Lost Australians, irrelevant bands and wonderful noodles.

I got back from Fuji Rock Festival on Monday. My sleeping pattern's been all over the shop and I've not had the energy in the evening to write it up until now.

The weekend started in a way that only a Morris family male could start a weekend: sleeping through my alarm and waking up only at the time I was meant to be meeting my friends - who were kindly letting me stay in their tent for the weekend - at the train station. I pack light, a manbag for my camera and a backpack with clothes, and assume/pray that I will somehow run into them. Fairly easy train journey, it's clear who's on their way to the festival and who isn't, but already it's easy to see that Fuji Rock goers are by and large of a different calibre to Reading goers. They're clean and nice. You reach the festival site set in a beautiful mountain range and it's readily apparent that it the coolest festival site in the world, with mountains, forests and rivers it's really pretty special:





Beyond the natural landscape is the attention to detail though. Reading always has a few strange things going on around the site, whether it's 5 minute long choreographed lightsabre fights or men being pushed into each other in trollies, but the amount of organised oddity at Fuji Rock is some what next level:




The disco ball picture was from this amazing boardwalk in the forest which was surrounded by disco balls, plastic flamingos, changing colour lanterns and hoards of people making their way to the DJs' sets after the live music had stopped. The vibe at Fuji Rock was amazing.

But I digress, I arrive at Fuji Rock, hot, sleepy and with no friends or tent. I have no clue where they might pitch their tent or what it looks like, don't know their phone numbers or if they even have a phone among them and looking at the lineup, the only band I'm sure they're going to see is Foals, who are playing on the third and final day. Shit. I trust my hands to luck and fate, put my backpack in a coin locker, keeping a change of clothes on me, and figure that at the worst I sleep under a tree, and so many Japanese were doing in the heat which allowed this, or stay up at a dance tent all night, and pretend I'm the sort of person who stays up at dance tent all night. I head of to see some bands, first on the list is The Vines (who were excellent, the lead singer didn't have a fit on stage or anything! Bands I saw included My Bloody Valentine, Feeder, Princess Superstar, Primal Scream, Underworld, Gogol Bordello, CSS, The Go! Team, Foals, The Music, The Zutons, and the Mystery Jets). As luck/fate would have it I meet a wonderful person who let me stay in their hotel room they were staying in with their friend and who I hung out with the rest of the weekend. We wouldn't have met had I been with the Aussies. The next day, sitting down resting my legs before Gogol Bordello, the Australians walk pass and with an "Oh there you are" I have found my tent mates. Sorted.

Fuji food is somewhat overpriced, but ridiculously tasty. Anyone who has never eaten a festival burger for 5 pounds can not understand how amazing it is to get a big bowl of ramen, or oven cooked pizza, chicken teriyaki, for 4.

The bands were fun, the lineup was somewhat strange though, what have Primal Scream, let alone one hit wonder of the mid 90s Underworld done to justify headlining spots? Far from the greatest set of gigs I've been to, but more than adequate as a justification and backdrop to the other activities of the weekend

Here are good photos:







Aussie friends:




Groggy final morning:



So that was Fuji, and it rocked.

I wanted to write a bit about how this trip had compared to my last two. I adjusted to being in Japan pretty much from day one. There was no culture shock, indeed the opposite, some sense of returning home, and differences that strongly struck me in earlier visits were quickly excepted as what is normal. By this I mean that, in previous years, things like the abundance of vending machines, the busyness of the cities, the way that a single building houses different shops and bars on each floor, the ways in which people interact, all of this, at one point was exciting and challenging, but is now commonplace, it's just the way things are done here. This may sound like a complaint, that Japan is becoming less interesting to me, but that is far far from the case. Japan has lost her novelty to me in many areas, I have been here too long to be in a constant state of excitement and confusion, but she is becoming a place more intimate, a place I can connect to better and deeper. Where in previous years I missed the excitement of say, the bright lights and night time and the amazingly cute everythings everywhere, what I know I will miss when I return this time is the commonplaceness of it all. I will miss having the Japanese way of doing things being my normal place of reference.

