Category Archives: length: 4+days

22nd July 2019: Tokyo Shinagawa → Higashimaya Kyoto {Japan, summer 2019}

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My Shinawaga hotel was very close to Sengakuji [泉岳寺], the temple that honours the forty-seven ronin so I paid them a visit before I moved on.

The reason why I was in Shinagawa was being close to the station as I was heading off to Kyoto. I took a shinkansen around 9 am and was in Kyoto just before 11, maybe. From Kyoto station I walked to Nishi-Hongwan-ji [西本願寺], which was about 10 /15 minutes away. It had been on my list since I went to Higashi-Hongwan-ji last year, but I had to go get some rest afterwards because I had a migraine.

As I was heading back towards the station I came across a building that really grabbed my attention. A little research yielded to finding out that it is a temple: Dendou-In [伝道院], which apparently belongs to Nishi-Hongwan-ji and is a research building. It was designed by a famous architect called Itō Chūta in 1912 in a style called “Evangelical”, and built shortly after. It’s not open to the public though, but it sure as hell is interesting.

After that I took the underground to my hotel. It was raining like crazy when I got there, and to make things more difficult, my bloody credit card decided to stop working. This made me slightly late to my 13:00 appointment at Studio Esperanto Oiran Taiken [studio-esperanto 花魁體驗]. Things were a little different this time. First of all, because I was just in time for appointment, I was directly ushered to the make-up room. Fortunately I had quite a clear idea of what I wanted, so it sort of worked in the end. The make-up artist was nice but she was a bit intimidated, and the photographer was difficult to communicate with, which hampered the experience a little. In the end, however, I got really cool pictures out of the experience, so I am not going to complain.

By the time I got out, there was a deluge outside. I was in the hotel, which was close to the photography studio, for a little, and after checking the maps that they had given me at reception, I realised that I was much closer to the Gion area than I – and Google Maps – had actually thought. There was one big park / shrine complex I could walk. At least part of it is called Maruyama Koen [円山公園] and it has a cool pond. I walked from the north entrance to the western exit, which belongs to Yasaka Jinja [八坂神社], the Yasaka Jinja Minami-romon [八坂神社 南楼門], the Tower Gate. I passed Gyokkō Inari Yashiro [玉光稲荷社] on the way.

I walked off to Gion, [祇園] which was almost empty due to the storm. Whenever I get to Gion in the evening, I always check whether there is a long queue at Gion Corner, which is a theatre that performs “traditional arts”:

  • Tea Ceremony [茶道]
  • Flower Arrangement / Ikebana [華道]
  • Koto [箏]
  • Gagaku [雅楽] Court Music and dance
  • Kyogen Theatre [狂言] (comic play)
  • Kyo-mai [京舞] (maiko dance)
  • Bunraku [文楽] Puppet Theatre

I was lucky this time, as the rain had scared most tourists away, so I could come in. It was a fun thing to do once, especially with “foreigner discount” it becoming half-price, but the audience kept talking and moving around the floor to take pictures and videos. Thai and Chinese people are loud (and a few of them rather disrespectful)! But all in all, I’m happy I got it out of my system, particularly the Kyo-mai dance.

After that, as it was not raining any more, I strolled down an almost-empty Gion.

Then I walked off towards an area that I had never been able to find before – Gion Shirakawa [祇園白川] and Tatsumi Bashi [祇園 巽橋]. Fortunately this time I had checked for the Tatsumi Bridge location fist, so it was not even that hard! I just had to know where to look for it! (≧▽≦).

I decided to take the way back through the park, so I could see all of Yasaka Jinja [八坂神社] lit up, which was very pretty.

As the hotel was also next to Heian Jingu [平安神宮], but as it was not lit up, I did not walk in.

Then I bought some conbini food and I went to the hotel to have dinner and a bath – the hotel had a hot spring public bath (and it was empty! Just for me!). I was lucky enough to get one of the traditional rooms, and the sand-puffs-like thingies were super-comfortable… until I had to stand up. It was so comfy I could barely stand up! And then I went off to sleep like at 10pm cause I was beat (∪｡∪)｡｡｡zzz.

Walked distance: 18517 steps / 13.2 km

21st July 2019: More Kawagoe. 戦国時代－The age of civil wars－: アコースティックライブ＆CDサイン会 {Japan, summer 2019}

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Sengoku Jidai －The age of civil wars－ [戦国時代－The age of civil wars－] is a visual kei [ヴィジュアル系] bandthat has been active since 2017. It is formed by four members – Kz, the leader on guitar and back-up vocals, Nao-A on main vocals, S.N.D on drums and Date on bass. “Sengoku Jidai” refers to a time between the 15th and 16th century, when samurai clans fought almost continuously for dominance. In a wink to that, the members don samurai-like clothings and sometimes masks. Thing is, we’ve come across two of these people before – S.N.D is Junji, and Date is Ju-ken, both of whom we’ve seen with GACKT and VAMPS. I’d been trying to avoid the band quite actively because I know that I would like them a lot and I have to start controlling the number of artists I support.

