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 1

So, last year, I went to Sakae Spring 2011 in 栄(Sakae) in 名古屋 (Nagoya), and it was so awesome and I discovered so many amazing bands that I of course had to return again this year.

I was originally planning to only go on Sunday, but in the end I was somehow talked into going both days (I assure you, it wasn't hard) and eventually found myself in possession of a 2-day pass. Frankly, I'm glad I decided to go for both!! :-) We'll start with day 1 and later move on to day 2.

DAY 1

After work in 三好 (Miyoshi), I headed straight over to 名古屋(Nagoya), where I met up with Rachael, Mari, and Saya to get boba on our way over to the first concert of the day.

alfabeto

Since I posted their video a few days ago, a picture.



I'd seen them several times before, and each time I liked them even more and more. I think this time was definitely their best, though. I don't know if it's because they sound better inside (previously, I'd only seen 野外ライブ-outdoor show) or if it's just because they're actually getting better or because I'm starting to know the songs, but, well, they were awesome.
The bassist is amazingly psycho crazy when he plays (really, just n'importe quoi), to the point in which it almost makes me wish I were learning to play the bass and not the guitar.
In any case, they all look like they're having so much fun, and it totally makes me want to have fun with them!
Just my opinion, but I think they totally have potential to go far.

SILLYTHING

Try as I might, I can't find a video.
They played at X-Hall right after alfabeto, and we stayed to watch them because I liked the look of them. I'm glad we did, because these guys were seriously awesome. Punk rock like I think it's supposed to be, with a sound I wouldn't even begin to know how to describe. They seemed like the could care less about the crowd, which somehow fit with the image I immediately formed of them.

They also seemed crazy. I felt like I wanted to be friends with the bassist with his bleached blonde hair and short shorts (what is it with me wanting to be friends with bassists?), and I was almost afraid of the keyboardist. He was wearing a pink sweater under overalls, and the way he played kind of reminded me of:
well, you know how sometimes in horror movies, people get lost in small towns full of crazy inbred people that want to either breed with them or eat them? He reminded me of one of the people you would run into in one of those villages who would then later chase you around with an axe.
It somehow made his keyboard playing more passionate.

And the singer. Definitely gay. Quite probably insane. For the last song, they had these red and blue strobe lights flashing all over them, and he had this look in his eyes like maybe he'd just escaped from a mental institute. I seriously felt frightened for a moment. He also seemed to be chewing gum the whole time.
In any case, whatever they were trying to do, they totally pulled it off, and if they ever get around to putting something out, I'll definitely be getting a copy.

Glory Jackpot System


The first time I saw them was at Sakae Spring 2011, and after that show, they seemed to have all these groupy girls around them squealing, and at the time, while I liked them, I didn't get it. The second time I saw them, once again the same thing, and while I didn't get the attraction to the band MEMBERS, I got the music.
They have this sort-of hip-hop, electro-pop rock maybe somehow mixed in with a little bit of punk sound that. . .how to describe it. It's like when you eat a new food for the first time, and it tastes like nothing you've ever tasted before but it's like this pleasant explosion of wonderful happiness on your tongue, even though you don't really understand it. That's what their music is like for the ears. Which is probably why I didn't get it the first time, because I couldn't fully wrap my mind around it.
Anyhow, they totally rocked, and the crowd was totally totally into it.
And I might have fallen just a little bit in love with the singer, Karo (I finally get the squealy girls), who jumped down into the middle of the audience and did the doofiest yet awesomest dance ever. Rock!

going out

After that, we tried to go see 黒猫チェルシー (Kuroneko chelsea), because Saya likes them, but unfortunately the line to get into the club was super long, and by the time we finally left, it was too late to have time to go see any other bands. So Saturday was, unfortunately, a 3 band day (there was a lot of walking around between bands, because everyone walks slower than I do and I had a ton of stuff I had to deposit at the hotel we were staying at, since we were planning to go out). Still, awesome times were had.

After, we met up with Miho and Will and some of Saya's friends and headed out to Club ID - I didn't take any pictures, and thus I give you: Saya's collage.



This is already super long, so. . .Sakae Spring Day 2 to come soon (maybe even today)!!!!