We will rock you...

Saw Queen (with Paul Rodgers) last night at the Saitama Super Arena (which is exactly that - it's huge!). Have to say it was pretty amazing and Bryan May's guitaring is absolutely phenomenal!! V. impressed!

I wanna bento

The brand new tune from Niikawa's very own - 'Bento Brothers' is now available for download free at this site:

http://d5.yousendit.com/E/1V72GSKPMOIHN25SPKX2SV0VIW/Iwannabento.mp3
The Bento Brother's tell me that the piece is all about waking up in the morning and wanting to eat a large bento (as opposed to the smaller ones), along with some jam and toast and assortment of other tasty treats. It's also about war and peace, world poverty, the universe and Halloween. Don't miss them at this year's Toyama Halloween Party. One night only!

A quick word about speech contests

Last Saturday I saw two of my students participate in the Toyama Prefecture Junior High School Speech Contest - and what a strange event it was!

The competition started at 1pm and didn't finished until about 5.30pm, by which time we had all watched about sixty students talking about all sorts of things from world poverty, to how they broke their leg, or how nice their friends were, to why maps in Australia are upside down. It was a real marathon.

What was particularly interesting was the delivery of most of the speeches. Some of the students were prancing around left, right and centre, and gesticulating like their lives depended on it! I can't begin to imagine the amount of time and effort that must have gone into it all.

Unfortunately my students didn't win (it may have been the lack of gesticulation and prancing). Which was a real shame considering we had trekked out of the countryside and ventured into the city. I would have thought we should have got some credit for that - we are but country bumpkins.

Kicking out the jams at school...

This Monday was a very strange day at school. Arrived slightly bleary-eyed after a hard weekend of eating, drinking, and speech contests to be told that our local Board of Education were putting on a rock concert. I couldn't believe my ears - and quickly imagined a bunch of suited-up middle-aged Japanese salarymen rocking out in front the school.

This was not to be.

Instead we were treated to a concert by Terauchi Takeshi (kindly see picture above) - a man who (according to his good self) invented the guitar! This was too good to be true. 'What the hell was going on here?' I kept on asking myself as I sat with the entire Junior and Senior High Schools of Asahi (and some of Terauchi's fans who'd obviously sneaked in). This could never happen in England.

Terauchi is apparently quite famous all over the world: especially in America, Russia and South America. But I have yet to find any Americans who has ever heard of him. But he played a pretty mean guitar, and his band were tight. Even so, it couldn't stop the scores of school kids nodding off, and one of the English teacher's from inspecting the inside of his eyelids.

Catch him at a High School near you!

Sorry...

Sorry, no blog-posting recently. Have been rather busy with one thing or another, and will no doubt write all about it at a later date.

Bye-bye

Japanese country life

Being a JET out in the Japanese countryside obviously has its up and downs. For some the downs seem very obvious indeed - not really a lot to do, not many other foreigners around you and so on. There is a huge difference between town and country wherever you go - but in Japan this difference is definitely more pronounced.

A JET living in Osaka or Tokyo is living a completely different life to mine. They could probably get by without very much Japanese at all, could buy Western-style food at all hours of the day and, I would imagine do a lot of similar things that they would do back in their own country (go to the cinema, pub, eat Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding!!!)

But outside of a Japanese mega-metropolis it is much more difficult to do these kind of things - a casual visit to the cinema is a major excursion!

But a look around you reveals all sorts of wonders about Japanese culture. Like most other places in the world the countryside is always going to be more conservative, and although at times this can make life a little different for the outsider, it also means that old traditions are carried on with little or no change.

So over the past year I have gone to regular classes in Japanese taiko drumming, koto and tea ceremony. With my taiko group I have been to more festivals than you can shake a large stick at - festivals that otherwise I had absolutely no idea existed. Festivals different in every way from size to attitude - from the cheery blossom festival with the dancing geishas, to the massive Fukumitsu festival with the drunken crowds, to the tiny Cosmos festival last weekend. All these Japanese festivals provide their own charm and insight into Japanese culture.

Playing the taiko, koto, and going to tea ceremony class has taught me so much about Japanese culture; and because it is in the countryside, you feel that it is as close to the traditional as you are ever going to get. Being in the Japanese countryside you can get some idea of old Japan. A Japan that has long gone, but who's general thoughts and attitudes still remain - from practicing the same taiko song over and over again to the zen-like delicacies of the tea ceremony. I have learnt more from Japan participating in these activites than I have visiting temples and shrines and my many sight-seeing trips.

Old Japan is alive and well.

When will I be famous?

Last night a strange thing happened - I watched myself on Japanese TV.

My Japanese teacher invited me round to her house to watch the interview live on her TV. I was sat there nervously eating the food which she prepared with her husband, drinking a beer and waiting to hear the words 'ALT' and 'Marku-san'.

Of course - it happened and a very strange sensation came over me as I listened to the NHK studio discuss this strange foreign creature called 'Marku-san' to some length before showing a mini-documentary of the life according to a rural ALT.

I know most of us who live out here in Japan are probably used to feeling a bit different from everyone else around us; but when there is about 10 minutes set aside in a news programme discussing you it really does press the point home.

They managed to interview everyone from my taiko teacher and various other taiko players (I had no idea what they were saying about me), to my kids at one of my shogakko's! They also decided to show shots of me entering the classroom, playing the drums and poking a kid with a taiko stick!

But overall, despite being a very strange experience and having worries about not being a good celebrity (see earlier blog) I felt it turned out quite well.

Which was nice.

My favourite cities...