I’d been following bassist Ju-ken on social media since I got one of his picks at the Barcelona VAMPS concert, and that was how I found out about this whole thing. Not long before my trip, Sengoku Jidai released a new song, Yotogi no Hana [夜伽の華]. It sounded nice, so I went down the YouTube rabbit hole first, and then ended up on the webpage. Over there, I found out that there was a free event in Kawagoe [川越] as part of the new single promotion. And that is why I decided to head over there and try to attend. The event consisted of a “midsummer summer acoustic live”, called Sengoku Jidai – The age of civil wars –: Manatsu no Accoustic LIVE [戦国時代－The age of civil wars－: 真夏のアコースティックLIVE] and a CD sain kai [CDサイン会], which is basically a “meet and get an autograph”. From 11:00, fans had access to a booth to buy a number of CDs of the last two singles: Yotogi no Hana [夜伽の華] and Sengoku Enka [戦国演歌], my favourite. You could get as many signatures as CDs you bought. The band would hold a small concert at 14:00, after which you could shake their hands and get your CDs signed, one single at a time. When you bought the CDs, you also got one number to access the “restricted” area for the concert, though anyone around could watch, even from the upper floors of the mall, and you were guaranteed a seat.

The event took place on the lower floor at the Kawagoe Pepe shopping centre. The mall opened at 10:00, and I got there around 10:15. To be honest, I was a bit uncomfortable queueing alone in a completely unknown fandom, having to deal with everything in Japanese. But I told myself it was a rare chance to get to do something like this, for free on top. So after hiding in the bathroom for a few minutes to gather my courage, I went to the queue, where a few people were already waiting. I got a couple of weird looks but mostly I kept to myself and no one bothered me.

The staff arrived not much later. They they built the booth and put up the notices of what was going on. They also brought the CDs and the flyers in. After they opened at 11:00, I got a CD of each of the singles, and I was out of the queue by 11:15, with the CDs and my numbered ticket, sporting #18. The staff must have given around 200 numbers or so before the live started.

Admittance to the concert (one, printed in yellow with number 18 on it) and the Meet and Greet (two, printed in black)

In between the two parts of the event, I made a little escapade to Kawagoe [川越大師]’s Seiya-san Muryōshuji Kita-in [星野山無量寿寺喜多院], which is a Buddhist temple dating back from the 830 AD. It is noted for its hall and its pagoda. It also has a small graveyard with “the five hundred disciples of Buddha”. I was not sure whether last time I had actually been there or not, because I arrived by my almost-trademarked method of getting lost, so I wanted to make sure, and I had a bit over an hour to kill – it was the same place indeed.

After walking around the temple for a while I went back to Pepe for the second part of the Sengoku Jidai event, the live / sain kai. The area of the shopping centre got closed off with tape and “doors” opened at 13:30. The staff had even prepared three lines of chairs, and at the appointed time they started calling the numbers out. Since the instruments were already on the small stage, we knew who would be sitting where. I choose a seat on Ju-ken’s side – the instruments were already on the stage, so it was easy to decide where to sit. As we came in, we were given a little sheet of paper to write what we wanted the band to talk about. The restricted area filled up quickly with all the fans who had bought CDs,and so the live started early, around 13:45. The acoustic was very interesting – I had never been to one, except for a couple of songs at the VAMPS’s Beast Party. This one was also an unplugged.

The live had two songs, a talk session, and two other songs. It lasted for about an hour. The band picked up topics from what the fans had written to talk about and answer question, and there was a lot of teasing among them. They talked about the summer, what they liked doing, what they have been up to, including solo activities and summer festival. They were quite chatty, except for Ju-ken, who plays a persona called “Date” and never speaks – he is very strict and serious – so he just explained, via gestures, that he went fishing. The whole persona thing will be important later. There were quite a few people watching “from the sidelines”, – looking over the balconies from the upper floors, and they received a lot of attention, as prospective fans. The actual live was free, you only had to pay if you wanted an autograph, and the price of the CDs was the standard 1500 ¥, so it was a good promotion strategy. The selling booth remained open for the whole live, and even the later signing session, and it actually worked because some curious did decide to get an autograph.

The songs played were Yotogi no Hana [夜伽の華], Sengoku Enka [戦国演歌], Sengoku Ondo [戦国音頭], which is their “introductory song”, I think Tennyo monogatari [天女物語]. During Sengoku Ondo, Nao-A asked us to stand up and dance / do the furutsuke with him – and then he messed up! I was so confused!

There was a bit of chaos when it was the turn for autographs. I almost lost my nerve again, but I had made it this far. I let the most dedicated fans go into the queue first, and I made my way slowly, rehearsing what I wanted to say – in Japanese. The first one to see me was drummer S.N.D / Junji, whose eyes went wide – he has no poker face at all and completely went (O_O)!, wondering what a white person was even doing at their event, I guess. He asked if I was okay with Japanese and I answered that I was okay with simple language. Then, I informed him that I was the foreign factor representation. Then I got Ju-ken / Date – I told him about having his pick from Barcelona. His eyes went even wider than Junji’s. He broke character completely, grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously, as he repeated “sank you, sank you, sank you” (some Japanese people just can’t do the TH sound and substitute it with an S). Kz was equally surprised to see me around and he asked where I was from. Finally, Nao-A hid his surprise better, and he acted quite cute and friendly. I actually… chatted a bit with all four of them. I felt proud of a) my Japanese and b) not freezing out.

I walked out the area and climbed upstairs to snap a couple of pictures. Then, I went back to the queue. I had bought two CDs so I could go through the process twice, and the band remembered me. Kz asked if I was studying or working in Japan, and I said I had travelled there for my summer holidays. Probably, if there had been more CDs, I would have bought all to get them signed.

After all the fans had got their signature, the artists waved at everybody and disappeared into… the adjacent supermarket. All in all, it was a very fun event – it went unexpectedly well, with no problems nor awkward moments. I did not get to make any new friends, but I think the band’s reaction was something priceless that I’ll treasure for a long time.