Lost in Translation, possibly my favourite film ever, has quite a different affect on me that it does on many others. Japan was chosen as a location for that film because of it's sheer foreignness being the perfect backdrop to a film about alienation; there is nowhere that can feel as distant from England or America as Japan. While the difference between Western and Japanese culture remains as large for me as it ever did, I feel that I essentially have two modes of operation now: one where I am in England, and I am surrounded by people from around the world, self-deprecation is key, nothing works that well, people are friendly and irreverent, the sky is grey, the buildings are old and, in London, one can never forget the sheer sense of importance that surrounds you. When I'm in Japan everything is crowded, space seems a precious commodity, connivence is all and one always know they can get a can of ice coffee if they need it at 3 AM, everything runs with flawless precision but the government system's a mess and people regurgitate conservative opinions from the one sided newspapers, there is a huge pretence of logic which fails under scrutiny, everything contradicts everything else, people are boring and repressed, racist and unimaginative, but kind beyond what one could think possible, welcoming, a great sense of fun, of joy, a passion for learning about other's different to themselves, better dressed than anyone else in the world, and the food is cheap and delicious. I hold both of these utterly incompatible worlds within me at the same time.

Another aspect to not is how much more I've been talking to Japanese people, and how much better I have got to know many. For all the cultural differences that at times make one question whether communication can ever be possible, one realises just how much in common everyone has. Perhaps there is some element of the young Japanese I talk to being of a more similar cultural outlook to me than older Japanese generations, but it's more that personality traits, open/closed, friendly/mean, funny/boring, clever/dumb etc etc. are universal and that people are people are people.

I don't know if this was one of the best posts I've written or just the most pretentious >_> But yes, normality and whatnot, let's see if I agree with myself when I come back here for my year abroad. Also, why am I writing as though I'm leaving soon? I have a whole month, silly.

See you soon for thoughts on living in Tokyo
xx

The Fuji Countdown

I write to you about 6 and a half hours before I'm due to wake up to make my way to the Fuji Rock Festival.

I've got lots and lots to say but there are a few observations that have been on my mind a while so I'll eject them first.

It was a moment of realisation about how far I had come with Japanese when I worked out a pun in the title of a movie that's coming out here. The movie's called 'Hana yori Danshi', the movie version of the apparently hit TV drama 'Hana yori Dango'. Hana yori dango is a Japanese proverb/saying meaning 'dumplings before flowers' or 'substance over style' where as 'hana yori danshi' means a rather less profound 'boys before flowers'. BUT the word play does not stop with a simple change of 'dango' to 'danshi' BECAUSE the 'shi' in 'danshi' can also be read as 'go' as in 'tamgo' as in 'egg'. So yeah, that's what an A level in Japanese lets you do.

Speakers on the platform at Toyama train station play midi versions of Disney hits such as 'Winnie the Pooh' and 'I can Show you the World'. I thought you should know.

On people: Last blog I had a little rant at my fellow travellers. I still maintain that a lot of travellers, especially to Japan where the geek appeal is so high, are noobs. However, not all of them are, and I thought it would be worth talking a really nice aspect of travelling which is that it forces to talk to people and socialise. In the context of people meeting at a hostel, bumping into each other on the way out the door, deciding to spend the day sightseeing together and going out for drinks later, where the others in the bar assume you're old friends, is really pretty standard affair. It's like socialising done in TURBO MODE but surprisingly the friendships which start up very quickly and end just as abruptly when one or the other leaves don't feel forced, it's something about the situation, and all being in the same situation that makes these mini relationships feel natural. Again, Aussies are the best though.

And onto substance. I've spent the last few days on a blitzkrieg tour of Takayama and Kanazawa, the first a small mountain town with pretty Edo-period streets, the second a small coastal city with pretty Edo-period streets. It was the first time in the trip that I've felt really rushed, especially in Kanazawa where I only stayed one night , but actually it was the prefect end to my travels, a really relaxing and moving few days. The experience people go to Kyoto for, beautiful architecture, peaceful reflection, historic vibe, does not really exist in Kyoto, which has wonderful temples and shrines surrounded by a sprawling, ugly city, and packed with dozens of tourists. However, in Takayama, two hours off the beaten Shinkansen path, that experience fills the streets.

