Finallies Scattered Across Autumn

YES! I finally got it! That spine-tingling feeling running through all my neurons, muscles and veins at once! Though it’s never been gone, the move to my new place as well as dance and music have been sucking it out of me recently. I’ve been waiting for weeks for it to arrive at a time like this, knowing that it should arrive at some point, and here it is, FINALLY enabling me to write again! Of course I’m talking about INSPIRATION! That great evasive power which moves me to do the things that make life worthwhile... one of the elementary forces in my own circle of life: the cause and the effect, the product and the creator, the black and the white and all the colors you’ve never seen, the essence of my life force, and something that has a fascinating link to the concept of living in the NOW!

I was planning to give you a short list of contributing factors to the “why now (and not a week ago)?” issue, but after 208 words and realizing that I wasn’t even halfway, I figured I’d make it into the theme of this entry … so here we go!

Three days ago. I went to FrancFranc to buy a present for Nonchan’s birthday, and was extremely relieved to see that the 100.000-yen sofa of my dreams (one of those corner models that fits like 4 people) was still available despite being taken out of the internet catalogue. Even better, they tripled the amount of available colors, so, until my creditcard arrives, I’m stuck with the pleasant problem of which color best matches my apartment.

Three days ago. I finished my part of the choreography for Heartbeat Collective’s show at the university festival later this month, and it’s FUNKY! Can’t wait to have 6 people executing my movements. In 11 days, we need to show it to a judge of dance circle senpais in an effort to be selected to perform for the real thing on the 24th. Only half of the teams will pass the test, so tomorrow is a very important practice day. For the dance music heads out there, I went with that haughty naughty track called “Put Your Hands Up For Detroit” – for which I believe I owe Alexander Groot one.

Two days ago. I finished reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. After all these years of wondering what the hell that title meant, I now know that it was just waiting for the perfect time to drop into my life and help me further develop my own philosophy. There are two important things I got from this book. The first is a long-sought connection with someone else who shares my ideas about rationality, science and the union of the “classic” and the “romantic” perspective. The fact that that person, being fictional, wouldn’t qualify as “real” by all the classically thinking people doesn’t make much of a difference, as evidenced by this article about Japanese people who are serious about marrying manga characters. (Doesn’t it sound catchy though? "Come on, lose the 3D world already .. that’s so 21st-century!" - once again, Japan is on top of its game of pioneering the future and doing ridiculous crazy shit, and my growing sense of identity with this country allows me to say I’M PROUD OF IT!). Furthermore, in a fateful plot twist, I’m quite unconcerned with the insanity that that kind of deep thinking apparently tends to lead to (the main character completely loses it once and gets very close to a second disaster, but then there’s a sudden happy end), since I’ve gathered from various people that my old man had some serious brain discrepancies of his own, which fit beautifully into the picture.

The second thing I got from ZATAOMM (if my second band’s name wouldn’t already be Mindshaft Spirit Boots – making metal with Ari, Benkei and a Japanese chap called Taro since a month ago – I would probably make it this) is a decision to get my motorcycle license as soon as I can afford it. Cowabunga! From what I hear, it’s very cheap. Take this, for example. Something I’ve recently become aware of. Yet another advantage of living in Japan…did you think of this one yet? Here it is. ALL MOTORCYCLES COME FROM JAPAN. Well, almost. Anyway, they’re dirt cheap and there’s a terrific bike culture going on. Though I briefly wondered whether I should reconsider my idea that “bikers = coolness” after noticing that every other granny rides one here, I decided that it’s more entertaining to stick with the old thought…The Japanese are so cool! Honestly though, I already have a couple of friends that would be more than willing to go on long bike trips with me, and this is one temptation I’m eager to give in to.

Two days ago. I met up with Ikeyan and Nonchan for lunch, and to my very pleasant surprise we went to the most romantic café I’ve been to so far. Ikeyan found it online while looking for “good bread and coffee”. There’s no sign whatsoever on the outside, and even on looking through the undecorated windows I thought that it was just some family-run cardboard-box-selling business like the one next to my apartment. But no! Thou shalt look farther than thy eye beholdeth. It is in fact a bagel shop with exactly one employee, introspective music, photograph books about Tokyo in the 70s, the odd reference to French culture, a second floor with large windows letting in large doses of warm autumn sunlight, and delicious bagels (I went with fried pineapple/cream cheese, fried pork/cream cheese and something like peanut butter but made from something Japanese that is not peanuts). The specialty herbal tea (named after nearby Shimogamo shrine) was a delight, and I think I’ll have some good relaxed afternoons there this winter. Come to think of it, it reminds me a lot of winters a couple of years ago at my aunt Syl’s place. Same peace, same warmth.