The band shaking hands and signing autographs

Signed CDs

After the event was finished, I went back to Tokyo [東京]. I kinda got lost so I wasted about an extra hour and a half, and thus I was not at the next hotel, in Shinagawa, until late. Though it was a business hotel – or maybe because of that – it had a huge TV, almost as wide as the 135cm-wide bed I had!

The TV at the foot of the bed is almost as wide as the bed itself, and the bed would fit two people

I bought dinner on the way and enjoyed it in the room. And after a long day, I decided that I was okay with some extra protein – so I tried the conbini boiled eggs. It was an excuse just like any other…

Soft-boiled egg box

Walked distance: 19468 steps / 13.9 km. However this includes the little furutsuke that Nao-A made us do, and that was recorded as pacing, and getting lost and walking for an hour coming out of the wrong exit of a station.

20th July 2019: Kawagoe revisited {Japan, summer 2019}

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I went to Ikebukuro to exchange my JR Pass, and from there I went to Kawagoe [川越], a small town near Tokyo. The historical centre of Kawagoe is called Koedo [小江戸], Little Edo or Little Tokyo. I have actuallly visited Kawagoe before and I had not thought that much of it, but I wanted to give it another chance as I was going to a fan-event over there the following day, so I got myself a hotel over there and spent the afternoon / evening wandering the town.

I arrived by train at the Kawagoe Station and I headed to the touristic area. My first stop was Kawagoe Kumano Jinja [川越 熊野神社]. I thought about getting a shuuin but there were too many people and I backed off. I thought there would be fewer people the following day but I was wrong. Oh, well. Live and learn.

After that I found my way to the Black Warehouse District Kurazukuri no Machinami [蔵造りの町並], which is an area with houses that date from the Edo period. Today they are shops, mostly tourist traps, though. I am not a big fan.

On one of the side ways you can find the Clock Tower, Toki no Kane [時の鐘], which is one of the few historical clock towers in Japan (although it was rebuilt after it burnt down in the 19th century).

And I moved on to the Kawagoe Hikawa Jinja [川越氷川神社], which has a very cool wind chime tunnel, but it was packed at the time.

Later I visited the Kawagoe Castle / Honmaru Residence [川越城 本丸御殿]. The castle is long gone, but the palace was built in the 19th century.

I walked past the Reconstructed Moat of the Castle (I have no idea why there are no pictures of it?) and Yukizukainari Jinja, which was closed off. Then I headed off to the hotel to check in, and after that, I did some walking over the less touristic / known area of town. Right behind the hotel I came across Sugahara Jinja [菅原神社].

My next stop was snooping around Myōzenji [妙善寺] and its adjacent graveyard.

Then over to Fujisengen Jinja [富士浅間神社], a nice little shrine with a historical stelae next to it, the Shishimizuka of Uranaikata [占肩の鹿見塚].

From the grounds I could see Jitsuzaiji [実在寺], which is a very modern temple.

After that I walked towards Senbahikawa Jinja [仙波氷川神社], which I’m sure is haunted by a nekomata which appeared out of nowhere.

Senbagashishiseki Kouen [仙波河岸史跡公園], an awesome and large park with a lake and a ghost-proof bridge.

The park has a small temple altar, Enmeijizoson [延命地蔵尊] to one side.

On the other side stands Senbaatago Jinja [仙波愛宕神社] and I bought some takoyaki for dinner.

Walked distance: 22797 steps / 16.3 km

18th/19th July 2019: Made it! {Japan, summer 2019}

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After the Iberia machine check in in Barajas worked for an intercontinental flight for the first time ever, I started my holidays with a splurge, in money and calories: meet the Unicorn Shake, by Burger King. It is a vanilla ice-cream and blueberries shake, with whipped cream and sparkles. Worth it, but I don’t think I’d ever survive the sugar rush again (≧▽≦).

I had a rather uneventful flight. Unfortunately I could not sleep further than 20 minutes so I arrived rather dead. After lunch, I had a short nap and then I went out for dinner with D****e. Then I must have fallen asleep cause I honestly don’t remember much of the day. Well, we must have had nachos for dinner because here’s a picture of them?

5th September 2018: An uneventful airport ride to an uneventful flight {Japan, summer 2018}

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I took early trains to have a lot of time to get to the airport from Ueno [上野], because I did not know how much the wind could have affected transport. Not much, aside from the Ueno lift. I should have known that Takadanobaba lift was not going to work either. And then there was Narita, security, customs, boarding and going home using a slightly different route, but that was it. It was all over again ヾ(TωT ).

4th September 2018: また今度 with a red rose petal (HYDE LIVE 2018, Strike 3) {Japan, summer 2018}

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First thing in the morning, after D****e left for work, I got packed (hoping that my suitcase did not get lost again). Later, I went to Odaiba [お台場] on my own as she was working. It was my last HYDE live for the season, and my last day in Japan, too. It was windy and it rained on and off, but it was not bad especially considering that there was a super typhoon in Osaka that had slammed a ship against a bridge and cut down communications to the airport… I mean, compared to that I won’t even complain that my hairdo went to hell because woah there. I just had to not worry about my own flight a few hours later.

I checked out the Venus Fort to check if there were any new goods, but as there were not, I moved on. There are two exhibit rooms about cars in the area. One deals with newer and racing cars – MegaWeb Toyota City Showcase [メガウェブ トヨタ シティ ショウケース].

A collage with some cool and futuristic-looking car. The logo reads MegaWeb Toyota City Showcase

The other one is quite the opposite, and focuses on classic and historical cars – History Garage [ヒストリーガレージ].

History Garage classic cars.

It was at this time 12:55, so I hurried to the giant Gundam that stands in front of the Diver City. I wanted to check whether it moved at 13:00 and I was lucky. It changed its helmet and all (≧∇≦).

