Sonos in Japan 2007

snow

2007-12-25T02:42:00.000-08:00

We must all be anxious to get home. We are lined up in the hotel lobby at 10:15 AM waiting for our bus to arrive to drive us to the train station, which will take us to the airport. Jason, Kat, and I are early – a new revelation for this tour.

Ruben asks the question: what was your favorite part of this tour? I'm having a hard time narrowing it down to one thing. We have just spent the past two nights in the most gorgeous setting in Japan (Yatsugatake). Our venue had glass windows all the way around the intimate 150-person hall, looking out on Mt. Fuji, surrounded by powder snow. It was idyllic, and when we played “I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas.” I was transported back to my childhood in New York, where snow and snowmen abounded.

Kat and I took a hike yesterday morning with our villa owner's dog Chobi, a Shiba-type dog (related to the Akita). He dragged us along to a trail that went to a very small lake, completely covered in two feet of snow. After attempting to check the ice, Kat and I followed the deer prints on the lake and walked across the lake's frozen cover. That was FUN - and probably stupid for city slickers.

I built a snowman outside the villa, complete with stick arms and pebbles for eyes and the smile. I didn't realize how hard it was to make a large snowball that was actually round. By this morning, his head had fallen off. And then when the sun came out, his midriff slipped off too. Although the snowman will melt away, my memory of Yatsugatake will not.

Crazy Night in Tokyo

2007-12-21T16:02:00.000-08:00

I'm blogging my experience to Kaguwa Theatre, because I was the only one crazy enough to go. This show in the Roppongi district was described in a review on the Internet as “totally meaningless” and saying something about ”the hollow schizophrenia of modern Japan.” I knew going into the show that there were twelve actors - 4 men, 2 women and 5 “new halves,” New halves are transexuals, or boys dressed as young women. The dance show ranged from a kimono-wearing short story imitating kabuki, to an S&M piece, to a strip-tease selection (showing new half legs mostly). The redeeming value was the wonderful two-tier bento box dinner placed in a beautifully carved box, with the added bonus of all-you-can-drink beverages.

I was placed at a table (about 25 feet from the stage) with four bottles lined up in a row: green tea shochu, apricot liquor, Suntory whiskey, and a large water. The waiter came by and offered me a pitcher of soda to mix with my drinks, along with a small ice bucket. I was wishing Michele had joined me in this intimate theater of perhaps 100 customers. This evening would have been SO Michele.

The show was only one hour long, but by the end of the evening, everyone was enjoying the decadence as the action flashed by, along with hydraulically raised stage in 24 rectangular sections. There was one other Caucasian present. Reif was visiting from England, in the process of traveling the world in six months, having just finished her PhD in Psychology.

After the show, Reif and I visited the 24-hour Don Quixote store, which sells really “sleazy” cheap junk. You won't believe the logos that are placed on men's underwear and thongs. We laughed our way through the store. Reif needed to leave, but she promised to look me up when she comes to the United States at end of February.

I decided to find the Mori Tower and take the elevator to the 52^nd floor to view Tokyo at night. The windows looking out over the city are probably 25 feet tall all the way around the building. Couples were sitting on the benches lined up at the windows, wistfully gazing into each others eyes and occasionally gazing out the window. It was all so very sweet. As one couple left, another couple would quickly take their place to continue gazing.

Early hours found me staring through the window of a noodle restaurant, watching noodles being made from scratch. The noodle maker was on display, similar to the way a pizza maker in the U.S. might be.c I ended my evening enjoying a cafe latte at Cafe Le Boheme, which was a lively joint open until 5 AM. Tokyo seems to never sleep, and the subways were packed after midnight as though it were the morning rush hour. People rushing to catch the last train.

As I exited the subway for the hotel, I saw the homeless comfortably sleeping under their cardboard covers on the subway stairs. I say comfortably, because the heat from the subway kept them warm. I've been told the homeless are also allowed to use the subway restrooms at night, and they apparently do not abuse this privilege. Japan must hold the prize of the cleanest restrooms in the world.

Fun with Language (long)

2007-12-20T16:45:00.000-08:00

I've been studying Japanese for a couple of years now. I'm by no means fluent, but I know enough to get by. That's because the textbook we used at Soko Gakuen (literally San Francisco School) is made for adult learners of the language.

We didn't spend loads of time learning verb conjugations or parts of speech (at least not at first). The textbook is organized so that each chapter is a different situation. We learned how to greet people, how to ask for prices and count money, how to answer the phone, how to buy train tickets, how to shop, how to talk about the weather, that sort of thing.

I've been able to communicate with most shop keepers and waiters and other people by applying the lessons I learned from the textbook. However, it's when the situations vary from the script that I run into trouble (witness the Adventures in Dining post from a few days ago). I'm not great at improv in Japanese (yet).

Fortunately, most situations here in Japan do go according to script - and so it was that the day we all went to Kyoto, I found myself in a small coffee shop with Kathie, Rick, and Kat. Kathie & Rick sat at one tiny table (Rick couldn't even get his knees under it) and Kat & I sat at the other. We ordered cake - two slices, one for each table (keeki o futatsu betsu betsu ni oneigaishimasu [insert appropriate hand motions]). I ordered hot tea with milk (kocha to miruku), Kat ordered coffee with milk (kohii to miruku), Kathie - in a rare break from her "living la vida mocha" style - ordered tea with milk, and Rick ordered hot tea plain (kocha sutoreeto).

Of course, it wasn't as simple as that. Both Rick & Kathie changed their minds once or twice so I had to change their orders. In the end, the little old coffee shop lady - who seemed tickled pink that I spoke even a modicum of Japanese - confirmed our order with a string of rapid-fire Japanese that would put any auctioneer to shame and then finished with wakarimashita desu ka? (Do you understand?)

After pausing for a moment to let my brain finish parsing her super-fast speech, I realized with a start that Hai! Wakarimashita! (Yes! I *do* understand!) and we both laughed.

After we finished our snacks and paid, the little old coffee shop lady walked with us to the outside, smiling and waving and bowing. She seemed totally delighted that we had come into her shop that cold rainy day. We certainly were!

