Rambling thoughts

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So it says that I'm a contributor to this blog, but I haven't posted anything yet. I don't consider myself a very good writer, and I don't really like to do it. But I figure I should put something on here since my name is on the site!!!

This is my third trip to Japan with Sonos. In many ways I've enjoyed this one best, because my husband Brian came with me! We've had a great time. It's been really fun showing Brian the stuff I already knew about, from my previous trips. I particularly liked showing him Tokyo DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland (of course)! DisneySea is such a great park, so many cool little details that Disney is famous for. Having grown up in Burbank, Brian visited Disneyland quite often growing up, and we go at least once a year now. So he really liked the fact that Disney was feeling new to him, not just the same thing once again. That's exactly how I have felt about it in my previous trips as well.

We also really have enjoyed the things that are new to us both. Yesterday we went up to Mt. Takao, about an hour from our hotel by train. We had a great hike, and up at the top there was a great view of Mt. Fuji. On the way there we also visited a temple, and got to see a lot of beautiful scenery. A long hike, and we were ready to be off our feet when we got back to the train!!

And of course there was the earthquake. Not a big deal for two people from California! We lay there and waited for it to end, listened for the possibility of the hotel emergency system kicking in (it didn't), and then turned on the TV to see if there was any report on the English News stations. Nothing there, so no big deal. I realized that I had never experienced an earthquake on anything but a ground floor. It was very different being on the 23rd floor. Very smooth and rocking.

Oh yeah, and then there's the concerts (the real reason that I'm here)! The halls have been beautiful, like usual. The concerts have been pretty good, some better than others. I personally have played some with excellent results, and some not so much. The last concert is today and I'm hoping to nail everything!!!

Brian, Warren and Jan are skipping the last concert and going to the Imperial Palace. Today is the Emperor's Birthday, and so it is open to the public. This is the only day all year that it is. They just couldn't pass up the opportunity, and I don't blame them.

So, another great trip to Japan. I'm so glad that Brian got to come along. I hope we'll get a chance to come back again.

It's all about the friends

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Friends we travel with.

Friends we eat with.

Friends we play with.

Friends we nap with.

Friends we meet here.

Bullet train goes how fast?

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Thanks to Warren's iPhone, we know how fast the bullet train was going. And in what direction.

Harf & Harf

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Mix Guinness and Bass and what do you get? Harf and harf, of course. Michèle loves this.

Sumo

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While eating lunch at the fish market the other day, this fellow was staring down at me from a calendar posted on the wall.


Next to him, was this poster absolutely packed with small, smaller, and microscopic nano-Kanji. Yoshimichi told us that it is a Sumo ranking sheet. Once I read it, I'll be able to make some bets on future matches.

Kiriku and Hie Jinja

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Last week a number of Sonosians had the great pleasure to see Kiriku, the latest ensemble started by Japanese handbell superstar Taiko Otsubo, a protege of Kodama. The concert was at the same hall (Hamarikyu) we had been in just a few days before! They had a *great* audience - their single event netted almost as large an audience as our *two* concerts. :/ We also learned from them to offer to sign autographs after the concert - brings in a *huge* crowd of people! I guess the Japanese love personalized stuff; good for us. We now sign autographs after every concert.

As always, the playing was superb and intensely personal and musical. They set an amazing standard for any handbell ensemble, small or full. This was a special concert as it was one of the first they played *without* Taiko, who had recently had her third (and cutest) baby, Yuan - she and Michitaka's first girl. Taiko did a little playing, but it was mostly entirely covered by the other members of Kiriku.

Here's a group picture after the concert:



A close-up of Taiko, Michitaka, their baby Yuan, Ryoko, Eri, Michele, and (argh!):




Yoshimichi headed us out to lunch, aiming at a fish market district not far from the concert hall. Seen on a menu:



(God knows what this is!)

After lunch we decided to head to a shrine in Tokyo (Nagata-cho, specifically), the Hie Jinja. It became the official shrine of the shogunate after Tokugawa Ieyasu moved it within his new capitol complex in Edo. Here's the main shrine building:



The shrine is home to a major festival on my birthday (June 15th)! Sorry I won't be around to attend. :/ The central courtyard contained a straw ring suspended vertically. Apparently stepping through it has something to do with my birthday ceremony. The man in white is a monk at the shrine:



The shrine has been completely surrounded by highrise buildings. I found this extremely trippy.



