Wednesday 31 July 2013

The Endless Gig.

FINALLY. SATURDAY'S BLOG. As you were Alex....

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Yesterday our band, Excess Baggage (or on the poster "Excess BUGgage"—maybe they have seen our mosquito bites), rocked a kindergarten!



We built speaker stands with little children's stools. Niall and I had to set up the PA but the Japanese were extremely helpful. In a way the setup was the most carefree setup I have ever done; all the equipment worked (a very rare occurrence in England). The set we played was great with nearly every member playing their own solo material and playing as a big group. The set ended with "Woods" with all the audience clapping with us. Many members of the audience greeted us and said thank you. They were all excited to see us. Our Homestay parents filmed each of our songs and congratulated us afterwards. It feels like we are part of our very own Japanese family now!

Monks make excellent roadies





















We were on the bill with 2 Japanese bands, Orange Bank Lead and Blue Bell. Both had impressive showmanship and lots of technical effects pedals. They didn't request a soundcheck, they plugged in and played and looked like they were having a riot. We have connected with them on twitter, a return gig in England maybe? An old man taught us to play the shamisen (a three string fretless guitar). It was difficult but I finally grasped a traditional folk song. They use the Myxolidian Mode a lot (sorry for the technical music reference).
    







The Japanese kept planning more and more acts even when the gig was still going on, everything seemed spontaneous while remaining very ordered with little stress. After the old man played the Shamisen we played happy birthday to Frankie. The buddhists from the temple we visited the previous day bought a birthday cake. When they were bringing the cake into the room the candles blew out but somehow the buddhist relit the birthday cake candles (maybe with the power of his mind!) It was very strange and spiritual. Maybe the good luck we were granted before was coming true. Frankie later remarked that the cake was "the best she had ever tasted". After this we gathered in a circle to play a birthday game with some Japanese teenagers from the North. We sang, danced and went a little crazy. It was a good way to connect with the Japanese of all ages. I boogied with my Homestay mother. This gig never stopped. We were treated to a seemingly eternal guitar solo with a cheesy karaoke-style backing track. Japanese audiences are very respectful and attentive; it's a really beautiful thing. Later the man responsible for supporting international exchanges thanked us for playing and said how impressed he was that we came to Japan with such good intentions. We posed for lots of big photos taken with style by our friend the Buddhist monk/photographer producing hundreds of cameras and phones from pockets, bags and and behind his ears!




But hey, what is a gig without a crazy after-party? We invited all the bands to party at our place so we could drink lukewarm tea into the early evening! We danced to the YMCA (a song they all knew),
Gangnam Style and the Macarena. They don't seem to have parties as we know them in Japan so it was nice to share some of our culture with them. Engel, a student of our guide - Isami, expressed that we were crazy; we took this as a compliment! Our biggest achievement was teaching the Japanese bands Get Lucky by Daft Punk and getting them to do the 'Dragon Ball Z' dance-move we created. Maybe it will catch on and be a Japanese sensation!

(Apologies Alex - we have no photos of this bit - it was good though)

Another brilliant day...

Alex (:

Monday 29 July 2013

We Are In Ishinomaki

I'm about 6 foot tall with a long pair of arms. Remember that.

Sunday morning, we left Matsuda. I don't really have to go about my feelings for that place. We met Isami at about half 7 and wondered up to the train station, and after a series of changes, we ended up on a bullet train.

(Skip on if you don't like my child-related anecdotes) Leeds is about half an hours drive from York, so I used to go there a lot with my grandparents as a child, and one of my favourite things there was the National Railway Museum (my grandmother looked seriously saddened when there was the possibility of it being shut down), and in there, one of the focal points of the museums was that it was I believe the only, if not not, one of the few places in Britain that had a Bullet Train, and man, that thing was bad-ass. The photos are on Katie's camera. Bollocks.

When we got to the platform, I jumped around like a child a little bit and scared some Japanese people probably BUT I DON'T CARE MAN BULLET TRAINS RULE. I ate apple ice-cream (actually really tasty, I thought it would taste awful) and wrote the post about my home-stay with Jinkawas and then got sad and listened to Owen (his new album is killer) which didn't help whatsoever.

