岡崎花火大会２０１２：Okazaki Fireworks Festival 2012

So after Shinrabanshow, the visual kei fest, we spent a little bit more time in the Okazaki / Nagoya area.

And on Saturday night, there was the yearly Okazaki fireworks festival. Last year, I went in yukata with some friends, and it was super fun! So I was excited to go back with Guillaume and different friends this year.

Rachael came in from Gifu, Miho came in from Nagoya, and we met up with Carine and went over to the house of one of her boyfriend's friends for a bar-b-que.

The view of the fireworks from their mini backyard was wonderful, the people were super super nice (and the friend was super into punk, so we got to giddily talk about that for a while - I really don't know how I'm going to separate myself from Japan and being able to see Japanese music live whenever I want), and there was even a bit of vegan food!

I was really happy that we were able to watch them from a yard, because otherwise the area was so crowded there was barely room to walk, much less sit.

There were also quite a few kids there, so they had lots of small fireworks set up for us to do. There's this one that's apparently super popular in Japan and just sort of hangs down and only gets bright towards the very end. Of course, though, my lit part managed to always fall off and die before the very end, so I never got to see mine looking cool. :-(

The next day we decided to head into Nagoya for the day - despite it being Guillaume's 3rd time in Japan (and second time in Okazaki), he'd somehow never been to Nagoya.

We went over to check out the castle, which I also had somehow never been to before. I was happy to finally go.

We were unfortunately a little bit rushed, because we got there quite a bit later than we had originally planned and we had to meet up with Miho and Will for lunch, but it was still cool.

The gardens were really beautiful, and there was actually a lot of cool stuff to see both inside and outside the castle. There also seemed to be some sort of festival going on, so there were lanterns set up everywhere. It was really beautiful.

Then we met up with Miho and Will for lunch.

We of course had to do purikura - it was Guillaume's first, and I think he really enjoyed it.

We had a good time hanging around Sakae before heading over to Osu Kannon.

I spend a LOT of time in both of those areas, so it was cool to get to show Guillaume - I didn't really get the feeling that he was all that impressed, though. I thought it was especially cool this time, because there was a cosplay festival going on.

I still can't really figure out if this was a girl or a guy

We saw TONS of people dressed up in every possible anime costume imaginable. I literally had NEVER seen that many cosplayers gathered in one place, even when I went to the cosplay festival in France.

And with that, the end of our time in the Aichi area. 以上です。

プレゼント

Yesterday, I got some presents!!!! Three, to be exact. I love presents! Though I don't know if we can really call these presents - just things that were given to me.

And yesterday I really needed them, because Rachael and I were feeling sad.

First, we went to the Fukuro museum in Tokyo Hands at 名古屋駅, because Rachael has been telling me about the cool bags there, and I wanted to see them.

And then we were walking over to 栄　(Sakae) when this somewhat crazy person approaches us all repeating all over and over again "アメリカは一番悪い”　- America ha ichiban warui, which means "America is the worst." For some reason, me being me, I thought that maybe this person would have something interesting to say, so I turned and was all like "Don't you think North Korea is worse." And he was all "No, North Korea's good. America is the worst." And then he just kept repeating it over and over again.

Still for some reason having faith that maybe this person could have an INTERESTING conversation about why America is the worst, I was all "Why?" And his response was "Obama. Obama is the worst. America is the worst. America is stupid. Stupid. Stupid. You're all stupid. America is the worst." At that point, I left it alone.
But it made me really sad. It made Rachael really angry, and she wanted to punch the guy. It just made me sad.

Anyhow, point being - I thus needed something to cheer me up.

On Saturday, I went with Rachael and Steven to see free outdoor concerts in 栄.

It was super fun, and Rachael and I talked a lot to the singer of alfabeto, who told us that he was going to bring us some small figurines the next day, Sunday.
And when we went back on Sunday, he actually DID bring us little figurines. I got a small blue fish, and Rachael got a cutey face little goldfish.

me, alfabeto singer, Rachael, our new fishy faces

Between lives, we went over to the jewelry shop that we for some reason frequent (even though I've never bought anything - thank you, Rachael, for buying lots of jewelry). We were talking to one of the workers there, Kazuki, and he for some reason gave me this little picture of himself as a devil. Super cute! He likes Pay Money to My Pain. I like Pay Money to My Pain. Happiness.
For now, it's hanging out in 岡崎　(Okazaki) with me for a while, but when I leave, I'll give it to Rachael so it can hang out in 岐阜 (Gifu) with her.

Then we headed back to Sound Street or Sky Air or whatever it's called to see a band called The Reviews Scorer, that we had seen once a couple months ago. They were awesome then, and they were awesome again.