***

A word about the way English is used in Japan: it's a phenomenon known on the web as "Engrish" - a perhaps politically incorrect term to use. There's even a website dedicated to it!

Basically, English is very chic in Japan and so it is used when advertisers want to give an impression of the exotic or mysterious. Witness Jason's pachinko sign in Osaka:

or this sign from an American-style hamburger restaurant near the Tokyo Dome:

or these sweets in Osaka:

(cat tongue? what?!?)

or these business names:

Sometimes English isn't used for ambience, but instead sincere attempts at translation go terribly wrong:

(I'm told that the other languages are translated equally badly - especially the Spanish!)

Back in the US, there has been a growing trend in the past few years to use Asian calligraphy to decorate anything from wall hangings to tattoos - and I have to wonder if we're not committing some of the same mistakes we see here!

***

In other news, some people expressed disbelief about the types of pizza available here in the Japan. In response, I submit this photographic evidence:

The Japanese seem to really really REALLY love mayonnaise!

Day 5: The Aquarium

2007-12-20T05:47:00.001-08:00

Ruben has already posted about our trip to the Osaka aquarium, but I had such fun there that I wanted to share some of my pictures as well. This was the first time that I really felt like I got great use out of my new camera, a Canon EOS 30D. I walk around with three lenses:

Sigma 17-70 DC 2.8-4.5
Canon 70-300 IS USM II 4.0-5.6
Canon 50mm 1.8 USM III ("plastic marvel")

And I also had my 430EX flash. All of this is new to me, as is pretty much all DSLR photography, so I really didn't have a clue what I was doing. The aquarium was a *perfect* place to really shake out my gear!

Canon's super low-noise at high-ISO (1600) made it possible to get shots that I *never* could have gotten with my previous point-and-shoots. The plexiglass walls made flash *very* challenging, so the relatively fast speed of my Sigma and plastic marvel captured scenes unavailable to me. And the AI Servo focus was great for following fast moving fishies as they swam around their tanks. And the 430EX was great because I could turn it completely around with a diffuser and reduce the glaring light on plexiglass.

Essentially, I had a ton of fun. Yay!

So, here they are:

The aquarium is in the same center with "Tempozan Giant Wheel," the largest ferris wheel in Japan. We went on it last year, but it was pretty overcast this time, and the group I was with wasn't interested. Takes about 12 minutes to get around the entire thing.

At the entrance to the aquarium is a shell whose owner I wouldn't like to meet in a dark alley. It was about 10-feet tall. A little bigger and it could have been Gamera's! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamera

The otters were seriously cute. Very frisky and obviously having fun together.

This is in contrast to this bad boy, who was obviously way too cool to mug for the camera.

How about a slow motion fight - between two obviously perturbed turtles. Can't you see the fire in their eyes??

How about the Fu-Manchu fish?

Jim loves the kiddos, and they love him.

Everybody loves dolphins! Hey, that's flipper!

Apparently these are all fish native to the Chilean seas.

I found the leopard rays to be very changeable and present many facets to their personality. This one looks *just* like Dumbo:

And now he looks like a pig! Same fish? I dunno!

And this is the prize catch of the aquarium for this season, the Shamu of the Osaka aquarium - a whale shark.

Apparently, this guy knows that he's the reason for the season - look at his entourage! A rapper couldn't wish for more!

The "strangest fish in the ocean" is the California Sunfish. Cheryl said it looked like the poor thing had been run over, leaving only the half with the head. ;)

These tiger sharks look *wicked* - they knife through the water, without a fear in the world.

I hate bugs, especially bugs at the bottom of the sea.

Anchovies and few others (I think):

But jellyfish are cool!

Who's that guy behind the lens??

I'm just learning to take interesting pictures, but reflections fascinate me - can't get enough of 'em! And who's that down in the corner?

Three of us went to an IMAX 3-D movie (narrated by Johnny Dep and ... rats, I forget), all about creatures of the deep sea. As we left, I was thrilled to catch this kind perspective view. Isn't this stuff great?

On the way out, we came upon a street performer, an American juggler who spoke perfect Japanese. Tons of fun:

Finally, there was a really cute kid:

With a woman we assume is his mother. (Can you guess why we thought that?)

On the way back, while Tess was waiting out the mild rain, perhaps the best picture of the day:

It didn't make any sense to us, either. Perhaps you might submit *your* interpretation. Thanks!

Hope you enjoyed these as much as I did taking them,

---Jason

Pics from Disneyland Tokyo

2007-12-19T16:07:00.000-08:00

Tess, Kathie Jukka, Missy, Sunghee and Ruben

Tess, Jukka and Sunghee at Space Mountain.

Main Enterance

Inside World Bazzar

Cheesy Disney Show

Disney Sea - Dec. 18

2007-12-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade - Dec. 17

2007-12-19T04:08:00.000-08:00

Kamakura for a day

2007-12-19T00:44:00.000-08:00

Jim and Tomoko led a Jason, Kat, Dee, David, and me on Monday to Kamakura to see the temples and shrines.

This is Kiriku. You can see why Taiko named her bell ensemble after him!
It was a beautiful day. Although it was cold and wintry, there were still many reds and yellows to make the trees glow.

This is the Great Buddha. He was huge, and you could actually go inside it (from the back)! The story goes that he was originally enclosed in a temple, but a fierce storm leveled much of the town. However, the statue remained serenely intact. It must have been quite a sight.
We saw several temples, many were serene and calmly decorated. We enjoyed the trees, views, bamboo groves, cemeteries, and each other's company.

But it was cold. We dressed quite warmly (long underwear if you had it). Some of the locals had even dressed the statues to keep them warm too.

Foam Sucking and Down Time

2007-12-18T18:55:00.000-08:00

All sonosians are experienced foam suckers when it comes to packing for air travel. However, a handful of sonosians (left to right, Michele, Rick, Tess, and Kat) have shown considerable enthusiasm for sucking foam even during their down time. Fortunately, none of these has expressed any interest in setting any speed records...

The Story...

2007-12-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

Not sure why, but the text I included with the pictures was lost. (I've also noticed I'm not able to format my text the way I want to, so apologies in advance.) Re-typing (argh!)...