Gundam robot looking up to the sky. it is white and taller than the two-story shopping centre behind it.

After that, I went to eat get some food. The food court in the shopping centre was not too busy as it was a weekday, so I decided to sit down and have some ramen. I really love the way they prepare eggs for ramen, so I wanted ramen with egg. Unfortunately, could not read the super long name of the ramen to save my life, so I just asked for it using the number. The girl just turned to the kitchen and ordered ‘tamago’ (egg), which was pretty frustrating.

Ramen bowl with algae, chasuu (pork), spring onions and noodles

Once I had eaten, I went to see the waves, because even if the typhoon was making its effect known, and I am still fascinated by hot storms. Odaiba is, in the end, an artificial island in the middle of the bay, so it makes strange patterns sometimes.

A cargo harbour with unsettled sea

And I got a drink at Starbucks.

Starbucks plastic cup. It says thank you and it has a smiley face and a heart

I joined the people wait for HYDE to come in, waved hi at him, and thought that he did not look too awake. Afterwards, I decided that I had not spent enough in this trip (sarcasm). Thus, I went to buy something else: since I liked HYDE’s opening act STARSET, I wanted to get their CD and M&G experience, which included a handshake and an autograph. I felt that they had done an awesome job and deserved the credit and the cheering.

Once D****e made it, we went inside. By now, I had figured out what I had found amiss on Saturday and Sunday regarding HYDE’s live 2018 and made peace with it. Or maybe it was just my last day, and I really wanted to enjoy myself. I found a good spot in Zepp Tokyo – one thing I really like about going to converts there is that they keep the barriers up to separate the areas of the floor. That allows me to lean onto something and I don’t need to stay back to have something to hold on to, so I can get rather close even when I’m tired or sore. This time it was even better – since I was closer than usually, I managed to find a petal from one of the roses HYDE threw as goodbye at the end.

STARSET’s setlist:
1. Frequency
2. Carnivore
3. Gravity Of You
4. Telescope
5. Monster feat. HYDE
6. Ricochet
7. Bringing It Down
8. My Demons

HYDE’s setlist:
1. Fake Divine
2. After light
4. Out
5. Set in Stone
6. Don’t hold back
7. Zipang
8. Who’s gonna save us
9. 監獄ロック [Kangoku Rock]
10. Rise or Die
11. Lion
12. Two Face
13. Devil’s side
14. Midnight Celebration II
(pause)
15. Kiss of Death
16. Ahead
17. Rise up
18. Ordinary World (Duran Duran cover)

After HYDE’s concert was over, I put my rose petal away, and I found my way towards the STARSET M&G. They were were extremely nice. We were around ten people, and they paid attention to each of us and they shook our hands (whoops, I forgot to take my wristband off). They were pretty patient and nice to everybody. Even after they left the venue, they were willing to sign items for people who had not purchased their merchandise (even though 3,500 ¥ for CD and signature is almost a gift).

Zepp Tokyo Venue from above

Starset CD with the band's autographs

A red rose petal

Finally we got home and D****e helped me so I got my trains sorted out to go to the airport the following day.

Night view of Tokyo, with Tokyo Tower lit up

3rd September 2018: More friends, less tourism {Japan, summer 2018}

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I walked towards Nakano [中野] again – realising that Nakano Broadway [中野ブロードウェイ] is in walking distance has been a problem – and the Aoyama Daiso where I got some stupid things, basically fake nails, stickers to put them on and blue mascara.

On my way I reaffirmed the existence of Tōkō-ji [東光寺]:

Then I came across Araiyakushi Baishōin [新井薬師梅照院]:

Once in the Nakano Broadway [中野ブロードウェイ] building I checked out the shops and jumped on the train to meet B**** for sushi (not killed in front of us, thankfully), and drinks and talking. This time we were not at Starbucks spending my voucher, but at Tully’s spending hers. Afterwards we were having a look at the make up shops in Shibuya 109 and Super-Donki. It ended up with me buying some red eyeliner.

Four our last dinner B****, D****e and I got shabu-shabu. In all honesty, I wanted curry but it has not sat well on my stomach the last few times, so now I’m afraid to try ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡ ← most of the tears are because I had to say goodbye to B**** anyway.

2nd September 2018: HYDE LIVE 2018 @ Odaiba, Strike 2, and Pretty Lights, Strike 3 {Japan, summer 2018}

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It was raining that morning when D****e and I walked out and headed towards Shin-Okubo [新大久]. The weather actually turned so bad for a while that around halfway, we just walked under a bridge to wait the worst of the downpour out. By the time we arrived at our destination, though, it had cleared out. We were walking to Kaichū Inari Jinja [皆中稲荷神社], also called Minna Ataru no Inari.

Entrance to a Shinto sanctuary through a back alley, and main altar

The shrine is dedicated to the kami [神] Inari [大稲荷], one of the most important deities of the Shinto mythology, the kami of fertility, rice, tea, sake, agriculture, and worldly success. Inari is said to use foxes as messengers. Shrines dedicated to Inari often have a lot of torii gates, usually offered by business in search of that success, and stone fox guardians. The most famous Inari Shrine is Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto.

The legend surrounding Kaichū Inari Jinja tells that after the introduction of firearms in Japan during the Edo Period, a battalion was stationed near the shrine. The captain could not shoot well, no matter how much he trained. The deity Inari appeared to him in a dream, and after he went to the shrine to say thank you, he became a great shooter. Not only him, all of the battalion went to the shrine and they became good shooters. Both “Minna Ataru” and “Kaichū” translate as “hit all the targets” and at the same time “everybody hits”. Kaichū Inari Jinja became “the Inari shrine of everybody hits the target”, Minna Ataru no Inari Jinja. The news spread, and eventually people from the whole country started visiting so their wishes came true. The shrine’s relation with firearms was constant until it was burnt down in WWII.

