SUMO!! LIVE!!

So last weekend we finally got to see live Sumo; the real deal; the best wrestlers in the world. It was unbelievably great! UNBELIEVABLY! We had good seats thanks to Julie and soaked it all in. Pretty much all my favorite wrestlers lost - Ohio Sports Curse is indeed international - but my very favorite Hakuho pulled out the tie-breaking victory the next day to win the whole tournament. I don't really have much to say. The rules are pretty complex to explain and the whole thing went by in an amazing blur anyway. Sorry the pictures aren't so hot. Despite the great seats, the tiny lens can only handle so much zoom. Luckily Steve who was there with us had his very nice camera so hopefully we'll have some nice shots of the match soon.

Click here for a video of one match


Tamanoshima "backstage" (which was actually a very public area to hang out & cheer)


The introduction ceremony for the highest ranking wrestlers


One of the better take-downs we saw


Yokozuna Asashoru wins the days headlining match

Buddha Cleaning

Not related to us, but a rad link. Thanks to Matt H. for pointing me to it.

Cleaning of the Great Buddha

Read it, love it, wish you could suspend yourself alongside them.

Minimalism Gone Wrong

Worst Beverage Packaging Ever:


I wish I had a shot of all of them lined up on the shelf.


Fasionable enough to become a collector's item???


Or don't.

Aka-chan!!!

How awesome is it that the word for babie basically means little red face? Answer: Very. Very aweome.

On the way back from Tokyo I stopped in Nagoya (without Colleen who had to get back before me for work) for another performance and to stay with my friend Takehiro who arranged everything. Takehiro was awesome for helping me out especially considering he just became a father a couple weeks before I arrived. Check this little guy out:


With Daddy


With Mommy


With Whitey

What a cutey. Of course I was a natural with the wee one. What can I say? Kids love the beard. And the beard loves kids. Except when they pull on it.

Tokyo: The Rest

Finally.... So our trip was for five days, but Colleen spent two of them at a work conference and I spent those scouring record shops with sound-obsessed Scandinavians. Discounting those days, the trip was essentially a long weekend.



Heading out Friday night, we opted to travel up by via overnight bus, the cheapest possible way, about $40 each. I was nervous, but it actually worked out really swell. No problems with sleep or the ride quality at all. The only unavoidable issue is that you arrive in Tokyo well before anything worthwhile is open for business. We headed for a coffee shop & eased our way into the windy day. After a trip to the imperial palace and determining there wasn't much else worth hanging around for (way too early for the Ginza area to be kicking), we made our way up to Ueno to check out the art museums and their former bootleg district which is still a happening market.

After checking into our guesthouse and taking a nap, we headed out to Shinjuku and Shibuya, the city's most happening areas. Near Shibuya the city government offices offer a free observation deck which was our first destination. This is very cool considering the Osaka equivilent costs about $7.00. The view is great too. The city is amazingly dense. The above photo is from the deck and that's just one small segment. It's sprawls out like that in every direction. It's really overwhelming. From there we headed down to Shibuya to catch a play. I'll let Colleen comment on that if she desires. I think it was supposed to be absurd even if you understand Japanese, but was even more so since we don't. Covering a lot of terrain on foot and train, that was it for our Saturday.

Sunday we headed to Ghibli (previously documented) and the surrounding Mitaka area and then made our way back to the city because I was performing that night. After meeting up with everyone and sounchecking, Colleen & I had dinner with John Hegre who updated us on the state of Norwegian noise and his recent national news controversy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyq0A5h0uYY - which pleases me to great depths having released the first two Golden Serenades albums. The show itself was great, so many legends of the Japanese underground were present, both on stage and in the audience. I've never played for a more intimidating crowd. Afterwards it was a post-show grub and a long farewell and Yoyogi Station.

Monday brought the conferences and shopping which probably aren't very interesting to anyone else. I will say that Omega Point is probably my favorite record store on the planet, well worth the two and a half hours we spent trying to find it!



Us, reflected in a giant steel(?) orb outside the Contemporary Art Museum


One of the gates to the Imperial Palace (we didn't go in)


Duo performance, Shiflet and Hasegawa


Part of the mural outside our guesthouse

Crowds

Should come as no surprise Tokyo is jam packed with people. Crazy watching more people than our entire town stroll through the gates at the train station or pack every square inch of the sidewalk. Here are some shots:


Shibuya Intersection. Pretty famous. Seen in many a film & photo. I estimate there are at least a thousand people in the street every time the walk light signals.


Shinjuku Station. Probably the most popular stop in a very hectic part of town.


Shibuya at night. On our way to or from a great dinner.


The trains. They are as bad (or worse) than you've heard. Rush hour is unbelievable. This isn't even the worst of it because in the worst of it, you can't even move your arms to get your camera out of your pocket.

Getting lost at the Ghibli Museum

I have become a fan of Hayao Miyazaki. I'm joining this fanclub a bit late, as many of you probably saw the animated film "Spirited Away" when it first came out a few years ago. Mike and I watched it for the first time here in Japan, when it was on TV. We'll have to rent it soon as we get back to the States though, since our Japanese doesn't even cut it to watch a children's film (>_<) !

Miyazaki makes great films, and has also created an amazing art/animation museum just outside of Tokyo.

Below is a small exerpt from his vision;

"the building must be put together as if it were a film; not an overbearing,
flamboyant, gaudy or suffocating building;
A space where people can make themselves at home,
especially when it's less crowded
(-> hmmm... seems a rare happening, but that's part of the fun)
Something to make people want to touch the things in it;
A building in which air and light can freely flow."

What we end up with is a structure that's as beautiful inside and out, as the things put on display.



We can't show you our own pictures of the displays though, because Mr. Miyazaki was smart enough to ban cameras from indoors. Makes sense- if people were too busy snapping pictures, how could they let go and have fun?
In short, the displays are detailed, hands-on ways to explain animation, using Miyazaki's life's work as the medium.

I borrowed this picture of a display from the web:



We're geeks for Tottoro...




an *amazing* amount of detail was put into this place. Stained glass windows featuring animation charactors, a movie theatre in which visitors can what a short, original film, spiral staircases winding up through the courtyard. This one below is for my Dad, the brick collector. (Tom or Mom, make sure you show this to him!)



Maybe the best part is the Neko Bus room. which features a HUGE plush cat bus, just like the one in "My Neighbor Tottoro". This tame kitty invites kids to take a ride, tug on it's tail, or do flips off the top... they're on their own, though, cause no adults are allowed inside (sad!) I still had fun watching the babies climb in and out of the windows.



sorry if this post sounds like a commercial. maybe the "original film" we saw in there brainwashed us all...

Shinkansen Video

Since I figure most people reading this will never travel by bullet train, I'd give you a little taste of what it's like. Click the image above & be whisked away at 185 miles per hour. I guess that would make this video about 3 miles worth of Japan. Honestly don't think the clip does a great job of showing off the speed until about 30 seconds into it. The real climax for me is when it rolls through a station at the end and everything is so close it just goes insane. The still above is from that part. Some thoughts about and highlights from our trip when we can actually think straight again.

Bonus Images:


Mt. Fuji looming over small town. The line kind of wraps around the mountain so it is in view for quite some time from various angles. That's some very smart planning.


And that's what the ground actually looks like for most of the trip. I find staring at it to be a perfect way to zone out.