelphia.

And there you have it folks! As you can see, the only real set plans we have are the concerts, since nothing I plan ever actually works out the way I intend. For those of you who know me personally, if there’s anything you’d like from Japan while I’m there (in particular concert goods), you know how to reach me and I’ll see what I can do. Pictures will be in the flickr feed to your right, and updates noted here along the way (I hope).

Remember, it’s not a question of whether or not things will go wrong; it’s how hilarious the results are at the end of the day. Payce!

 

Swordfest 2008

So (does anyone else notice I start all my posts like this? weird…), Alexandria, VA found itself host to a slew of swordsman from around the northeast yesterday at the fifth annual Swordfest 2008. This is the third consecutive Swordfest which I’ve taken part in, and it’s always a nice chance to get to see everyone from the widely diverse practitioner’s community. Everyone who demonstrated was really interesting, and the people who come are always just so nice.

We (and by we I mean I) got up at around 4 am to drive into the city to pick up two of my seniors and make a beeline for Virginia. We got there at a reasonable time before the event started, so breakfast was had and everyone got set up. Our group’s demo wasn’t until later that day, so none of us really bothered to get changed right away. The festivities were begun by the Nakamura Ryu led by Dave Drawdy sensei, and they went through their demonstration. It was a bit more refined than last year, and it was clear that they put a good deal of effort into everything they had this year. Always a great group of guys.

They were followed by the Northern Virginia Academy of Fencing, led by instructor Bill Grandy. Bill and his group made a really interesting presentation last year, as well as being the first non-Asian sword group to demonstrate. Just like Drawdy sensei’s group, it was clear that their historical European swordsmanship demo had a lot of effort put into it, and had a much more refined feel than last year’s which, while informative, didn’t seem to have a lot of preparation time. Again, it was an absolute pleasure to see them again.

A lot of other groups made their presentations, but I really don’t have the space here to really talk about all of them. You’re all certainly welcome to check out SwordFest 2008 – Sword Forum International to see for yourself. Our own demo went well, which was nice, and the Owari Yagyu guys had a really interesting demonstration this year; it’s always a nice treat to get to compare and contrast with our cousins.

Notable moments:

• The Jikishinkage guys brought a log. Yes, a fucking log. It had its handle shaved down a bit and was about 2 feet long. They are the only guys I know who could train with something like that instead of a regular wooden sword and not surprise anyone.
• I got thunked on the head pretty nicely during juudachi, the third technique in our run-through of the kuka. My partner who was feeding the technique forgot which one we were supposed to be doing, and since I was supposed to follow her, that didn’t end well. Good thing she doesn’t hit very hard. We maintained good zanshin though, so no big deal. She still feels horrible about it though, so I intend to ride the guilt trip for a while.
• The kyuudo (traditional Japanese archery) dude thought I was a woman, and tried to cover his embarrassment by explaining to me how his art emphasizes becoming in touch with one’s own “feminine side”. Sorry buddy, you’re just digging your own hole deeper here.
• No cactus award winners this year, but one group came close and another instructor gets the “pompous ass that nobody liked” award.
• The head of the Owari Yagyu group introduced them as “the Owari Yagyu Shinkage Ryu, the main branch,” with a glance in our direction. Several loud and muffled coughs followed shortly from our end of the seats. They all, however, seemed to be great guys, so no hard feelings there.

I also finally got to try tameshigiri (test cutting) with my new sword and sucked. I have seriously been spoiled these past few years, only test cutting with long and heavy blades that have been designed for competition cutting. My new sword does not meet any of those specifications, so it was pretty hard. I have a lot of work to do this summer.

*Update* Pictures from the event have now been put online.  Check them out here.

 

The end of an era…

So, I went to go visit my buddy Talone (who will be contributing to this blog as well) the other day at his school.  He’d just finished finals and seriously wanted to celebrate, so what’s a small train ride to partake in the fun, eh?  I wound up going up with an old buddy of mine from home, so we all had a good time.  There was much revelry to be had, featuring a drunken Halo 2 tournament and a showing of Hot Fuzz, and when everyone was good and stumbling, one kid in the group decided that it would be a great idea to head up to the roof of the international affairs building on campus to watch the sun rise.

So, why not right? Trying to not look too suspicious while walking through the center of campus with armfuls of blankets and cushions, we made our way to the tallest building around and hopped on the elevator, and on our way up we noticed that the elevator had a really distinct smell, but just couldn’t place it. We got to the top and made our way (the 10 or so of us) to the roof and found these two people staring at the sky, burning incense and listening to some cool African tribal music. Sweet, we found some new friends; really cool people too.  At some point during the night, a group of graduate students came up and asked us if we were with some organization in the area, since this was apparently their big hangout spot.  They pulled out more alcohol and sat down with us, and next thing you know it was a full-blown party at 2 in the morning on the roof.

At some point during the night, I made my way down to the bathroom on the 15th floor and scared the shit out of the cleaning staff, who clearly did not expect to see some bleary-eyed guy trudging out of the bathroom at 3 or 4 in the morning. Of course, I later realized that it wasn’t my presence that surprised them. No, it was a double-take to the Men sign next to the door that made me realize that they just couldn’t figure out if I was in the right room or not.  God damn it.  I really wish I could say that was the first time that’s happened.  But hey, when you grow your hair out and can’t grow any facial hair to save your life, you really do have to see shit like this coming.

So, it was mad cold and windy all night and we didn’t actually get to see the sunrise since it was cloudy by the morning, but it was a pretty cool time and the end-of-year closure I needed, since I never really celebrated properly.  This school year is over, and I expect you won’t be hearing much about Major Tech School for a few months.  Trust me, you’re better off that way.  I’m gonna go watch a l’arc concert till I pass out. Rock on!