Anyways I know I have been promising a comprehensive blog of my trip to Japan but as you can see things have been so busy I am never going to get to it. Here in it's place is part one of a half-assed out of order photo-blog!!!!!
Anyone that has listened to me ramble on about the store knows that RECORD SHOP BOY is the biggest influence on Celebrated Summer. BOY is located in Shinjuku and is like half the size of CS! Yet they somewhow rage over tons of shops 20 times their size. Always inspiring and as usual I walked with some great records. Here is the inside:
It can be pretty hard to make your way through a country where you do not speak the language but with a little thought and tenacity you can get where you are going. When it comes to punk shows things can be alienating even when everyone DOES speak the same language so I was feeling a little down at the RAZOR'S EDGE show off of Tokyo bay not being able to really communicate and just kind of hanging in a corner when these kids came to the rescue proving Punk and hardcore really is a international network of friends!
Their English was better than my Japanese but the conversation still just consisted of them saying the names of American Bands and Television shows and me returning ones I liked from Japan. There were lots of shouts of "JACK BAUER"! As the Japanese LOVE 24 and these Jokers tried to convince some Japanese girls that I was Travis Barker of BLINK 182 and or the guy in Japanese Visual Rock band MUCC. On top of that when introducing the kid in the BAD BRAINS shirt they said laughing "he...is ......GAY!) and all of them cracked up with the exception of the kid looking pained and going "no NO!" Proving that non-pc ribbing is not limited to the US. Amazing.
Later that night here is me and RAZOR'S EDGE. I know I am not smiling in the picture but I'm really happy!
My entire trip was made possible by a old friend of mine name Frank who let me stay with him in Nishi-ogikubu. He was there working with a Japanese toy company and it was great to catch up. I did not take any pictures of him but astute Internet fans may recognize the fellow bellow:
that is Jesse Conway who was nice enough to put me up on my side trip to Osaka. Jesse showed me around town and let me sleep on his floor! Awesome guy and single ladies! We hit some record shops but the best was easily PUNK AND DESTROY located in a tiny tiny room in the basement of another shop. Filled with great records and owned by one of the nicest guys: Jin. I walked with tons of great records and a new friend! Right across the hall from PUNK AND DESTROY is a small crust punk bar called KON-TON. GLOOM and AMEBIX records adorn the walls while the bartender spins punk records from behind the bar. Until that is Jesse mentioned I was straight-edge. the needle comes off of the player and out comes the JUDGE lp! Hillarious! On top of this the owner confessed to being in a band that played a NEXT STEP UP cover! Baltimore represents!
Here is a shot of PUNK AND DESTROY:
This is me and Jin in KON-TON
I did get away from punk shops and shows now and again. In Osaka I visited the peace museum and walked through the park and saw Osaka castle. Here is one of the mossed over inner-moats of the castle:
I drank a decent amount of this:
One of the main reasons to take the trip to Osaka was to see Balzac play. I'm a huge fan and was pretty excited to see them in their home town as opposed to the US. The last time me and my friend Chris and his Girlfriend drove to new Jersey to see them. While there we met a Japanese kid who had traveled to see the us shows. Communication was sparse but after that night I told him I would try to stay in touch and maybe we would meet if I ever returned to Japan.(I was there in 2004) I sent him a mail and sure enough as I was wondering lost outside of the venue(it was on the top floor of a shopping mall!) He shouts my name and saves the day! He also has a ton of cool Balzac stuff for me as a gift for which I am flattered to death. Me and him, his friend and Jesse all head to Shakey's Pizza before the show for more hanging out and talk that Jesse does his best to translate. Here we are at Shakey's Jesse is bhind the camera:
for the curious I am drinking green melon soda in this pic!
When not drinking the melon soda or qoo or starbucks it was GRAPE FANTA!:
My first trip to Japan and I missed going to the studio Ghibli Museum. I was crushed as I have been a huge fan of Kiki's delivery service, My neighbor Totoro and many other films of Hayao Miyazaki. This time I was not going to make that mistake so I got my tickets early and headed to Mitaka to check it out. I had read on-line complaints that none of the exhibits were in English and that the museum was not as impressive as expected. What garbage. First of all the films are so amazing as to transcend language, that is part of what makes them timeless and beautiful. and second it's IN JAPAN and they speak Japanese there so if you can't deal with that beter to not go. Anyways the museum was wonderful, filled with cells and sketches from all of the films huge animations. A giant cat bus for kids to climb on and a never before seen Totoro short film in the museum's theater. It was great and made me feel like a kid again, just like the films do.
You can't take any pictures in the museum but here is me under the sign and entranceway:
here is the ticket booth!
Also while in the Shibuya disc union punk mart I cam across this:
Again Baltimore represents!!!!!!!
While in Tokyo I was lucky enough to see Japanese legends GAUZE play. There were lots of Americans at the show and lots of friendly faces. I know that some bands get over-hyped but GAUZE were so amazing live I could not believe it. They were so fast and powerful but with all the catchiness and originality of their songs completely intact. It was unreal.
here are a few shots:
warhead and forward played as well as these guys:FIREBIRDGASS
MORE QOO!
i'LL POST MORE PHOTOS SOON, FEEL FREE TO RE-POST THIS!!!!!