Yesterday. Decided on the arrangement for the Jungle Mic song next in line for recording (starting on the 15th), and it’s getting groovier every time. Hung out at the studio for a couple of hours after practice finished – great atmosphere.

Today. Mail. I got a letter from my ISP today announcing the day – Wednesday next week - that my internet will FINALLY be connected. Despite 3 failed attempts at registrations and engineering works so far, I am kind of confident that this one will come through successfully. I also got mail from the University of Amsterdam – three copies of the monthly physics/math student magazine, this time containing an interview with me about studying in Japan. The effect of receiving an envelope with the UvA logo on it was very strong, and I could vividly imagine the NSA office and all the usual hustle and bustle back in Amsterdam. Reading that Wout and Joeri won the freshman-weekend beer competition also gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Today. I finished my Anki revisions in the afternoon for once, instead of at 2 am like every day lately.

Today. I just finished watching the last episode of Great Teacher Onizuka, an anime that has done a lot for me recently, most notably helping me to feel at home in my new place since I moved about a month ago, but also filling me in on what it means to be a teacher, what it means to be a teacher in Japan, and the coolness of motorbikes. The trigger for writing this entry…Highly recommended!

Today. My keyboard bricked out on me again and I’m waiting for instructions from the distributor on how to ship it back for repairs once more, freeing me from the sense of responsibility to organize performances for Jungle Mic. I was very aware of the risk involved with an attempted firmware update, almost assuming it to go wrong, so the disappointment was much less than last time. But with a riverside gig on Saturday, a club gig on the 14th, and recording on the 15th, time is more pressing this time. Fortunately, my man in Tokyo seems to be on it.

So you see, as long as you have about twenty awesome things happening in three days, you'll be sure to find inspiration enough to write another blog entry. Let's hope the next one will be shorter in the coming.



P.S. For those of you wondering how best to hold on to inspiration once you’ve got it: If you care to tell me how you do it, I’d be very happy, since I think it’s a very useful skill for anyone involved in any way with creative work, art, performance, expression and so on. I can tell you how I did it this time (I actually use this method quite a lot), but I’m convinced everyone has their own way, so the disclaimer reads “I cannot take any responsibility for the sense of loss and boredom you get after trying the following. However, if you do achieve success by these means, you are required to send 2.5 kg of homemade brownies to me by next-day delivery express mail.” Haven’t had brownies in ages.

Finally, then, the magic formula that enabled me to continue writing more than one paragraph…

*drumroll*


Listen to Cowboy Bebop and Naruto soundtracks.

Alrighty, I’m off to give Misa her Jordanian bath salt! Have a GRRRRRREAT Tuesday night!

P.P.S. You can check out Jungle Mic’s site-under-construction (check out the blog! Japanese, but with pix) here.

They Didn't Let Me Ride On Neko Bus

I’m sitting in Starbucks, listening to Jamiroquai. My tall green tea, the cheapest drink in the store at 340 yen, is finished and the empty mug is standing invisibly behind my laptop screen. It’s 8:40 pm on Tuesday, the second of three days of non-stop dreary rain, and I have ninety minutes left before I meet Misa. Tonight I’m breaking up with her.

The vacation has finally come to an end, and I’m working my way through a pile of chores, getting used to the feeling of responsibility once more. People have moved back, out and around, and I’m wearing a sweater for the first time in months. Kyoto’s smalltown feeling is slightly depressing, but melancholy moods like these make for productive creation.

It’s autumn, and I’ve been in Japan for exactly six months…

*REWIND*

Tokyo was a BLAAAAAST!!! In a nutshell, this is what happened.

I arrived, immediately felt at home, realized I’ve always been a city boy. I met old friends, made new friends, now have more friends there than here. Be it clubbing with Koki’s team and one of Japan’s best dancers, drinking beers in a dark park where the jogging never stops, enjoying a hearty takoyaki or nabe party, playing Super Nintendo all night or doing very irresponsible things in a friend’s 21^st-floor apartment, I went to sleep at 8 am every day and am still recovering from the jet lag.

Details, then. Remember Yokoo, Koki’s middle-school friend who I first met when they were heading back to their hometown Fukuoka for a week a couple of months ago and passed through Kansai? I probably spent 70% of my time in Tokyo with the guy, and it’s largely thanks to him that I now have the wonderful feeling that Tokyo is not the scary metropolis I anticipated it would be, but just another home, and a crazy fun one at that.