This is a bit of catching up from our stay in Osaka:

Jukka and Lois went to the giant (several acre) underground mall one morning with Jim, in search of a donut shop Jim was raving about. After the donuts, Jim left for an appointment, and Jukka and Lois started to meander back toward the hotel, checking out whatever looked interesting along the way. Eventually they realized they were very lost, surprise, surprise!

After asking directions several times with little progress (other than winding up at a police station, led there by a couple of kind souls who didn't know how else to help them get where they were going!) they had finally gotten an idea of which way to go when they stopped one last time to confirm that they were on the right track. A friendly lady on a bicycle stopped to say she spoke English and asked if she could help. When she learned where they were headed she offered to guide them there, and walked her bicycle with them all the way back to the hotel. Of course, Jukka being Jukka, he invited her for a cup of coffee as small thanks for her kindness. She was on her way to meet with a client, but said she would return in half an hour for coffee, which she did!

This kind lady was Sumiko, a 52-year-old single mom with a 15-year-old son. Jukka, Lois, and I had a delightful afternoon coffee break with her, and Lois (quite unlike Lois!) invited her to come back in the evening with her son to join the group for supper, which she did!

Sumiko helped us find a tempura restaurant that could seat a group of 12 (though by the time we found one we were down to 8). We gave her a "Contrasts" cd, and she had also brought gifts for us, including a Peanuts calendar she had promised me and handkerchiefs for Jukka and Lois, as well as a number of hand warmers and Universal Studios tissue packets to share with the rest of the group. (Sumiko works for Nissay, a life insurance company that is a marketing partner of Universal Studios in Osaka.)

One thing Sumiko had asked us in the afternoon was what kind of souvenirs we were taking home from Japan. Jukka and I are on a tight budget and Lois is not a big shopper, so I told Sumiko we are taking our souvenirs in the form of extra weight around the middle from enjoying Japanese food so much. Well the next day, while I was resting in my room, Sumiko called again from the lobby. I went downstairs to find that she had brought the group another gift bag full of goodies from Universal Studios, including wasabi snack crackers, "Jaws" fish snacks, chocolates, and packets of green tea!

It was truly a pleasure to spend time with Sumiko in Osaka. It's always a treat to make new friends while on tour, particularly when they are local to an area we visit. We look forward to meeting up with Sumiko and her son again on another trip to Japan, or in the US when she comes to visit in a few years!

The Story of Sumiko in Osaka

2007-12-18T08:04:00.000-08:00

Day 9

2007-12-18T06:04:00.000-08:00

Hi. This is Rick. I'm posting from Jason's blog because I don't have my own.

These pictures are from Tokyo after arriving from our two concerts in Zushi.

Does Jason look like he just played two concerts in one day?

A few of us went to an English pub near the Tokyo Dome Hotel. Famous English food - isn't that why everyone comes to Japan?

Who's the mystery woman behind the camera?

Next two are Michele and Tess - they really look happy with that British food (wink wink).

The author. 'Nuff said.

The beautiful British food - fish and chips (we think - you never quite know in Japan)!

On the way back to the hotel, we met up with a few more Sonosians! Who woulda guessed - imagine that!

Then we went to the Finnish bakery; another obvious cuisine of Japan. Missy is hugging moomin, a well-known Finnish figure.

And who's the tall guy under the awning? Why, it's Jukka, our very own Finn! Bonus points if you can identify the two mystery arms of the height-challenged Sonosians beside him.

Finally, to prove to Kathie that they do sell peanut butter in Japan (yet another ancient Japanese tradition), Skippy!

And that was the end of a big day on tour with Sonos and its multi-ethnic Japanese food adventure. And what's on tap for tomorrow? How about some Belgian ale?? Sorry, I didn't bring a camera that time... You'll just have to imagine.

Day 6

2007-12-16T05:49:00.001-08:00

This was a concert day in Osaka. We started out in the bus (as always). As we were forming up, we encountered this strange sight:

We assume that this is a bicycle tow truck for illegally-parked bicycles. Not sure though.

On the bus I decided to have fun with my new 50mm 1.8 USM III prime lens (Canon's "plastic marvel"). Following are a bunch of portrait shots of:

David:
Lois:
Diana:
Sunghee:
Jukka:
Missy:
Kathie:
Cheryl
Michele:
Tess:
Ruben:
Kat:
Kiyoshi Tamamura:
Moi:
Our dressing room was awesome! I love wall-to-wall mirrors. Here's me having fun:

I started playing clarinet last year around this time (I missed playing wind instruments) have been honored to play Jim's piece, "Christmas Tidings," which is a bluesy, jazzy diptych of "Mary Had a Baby" and "Go Tell It On the Mountain." It really is beyond me, and I struggle mightily to keep it under control. I'm thrilled to play it, but it kicks my butt. I've been practicing constantly here on tour, an hour a day or more - it's been great! Last few months I've been hanging on by my fingernails to complete two college courses (linear algebra and algorithm analysis & design) amongst all the Sonos, work, and family stuff, so it's been a pleasure to have so much time to practice.

That's it from day 6. If you have any other things you've heard in my posts or others' and want to see more of, let me know and I'll try post them.

Enjoy!

---Jason

A sample of our concerts

2007-12-16T05:14:00.000-08:00

This is one of our encores, "Scherzo on Hyfrydol," arranged by Boude Moore. Players are me on sorpano, Missy on alto, and Michele (she of the red hair) on tenor. It's a great piece that a Southern California contingent (me, my wife, Diane, and Rick Hoffmeister) brought to Sonos when we joined 12 years ago (ack!). We've pretty much played it every concert season since. It's just too successful a piece to drop.

I hope you enjoy it.

---Jason

Random pics.

2007-12-16T04:38:00.001-08:00

First concert Dec 9.

In front of the Osaka Aquarium Dec 12.

Jukka, Kathie and Missy at the local Starbucks near the Tokyo Dome Hotel.

Ruben at Akihabara electronics district in Tokyo.

Taiko, Ruben and Missy at dinner Friday Dec 14 in Tokyo.

Freight elevator at Concert Hall on Sunday Dec 16.

Tokyo Dome Hotel.

Penguins at the Osaka Aquarium Dec 11.

Santa at the Aquarium!