Note the *Prudential* building in the background. Gotta love capitalism:



Note the crane in the background - even more floors being added to these skyscrapers! Pretty soon you'll never see the sun in Hie Jinja:





And, like most Shinto shrines, they have a nice collection of Sake jugs for the festival revelries. Enjoy!



---Jason

Okonomiyaki!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I have friend named Lisa who used to work with me at Peet's. She decided she wanted to teach English in Japan so and applied to be a teacher in Japan and once she got accepted she quit her job at Peet's and went over to Japan. Months before she left, she knew I was gonna be in Japan and we had talked about meeting up when I came over.

So once it got closer for Sonos to depart for Nippon, I emailed her and told her I was gonna be in her city. She couldn't believe I was actually gonna see her! She had always assumed we'd be playing in the big cities and never venture down south to any of the small country/cities.

Sunday was our second to last concert in Makizono at the Miyama Concert Hall. And Lisa got to come! She brought her friend Elizabeth along. They were simply amazed! Lisa had heard me talk about handbells but never really knew what they were or what they sounded like. She was impressed by how loud we could play and how soft we could play. She definitely has a better appreciation and respect for the art of handbell ringing. Oh and apparently she enjoyed watching Joel ring...whatever

After the concert I met up with and Elizabeth at my hotel and they took me out for dinner. We went to this okonomiyaki bar. Okonomiyaki is a pan fried food that consist of a batter (cooked on a grill) topped with cabbage, shrimp, octopus, pork, yakisoba noodles and many other things if you wanted. And then it is flipped so the fillings are cooked. One egg is fried and placed on the open side.

It is then covered in something similar to Worcestershire sauce and then topped with mayonnaise and mustard. It is left on the grill and you are given a spatula to break off pieces.

Definitely the best traditional Japanese food I've had in my two weeks here! Gotta find a place like this in the states or learn how to make it myself!

Look down once in a while

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Bell ringers don't hear that too often. No matter the instrument, music directors have to remind, nag, cajole, beg musicians to look up at least once in a while. In the big cities in Japan, if you look up all the time, you'll get a stiff neck from the tall buildings, and you'll miss the art under your feet. Each city seems to have its own characteristic design for manhole covers. Here are some we've seen this year, and a few from the 2006 trip (we saw some of them on both trips). Nagoya had several pretty designs, but we had no time to get pictures as we walked from the train station to the hotel in very cold weather.

They build *big* in Japan!

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Japan doesn't have a lot of square-footage (unlike the U.S., where we have an embarrassment of land). This means that they tend to build *up* - everything is tall! Our hotel (Keio Plaza) is right across from the Tokyo Metropolitan Center in Shinjuku. Here's the Center:



There's an observatory near the top. Shinjuku is one of the richest and most impressive districts in Tokyo (in a city of nearly *40* *million*, that's saying something). Here are some shots from the observatory:





After descending from the observatory, we embarked on an odyssey of trying to find a cultural site open on a Monday (this was last week on our first full day in Tokyo). Turns that Monday is when most sites are closed for maintenance. ::sigh:: I guess it does take a *lot* of work to keep things are clean and pristine as they are throughout Japan.

Here are some random pictures while walking.



Another mega building.



No, I have *know* idea what this means. We couldn't find a storefront nearby that seemed in any way to relate to this sign. David suggested it might be Vietnamese...



Any idea what "Waku Waku Mail" is? Neither do I.



We weren't aware that the hedgehog was traditionally associated with Christmas. We learn something (usually *many* somethings) every day in Japan! :)



We came across a film crew outside of the Metropolitan building. They had nice prosumer cameras (Sony HDVs), which attracted my attention. Then we saw them doing a stunt shoot. This is the drive car.



This is the entire stunt setup. Eric commented that the camera guy was "practicing his technique." Fun!



I just liked this building.



McDonalds is *very* popular in Japan. Many restaurants have two levels - one for smoking (the uppoer one, obviously). In fact, they're so popular, even cats are getting into the act. Do you think that's milk? Maybe a Powerade?



The Japanese definitely dig "cute." Look at the posts that hold up the construction railings. Gag me.



Like I said, the Japanese do things big. The signage is just *crazy*! Plus, because every building has multiple floors with multiple stores per floor, the vertical banners are *huge*.



Nice, eh?



And, finally, some of the nightlife near the Shinjuku train station. This was along the route we took nearly every day to hop on the train to some new, exotic destination. (Notice the ever present convini (convenience mart), "Lawsons Station.")

---Jason