After their show (during which they were all wearing t-shirts with American flags on them, and this made me feel somewhat better about things), I asked the singer if they had a CD or something, and he said yes, and to hang on. And then he came back with their two CDs and just gave them to us. He was all "サービス、サービス、内緒" and then making the "shhh," sign, like we shouldn't tell anyone.
I still have NO IDEA why he decided to give us the CDs, but I'm listening to one now, and it is amazing.

The next time they are playing is the same day as Freedom Nagoya, so I am sad that I won't get to see them. Apparently they auditioned for Freedom Nagoya and failed (which makes me super sad, as they are amazing. I totally don't get why. Though apparently they made the money sign when I said that I don't get why). I wish I could see them again AND go to Freedom Nagoya.

So then a little bit later we went over and asked them to sign the CDs that they had given us, and they were SO nice!

Me with Hiro (who is not a hero), the bassist, and Yasuhiro (who is a ninja), the drummer.

Rachael has the picture of us with the whole band. We must have talked to them for at least 20 minutes. Shockingly, they were actually the ones who suggested we take pictures.

So yes, those were my three presents yesterday! And this was supposed to be a super short blog post about that, but it has now turned into a manuscript. Sorry I'm so wordy.

And now to write more about Kristen and Shawn's visit.
以上です。

Kristen and Shawn Visit: Part 1: Hanging in Okazaki and Nagoya

KRISTEN AND SHAWN ARRIVE

Because flying from America to Japan is super long and exhausting, we decided to hang out in Okazaki and just chill on their first day here. Which meant waking up leisurely, going to see Yamasa and some of the places I used to work, and then heading to the enormous Book Off over Seiyu so we could look at used things. Shawn was into this. After a delicious curry cauliflower lunch made chez me, we headed up to Okazaki Castle and walked around there being all touristy for a bit.

I ended up with ONE whole picture of our castle day, and this is it. If you look closely, you can see Kristen on the other side. Sadness that this is my only one. Perhaps Kristen and Shawn will send me their pictures later.

Then Krist and Shawn came to work with me in Daimon so that Shawn could meet my boss, Taka, because he drives race cars, and Shawn loves racing. Taka was kind enough to drive him around in his car and to offer to drive him around later.

After work, we headed to KARAOKE!!!! Since Kristen's all a karaoke lover, we had to go at least once while they were here.

Cesar, Carine, and Idit also came to hang out with us, and Kristen and Shawn managed to get into the Japanese songs we sang even though they didn't understand them. They, of course, both did some amazing rock ballads!

After karaoke, they got to go racing on a mountain in Gamagori while I went home to finish packing things up for my move and to hang out with Carine.

Next day, NAGOYA. I of course had to bring them to Toganji temple, because I LOVE it there, even if no one else here seems to have ever heard of it.



How could you not love this adorable little Buddha face with his elephants surrounded by such greenery?

Then we met up with Rachael for lunch at Nagoya's vegan restaurant, the Pupu Kitchen. It was my first time there, and I'm sad I waited so long. We ate vegan donburi, and it was totally beyond delish! Definitely recommended if you ever find your way to Nagoya. Just make sure you check the opening times.

After a brief tour of Sakae and Osu Kannon, we headed back to Okazaki for dinner with my new host stay family. Kristen actually tried to eat sushi, which was totally shocking to me. She didn't actually like it, but she TRIED it! She also tried pumpkin tempura and loved it. We were all very proud of her!

The next morning, we woke up super early and headed to Kyoto. More to come soooooon! :-)

Sakae Spring 2012, サカスプ2012 DAY 2

Note: Those that get this by e-mail, go to the actual page if you want to see the youtube links.

So, after a late night out Saturday　(I actually didn't finally go to sleep until around 3 in the morning), I woke up and Rachael and I headed to the onsen (good job, Saya, on picking a hotel with a 露天風呂- rotenburo, even if I am now even more broke than the already broke I was) (Saya and Mari had to get ready for their dates; they skipped out on day 2) for a relaxing soak to get us ready for a day of concert hopping.

Then we met up with Steven and Nate and headed over to Magic Theater　for

MILKBAR

I've been hearing about MILKBAR for ages (I guess their friends with some other bands I like) and listening to them on youtube. They're kinda slow, kinda folksy, kinda rock, and, in a perhaps weird way, they remind me somewhat of the Radwimps.
Nate thought they were kind of boring, but I thought they were an absolutely perfect start to a day of concert hopping. The singer was incredibly passionate about what he was singing, to the point that, with his last song, crying out "君に涙、僕に涙”　I actually almost started crying myself. I definitely wanted to go home and listen to the song a thousand times over again.
They've also got a stand-up bass, which adds a a sort-of unexpected and extremely pleasant level to their sound. Totally into them!