Osaka Aquarium Videos - Dec. 11, 2007

2007-12-16T04:20:00.000-08:00

birthday in japan

2007-12-15T06:33:00.000-08:00

If you have to have a birthday in December, a great place to celebrate it is in Japan. Especially when on tour with Sonosians! They have made me feel so welcome and then surprised me twice!

As Michele blogged, on Dec 12 we went to dinner at The Garlic, right beneath our hotel in this warren maze of little restaurants. It was delicious and at the end the waiter brought me a yummy dessert with a sparkler in it and everyone sang happy birthday. i thought that was the end of a wonderful day spent IMing with my honey Ian all morning, getting an email picture card from my kids, then braving the habitrail and observation deck at the floating gardens, wandering around speaking german in Japan at the Weihnachtsfest at the base of the gardens' building, having a creme brulee venti starbucks coffee looking out at the rain (yes, there are starbucks all over the world), finding a camera battery (much to the chagrin of my fellow sonosians, i take almost as many pics as jason!), and then having a fabulous dinner. BUT, that wasn't all. Back at the hotel i was going to be a good student and practice my challenge piece, Porgy and Bess, with Kathie and Missy. Nonchalantly I walked into Kathie's room ready to work, and was greeted by the whole group. Their ruse had worked and we all gobbled up yummy "Happy 39th" Cake and toasted with our cans of stout and coke zero. Rounding out the evening was an initiation round of snerd, a cutthroat competetive version of group solitaire.

Thinking this was one of my most memorable birthdays, I blithely ignored the conspiracy signs the next day. In the second half of the concert Jim stopped to speak in Japanese to the audience. As all good bell ensemble members know, we rarely listen to what the director is saying. I figured it was something about the next piece we were going to play and had completely tuned out. All of a sudden Sunghe played a bell and everyone was looking in my direction. I turned to see what they were looking at, and then heard the entire audience of 800 Japanese singing happy birthday. Wow.

Thank you guys! What am I going to do to top this for my next 39th birthday?

(I have lots of pics, but no card reader right now. Promise to post some pics later)

Day 7

2007-12-15T05:05:00.001-08:00

This is just a collection of memories from our Friday in Tokyo. We arrived the evening before - we ate at Garlic, which Michele already posted about. Many of us chose to go to Asakusa, which is a shopping district wrapped around a Shinto temple. We also stopped by a percussion museum and store nearby the temple - way cool!

That night we met Taiko and Yoshimichi at a restaurant near our hotel, Mangia Mangia. The party included her little cuties (Gamon and Kantaro) and her husband, Michitaka. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Further Adventures in Dining

2007-12-14T00:24:00.000-08:00

2 nights ago, a bunch of us went out to a special restaurant to dinner:

Kat had an appetizer:

and I had the "Chef's Special Pasta", spinach fettucine in a cream sauce with mushrooms, salmon and roe:

I didn't get a picture of Cheryl's dinner, but she had the "Garlic Toast".

This was MUCH better than the Mystery Dinner the 3 of us had a few nights ago, even though there wasn't as much "local color". ;-)

New friends

2007-12-13T17:10:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed that there are two extra people in Ruben's group photo at the temple steps (with the umbrellas). That's Cathy and Violet.

When we got off the local bus in Kyoto, they asked to follow us to the temples since both groups were going that way. Of course, we just folded them into our group, which grew from 11 to 13 on the spot.

As it turns out, Cathy lives in the San Jose area, and she was on vacation with her sister Violet, who lives in Australia. They were vacationing together, first to Hong Kong and the Japan. Their heritage is Chinese, and were just as touristy as we were. It was a good fit, and we had a lot of fun with them for the rest of the day, lunch included.

I hope we get to see them again. Cathy is going to try to come to our January concert in Walnut Creek.

And speaking of friends, we bumped into four members of the Glenn Miller Orchestra on tour. They were at the Outback Steakhouse in Osaka too. And now that we've moved to Tokyo, I see that the Count Basie Orchestra will be here in a few days too. We had met up with them a few years back while at the Tokyo Dome Hotel. And there's the good samaritan lady that helped Jukka, Missy, and Lois find their way to our Osaka hotel the other night (they were really lost), and came back later to have dinner with us. Then she came back the next day with a bag of Universal Studio promotional snacks, since she works in their marketing department. I don't know much more about that, and hope that someone else posts about it.

Anyway, it's always a better adventure when we interact with the locals, whether they be local to our hotel or our home in the USA.

Comedic Karaoke

2007-12-11T22:27:00.001-08:00

If you ever get invited to Karoke with Ruben and Michele, go.

These two are hysterical. Michele knows she sings only with enthusiasm, and she definitely gets the party started. Ruben plays her "straight man" in this comedy duo, creating harmonies that never existed with equal exuberance. Neither is shy.
This was Kat and my first time doing this, and we did more laughing than singing. The comedy team of Michele/Ruben have a well-honed act, and confess to performing together many times before. Complete with the provided shakers and tambourines, we (loudly) rocked out for an hour to songs like "Cecelia," "Brown Eyed Girl," "Panama," "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling," and "Eat It."

Adventures in Dining

2007-12-11T16:51:00.000-08:00

Last night Kat, Cheryl, and I wandered around the neighborhood surrounding our hotel to see what sort of restaurant we could find for dinner.

After stepping into several places and leaving because it either didn't smell appetizing, or they seemed to specialize in a type of food we weren't in the mood for, we found one that looked ok. We settled in around a low table in a back room, next to a table of 2 women and 1 man who were just finishing their dinner.

The waiter spoke almost no English and there was no English on the menu, nor were there many pictures. There were enough pictures for us to know that they served udon so that's what we ordered - at least we *hoped* that was what we ordered.

The table next to us had a small gas burner on their table with a pot on it. We asked the waiter what it was, but he didn't know the English word, nor did the diners at that table. One of the patrons at the counter did however - it was WHALE.

Yes, whale.

We decided to stick with the udon.

After bringing us water to drink, the waiter came back to ask us if we wanted ... something. He gestured at a cooking pot in the corner. We said ok & he fished out 3 morsels from the pot, put them into a bowl and put it on our table.