I should probably have brought a suit

We finally got to Sendai, and headed to Date FM, apparently a rather large radio company that broadcasts to about half a million Japanese people, which is alright I suppose. We went into a board room with lots of Japanese people interested in radio (a few of which are here with us in Ichinomaki <HI GUYS!>). Turns out we were getting an hour long special. Again, it was kinda alright I suppose (If you haven't worked it out yet, I'm one of the most sarcastic people you will ever meet). We went through what we'd be talking about on air, and me and Lottie would be talking about our experience with radio. So we started planning some little things, and then I had my first ever Bento Box. THOSE THINGS ARE THE COOLEST THINGS EVER (I'm looking at you Mum hint hint). 

Badass, righ?
I then started talking to Alex, and he was trying to find 5 tracks that best represented British music over the past 13 years or so (They only played one of his choices, and it was Dizzee Rascal's "Fix Up, Look Sharp" if you're that desperate to know). I then wondered into the studio to take a nosy, and I should really have expected what was there to be there, but I just guess I wasn't used to it. Back home at ELFM (www.elfm.co.uk - you're welcome, guys) our studio is about the size of a standard kitchen, probably a bit smaller. We were in this.


Hi Alex
Pretty swish, righ? So we did our interview, everything went alright, and they’re now editing it for some date we don’t know about. And then we played a song on a radio station with a 6 digit audience which I’m totally bothered about and I’m totally used to and I’m not gonna change one bit (C’mon guys, seriously?)


We've totally got groupies, man
We played Woods. I think that’s my favourite song out of our set.

We packed up, and were asked to take all the biscuits (I love Japanese people), and got on to the bus towards Ishinomaki, which took the best part of an hour. I fell asleep, and I’m about 96% sure some pictures were taken of me and I did something embarrassing whilst I slept, but I don’t know what they were (Side note – I think we’re making a behind the scenes DVD and calling it “Access Baggage”)

I woke up as the stop pulled outside some shop front that was being used as an office for the ‘Stand Up’ festival.

I should also remind you, Ishinomaki was one of the worst hit areas by the tsunami 2 years ago.

After I spoke to some of the people inside the office, we stepped back on to the bus, and we were given a tour of Ishinomaki. Downtown Ishinomaki is having to be completely rebuilt, and there are floors of stones were homes used to be. We were then taken to a park for temporary housing.

They were modern slums for a developed country.

We then started talking some of the residents. It turns out that of the 50 people living there, 23 used to be cooks, now unemployed because there places of work were destroyed.

I refer you back to my quote from yesterday, however, ‘the idea of community will be something displayed in a museum’. These people had become incredibly close to each other, It’s literally a tale of two cities – one city has been wiped out, whereas the other has become a closer bunched group of people. It’s incredibly admirable, and makes me ashamed that there is really no such thing in Britain.bA lot of communities, little cohesion.

We then went to what seemed like a cross between a temple and village hall, where we met two old men. They talked about how the fishing business had been almost completely been demolished. But where they sad and do nothing about it? No. I remind you, these are pensioners, who visibly find it harder to be active compared to us.


A ‘company’ is a bad word to use, but they started one to help children cope with the after effects of the tsunami. They said that when they were children, their parents or grandparents didn’t teach them how to play, they taught themselves. So they started a group so that children would be played with, and would be cheered up, and would lighten the effects. Someone said today “When a child smiles, an adult does too”, and this is the product of a pensioner. Even through translation, you still felt the man’s passion when he said 

“I will do this till I die”.

That's the sense of community here, its totally selfless, its all for the greater good.

We bowed and said our arrigatos, and then we hunted for some food.... and accidentally stumbled into a karaoke bar. Alex likes karaoke. However, the machine was in Japanese and Eugene put Japanese music on. We sang Christmas carols. It was bizarre. I also had cow tongue and deep fried green bean. I can't begin to explain how bizarre this was.