Nowadays, Japan does not have firearms, but people still want to hit… for concerts! And thus Kaichū Inari has become the fan-shrine, where people go to pray to hit for lotteries for concerts and events!

I’m not even kidding. Kaichū Inari Jinja is also known as “the fan shrine”. In Japan, you do not queue for concerts. Instead, your ticket has a number printed on it, and you enter when it is called. However, there are different series of numbers. The best tickets are offered within the artists’ fanclubs, and if there are more requests than tickets, these are assigned lottery-style. Fanclubs also have lotteries for other privileges such as attending trips and exclusive events, VIP meet&greets or special merchandise – when I belonged to Gackt’s fanclub I hit for fanclub tickets for the Last Visual Live and his birthday dinner. People want to “hit” for these tickets, and somehow Minna Ataru no Inari became the shrine to go to pray for that. Fans go to the shrine to offer a prayer, then they write what they want in volition tablets called ema [絵馬], which are then hung in the shrine premises. Much nicer “hits” that the ones which kill people.

An offering wall with tons of votive wooden tablets

Close up of the votive offerings with names of bands on then

After visiting the shrine, we headed off to Odaiba [お台場] again, to meet with N***chan for lunch. We made a short visit to the Unicorn Gundam beforehand, but it was not moving.

Gundam robot statue. It is white and taller than the two-story shopping centre behind it. People can walk under its legs

Then we went to have lunch at an “Osaka delicatessen” restaurant at the Venus Fort. I ordered Takoyaki (buried in katsuomi (≧∇≦)) and kani koroke (octopus dumplings with bonito flakes, and crab dumplings). Yummy! Apparently other people’s orders were not as great though…

Dish of octopus dumplings that cannot be seen because there are a lot of bonito flakes on top

Afterwards, we headed to Zepp Tokyo for the second concert of HYDE’s Live 2018 concert, again with STARSET. Impressions were similar to the previous day. I really enjoyed STARSET, who played the same songs, and I again had mixed feelings about HYDE’s – not bad but… could have been better. I had not figured out my problem with the disconnected act yet.

Setlist:
1. Fake Divine
2. After light
4. Out
5. Set in Stone
6. Don’t hold back
7. Zipang
8. Who’s gonna save us
9. 監獄ロック [Kangoku Rock]
10. Rise or Die
11. Another Moment
12. Two Face
13. Devil’s side
14. Midnight Celebration II
(pause)
15. Kiss of Death
16. Ahead
17. Rise up
18. Ordinary World (Duran Duran cover)

Hyde's tour truck reading his name

After the concert we had tickets to visit the MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM EPSON teamLab ★ Borderless. This is a pretty much interactive museum that relies on technology and light to create art – or at least pretty things for you to play with. D****e, N***chan and I were very lucky that it was open late, so we could go after the concert. There were few people there and we could be silly around it. Part of the museum was closed because some TV station was there doing interviews though, and even then it was worth the visit.

Most of what you see in the Digital Art Museum are light projections. You’re encouraged to interact with them, even create some of them that they will project for you. We saw a butterfly and flower area, pink elephants, kangaroo, waves…

I enjoyed a couple of the exhibits particularly – one of them was a light water fall, in a room that had kanji shadows on the walls. If you touched them, they turned into what they represented. I also liked the whales made of light and how peacefully they moved and floated. There were some other interactive exhibits that were very fun, like the… egg-balloons thingies which you could prance through or make float.

Collage of Mori interactive and light art – a walking elephant made of projected lights, it's pink with white flowers. Many rays of white light coming from everywhere in the dark. Waves. Giant purple-pink balloons. Flowers projected on the walls – sunflowers, daisies in different colours

Dancing whale with flowers, projected with light

Afterwards we had some dinner and left for home.

1st September 2018: HYDE LIVE 2018 @ Odaiba, Strike 1 {Japan, summer 2018}

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In the evening, the first concert of the HYDE LIVE 2018 tour took place in Odaiba [お台場]. Luckily, I was going to be able to attend three shows in a row. Since it was a Saturday, we decided to make “a day” out of the concert and headed towards the area. There was an offer going on, so buying ten Yurikamome tickets would be cheaper than going to the three concerts using the usual underground system, so we decided on those.

The concert was in Zepp Tokyo, next to Venus Fort. And what do you do before a concert? Queue. In Europe it is so you get in first, in Japan, since tickets are numbered, you do not do so. You queue to buy goods, because they sometimes run out – at least that’s how people justify it. Unfortunately, not all the announced goods were on sale yet, which was disappointing. At least we did not get a sunburn while waiting, as we were prepared for rain and thus carried an umbrella-turned-parasol against the merciless sun.

After we had bought our goods, D****e and I went to have lunch at the Venus Fort. We surveyed the places and ended up in a yakiniku place which was almost empty, and still had a long line of people waiting to get in. Things I’ll never understand. Food was good, though.

Yakiniku lunch – a dish of uncooked meat, the grill to cook it, rice, broth, and pickled vegetables

The concert was HYDE’s new solo project. After VAMPS disbanded a few months back, this was my first concert watching him. It was a strange situation, because the feelings were very bittersweet. It seems that HYDE has been trying hard to do damage control on the band break-up and has put a couple of singles out this summer, along a bit of a haphazardly-organised tour. He could probably not afford a show-less summer.

