Asano Taiko 400th Anniversary Celebration

I took a day off from work to head out to the Hakusan area in the Ishikawa prefecture for Asano Taiko's 400th Anniversary Celebration (June 4 - June 7). It was a pretty chill weekend to tell you the truth, although I was sick during the time I went...sucks. But anyway, because I found out about this event later than most people who knew about it, I wasn't able to take any workshops. Or at least I thought.

I ran into Yuta's sister, Julia, and she was able to get me into a singing/okedo workshop with Kodo's most senior member, THE Yoshikazu Fujimoto. It was such an awesome class.

Yoshikazu Fujimoto is SO cool~!!!

I also thought that I wasn't going to get into the concert, but thankfully, I was able to squeeze in. I watched "THE TAIKO CONCERT" from the cry room of the theater.

Other than the workshops and the concert, there were things being sold and mini live concerts at the Asano site. I even ran into Bryan & Maz of TAIKOPROJECT, Tiffany & Kristy of Sacramento Taiko Dan, and Chabo & Megan of Shidara. I was also invited to help carry the portable shrine to bless the Asano site. It was awesome times.

With Bryan & Maz

With Chabo, Tiffany, & Megan

With Kristy

This was SO heavy~!!!

It was a good weekend filled with nothing but the sound of taiko. I'm inspired to really do something with taiko this year. I feel it's time. Wish me luck, everyone~!!!

四郷千両太鼓 Weekend

Last weekend (Saturday, March 14th), my friend Asako invited me to her home town in 和歌山県 (Wakayama prefecture) because the group there, 四郷千両太鼓 (Shigo Senryo Daiko), was having a concert. Shigo was the group my older sister Kamille joined when she was a JET ALT back in the day. It was also the beginning of her love for taiko.

Anyway, it took almost 3 hours and 3 train transfers to get from my apartment to 和歌山県. But that was after I went to Uji - 15 minutes from my house in the opposite direction - to get some omiyage for Asako's parents and for Shigo. I didn't mind though; it was all for taiko. Btw, here's a random picture of Asako's mom's hina matsuri doll collection.

Crazy, huh? Pretty awesome, I say.

Interestingly enough, my "day trip" to Wakayama turned out to be an over-night stay, hence why I got Asako's parents omiyage. They graciously allowed me to crash at their house, which by the way is less than a 5 minute walk from Shigo's dojo. CRAZY~!!! I bought omiyage for the group, too, because I was invited to their after-party to mingle, eat, drink...and play...maybe?

There was a VERY small problem on the way there. You see, I had used my ICOCA card which is similar to the Kanto region's SUICA card and Hokkaido's KITACA card - a debit like card for riding the trains so you don't have to fumble around with coins and bills to buy train tickets. I didn't realize that the area I was going to was SO 田舎 (rural) that the card wasn't acceptable anymore. Thankfully Asako was there to help me through that (I met up with her and her baby, Mio, in 橋本市 [Hashimoto City], the city where my sister lived).


I didn't have time to drop my crap off at the house, so I brought everything to the concert hall in かつらぎ町 (Katsuragi Town). There, Asako and I ate bentos (from her parents' bento shop) before the concert - it was DE-LE-JUSS bento times~!!!

The concert was pretty awesome. They played a few original pieces, some kids performed a piece, and a number of pieces made famous by 鼓童 (Kodo), the world's premier taiko ensemble, were performed. Anyone who lives in Japan and plays taiko knows that virtually ALL the taiko groups in Japan play 2 or more pieces from 鼓童. But I was indifferent to that; just being able to be AROUND taiko is a blessing. Check out their original piece entitled "Mドリーム" (M Dream).

I was able to briefly meet the 2 ALTs that were currently performing with Shigo. They were pretty nice people. I was hoping to get to talk with them a little more, but they had a prior engagement and was unable to attend the after-party.

After the concert, we finally headed to the house where we relaxed until Shigo was finally done cleaning the concert hall, packing up, and unloading the gear back into the studio. I didn't head over to meet them at the dojo till about 12:30am.

There was beer, bento, sushi, beer, fried-food platters, beer, pizza and beer. Everyone seemed so nice ESPECIALLY because they knew I was Kamille's younger brother and that I'm a seasoned taiko performer. Everyone was busy laughing, drinking, smoking, eating, and drinking when they started passing around the comment papers from the audience.


Yes, they read EVERY single one of them. While they were reading, I took a picture of their cool HUGE okedo odaiko. They finally finished reading all the comments at around 2:30am. Seeing that my beer glass was empty, one of the group's top players, Hiroshi, asked me to sit next to him as he poured me more beer and talked all night about our passion for taiko. He's a pretty cool cat; I'd love to hang out and play taiko with him in the future for sure. I didn't get to sleep until before 4:00am. What a night~!!!