One of the best things was his driving me around on his motorcycle every day. Besides the first day, when I went around by train and foot with Koki, it was all bike. I saw most of the usual places – Asakusa, Ikebukuro, Akihabara, Ginza, Harajuku, Ueno, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Odaiba, Aoyama, Roppongi – and a bunch of places whose names I forgot. More than that: Thanks to being above ground and in the open air for the whole ride, I walked out with a tight-knitted whole of a city instead of the patchwork of towns that would have been impressed on me if I did everything by subway. It was my first time riding on (the back of) a motorcycle for more than a couple of minutes, and damn, it felt good. It’s going to be a tough decision which license I’ll get first, by the time I gather the money.

(the second pic is not his bike)

Sleeping in a different apartment just about every day helped to sharpen my perspective of Japanese normality, and made it easy to feel free – you’re just there for a couple of hours, do whatever you like, clean up a bit, and move on. I took this mentality too far on the last night, and am grateful to the friend who lives in that apartment for talking it out with me in a relaxed way – you rock, girl!

Ten days was a perfect length of time. I met everyone I had planned to, made a heap of new friends while bouncing from one party to the next with just enough to time to relax in the mornings, and left the city with things undone. Considering that my unlawful travel scheme worked and going to Tokyo is thus officially cheaper than going to school from Oubaku (though it takes nine times as long and requires nine times as many changes), I am very inclined to return to Tokyo soon. Maybe in the 5-day long Kyoto University Festival at the end of November.

Almost everyone I hung out with was originally from Fukuoka (a prefecture ten hours southwest of Kyoto, see map below). I've heard from various people that Fukuoka natives are open, friendly and like to have a good time, and I was indeed able to confirm this piece of information. More interesting, I picked up some Fukuoka-ben (dialect), and am struggling to refrain from using it back in Kyoto. It's just so catchy! I think I might be heading to Fukuoka around New Year's - the party is supposed to be great.

I also ate ramen three times. In chronological order, the biggest, the tastiest, and the spiciest ramen I’ve ever had. Definitely worth creating a new religion for.

Also, by a quite canny coincidence, the first H&M in Japan opened just five days before I arrived. Behold the organized monster that is Japanese society:

After walking for three blocks and turning a corner, I overheard a potential customer inquiring about the duration of the queue from that point. The official responded with ‘about an hour’… and it took me another three blocks and a corner turn to see the end of the queue. The next store will open in Harajuku in November. Perfect timing!

The rest of the pics, then ... proving that I did undertake some culturally educative activities after all! Koki's buddy was showing a compilation of three short movies on the floor below the floor where the paintings you can see on the pics below were hanging. I'm very interested in Japanese contemporary art, because I think it can teach me a lot about the relationship between Japanese and Western culture, the Japanese way of thinking, and all that yummy stuff. On the other side of time, I had a 90-year old calligraphy pro choose the kanji for my name (finally!). It turned out like this: 弥尾利, or ya-o-ri: the first character is quite obscure and appears in words and phrases that refer to buddhism and the lunar calendar, the second means tail, and the last means advantage. Man, that dude was one of the coolest people I ever met. Probably one of the last people alive who can actually read all those funky scrolls, and he toured my buddy and me around the exhibition, reading and translating for us with a wit that made me believe he must have been a serious playboy back in the day.

In all, I hope you realize that the reason why I say Tokyo was a BLAAAAAST!!! is only because it would be quite annoying if I used 1000000000000 exclamation marks instead of three.

*FAST FORWARD*

Finishing what I began, I broke up with Misa last night. It was emotional for both of us, but I don't doubt it was the best thing to do, and I have hope that we'll be able to maintain a lasting friendship.

Tomorrow I'm moving - my band's singer is generously driving me with my stuff -, and next week is the beginning of

another six months of CRAZY FUCKING AWESOMENESS!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. As for the title, yeah. Studio Ghibli Museum rocked and all, but holy Mr. Hankey, there's fluffy Neko Bus right in front of my face with a bunch of kids inside and around, happier than you'd ever be on conventional drugs, and the dumbass museum employee tells me "if you're smaller than the height of that bar over there" .. almost committed another major sin there.

P.P.S. Ramadan is over! Here's a pic from during Ramadan: a very happy after-sundown Benkei who was suffering for a month all by himself.