We stared at it, not quite sure what it was. There was something that looked sort of like a dark hot dog, then something tube-like with funny "blisters" on its sides, then a skewer with some type of thinly cut meat. (We were a little squicked when the tube-like thing jiggled ominously when we poked it.)

The table next to us saw our quizzical expressions and giggled. We asked them what the items were, but their English wasn't up to the task. Kat got out a pen and a piece of paper and we started drawing pictures.

We pointed at the blistered tube-like thing. Was it octopus? No. Squid? No.

One of the ladies said it was fish - it certainly didn't look like any fish we'd ever seen before! The gentleman at the table gestured and said mikusu, mikusu. We finally figured out that it was fish meat, pressed together, and rolled into the shape of a tube and boiled.

The skewered meat turned out to be beef, but we never did figure out if it was tongue or tripe.

The other thing that looked like a dark hot dog? Still not certain, but we think it was probably fish, too, as they said it was definitely NOT sausage.

We didn't eat any of that, so the waiter asked us if we would eat chicken or egg & after we figured out that that's what he was asking us, we said yes and he again fished in the hot pot and brought us some boiled chicken and a hard-boiled egg that had been simmering in the pot, both of which we ate.

Then came our dinners -- udon, as expected. We each got a bowl of noodles, with a raw egg, green onions, some seaweed, and some fried meat (chicken, we think), plus a carafe of some sort of broth.

The waiter gave us a demonstration for what to do -- pour the broth over the contents of the bowl & mix it all up. (When we've had udon in the past, it has come pre-mixed, thus our confusion.)

The udon was delicious!

We were obviously the entertainment for the evening as everyone in the place - including us - laughed and laughed at the language barriers plus our puzzlement over the unidentifiable bits of food!

I'll post more later about the language barrier thing, as I've had some neat experiences with language this trip.

.

Pics from Kyoto

2007-12-11T15:31:00.001-08:00

In front of the Honen-in Temple. This will be the cover of our next CD!

Eikando Temple

Inside the grounds of Eikando Temple

Kat and Jason at the 'Path of Philosophy'

Ginkakuji Temple

Kathie and Ruben at Ginkakuji Temple

Sunghee at the Ginkakuji Temple

The tragedy of Jasotoni

2007-12-10T06:36:00.000-08:00

This is a story of tragedy, of the random events that can aim one's
steps towards inevitable doom. When one is a samurai, the smallest
mistake can strip one of one's honor. This story is of such a
mistake. Listen, and learn from my example.

Our tale begins in an antechamber of the great castle of Hideyori
Toyotomi in Osaka. The great warrior Jasotoni Teeyerusan

was working through his forms

under the watchful eye of the castle weapons master, Meesheru Shyarik.

(Editor's note: Scholars have theorized that Meesheru often wore
exceptionally tight undergarments, which is why he is never pictured
smiling. It is well-documented that the first artist to portray him
grinning was also the last artist.)

Meesheru, pleased with Jasotoni's loyalty to the Daimyo Toyotomi,
had just presented him with a magic helmet.

During weapons practice, Jasotoni, endeavoring to be worthy his lord's
of the great gift, became overly-enthusiastic, as he is wont to do,
and made a small boo-boo: his upswept sword damaged a tine of the
helmet's spray of blades.

A small matter, perhaps, but one that brought dishonor upon the
Daimyo. How could Jasotoni go into battle? The helmet was storied
both in word and verse, worn by legendary conquerors and leaders. The
famous lay, "The 29 Swords," ascribes the history of each of the tines
of the fabled headgear.

Realizing that there was no solution but to die with honor, Jasotoni
made to commit seppuku.

But, he found that he couldn't. Even the demands of honor could not
keep him from his beloved Dianuretsuya. He was about to strip the
helmet from his head and leap for escape, when his second, Tesiku
Hustoyu, realizing Jasotoni's moment of weakness, strove to strike him
down to preserve his family's honor.

Determined that he would not suffer a fool's death (I mean, c'mon,
there were still *28* of the stupid sticks left on his hat!), Jasotoni
retaliated and a furious battle ensued.

Oh, how the hallways rang with the staccato reports of their magical
swords! The fury that can only arise when friends suffer betrayal at
each other's hands! Back and forth the battle raged, neither Tesiku
nor Jasotoni able to attain and keep the upper hand for long. Until,
for a brief moment, three angels intervened.

The angels pleaded with the two warriors to recall their bonds of
friendship and to put aside this hatred.

Somehow, they broke out into the samurai version of the macarena

Unfortunately, such a rapprochement was not to be. The two samurai
had drank to the dregs the cup of betrayal and anger. Three oddly
dressed, vaguely school-girl looking angels could hardly bridge the
vast gulf that now separated them. (Did I mention that Tesiku and
Jasotoni had at one point been rivals for the hand of Dianuretsuya?
No? Well, you should have known that anyway, so there.)

They resumed their pitched battle.

(Editor's note: Scholars have been unable to determine why Tesiku is
seen to be smiling so often in the endless murals with which later
artists depict this classic story. Some have hypothesized that the
angels had given him foreknowledge of the battle's eventual result;
other's think he was just a happy person. We may never know.)

The battle went on.

And on.

And on.

Until, finally, the great Jasotoni could stand up to Tesiku's might no
longer.

And, then the curtain darkened on the magnificent Jasotoni, as his
once-friend and bud laid the final cruel blow across him, ending his
bright but brief existence.

What is the moral to this tragic tale? Don't wear big hats and risk an even bigger costume malfunction (don't
tell Ruben that). The end. (It's late!)

Observations

2007-12-10T04:29:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am again in Japan with Sonos. Will THIS woman ever go away?? I think I am right up there with Sherry Graham from the Raleigh Ringers in my ability to say “no” when your director comes calling.

It's the afternoon in Osaka, and the rest of the group has left to see the Emperor's Palace and some have gone to see the Rose Garden. I decided to take a nap and a long hot bath. (These deep tubs in Japan are amazing.) When I couldn't sleep, I decided to take a walk to my daily addiction... Starbucks.

Walking by myself in a big city puts language in perspective. Everywhere were Asians, and I saw no one that looked like me. I did identify with one woman, however. She was dressed in heels and a dressy coat, riding her bicycle and talking on her cell phone as she rode along!! I thought that the Japanese probably complain about those crazy drivers who talk on their phones while commuting – just like we do in the U.S.. Who knows, the Japanese are probably about to implement a new law about hands-free communication devices while riding your bike.