What a DOPE drum~!!!

Me & Hiroshi

When I finally woke up just before 12:00 noon, Asako's mother prepared a GIGANTIC lunch. I should've taken a picture, but I wasn't fully awake enough to remember to bust out my camera. We had オムライス (omelet rice), clam soup, 焼きそば (yakisoba), tofu, grilled ハマチ (hamachi), 海老天ぷら(shrimp tempura), サツマイモ天ぷら (sweet potato tempura), and some kinda snail meat. You think that's enough food~!!? It was so good AND all homemade from their shop (their shop is part of their house)~!!! I couldn't finish it all~!!!

They sent me away with some homemade sushi. Man, that was good, too.


Finally getting back home, I was inspired to really get off my thinking block and get to work. I'll be on an artist-kick for a while...I hope. WISH ME LUCK~!!!

IT'S MARCH~!!!

Can you believe it? It's freakin' MARCH~!!!

I know spring's coming because I've been sneezing ALL DAMN DAY...they started cutting down the plants in the river near school, so all the pollen's airborne. I hate allergies.

Anyway, I got back from taiko practice like an hour and a half ago or so~!!! Yeah, I'm back in taiko. It's been like almost over 4 months since my last practice. I started going to this awesome, energetic taiko group in Uji last week. I think the people in it are cool - a good mix of old and young people/men and women. Haven't had taiko blisters in a LONG time. Bittersweet nostalgia. I think I'm going to like this group~!!! Wish me luck. I need to buy my bachi soon.

Good news at my JHS. I coached 3 girls (2 Freshman and an 8th grader) who had a major English interview in Kyoto city. I was nervous because 2 of the girls were really shy and seemed to not believe in themselves enough to pass. That dissipated when I found out all 3 girls passed~!!! AWESOME~!!! I coached 3 boys and 1 girl last year for the same test. All 4 of those kids passed, too. I'm so proud of all of them.

On a general note, I think I've been going through so many changes. There were times where I would be SO down that I didn't even want to wake up. Other times, I would wake up laughing because I would be in such a good mood (sounds like I'm going crazy, yeah?).

Seriously, living outside of your daily norm changes you. Unlike my old self, I'm accepting the changes rather than fighting them. My eyes open more and more everyday. And now that it's still kind of the beginning of the new Lenten Season, I'll be expecting many more changes along my journey.

One thing I know is, I'll be more diligent when it comes to my blog. Updating events in a 4 month period bites.

Until the next blog~!!!

Who DOES that~!!?

Recap list...and...GO~!!!

5 Jan 09:
Didn't go to school, rather, the other place.

6 Jan 09:
At the other place again. Talked to a dude that wanted to meet me because he read my profile in the town magazine or something. Said he's always wanted a foreign friend that shared the same hobby that he did. Interesting. I like how my supervisor told him all the places I work AND where I live. Thanks a lot. The dude invited me to his house to play taiko. Hope he's not a freak. He kinda looks like Jackie Chan.

11 Jan 09:
Met up with Asako in Osaka. Met her husband, Goh, and her baby, Mio! She's SO cute~!!!

16 Jan 09:
Finally decided to meet up with Kazu, the taiko dude in the town over. Before hand, I decided to go to Uji to get an omiyage, thanking him for having me over for dinner. I was torn. Buy something inexpensive vs. something expensive. That was until I got a text from him.

"What do you think of this? I want to give it to you." or something like that. Attached was a picture of shime daiko...NO WAY, seriously? Maybe his English is not working for him. Maybe he's giving me the PICTURE as a gift.

Bought the more expensive omiyage JUST IN CASE he was going to give me a drum...but yeah right...right? Text #2.

"Did you see the photo? I'm giving it to you as a gift." I KNEW it. He's giving me the PHOTO as a gift...that HAS to be it~!!! If that's the case, who DOES that~!!?

Was picked up. We drove to his house. Before going into the main house, he asked me to step into his office.

"See this? This is my shime. Play it. Go ahead, it's ok." I played it, had a nice tune, awesome shime. "It's yours."

"What~!? No, I can't~!!!"

"No, I insist."

"What~!?"

Then his wife came out and told us that dinner was ready. I also met his baby girl. They have a cool house! We had sushi and Japanese fried chicken for dinner, all washed down by beer of course - Japan's water. Afterwards, did a little demo on a VERY young sounding drum. Got tired, so the misses drove; Kazu and his baby girl sat in the back. But before getting into the van, he ran into his office to grab the shime daiko. I TOTALLY didn't say anything about that!