Takayama's historic district, filled with beautiful town houses that contain cheesy tourist shops:


The open air folk village museum, with artisans working inside the authentic old buildings:




But my favourite part of my Takayama trip was my visit to one of the ancient onsen (hot spring) villages nearby, which requires an hours bus ride up the mountains and results in truly breathtaking views:

I realised that it was the first time since my first trip to Japan where I had really been deep into Japanese nature, it might not be something I imiediatly think of when I'm thinking of things I would like to do, but it's a part of Japan that I miss whether I realise it or not.

A quick postscript, screw you Lonely Planet, do you not realise that when you tell tourists that a place is worth visiting because it is quiet and lacks tourists, that you will make it noisy and full of tourists? Yeah? Yeah? It's alright now, but talking to other guests at the temple I stayed at, it's clear Takayama will be heaving and dead before too long.

Also:


As it is getting late I think I will rapidfire post you some Kanazawa pictures and let you figure our what's going on based on knowing that it has a big pretty park, a traditional old part of town, and it famous for it's gold leaf production.









Actually! I can't leave before this anecdote: speaking of the far right wing Japanese nationalists last post, I had whiskey with one last night! I went to this bar run by this really cool Japanese man who's a big fan of all things Scottish (he's been to every single distillery in Scotland) and had some really amazing whiskey. We were chatting about all things British, I had some surprisingly good Fish and Chips, the queen comes up in conversation, I give her the thumbs up and ask whether most Japanese people respect the emperor. He gives a wry smile and asks knowingly "does anyone here respect the emperor?" One man enthusiastically raises his hand. The conversation evolves and it turns out that he drives a truck for the right wing nationalists, he invited me for a ride one day! He left before we could exchange details, I have to say that a part of me thinks it would be at the very least an absolutely educational and unique experience. Its funny, he quite casually admitted his adherence to an absolutely reprehensible political viewpoint, but one could certainly tell nothing of the sort from his manner, his conversation or anything. Oh, and the Scottish fan bar man later told me that this man was a low ranking Yakuza member. Only in a Scottish bar in Japan.

See you after a Fuji fantastic weekend!
x

Back in Black

Back in Black

Hullo everyone, It's been a while. Since my last blog I've finished my stay in Osaka and I'm on my last night in Kyoto. I enjoy blogging loads, and I feel something's missing when I go a few days without doing one but they take time and the mental concentration required to put words together to make sentences with real worlds and grammar, things I've been without the last week. But I'm back, and this will be a long one.

So I'm thinking of joining a far-right Japanese nationalist party. Japan's got some weird electoral campaigning laws. One can not hand out flyers or go door to door canvassing but they can rent a large van and drive around shouting political slogans. I want to be one of the guys shouting 'expel the foreigners'. Now this surely goes against my leftist inclinations, but considering the foreigners you meet in Japan, they have a point. You get many foreigners who's primary interest in Japan is anime and manga, they often call themselves 'otaku', which they think is something like 'geek', in a charming cheeky way, but to the Japanese conjures up the image of an anti-social psychopath. Everyone of course speaks 'a bit' of Japanese. Meaning they can say 'konnichiwa', 'arigato' and add the word 'ne' to the end of otherwise English sentences. In Japanese 'ne' makes a sentence light-hearted or rhetorical, 'the weather's nice isn't it?' etc. Adding 'ne' to the end of an English sentence, however makes the sentence mean 'my parents made a terrible mistake'. A separate but occasionally connected group are the 'I want a Japanese girl because no one in my own country will take me' group. They ask people the time/for directions when they know already and do not know when to take no for an answer. The problem with this is that the Japanese have a fairly unnuanced view of the world. They do not discriminate between a sleazy French guy and a sleazy American guy, they see a sleazy foreigner. And then you just get the foriengers, they're not even doing anything wrong, but they're there at the temples, and you don't want them to be at the temples, because you want the temples to yourself. Travelling around, you meet a lot of people from a lot of different places, as you can tell from my rant, many of these people are rubbish. The Australians aren't. They're the best. Really. I'm going to Fuji Rock Festival with some :D But, Australians aside, I enjoy myself most when I'm meeting locals, beyond the achievement of utilising my so-so language skills they are often really, really great.

