Progressive Action

You know how in movies (especially in mediocre movies), the director will sometimes fast-forward through time to the next phase of the story by showing a montage of scenes, usually with melodramatic music running in the background? My buddy Tracy insists this is called "progressive action," and I remember us both agreeing that it's a pretty cheap trick. But sometimes you've got to bust out the cheap tricks if only to get on with the story, so grab some popcorn, put on some tunes, and watch as some of the highlights of my last three months in Japan flash by.




Aunt Molly, Uncle Mike, and Grandma came to visit in November. (That's Grandma on the right.) They were on a whirlwind trip through Japan and stopped to visit me on their way to Hiroshima. It was so good to see them and spending time together in Japan was really meaningful for all of us. Molly spent most of her teen years in Japan and my grandparents were in Japan for almost thirty years, including when I was here as a child. Their trip was too short, but I enjoyed every minute I got to spend with them. I love these people.

Grandma stayed for two nights in my apartment and it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. There's nothing quite like saying "Goodnight" to Grandma and getting up in the morning to fix her breakfast.





During Thanksgiving break, my buddy Rob and I took a day trip to Himeiji Castle. I've probably been to this amazing castle seven or eight times in my life, but I swear it's completely different each time.







On the 25th of each month, the shrine down the street from my place hosts a great flea market. There's food, games, tons of people, and LOTS of antiques. It's actually a little overwhelming and if I'm going shopping, find it best to know exactly what I'm looking for; a sake set and hibachi are on my current list.






On a Friday night in December, I went to Bosco and Keiko's for tunes and dinner. As I walked through the door, Bosco handed me a flier he had picked up that afternoon for the first monthly Kyoto Contra Dance, which was being held the next day. We called the organizer and it turned out--to no surprise, this IS Japan--that they didn't have a band. We went the next night and had a blast playing. We missed last month's dance because of a gig the same night, but we'll be playing this month's dance. It's on my birthday, so I'm hoping to drag my friends from town to the dance as phase one of my party.



There was a great potluck (I miss potlucks) and a good mix of Gaijin and Japanese folk.







I'll tell you what, Japanese folk do New Years right! Rather than one big Shebang on New Year's Eve, they throw parties for two months straight. December is full of "end-of-the-year" parties and January is spent celebrating the New Year. People throw parties with friends, coworkers, family, neighbors, their ikebana club, and so on. Keiko must have gone to nine or ten end-of the-year-parties in December. It's madness.

I got to go and play music at one such end-of-the-year party with Bosco and Keiko. It was was thrown by their Qigon club and held in a Noh theatre stage at an ancient Shinto shrine on the Imperial Palace grounds. It was a wild experience (see previous sentence).



Check out the guy on the left! (I swear there's one at every show.)





For New Year's, I went to Matsusaka to see old friends, the Hasegawas: Tomoko-san, Akinori-san, Yuki, Ted, and Ted's two AMAZING kids. Akinori-san is a priest at a Tendai-sect buddhist temple, which has been in his family for nearly a thousand years. When Akinori-san retires, Ted will take over. I got to ring in the New Year by participating in 108 gongs of the temple bell. It was a great trip.



The bell:







The Hasegawa's house on the temple grounds:



On the second, Ted brought along his two children and the four of us took the train to Ise Shrine, which is perhaps the most sacred Shinto spot in Japan.



It was crowded





Ted and the kids:





In late November, one of the pedals of my bicycle fell off. I spent the next two months riding around town with one pedal while trying to order various parts to get my bike up and running again. Two weeks ago, it all came together and I'm now the proud rider of a fixed gear bicycle. (FYI: a fixed gear bicycle has one gear, and there's no coasting...at all. When the back wheel moves, so do the pedals. To slow down or stop, you apply back pressure on the pedals. Don't worry, I left the front brake on too.) I used to scorn these things as impractical hipster fashion acsessories, but I've become a believer. Riding a fixed gear is SO much fun and Kyoto is the perfect town for it. I heart my bike all over again!!





....And now we arrive at the present day. I've been playing the fiddle since Christmas, which is incredibly rewarding and significantly less frustrating than I expected. I've caught myself thinking in Japanese several times lately, which I haven't done in years. Some friends gave me an old TV (first TV since I was 18), which I though would be cool because it's such a great language learning tool. I don't watch much, though, because there's nothing on besides talk shows where panels of people watch someone eat. I've also started getting really into cooking again, getting a little more adventurous at the market. Japan has incredible mushrooms.

I'm happy folks, really, really happy down to the bones. I'm hoping you can come visit and share in a little of that with me. I promise to do the same sometime soon. Much love.

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