Finally got to my house and thanked everyone for the meal and the ride and TRIED to book it up stairs. Kazu, however, yelled out of the van,

"Don't forget your drum!"

"Oh man, thank you SO VERY much~!!! This is such an AWESOME omiyage, thank you~!!!"

In my mind, I was like, "Who DOES that~!!?" But now, I can honestly say that I own my very own drum, now! Awesome~!!!

Btw, he invited me back to his house next Friday.

My First Taiko: Taka-chan

18 Jan 09:
Went to 三十三間堂 (Sanjūsangendō) to watch some older people and high schoolers do 弓道 (kyūdō - Japanese archery). It was awesome!

This guy's FIERCE, man, FIERCE~!!!

Check out Obaasama~!!! She's friggin' AWESOME~!!!

The Boys

The Girls

Girls Finalists

Today:
PAY DAY, BABY~!!! Gotta save for my trip to snowman land. Man, on Thursday, I have to go to the kindergarten here. Then next week on Tuesday, I go to the other kindergarten in the town over~!!! I hope I'll be ok. After all, they're but mere babies.

Oh yeah, I'll be meeting up with my taiko mentor, Kinoshita Sensei, from Canada Saturday in Osaka. I'm excited~!!!

Like I said, gotta get ready for my trip WAY up North~!!! SNOW LAND HERE I COME~!!! Crap, gotta put in my nenkyu soon.

SO MUCH TO DO~!!!

Back from the "Dead"

Ok yeah, so it seems like f-ing forever since I've blogged. Thanks to Japan for letting me have fast, reliable internet at work. Ahaha, jk, Japan's technology isn't reliable when you need it. But over one month later and my supervisor telling me "Yes. You will get internet next week." each week DURING that month, I finally have internet. Lord be praised (seriously, that's not sarcasm)~!!!

TODAY:

* first day of school

* did a 自己紹介 (jikoshoukai = self introduction) for the whole student body in English

* did a longer 自己紹介 for the whole faculty in 日本語

* no one told me how to dress afterwards for...

* SCHOOL GROUNDS CLEANING (weeding...in the f-ing sun...thanks)

NOTES: The kids are so wild. It's good and it's bad, but hey, I'm a wild guy, too. I know how to think at the level of these kids. This is going to be fun, challenging, and...well...different. By the way, I've made friends with both of my English teachers. They're awesome and have been helping me out a lot~!!!

Let's now rewind back to the weekend before last.

EARTH CELEBRATION:

SADO ISLAND~!!!

EC weekend was SO amazing. It took me 3 trains and a ferry to get to Sado, a trip probably around 7 to 8 hours in total. I met a guy named Temu, a Japanese native that has been travelling the world since he was 19 years old (currently 25). He likes to breathe, eat and do tricks with fire. Japanese hippies are awesome.

So I spent my weekend with my friends, Jessica Saiki (Las Vegas, NV. - Sado), Yoli Haynes (San Diego, Ca. - Kashiwazaki?), Jay Soley (Tampa, Fl. - Kashiwazaki), and Susan Chiang (Fort Worth, Tx. - Sado). I also made a whole bunch of other friends in the Niigata area. Even made friends with a Japanese photographer. I even ran into a few familiar faces from the North American taiko community. Shout-outs to TAIKOPROJECT, Odaiko New England, and UCSD Asayake Daiko~!!!

Aside from Kodo hosting, there was a Brazilian drum and base group playing. The concert was OFF THE HOOK, but I wish I got my groove on a little more. In Japan, people don't believe in going out with a bang (C'mon, man, it's drumming. Seriously, wtf). Regardless, I'll always be a die-hard Kodo fan. I wish I had pictures of the actual concert, but security would actually confiscate your camera if they saw you taking photographs (granted, you'd get your camera back...I think). Btw, I'll be posting more EC 08 pictures on my Facebook later on...or now...which ever comes first. I'm too lazy to post more here right now.

To say the least, the whole weekend was full of good food, shopping, hippies, music, dancing, and just hanging out. Sado is a beautiful place - filled with lots of greenery and gigantor critters. On the way back, Kodo performed a casual farewell performance. It sent chills down my spine; it was SO good. Then, the whole ferry ride back to Naoetsu port, people were playing their okedo taiko on the upper-most deck. What a nice weekend. I'm looking forward to EC 09 FOH SHO~!!!

Well, that should be a good enough update on my life. There have been a lot of other things going on in my life - frustration, irritation, confusion, reassurance, realization to name a few - but that's for another day. Now I'm off to bed. I need energy to figure out my first lesson on Wednesday. "Mr. G." - as the kiddies call me - needs to prepare.

がんばりま～す！！！