Having just come back from Hiroshima this weekend I have decided to make a list of my favourite Japanese cities - High Fidelity style. So here's my top 5 Japanese cities (in no particular order) -

1. Hiroshima: What a cool city! Didn't really expect much before I went but was very surprised when I got there. Despite the terrible tradegy all those years ago there is a really good atmosphere in ths place. The Hiroshima museum especially was very well-done I thought, displaying what I considered to be a very accurate picture of what happened 60 years ago. Also the local speciality - Hiroshima okonomiyaki is better than Osaka's.
Nightlife: Good. Lots to do.
Site-seeing: What with the powerful symbolism of the Atomic bomb dome, coupled with the Itsukushima 'one of Japan's best sites' Torii at Miyajima - this is all you want from a city.
Down-side: Callum's hiccup episodes after a few pints.

2. Kanazawa: The high point of this place is definitely the ninja temple and Ken-roku-en gardens without a doubt: the garden being what you expect from a Japanese garden; and the temple being one of the most unusual I have ever seen.
Nightlife: Don't know. Suspect it's pretty good though.
Site-seeing: There's a lot to see. Essentially you can really get a good sense of Japanese culture (old and new) with the garden, many temples, the Samurai house and the Geisha district. Bonus point for not featuring on most people's tourist trail of Japan (being favored over Kyoto).
Down-side: A long way to walk between all the places of interest (but that really is nit-picking).

3. Nagoya: As you can probably tell from earlier entries - I really like Nagoya. It has big wide open streets and it doesn't feel really crowded like Osaka and Tokyo. However I think having a friend living there might well impair my judgement somewhat, because when it comes down to sight-seeing there really isn't much to do. Although it does have the Tokugawa museum which has loads of old samurai swords and other cool stuff from that period in Japanese history.
Nightlife: I would say as good as Tokyo or Osaka, if not better. Gets all the big world names in when they come to Japan. In fact compared to clubs I have been to in Osaka and Tokyo it definitely is better.
Sight-seeing: Not really much other than the expo (finished now), the new old-style castle and the Tokugawa musuem. There may be more, but nothing that particularly grabs the eye.
Down-side: Sight-seeing - it lacks all the things that Kanazawa boasts, namely old temples, shrines etc.

4. Kyoto: What can you say? It's definitely the best big city to visit as there is so much old stuff. More temples and shrines than you can shake a large stick at, beautiful gardens, an old castle and lots more. It's very touristy though especially at the big temples like Kiyomizudera, but a little walk off the beaten track and you find loads of other interesting but less-crowded places. Some really beautiful walks as well (Philosopher's path for example).
Nightlife: Don't know.
Sight-seeing: Everything you'd expect at the cultural capital.
Down-side: Too touristy at the main sites.

5. Nara: I like this city, but out of all of the above, I would put this at no 5 on the list. It's small, there are some beautiful walks and its probably got one of Japan's best temples -Todaiji. But all-in-all there is really not enough to do here if you stay longer than one or two days. It's a city, but feels more like a town, which of course has its good and bad points.
Night-life: No idea. But doesn't strike me as a place which would have much.
Sight-seeing: As a daytrip I think Nara would score top marks. You can have a really interesting and packed day looking around all the temples and Shrines in Nara park, deer watching, and so on. But anything more that than and I think you're going to be pushing it.
Down-side: It's just a day trip thing. But that isn't really a bad thing.

So there we are! If I could have put Sapporo in I would have done, but there's not enough space and I've only allowed myself 5!

I read the news today...oh boy!

At the moment my profile in Asahi has somewhat sky-rocketed, and something tells me its only going to increase. This is due to the local cable TV interview which I did a few months ago, a monthly column which I write in the local Asahi monthly newsletter, and a few other TV interviews which will be aired in the near future.

Last week I had another interview with Mirare (the local cable channel) and last night with the big one -NHK!!!! They came to film me hitting a taiko drum (and to do an interview). Incidently, this means that not only the local folk in my area will see my ugly mug, but the whole of Toyama. Hee hee! So the strange looks and stares I get when I go to the supermarket are only going to increase!

Now the thing is I don't mind talking/performing in front of a camera (at school and University I loved performing in plays and in rock bands); but there is something very different about having a camera shoved right in your face whilst are trying to look serious/normal in any way!!! In fact it's very difficult to film anyone going about their day normally.

But most people in Japan seem very good at this. I have no idea why. In fact most of the kids at taiko last night seemed quite unfazed by the camera crew. I have spoken to some teachers at school and they can offer no explanation. It must be that most are used to these sorts of thing from a young age. For example, everyday at Junior High school a different student will stand up in front of the whole school and make an announcement - something that would have given me nightmares as a kid!

So, last night the NHK camera crew came to taiko practice to film me banging on a drum. The cameraman captured me playing from all angles - from above, the side as well as the appealing worm-eyes view! What didn't help was that each time the camera 'clicked on' my 'gaijin-in-crime' John made my laugh by pulling stupid faces off camera. So God only knows what it's going to look like. Hopefuly when they come to film me teaching (!!!!) at Elementary school this Thursday I'll be a little more used to it!

The NHK interview will be shown next Thursday 13th October @ 6.10pm. The cable interview will be on every (!!!!) day starting from this Friday 7th October and will run for a week. Maybe Newsnight or Parkinson might be interested!

Note to self: I would make a terrible celebrity!

Hoo hum...

Feeling alittle bit under the weather this morning after my house party on Saturday night. Drank rather too much after a completely dry week. Not a good thing this binge drinking. Must drink in moderation!!

But the house party went well. Apparently we could be heard all the way down the street! Luckily the police weren't called! If they had they would have found a flat full of drunks and someone taking off his clothes in my living room! Ha ha!