But then on the walk home, the reality of where we were set in again. Ishinomaki is a ghost town. Emptied buildings, no street lights, car-less streets. When we got to the bottom of the stairs of the hostel where we are staying, there was a line, where everything below was painted blue. I tried reaching for the top. I couldn't reach.

I'm about 6 foot tall with a long pair of arms. Remember that.
SATURDAYS BLOG POST WILL BE COMING SOON DUE TO IPAD RELATED ISSUES

Saturday 27 July 2013

This Deserves A Post Of It's Own


There's Only So Much You Can See From A Hotel Room

The Jinkawas - my wonderful host family
Friday was one of the most wonderful, beautiful, memorable, a whole bunch of adjectives, day of my life. I know that phrase gets thrown around quite a bit; I genuinely mean every word of it.

I only found out a few days before we flew out that we were going to be staying with a Japanese family one night, and this seriously scared me. It was also made even worse when I couldn’t get to meet my host family on Wednesday, when everyone else did.

However, I did get to meet my family on the day. Sarah, Ruby’s host mother, picked me up in the morning and she drove me to my host family’s home. As soon set foot outside of the car, my mother for the day, Jina ran up and hugged me. She spoke very quickly, and seemed extremely excited, and this instantly put me at ease.

We then got back in Sarah’s car, including Gina, and headed towards an ancient Samurai village, where we got to try on Samurai suits. On the way, we stopped at a 7/11 store, which are absolutely everywhere in Japan. When we got inside, she said to me “I will buy your lunch, because today I am your mother’.

I should really tell you, that when I was a child, my Grandparents used to take me to the ‘Royal Armories’ museum at home in Leeds. Weapons and armoured suits spread across 5 gigantic floors, yet I never got to get close to touching a piece of armour, let alone wearing it.

               




However, it was around 33 degrees, so it got rather stuffy under a full suit of armour. So much, that the back of my shirt was drenched in sweat (yes I know my suit clashes with my shirt, but I have a sword, so watch your words).

We then were taken into stall in the village, where we decorated candles. It was like being 7 again; we had to finger-paint with the glue!

Japan is seriously not built for tall people. Mind you, this was kind of for kids........

Later, I was back ‘home’, and gave her my gift. When you visit someone’s house, is it is often customary to give a small gift to my host, and so I gave her 2 boxes of Yorkshire tea. She then brought a map of Britain out, and I had to explain what Yorkshire was, which I think she kind of grasped.

I then went with her to her daughter’s school. I met Haruna, said daughter, and some of her friends too. After all the bows and hellos, we went inside, and I went to Parents Evening in Japan. I don’t even know. The teacher was rather confused by it too, but he did recognise Leeds though from the football team. Side note- they even do the shoes-off thing in schools. I was given a pair of slippers to wear, and there were like 5 sizes too small. Being tall has its disadvantages, you know. 


I then waited outside the school with Haruna and some of her friends, and waited for more of her friends.. Second side note- lots of fringes in Japan. Lots. They told me that they were taking me to the school's summer festival aaaaaand I didn't have a clue what to expect.

It was nuts. Absolutely nuts. They had cut off what was close to about a mile long stretch of street, and then decorated it with food stalls, games for children and they had a massive plinth, carried by about 40 men in what were essentially kimonos that cut off at the waist, with no trousers on



We ate lots of food and I was asked a lot about England. I tried a japanese pancake, which was 2 big pancakes filled with leaves, peppers and meat, and you get full after about 4 bites. I was asked about the new royal baby (congrats by the way, Wills & Kate), schooling, what's popular in Britain, basically asking anything so I could get an insight to British life. I kind of felt obliged, because they were doing the same for me with Japanese life.




My wonderful tour guides for the evening

I feel like a massive dick for forgetting names, the group of friends I was in that night were genuinely lovely. Even friends of friends, who were all weirdly dressed in kimonos were very friendly. I feel stupid for being scared at first, because everyone is warm, friendly, and just generally lovely. In Enter Shikari's song Juggernauts (great literary reference, I know), the last line of the song is 'the idea of community will be something displayed in museum'. I cannot stress how much that night proved it wrong.