So a recap of my Osaka experience. I'm a big fan of Osaka. It's considered Tokyo's edgier rival and have a really fun, slang filled dialect that enforces this image. As a city though, it's far more about good food, good shopping, good night life and good people than good tourism. The one really touristy thing I did feel was worth doing this year was a visit to Umeda Sky Tower, Osaka's tallest architectural oddity:


From which you get a really good view:





Yes, this was an excuse to post shiny happy pictures.

I had one uncharacteristic monday night where me and some guys from the hostel, a rather brash American, an assortment of Europeans, and a meek Ghanian, went to Osaka's premier hip-hop club. It literally could have been from any bad Usher/R Kelly/P Diddy video but for the fact that everyone was Asian. That was fairly ridiculous but good fun.

A few nights after I returned to King Cobra, a cool 'live house' (I've obviously been here too long, beyond sometimes confusing my Ls and Rs when I type I was about to use the term without ex planation, forgetting that it's Japanese English: A live house is any bar, club that hosts live bands.) in America Mura that I went to last year. Hoping for some interesting Japanese underground music I was assaulted by punk and heavy metal. Misc venue pictures:






This guy played first. He had these amazing leather flares, must have been at least 45 (it's very difficult to guess Japanese people's age...) and played solo with a very distorted guitar:


Don't mess.

These guys sounded a lot like the Offspring and had silly t-shirts:

That doesn't make sense.

No Mr. Citizen of the constitutional monarchy of Japan, George W. Bush is not in fact your president. Not so much counter-cultural as simply factual.

These guys were very, very heavy:


As was their incredible drummer, who happened to be an adorable 11 year old girl!?


I don't know what to say about these guys, their manager wanted me to send her the pictures I took BUT MY LAPTOP COMPLETELY DIED COMPLETELY AND CEASED TO WORK THE DAY AFTER I DELETED THE PICTURES FROM MY CAMERA ;_________;
This is all I still have D:




So that night was full of joviality.

My first night in Kyoto, I arrived for the dregs of the massive Gion festival:






Most temples shut around 5 o'clock, and I wake up at 1 o clock, so my time here has not been particularly productive.
I went to Ryoanji, a Zen temple famous for it's beautiful stone garden:

And bored of trying to be photographically disingenuous in my attempts to crop tourists out of my shots I decided to reverse tactics:

She was Russian and was with a guy with a REALLY BAD mullet and they took lots of pictures of each other in front of things. Enlightened, surely.

Despite Kyoto being known as Japan's most beautiful and ancient cities it is not safe from the monsters that plague other towns:

OH NO GIANT CRAB!!!
This has very little relevance to anything, but he seemed cheeky:


Today I went to Inari shrine, a huge mountain complex and trail of thousands and thousands of Shinto 'tori' (gates), I spent hours walking up this mountain in the amazonian Japanese summer heat and humidity. I suppose it worked off a bowl of eel or two and it was most certainly worth it, not even the tourists could detract from the experience:










I then went to the little festival happening at the bottom of the mountain and proceeded to undo any of the physical good of the hike with overpriced and yummy food on sticks:




Indie fashion:



I feel that this is the second blog with little insight and rather too many pictures, let me know if this is the case. I suppose the one thing that's been on my mind a fair amount is, not home sickness, but travel weariness. Japan's a country with a lot to see, and there are still many places (Sapporo, Okinawa, Sendai, Nikko, to name a few) that I would love to visit. For this reason, my busy itinerary made/makes a lot of sense. Still, it's been three weeks now, and I have less energy now than when I started. Some people spend months at a time living out of a backpack on their years abroad. I think I've learned that this is not something I could do. Every city I go to I feel I could spend months and months there, I walk past restaurants and bars I want to visit but don't have time, I wonder how the vibe varies throughout the week and throughout the year. It's in large part do to with simply how much there is to do, but some of this feeling may be a desire for grounding. Basically, I've had a lot of fun, I should have a nice time in Takayama, where I go tomorrow, Kanazawa, where I go in three days, and I'm becoming more and more excited for Fuji Rock, this Friday, with every conversation about it that passes, but next Monday I move into my room in Tokyo where I will stay for a month, and I am really, really looking forward to it.

Anyway, lovely to write to you, keep in touch, and I hope to write to you from the beautiful town of Hida-Takayama.
Until then, keep it magic~
x