This time there was an opening act, progressive-rock band STARSET, who have a very distinctive style that I liked pretty much. The band itself is composed by four men: Dustin Bates (lead vocalist), Ron DeChant (bass), Brock Richards (lead guitar) and Adam Gilbert (drums). They were touring with two back-up members: Mariko M (cello) and Siobhán Cronin (violin). DeChant, Richards and Gilbert played their whole set wearing full-astronaut suits, and I have no idea how they did not die of heatstroke.

STARSET’s opening act took around 45 minutes. They were opening for HYDE as part of their promo in Japan – they actually collaborated with him for a re-recording of one of the band’s hits, Monster. At first, the audience had no clue about when and what to chorus, but it caught up quite quickly. When lead singer Bates managed to get the interaction he wanted, he visibly brightened up, which was cute.

Setlist:
1. Frequency
2. Carnivore
3. Gravity Of You
4. Telescope
5. Monster feat. HYDE
6. Ricochet
7. Bringing It Down
8. My Demons

After the STARSET show, there was a short intermission, and then not a countdown to zero but a “countup” to 666, which may have lasted about five minutes. In total, maybe about 20 minutes.

Setlist:
1. Fake Divine
2. After light
4. Out
5. Set in Stone
6. Don’t hold back
7. Zipang
8. Who’s gonna save us
9. 監獄ロック [Kangoku Rock]
10. Rise or Die
11. Lion
12. Two Face
13. Devil’s side
14. Midnight Celebration II
(pause)
15. Kiss of Death
16. Ahead
17. Rise up
18. Ordinary World (Duran Duran cover)

There was something weird in the show, something amiss that I was not able to put my finger on until later. It felt… incomplete. Disconnected. Zipang was like a power-ballad lacking power, there was something strange about Devil’s side, HYDE’s guitar was the most powerful one in Ahead. It took a while to put my thoughts in order to understand. On the one hand, it felt that HYDE had half an album ready, and filled the rest of the concert up with other songs that he owned the rights to. On the other hand, it felt that what was played was either not completely arranged or not rehearsed enough. It was not that the musicians were bad, they just felt… out of synch. Like… there was “noise” where there should be music, and each of them was playing a different tempo.

In contrast to the music, someone had put a lot of thought on the visuals. The stage was decorated with a cyberpunk background, with a lot of neon and LED lights. HYDE was also going with a mask theme. He used one when he came out to echo STARSET’s Monster, and he kept the mask on for the fist couple of his own songs, and all his supporting musicians wear them too, they don’t take them away. He also brought in a retractile throne that went to the centre of the stage and back, so he could appear from behind it, or sing sitting (or flopped) down. This show is about HYDE and HYDE alone – he wants to feel like “the only one” and have exchangeable musicians, it feels.

Among the new songs, my favourite was Out – the lyrics read something akin to “I’m not afraid of standing out. A hundred devils messing with my head again. I won’t pretend, I won’t back down, I’m not afraid of standing out”, and they resonated in a way usually only Yoshiki’s songs vibrate with me. I think I could have done without the VAMPS songs though, but I guess that without a whole ready album, HYDE sang whatever he owned rights to.

Also, I think I bought too many goods: a python necklace, gummies and gaccha.

Hyde's tour truck

After the concert, we just went home to get some rest.

31st August 2018: Tokyo Tower Reprise and off to Roppongi {Japan, summer 2018}

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I went to Minato [港] because Tokyo Tower [東京タワー ] is there, and I love Tokyo Tower. My first stop, however, was Shiba Koen [芝公園], to visit a certain tree. However, the park was under construction! Who the hell closes a park for construction?! (O_O)!

They have reopened the upper observatory in Tokyo Tower so of course I had to come back. It was imperative for my mental health. When I arrived I found out that they were running a “haunted house” on the basement and I decided to give it a go.

The story was of a cursed samurai who has killed 332 people and you’re supposed to be number 333. I had been wanting to try one of those for a while but in the end I did not enjoy it that much – the not seeing down the corridors was too stressful. Maybe with someone else it would have been more fun.

Afterwards I got my ticket for Tokyo Tower [東京タワー ] and the “VIP = Very impressive panorama” from the second observatory. I don’t understand why Tokyo Tower makes me so happy, but it does so more power to it. Oh oh oh and I had awesome(ly expensive) ice cream on the tower!

Afterwards I walked towards Roppongi [六本木], making a stop at the Don Quijote, a macro store that has nothing useful but lots of fun little stuff, with half a mind to buy a traditional red eyeliner or coloured contact lenses. But in the end I was strong and did not waste money (yet (≧∇≦) ).

I continued to the gardens Mori Teien [毛利庭園], and I was a tiny bit disappointed that the pond had been emptied!

And I saw that the TV Asahi [テレビ朝日] building was open for visitors, so I went to snoop into that, because of course I did.

Later I met with D****e and M*****san for a shabu-shabu dinner which was out of this world.

30th August 2018: Loud Head {Japan, summer 2018}

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I took the train to Shinjuku [新宿] and I walked from there to Shibuya [渋谷] to have a thought or two at life. In my walk I crossed Yoyogi Kōen [代々木公園] and visited Meiji Jingu [明治神宮].

Then I strolled down Harajuku [原宿] – I had recently found out that the station is going to be torn down, so I had to say goodbye before heading over to the shops.

I finally made it to Shibuya [渋谷]. I had some Starbucks chocolate drink with around ten million kilocalories (≧∇≦). I went into Tower Records, Mandarake, and then Tsutaya.