So, I get to Starbucks and point to my drink. I noticed right away that the other customers were all grabbing a pastry with their afternoon coffee. That is the sad part about Japan in recent trips. I am definitely seeing the weight gain on the young Japanese students. Another one of our Western influences that should not be adopted.

So I people watch, sitting alone staring out the window, listening to Christmas carols sung in English. I think of my nephew who came to Japan ten years ago to teach English as a second language. He knew nobody when he arrived, and it must have been quite lonely not to be able to communicate with the locals. It was a good time to remind myself how important language is in connecting with others.

So on that cheery note, I'll wish you a Merry Christmas. Cuz if you are reading this, we share the same language!

Fun at the castle

2007-12-10T04:02:00.001-08:00

On our first touristy day, Ruben led us to the Osaka Castle. Good choice, Ruben! He makes such a good tour guide. Eight of us got to be silly for a day, as well as learn about some Japanese history.

This was the poster at the museum. Jason managed to sweet-talk the last one out of the staff (after they told us they didn't have any, and they weren't for sale).

This is me at the entrance to the castle, which was a beautiful walk through a park and across a bridge.

The castle is so picturesque, and filled with eight floors of museum displays.

The top floor is an observation deck. From here, we could see the school children below gathering for their class tour of the castle. I like the dragon-fish on the turrets.

For a small fee, we dressed up as Japanese warriors and had sword fights in the museum. We were not the only ones laughing and taking pictures of our antics! This is Michele (left), Kat (center), and Cheryl (right).

Group shot at the castle entrance, surrounding the cannon. (Left to right) Diana, Michele, Cheryl, Jukka, Jason, Kat, Ruben, and Tess (in front).

We took turns at the cutouts. This is (left to right) Ruben, Diana, Kat, and Jukka.

Some pics from Saga

2007-12-10T00:31:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to borrowing Jason's card reader, so I downloaded some pics from my camera. (I plan to buy my own card reader in Akihabara - Tokyo's electronics district.)

We stayed at the Hotel New Otani in Saga-shi. This was the view outside our window:

While this was the view from the hotel lobby:

Last night, Kathie, Kat, and I went out to eat at the "Beef and Beer" restaurant in town. I have no idea what the actual name of the place was, but the painting on the outside of the building showed happy people grilling beef and drinking beer.

The wait staff spoke no English and the menu was all in Japanese, so Kathie ordered by pointing to another diner and saying, "I'll have what he's having."

Kat & I shared a tomato salad and a plate of thinly-slicked beef which we grilled on the table-top hibachi.

This morning, we gathered for breakfast in the hotel restaurant:

Before hopping on the bus to head to the Fukuoka airport:

More pics from our trip to the Osaka Castle later!

.

The Key to Everything

2007-12-09T23:44:00.000-08:00

As some of my friends at work know, I've been collecting keys here and there over the past several months for a potential mosaic project still in the idea stage. Well, this morning I picked up a really expensive one: Jukka and I had just finished packing to leave the hotel. We had a 7:30 call time at the bus, and had planned to be packed and ready for breakfast when the hotel restaurant opened at 7:00. It's just 7:03, we've got it all together, we're heading for the door, and I ask Jukka, "do you have the room key?" It had been on the corner of the desk all morning. We both had seen it and knew it was there...

Long story short, after tearing the room apart, digging through pockets, carry-ons, and suitcases, I sent Jukka off to grab some breakfast at 7:20 while I did the whole thing over again. At 7:31 I gave up and left the room with our bags thrown back together again. At this point I'm really frustrated, but not overly concerned. Sure it's a real metal key, but how bad could it be? I'm thinking maybe a $20 lost key fee. I've already got a raging headache, I'm dripping with sweat, (did Ruben mention how hot it was in the rooms?) I'd rather pay the $20 and move on. How much for the missing key? $200. !!?! Well it's a big metal key. They have to replace the whole lock, they can't just reprogram a computer chip.

By now Lois and David have already helped us re-re-check pockets, carry-ons, and suitcases with fresh eyes, calmer nerves, etc. Lois and I even went back to the room to help the hotel staff search, to make sure it hadn't gotten lost in the bedding, been kicked under the bed, fallen into the trash can, etc. (All of which Jukka and I had checked before...) No luck.

So we now own a really cool, metal, hotel room key with a big green plastic tab on it that says Hotel New Otani Saga. Only problem is, we still can't find it!

A very long day

2007-12-09T23:30:00.000-08:00

Friday took forever.

My alarm went off at 6:30am at Jim's house, since I had arrived the night before so I could carpool to SFO with him. Our ride picked us up at 7:15am, and our adventure began.

The flight was great because it was sooooo empty. We had rows to ourselves and could stretch out to really sleep. And it's a long enough flight to make anyone fidget. I watched three movies, had two meals and a snack, talked with other Sonosians, paced and stretched, and still had time for a 45-minute nap.

I recommend "The Ultimate Gift" to watch this season. Skip "The Invasion." And don't worry, Jan. I purposefully didn't watch "Ratatouille" until I get home and we can watch it together. (He had just purchased it and hopefully will wait until I get back too.)

We landed in Nagoya, got luggage. went through customs, and then took a local flight to Fukuoka. By the time we got out of there, loaded our bus, and got to our hotel rooms, I had been traveling for more than 22 hours. Add to the time change the date change as well, and it was hard to know when you were at all. We had left Friday morning, but landed Saturday night.

It was a good thing that the first concert (on our first day there) was a 2pm matinee, because by dinner I was yawning and keeling over. I was asleep as soon as I hit the pillow that night.

Handbells: I never promised you a rose garden!

2007-12-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

This is Jason:

This Jason's underwear:

This is Jason's underwear on Sonos:

Any questions?

Flying and Foam Sucking

2007-12-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

Today we are flying from the Fukuoka airport to the ~~Kansai~~ Itami airport in Osaka. We had an internal flight on our 2005 trip, too, but then they sent our equipment via truck. This time, we are taking it with us on the plane. So we had to suck foam last night.