Jina then drove us home, and I met my host father, Masaki, for the first time, as well as my brother. We shared tiramasu (traditional Japanese dish, right?), and then they pretty much threw a guitar at me... and I tried playing something they might know. I'm not very good with popular music, but I'm kind of guessing I did alright. Then the Jinkawas sang a Japanese song for me, and it was all really cheery and it felt really special. Soon after I went to bed.

Whatever I write, words will never do justice to how much I enjoyed this day, and how much I loved my host family. To take a stranger in, and treat him as one of their own speaks volumes about the kindness of the people I stayed with. I left them a letter to say thank you, and I mentioned that I hoped this wouldn't be the last time I met them. I hope to return the favour in the future if they ever visit the UK, and hope I could be as good a host as they were to me.

As I write this, I am on a train headed north to Ishinomaki, leaving Matsuda and the Hippo Family Club. Even though I only spent a few days there, I get the feeling I will always be able to call it my second home. Every person came back yesterday morning in love with their host family, and its not hard to see why. The community of Matsuda has been a blessing, from the priest and his apprentices at the Tozenji temple, to every single mother, father, sister, brother and even pet at the Hippo Family Club. I suppose this is a love letter to Matsuda and what's happened over the past few days.

Matsuda and your people, I love you. I will miss you very much.

Thursday 25 July 2013

NA MU AA MI DA BU TSU

Good Morning Japan! Good Night Blighty! I got religious this morning! We said Buddhist prayers this morning. If there's anything that would really space you out, it's that.

We woke up at about 6, and it's still stupidly humid at that time in the morning. You thought it was humid during that heatwave last week? Exactly. Isami then collected us, and took us to the temple next to where we are staying.

Rather stereotypical, but c'mon, it looks lovely
Shoes then came off (everywhere in Japan does it), and we wondered into the main hall of the temple. We met the priest and his apprentices/ assistants (I'm not entirely sure what to call them) and we started praying.

Everything is handbuilt. Tatami is everywhere too!
We were given specially translated prayer sheets, and I followed it quite well! I sat next to a man whose name who I rudely didn't ask for, but he helped me read through and and what to do. There's lots of drone singing, and as I said, makes you space out.

Then after we finished, we moved into a different hall, separated from the main temple. We were given more prayer translations, and again, I followed along quite well. And then they sped up, aaaand there was no chance of me managing to ad-lib my way through. We then stopped for pictures with the priest, who suggested 'thumbs up'. How un-Japanese! Thumbs instead of the pecace sign? Weird.

Anyways, I'm now back, and eating lots of sweetbread for breakfast. In a while, I will meet up with my host family, and I will spend a day and a night with them. I genuinely have no idea what to expect.

Namu Amida Butsu!
Niall

A Warm Welcome

Warm Welcome

After the busy and tiring day that Niall has kindly described for your benefit, our group returned to the temple's living quarters, jet-lagged and exhausted. But sleep definitely wasn't on the cards for any of us...

We wandered around thinking about how humid it was and how much we felt like sleeping (or dying) even though it was only around 4PM. Before long the temple's living room became full of Japanese families: adults and children of varying ages. We already knew a couple of families - the ones that had taken us to the shopping mall and stuck around - but every knew face made a positive effort to introduce themselves to us and have a nice chat.

Our new Japanese friends suddenly grouped into pairs, and held opposite hands to form a human tunnel. They then encouraged us all to run through it and take a seat at the other side. This wouldn't have taken more than a minute, but of-course Alex Diva Ball had to made a late entrance.

Once we were all sat down, an adult member of the Hippo family group told us she would be MCing. Over the next 30 minutes or so, us English sat back and watched a comedy sketch performed by some of the adult Hippo members and then listened as names were called out and we were told which family each of us would be staying with the next day and night.

As each of us were called out and introduced to the Japanese family we would be staying with, we received warm welcomes and thoughtful gifts including personalised fans, like the one shown below.



A buffet of Japanese food was then dished up which everybody enjoyed; it also gave some the opportunity to brush up on their chopstick skills with the advice and guidance of the friendly Japanese.