Ironically, I finally took a train back to Shinjuku [新宿] to meet D****e for dinner (guess what?! In the Shinjuku MyLord!), and we saw the lights on the Tōkyō Tochō [東京都庁] (Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building).

28th August 2018: Easy-peasy {Japan, summer 2018}

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Having felt so lousy the previous day I decided to take an easy day with friends. I took another Nakano Broadway [中野ブロードウェイ] trip, although I did not find anything interesting – actually I did but I decided to leave buying for later and the next time I came it would be gone. Not the item, the whole shop (≧∇≦).

I met B**** for Chinese food in Shibuya [渋谷], drinks (because we had free Starbucks!) and then I got a haircut! Not that my hair was long but it had started losing shape and it did not look neat. My hair saloon was called Number 76 and it was in Omotesando [表参道].

This was a bit of a weird experience – I got my hair dry-cut, then washed, then styled, and then I got a massage – and B**** treated me to it because she’s awesome and generous ♥

Afterwards we met with D****e and had dinner at a very weird meat place in Shinjuku [新宿] (once again in MyLord because we decided it is very convenient and it has nice places). I mean, this is a salad…

27th August 2018: Nippori {Japan, summer 2018}

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I went to the Yanaka [谷中] area in Nippori [日暮里] because I was not feeling too well and I thought it would be urban enough but empty enough. Unfortunately it did not quite cut it.

Just after coming from the station, I went to Hongyo-ji [本行寺]:

And then to Daikokuten Kyōo-ji [経王寺], whose gate is important cultural property and keeps bullet holes from the Battle of Ueno (1868).

I arrived to Yanaka Ginza [谷中銀座], a traditional shopping street. I saw Fukuyama Masaharu posters there and I found a shop that sold humoristic hanko for foreigners. I really, really fancied the idea of one with 榊 [Sakaki] on it (with a platypus drawing) but alas, extravagancy budget had already been topped by the Oiran photoshoot.

Then I walked throughout Yanaka Reien [谷中霊園], one of Tokyo’s urban graveyards, where you can see some special see-through bamboo barriers:

I also saw the Tokugawa family graveyard within, alhtough it is technically “only” the Grave of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Tokugawa Yoshinobu Kōbosho [徳川慶喜公墓所].

And Tenno-ji [天王寺] next to the cemetery.

The truth was that I wanted to explore a few more temples in the area. However, I decided to do a Book Off, Tsutaya, etc tour because it was my last day on the JR Pass and I wanted to check out some CDs – and because my stomach was being stupid and I needed to be close to toilets. Truth be told I don’t have that much of a good memory from this day (≧∇≦), because I was totally unable to get anything to eat till dinner – boy was I hungry by then.

26th August 2018: To the East: Niigata → Aizu-Wakamatsu → Koriyama → Tokyo {Japan, summer 2018}

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As there was not much to see in Niigata [新潟], we took a scenic train to the east – Niigata is famous for being ‘countryside’, and growing rice. We saw lots of rice fields.

Our destination was Aizu-Wakamatsu [会津若松], a ‘samurai town’ famous for Tsuruga castle and the story of the Byakkotai [白虎隊], a troop of young soldiers who fought during the Boshin war. Back then the ‘Aizu warrior spirit’ was a very important thing, and 19 youths committed ritual suicide when they thought the castle had fallen. This is called the Tragedy of the Byakkotai.

On the other hand, the town’s mascot is a cartoonish phantom red cow Akabeko [赤べこ]. Because why not?

We headed out to the castle first and foremost. Tsuruga-jo [鶴ヶ城] or Aizu-Wakamatsu-jo [会津若松城]. If you google it, you might think it’s pink. So did we. We were a bit on the amusedly disappointed side (≧∇≦).

But we made-do with some awesome (and ice-cold) Aizu Coke-bottles.

Within the castle grounds we found Tsuruga-jo Inari Jinja [鶴ヶ城稲荷神社].

And Kasama Inari Jinja [笠間稲荷神社].

After the castle it was lunch time so we went to have lunch in the ‘old samurai town’ which to be honest does not feel too old. On the way we stopped by Shinmei Jinja [神明神社], which was rather on the empty side, but still nice.

We ate lunch in a place called Mitsuta-ya [満田屋] to eat miso dengaku [味噌田楽]. We had a course of skewers consisting on two konjac (one with salty and one with sweet miso), fried tofu, mochi (rice cake), sweet potato, shingorou (some kind of rice croquette) and smoked herring. All these were grilled just in front of us, which was on the one hand really cool to see, and on the other, bloody hot because hey, there was a fire burning in front of us. We were told that this was typical samurai food, because it could be prepared and eaten ‘on the go’. Who knows whether it is true, but it was fun and yummy.

Once we had eaten we had to make a run to the station so we could catch the train – as the following one was two hours later – and we made it with three whole minutes to spare despite google maps saying we were too far away. And thus we were off to Koriyama [郡山], which… we had not really heard of before this whole thing? (≧∇≦). There we took the Tourist Office by surprise when we asked what we could see even if it was already ‘late’. Map in hand, we headed off to see Asakakunitsuko Jinja [安積国造神社], which was a little on the creepy side.

Then we saw Nyoho-ji [如宝寺].

And continued to the park Hayama Koen [麓山公園], where we saw the Asaka Canal Hayama Waterfall Asaka Sosui Hayama no Hibaku [安積疏水麓山の飛瀑].

And the so-called Of the 21seikiki nenkouen Hayama no Mori [２１世紀記念公園 麓山の杜], the 21st Century Memorial Park Hayama Forest.

Finally we headed back to the station area, where we checked out the Observatory in the Big-i [ビッグアイ] building.