In "foam sucking", we take all the foam that we use to cover our performance table, stuff each piece into a garbage bag, and then vacuum the air out of it. The resulting bundle is then wrapped in packing tape & put into sturdy carry bags.

We've done this in some pretty interesting places, including at a US airport.

On our 1st trip to Japan, back in 2002, all of our equipment came back to our hotel with us after our last concert, so we sucked the foam in one of the hotel rooms.

In 2003, however, we *thought* the equipment was going to come back with us, but it didn't -- the trucking company was holding it for us overnight & it wasn't going to arrive until 30 minutes before we were to leave for the airport. So, when the truck arrived, we quickly grabbed all the foam & took it upstairs to Jim's tiny hotel room. We put all his furniture on the bed & formed 2 teams of frantic foam suckers. We got all 20 pieces of foam sucked in 28 minutes - a new record for us!

In 2005 & 2006 (we didn't go in 2004), we sucked foam at the last concert hall.

I was planning for us to do it at the concert hall yesterday, too, but we had to be out of there by 5 (and the concert was over at 4), so we did it in the hotel lobby -- after explaining to the hotel staff what we wanted to do (no easy task!).

.

I'm burning up!

2007-12-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

The heater in the hotel is up full blast and we don't have any temperature controls in our room!

Ruben
Saga-shi, Saga
Japan

Oops

2007-12-08T15:23:00.001-08:00

I think I forgot to bring gloves.....

.

2007-12-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

I thought that I'd post the pictures I took from the airplane of Mt. Fuji and some of the other mountains we flew over before landing in Nagoya. It was really beautiful!!

First concert today! Saga looks like a neat place, it's too bad we don't have more time here. But we get a few days in Osaka after this, so there will be time for exploring there.

Tess =:)

We're here!

2007-12-08T05:20:00.000-08:00

We made it here, safe and sound. We're staying in the Hotel New Otani Saga in Saga-shi, Saga, which is near Fukuoka, in the southern part of Japan.

Time to go to bed now - we've got an early rehearsal and a 2:00 concert tomorrow!

.

Third Time's the Charm!

2007-12-06T13:26:00.001-08:00

I got the passports-with-visas from the Consulate today!

YAY!

.

Another trip to the Consulate

2007-12-03T16:20:00.000-08:00

Unlike Ruben, I am *not* done packing. In fact, I had to make a trip to the Japanese Consulate this morning.

Today's trip included:

Submitting new photos for Jim, Cheryl, and Rick;
Showing them JP's & Kat's actual, physical drivers licenses; and
Changing each & every application to read "Saga-shi, Saga" instead of just "Saga" for the location of our hotel in Saga (near Osaka).

JP met me at the Consulate at 10am and came up with me. He didn't want to be without his Drivers License. He showed it to them, they made a photocopy, and gave it back to him.

I had Kat's drivers license because she left it with me after Saturday's rehearsal. She flew home that night using her old, expired passport as ID. (Her new, non-expired passport is, like all the rest of ours, at the Consulate.) They took her DL, made a photocopy, and gave it back to me. Later in the day, I went to a FedEx store and shipped it back to her, overnight. She'll have it by 10:30am tomorrow (Tuesday).

All 3 of us (JP, me, & the Consulate caseworker) inspected Rick's passport trying to find the stamp that showed he re-entered the US after his last international trip. We couldn't find it. We *did* however, find the stamp that showed he left Germany. The supervisor decided that that was good enough.

However, in Tess' passport, there was only one stamp & it wasn't clear if it was an entry or exit stamp, so the supervisor decided that she needed to come in person to the Consulate.

I phoned Tess to tell her that she was going to have to find time to come to downtown San Francisco (a 30 mile trip from her house - and probably 45 minutes of driving) sometime before Thursday morning. Fortunately, she was driving her husband in to work this morning & so was already *in* San Francisco!

She met me at the Consulate, we went upstairs together, and presented her to the caseworker. (He seemed surprised she was there, not 20 minutes after he told me he needed to see her!!) He asked for her drivers license, made a copy of it, then gave it back to her.

So, with that we are finished for now. I can go pick up our finished passports-with-visas on Thursday morning.

YAY!

I'm finished packing!

2007-12-02T22:24:00.000-08:00

I'm ready to go!

My Annual Trip to the Consulate

2007-11-30T10:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my annual trip to the Japanese Consulate here in San Francisco.

Every year when we go to Japan, we must get "Entertainer" visas. The process is, on the surface, simple:

Each Sonosians completes a "Certificate Application".
This application, along with a photocopy of our passports and three passport photos, is sent to our agent in Japan.
Our agent in Japan takes the applications to the Immigration Authorities in Japan.
The Immigration Authorities issue a "Certificate of Eligibility" for each Sonosian & send them to our agent in Japan.
Our agent sends them to us.
I take the Certificate for each Sonosian, plus their actual passport, plus a completed "Visa Application", plus one passport photo, plus a cover letter on Sonos letterhead saying that I'm allowed to submit & retrieve the passports for the group to the Consulate.
The Consulate issues visas for each Sonosian.

It's not as simple as it looks. Why not? Because while all government agencies like red tape, it seems that the Japanese Consulate is particularly enamored of it.

This year, the first 5 steps of the process went pretty well, as usual. The issues start at step 6, when I take our application packet to the Consulate.

Let's take the "Visa Application Form" as an example. (NOTE: clicking on that link will open/download the PDF)

The first bit looks pretty self explanatory: Name, Sex, Marital Status, Citizenship. But then comes the first "gotcha" question: "Length of stay in Japan intended".

You would think that that is asking you how long you intend to stay in Japan, wouldn't you? For example, "14 days" or "25 days" or "3 days" or something like that. Right?

Well, that's NOT the correct answer to that question, as I found out in 2005. That year, they made me "correct" each application to say "90 days". This is because for US Citizens, the visa is good for 90 days. OK, I can understand that. What if your flight home is delayed for a day, or you decide to stay an extra week, or you're injured and can't leave Japan on the date you intended to leave, or whatever? You would be over-staying your visa & that's illegal. Not good.