The evening consisted of warm, friendly exchanges between our group and the Hippo family group and ended beautifully with Excess Baggage (our band) playing a couple of acoustic songs for our new friends followed by a few Japanese women coming up to the piano and playing some lovely pieces.

Sayonara,
Eugene


We Are Now In Japan

It's 9PM on a stupidly humid evening, and as I write this, you are most likely tucking into your lunch. How is your sandwich, anyway?

Back to Japan related matters then, and we got here safely yadda yadda yadda (Mothers always worry about this, I got your back fellow Japan-ers [I'll think of a better term to call them, give me ideas people]). Dad, you were right, Lufthansa kicks ass. I drank way too much orange juice, listened to Phoenix's new album on repeat (highly recommended) and learnt how to use chopsticks (Sidenote: my chopstick form has been absolutely top notch today, the only time I used a fork to was to cut some chicken up)
That piece of melon was disgusting. Notice I am using chopsticks, though
So we land at Tokyo Narita at about 8AM local time (about midnight BST) and everything's fine yadda yadda yadda. But then we get out of the airport, and the phrase culture shock doesn't come close. Firstly, I buy a bottle of Coke from the airport, and it equates to roughly a pound. Granted, it's not a total culture shock, but a pleasan surprise nevertheless.

We then start to get a series of trains to the temple in where we're staying. When the train came out from deep below the airport, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. In a media saturated world, I expected, scratch that, I was pretty damn sure to see Japan filled with towering skyscrapers, bright lights and barely any room move. I was wrong.

The train came out to the complete opposite. On one side was a green, grassy hill, to the other was paddyfield upon paddyfield upon paddyfield. The building's weren't as advanced as I thought they would be either. It's probably not the best choice of adjective, but they looked rather... Communist.

Eventually, we get to Matsuo, where we are now. We were greeted by a lovely group of Japanese people. These are the some of the people who we'll be sharing our home stay with (Eugene will write about this later. It's also Eugene's fault there's a lack of photos of rural Japan. Bad Eugene.)
The three guys in our group, including myself, start talking to a guy named Takashi, but were refer to him as his nickname 'Angel'. He's a lovely fella too. Turns out he's coming to Sheffield for  Uni too. Then a few more people from the home stay group, called the 'Hippo Family Club', and it turns out they're driving us to the local mall to get some lunch.

I tried tempura for the first time. It's rather hit and miss, to be honest. Shrimp bad. Rice and spring onions are very very good though. We then all got some free time to go do.... stuff, so I got ice cream to try and combat the lack of sleep. The more E-numbers the better, I decided. If you get ice-cream that is neon green and neon orange, you know the criteria is met.

Then a big group of us a dragged off into the arcade, and into a photo machine. This thing is weird. It photoshops you. Japan has photoshop booths. I don't have the photos yet, but when I do....

I also found Japanese Poundland too, even though it's the 100 yen shop, but still, that's cheap as. I might have got my sister a present from there....

Anyway's, too much humidity has made me a sweaty boy. I'm gonna get showered and stuff, but I'll leave Eugene to tell you what happened. tonight.

Arrigato!
Niall

Tuesday 23 July 2013

We Are Still In England

Konichiwa

It's 11 AM on a miserable, typically British Tuesday Morning, and I'm burning CD's to give to people as presents. In 24 hours, I presumably will be in Germany, Frankfurt to be exact, changing over flights so we can get to Tokyo.

I'm going to Japan. Shit.

We're going over to do a ton of things, and I'm particularly looking forward to doing the radio drama workshops. I'll (or somebody else I'll force to do it) write about that when we're doing it. We don't want to ruin any surprises, do we now? All I'm saying is that I had to do this for it.



Anyway, We're going to visit all over Japan, from the centre of everything technological in Japan, to the recovering Fukushima district. I should also mention that including myself, there's a group of 10 of us going, and you'll get to hear from them all on here whilst we are gone.

I'm out of things to write now, which is a good sign for me to start packing.

Ta-rah!

Niall