And finally caught a shinkansen back to Tokyo, we had dinner on the go and crashed in bed when we got home.

25th August 2018: Niigata + Otohige {Japan, summer 2018}

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D****e and I went to Niigata [新潟] to attend Otohige, a summer music festival.

I took in a few things:

  • Golden Bomber are fun (well, this I knew already). Sho got hit for real a couple of times
  • Wagakki Band are fun too. I have given them money
  • I can’t go to arena moshpit without anything to hold on. Too painful.
  • Being on third row for HYDE should be amazing but it sucks if you can’t see HYDE and all your body hurts due to pushing and shoving.
  • I shall avoid macro festivals that do not have seats. If there are seats and arena, I will stay at the seats
  • Japan summer rain when everything hurts is not nice.
  • Painkillers and yummy yakiniku can make things better. Eventually.

This was not such a great experience for me as going into the pit turned out to be a good decision, causing a flare. I’ve decided to avoid festivals from now on.

24th August 2018: Friends! {Japan, summer 2018}

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In the morning, I went to the Shōbō hakubutsukan [消防博物館] or Fire Museum, in Yotsuya [四谷]. I blame my last binge on Chicago Fire for the curiosity bug to bite on that one. It was strangely interesting, but the helicopter was closed due to wind and rain – also the problem with kid friendly museums is… kids overrunning you and parents cheering for them…

Then I met B**** in Shibuya [渋谷] for sushi, and that was awesome, until we were done. Then we saw the shrimp and fish being beheaded alive in front of us. That was a shock (O_O)! After that we went for ice cream, window shopping, karaoke and dinner in Shinjuku [新宿], in MyLord building next to the station, which was really convenient and surprisingly good (and well-timed on our part). Okonomiyaki! This was my masterpiece!

(Added a lot of katsuomi to it afterwards (≧∇≦) )

23rd August 2018: 疲れた {Japan, summer 2018}

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After nine days on the go, mostly with the backpack on, today I took it easy as my body kind of hurt. I went for a stroll down Ikebukuro [池袋], popped into the music shops in the neighbourhood, and looked at yukata. A yukata [浴衣] is the simplified version of a kimono [着物], usually worn in summer. It is less elaborated as it has fewer layers, and it is usually sewn from printed fabric rather than embroidered one. As so, it is rather more affordable than the real kimono – most people in Japan will own at least one yukata.

I went into the ALTA Ikebukuro super shopping centre. There, I found a super beautiful, super expensive high-class yukata. I absolutely fell in love with it, but it was completely out of my budget – it was embroidered with actual silver threads. After that, it was really hard to find something else I liked.

After a few more shops, I did find a yukata in Shinjuku [新宿]’s Tokyo 135º. Ironically, I found this shop in Shinjuku ALTA, right in front of Shinjuku Station Kabuki-cho exit (this is the building that used to have the huge Kimura Takuya billboard). It seemed that the sales ladies were quite used to tourists. The assistant did not press me, and she actually offered to take a picture of me before I actually told her I would buy the yukata.

My choice was exactly what I was looking and aiming for – it has a dark background and a bit of a “goth” design, with roses in different shades, from dark red to pink.

Coming back, I got lost in Shinjuku Station. Like, very lost. Then I realised that to get to the “South Exit” you have to actually come out of the building and find it outside. Live and learn. The great thing about getting lost in Shinjuku Station was that I found all the TOKIO panels for their new video game commercial. Including one low enough to be able to “take a selfie” with Nagase.

Then I picked up D****e in Roppongi [六本木], we had dinner, and called it a day.

22nd August 2018: … and I raise you two castles more {Japan, summer 2018}

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From Nagoya [名古屋], I got myself to Inuyama [犬山], Aichi Prefecture, to see yet another castle. This is also one of the twelve original castles and a National Treasure of Japan. Inuyama is located about 40 minutes away from Nagoya in a line I had not even heard about, so I had a bit of a hiccup finding the station. But it was no more than a tiny stumble and I was on my way at the expected time. Inuyama is a nice little town with a traditional street leading up to the castle, called “Castle Town street”.

Before getting to the castle I came across two shrines – one was Haritsuna Jinja [針綱神社].

The other one was Sankoinari Jinja [三光稲荷神社 ], which either got you a partner or protected your pets. Inclusive for people who want a partner or not, I guess (≧∇≦).

Then I hiked up to Inuyama-jō [犬山城], the castle.

I diverted from the way to get to Inuyama Jinja [犬山神社].

And I was puzzled by something called Oibokenizu Jizoudou [老い呆け来地ず蔵堂]. But it’s okay. Apparently most people are. It seems to be some kind of love temple.

Finally I met a very relaxed kitty in Akiba Jinja [秋葉神社].

With this, I left Inuyama and headed back to Nagoya, from where I took a Tokyo-bound Shinkansen. I made a stopover at Hamamatsu [浜松] because I wanted to see… yet another castle! I found my way to Hamamatsu-jō [浜松城, Hamamatsu-jō].

Next to it there is the sculpture of Tokugawa Ieyasu Wakaki hi no Tokugawa Ieyasukō-zō [若き日の徳川家康公像]. Ieyasu build the Castle and resided in Hamamatsu and was the first shogun of Edo shogunate. The castle is a reconstruction.

Finally, there is the Ieyasu Armour Hang Pine Tree Ieyasu yoroi-kake-matsu [家康公鎧掛松] which (supposedly) is where the man hung his armour when he was home (aka the original castle).

And with that I headed off back to Tokyo [東京] and D****e’s place to get some rest.