ROOKIEZ is PUNK'D



So then we headed downstairs to Ozon (how convenient that Ozon and Magic Theater are in the same building) for a band that I love and had previously seen several times.
They did a song for an anime that both Rachael and Steven love (Dararara or something - I've never heard of it), so they got super into it. Naturally. They have a sort-of rock/hip-hop/pop sound that really appeals to me, and they even have a couple songs (i.e. Eggmate of the Year) that are super pop-punky. <3
I also saw them at Sakae Spring 2011, and it was sort-of amazing to realize how big they've gotten. The crowd was at least 3 times larger than it was last year when I saw them at R.A.D. Probably even more than three times larger. Apparently, they also did a song for Bleach - apparently, you do an anime song, you get big.
Anyhow, as expected, they totally totally ROCKED!



Flip played after ROOKIEZ is PUNK'D at Ozon, and I kind of wanted to stick around and see them. But Steven and Rachael were hungry, so we went down to get them pizza, and when I sat down, my feet said thank you, so we just chilled for a bit.

The ROOTLESS



And I'm glad we did chill for a bit, because in the end we headed over to Tight Rope a bit early to see Real Reach, and as such, we got to see the last few songs of The ROOTLESS, a band I'd never heard of before, who was AMAZING.
Pure rock, at least the songs we saw. And with a huge crowd - there were seriously so many people in Tight Rope that I'm surprised they let us in. (I've just discovered that they have a song in One Piece, which would explain the crowd)
While they are totally not visual kei, I found that they kind of had a bit of a visual kei sound (though I'm sure they would NOT like to hear that), and I was thus totally into it.

REAL REACH



I love Real Reach. Like seriously love them. Totally American 90's style punk rock, done to Japanese perfection. They're one of the first Japanese bands I ever got into (along with Special Thanks, Stompin' Bird, Shachi, and Saboten), and I have literally been trying to find a way to get to see them ever since getting to Japan.
As they seem to be 名古屋(Nagoya)based, this really shouldn't have been hard, and yet. . .somehow literally every time they've played, I've not been able to go.
So after two years of trying, Sakae Spring 2012 was my first time, and it was even more awesome than I possibly could have expected. I actually even accidentally moshed and had a great time doing it (I don't think I've enjoyed moshing since I was, like, 21ish).
And when they were doing their towel song (every Japanese band seems to have a neck towel song), one of the dudes threw his neck towel in my direction, and it landed on my head, but I was so busy jumping around like a crazy person that I didn't notice until the person beside me stole it off my head.
THEY WERE SO AWESOME! Definitely the highlight of my day!

THE CLUTCH

The discovery of the day - The Clutch! (Guillaume says we should change their name to Les punks de la foret) Since on Saturday, all of the awesome bands seemed to be playing at X-Hall, after Real Reach we headed over there and managed to see a good bit of the Clutch's set.
And they totally rocked. For serious. There is something about Japanese rockers doing what I think of as epitaph-style punk that's just really perfect. They totally brought back memories of listening to Hi-Standard in high school, of road trips to Lake Charles on the weekend to see whatever band the L.A.D.S had planned (I realize that probably means next to nothing to everyone but me, but just - brought back some mega awesome memories).
It seems rare for me to hear new music like that nowadays that I actually WANT to keep listening to (am I getting old?), but I totally wanted to keep listening to them. More and more and more.

suzumoku



After so much awesome rock, it was time for a bit of a rest, so we headed over to Blue Note for suzumoko, a slower, more folksy singer that I totally love. It was nice to sit down for a bit. We met up with Nate and Joanna there, and they both thought he was boring. Rachael thought he lacked stage presence. Not me.
Sure, he didn't really move a lot around the stage, and he didn't really have much to say, he just stood there singing and singing and singing. And somehow that just felt really intense and powerful to me (I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I associate opening your mouth really big when you sing with passion - as both suzumoko and milkbar singer opened their mouths enormously wide).
Anyhow, it was beautiful.

Knock Out Monkey



Then back to X-Hall for Knock Out Monkey, the last band of the day. I have an album of theirs that I love, so I was totally looking forward to seeing them live, and. . .let's just say that they rocked so hard that they actually managed to beat out Real Reach for best band of the day.
Lots of skanking, moshing, and head-banging. I can't decide if I can call them punk or just rock or what. I guess it doesn't matter - what matters is that they are awesome. Pure awesome. And pure awesome times were had.

All in all, a totally awesome two days, and I'm sort-of sad when I think that this is probably my last Sakae Spring. (I just have to keep reminding myself that next year I will be going to Insubordination Fest).
Two bands of the day I'm sad I missed: BIGMAMA and Howl Actions. I'd actually never heard of BIGMAMA before, but the singer of Glory Jackpot System recommended them, so I listened when I got home, and I totally LOVE. THey were at Quattro, though, and I really didn't think it would be possible to get in.
I could be wrong, but I think Howl Actions is from 岡崎　(Okazaki). Anyhow, they're really good, but they were playing at the same time as Real Reach, so that was out before it was in.

And this is extraordinarily long (I can't help it - I love music!), and I doubt anyone will read it all the way through. Except maybe me in the me future.