In 2006, I put "90 days" as the answer to that question & the Consulate was happy with it. Not this year! THIS year, they had me "correct" each application to read "3 months". Why? Because that's the verbiage that was used on the Certificate of Eligibility.

Next up, the "Passport" line. In the first blank - immediately after the words Refugee or stateless should note title of Travel Document - they want you to put the Country that issued the passport. For example, "USA", or "Finland", or "Canada", etc. How you are supposed to know that, I don't know, but there it is.

Then, you're supposed to put the same text (from the "Authority" section of your passport) in both the blank that is labeled Diplomatic, Ordinary, Official Issued at and the blank that is labeled Issuing authority. I don't know why they have 2 different blanks that are supposed to have the same information -- perhaps there's a type of passport out there that has different information for them. It's not obvious (to me) that those should both have the same info, but whatever.

Next is the "Profession or Occupation" -- but this one actually makes some sense. They do NOT want to know what you do "in real life" - they want to know the profession or occupation that entitles you to have an "Entertainer" visa. For this, every Sonosian puts "artist" and the Consulate is happy.

"Addresses of hotels or names and addresses of persons with whom applicant intends to stay" -- it seems that I always end up missing a bit of the address for this blank. For example, last year we started off in the Tokyo Dome Hotel (our favorite, as you might remember from Jason's An Ode to Tokyo Dome Hotel). The hotel's address is: 1-3-61, Koraku, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. Last year I left off the "-ku" and so had to correct each and every application. This year, our first hotel is the Hotel New Otani Saga. The itinerary given to me by our agent in Japan lists the address as: 1-2, Yoga-cho, Saga, so that's what I put on the Visa Application form. However, apparently "Saga" is both the name of the city AND the prefecture, so they want me to come back to the Consulate and write in an additional "Saga" after the "Saga" that's already on the Application. Last night, I printed out the page from the hotel's web site that has the address & will take that. It's slightly different than what was on the itinerary, so I need to ask them what they want on the Application.

Then comes the "Dates and duration of previous stays in Japan". Because some of us have been to Japan multiple times, this line can get pretty crowded. Last year, I was able to put "2002 (13 days); 2003 (15 days); 2005 (21 days)" etc. This year, however, they want all the actual dates: "12/8-12/25, 2005" etc.

Finally, the "Signature of applicant". Pretty straight-forward, right? You sign the form & you're done, right? Nope. Your signature on the form must EXACTLY match the signature on your passport, down to the smallest dot or tiddle. This is true even though you may have signed your passport 8 or 9 years ago. Back in 2003, one of the Sonosians (I forget who) signed their form with more loops in the letters than how they signed it on the passport, so I had to have them sign a new form and re-submit it. Yes, it's *that* picky.

So that's the stuff that we have to watch out for for *everyone*. However, this year there were some issues with some of the individual applications, too:

Jim, Cheryl, & Rick have to submit new passport photos. The problem with Jim's & Cheryl's photos is that there is a very small glare on their glasses. The problem with Rick's photo is that he's wearing (slightly) tinted lenses. Those photos were good enough to issue the Certificate, but the Consulate told me "this photo is ok for them, but not for us, please bring another one", so I will have to go back on Monday for that.

JP is a citizen of Finland, but a legal resident of the US. Because the Consulate only issues visas if the "applicant possesses a valid passport and is entitled for the re-entry to a country of which he/she is a national or citizen or a country of his/her residence", I had to take his Green Card to the Consulate to prove that he was entitled to return to the US. They took the Green Card & made a photocopy of it & gave it back to me. Now, it is ILLEGAL for JP to be without his Green Card -- Green Card holders in the US are required to have the GC on their person AT ALL TIMES -- so I picked it up from him that morning & returned it to him that afternoon & we just hope he doesn't get stopped or hospitalized or anything in the time it's gone.

This year, however, they decided that they ALSO wanted to see his Drivers License. They said they needed to see a "second ID". When I pointed out that they already had a copy of his Green Card, they said "it is better if we have a copy of his Drivers License, too". In addition to asking for a copy of the DL to be faxed to them, they want me to bring in the actual physical DL. So, JP faxed a copy of his DL to them this morning & is planning to meet me at the Consulate on Monday morning to show it to them in person.

For Kat, the issue was with her name. On her passport and on the Visa Application form, her last name is hyphenated. However, the Certificate was issued without the hyphen. The Consulate wants her to fax a copy of her Drivers License to them and also wants me to bring it to them in person. The problem is that I can't get the physical license before Monday morning -- Kat lives in LA and is flying to Oakland for rehearsal tomorrow, but she can't leave her DL here with me because she has to get on a plane to go home (which requires a government-issued picture ID) & the Consulate has her passport!

I've left her a voicemail asking how her name is written on her Social Security card. If it's hyphenated, I've asked her to fax it to the Consulate along with her DL. I will then phone the Consulate and speak to our caseworker to see if they would accept the SS card on Monday. Other options are: she takes her DL to the Consulate in LA and they verify it for the Consulate here or she mails it to me (overnight) after she gets home & I take it to the Consulate later in the week (and then I overnight it back to her).

Part of the problem is that we're running out of time. We leave for Japan on Friday morning. I need to pick up the completed passports-with-visas on Thursday. It takes 5 business days to get visas for a group, so the deadline for submitting the applications was yesterday.

Another issue is that the Consulate told me that the last time Rick and Tess re-entered the US, their passports were not stamped by the US border people. Rick says that he saw them do it -- the border people do not always put the entry/exit stamps together (or even on the same page) as they are supposed to, so it's probably on another page. Tess doesn't remember if they stamped hers or not. Our caseworker was not certain if this would be an issue or not (I hope not!) and said that he had to ask the Manager what to do about it. I suspect that the issue is this: without the re-entry stamp, they don't know how long Rick & Tess were out of the country and so don't know if they over-stayed their allowed time in that country.

So that's the sort of picayune stuff that I have to deal with every year when we go to Japan.

New Time Zone

2007-11-28T11:59:00.000-08:00

I changed the time zone to Tokyo rather than Pacific. Since we'll be doing our blogging from Japan, I thought that made sense.

If you disagree & would like to go back to Pacific Time please let me know!

Dec 2 UPDATE: I changed it back to Pacific Time, since most of our readers will be Stateside.