Hatsumode at Hikawa Shrine

In the early part of the New Year, many Japanese people go to a shrine for what is called hatsumode, which is the first visit of the year. They use the occasion to pray for good things in the coming year and also buy an omikuji, which is a small slip of paper with your year's fortune written on it. I went to Hikawa Shrine, duly paid my 100 yen and tried my luck. Some will say it's fate, cynics will say it's like a raffle, but for my 100 yen I pulled out a chu-kichi slip, which means fate has a fairly good year in store for me.

This shrine features this ring of rope and by walking through this three times, you are supposed to ward off evil and stay healthy for the year.

2008 is the Year of the Rat.People tie ema (wooden tablets on which they write their hopes and wishes) or omikuji at a particular place in the shrine's grounds.

Lanterns at the entrance to the shrine at night.

Books: Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin

I've only a read a few of the Rebus novels to date, but I always find them hugely enjoyable. This is the thirteenth in the series and in it we find the St. Leonard's team investigating the murder of an Edinburgh art dealer. Rebus, however, is soon taken off the case after throwing a cup of tea at DCS Templer. For his sins, he is sent off to police college to be retrained with some other recalcitrant officers from the region to learn the benefits of teamwork and cooperation. Rebus soon realises, however, that the members of the group are suspicious of each other and seem more interested in protecting secrets than working together.

As always, Rankin's observations, cultural references and use of witty dialogue ('Do the words "tea", "mug" and "lob" mean anything to you?' 'Tea mug lob? Is that a Cocteau Twins track?' he won a smile from her.) are spot on, all adding to a sense of reality. I haven't actually been to Edinburgh, but have a vision of it from Rankin's books, much like I have a vision of Louisiana from James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux books.

On the whole, probably the best of the Rebus books I've read to date.

Afternoon sky

Snapped on my mobile at Heiwa No Mori Koen

Yebsisound08 - New Year's Party

quasimode

Cro-Magnon

Kyoto Jazz Massive on the decks
Toshio Matsuura leading up to the countdown

Happy New Year!!
Jazztronik

Gilles Peterson works the crowd

Soil and "Pimp" Sessions

Welcome 2008!

Happy New Year!

明けましておめでとうございます！

Bonne Année!

Ein gutes neues Jahr

Szczęśliwego nowego roku

Feliz año nuevo

Feliz ano novo

Manigong bagong taon

สวัสดีปีใหม่

Chúc Mừng Nǎm Mới

Selamat tahun baru

šťastný nový rok

Onnellista uutta vuotta

Gott nytt år

С Новым Годом

Books: Dracula by Bram Stoker

Despite knowing the story and having seen different film interpretations, I hadn't, until now, actually read the original Bram Stoker novel. The novel is a chilling late-Victorian adventure, with the action described in the journals, letters and notes of the main protagonists. The Count Dracula of the novel is a far more scary prospect than any Bela Lugosi or Vincent Price, and Professor Van Helsing, Dr. Seward and co. have to resort to the latest technology of the day (blood transfusions, the emerging field of psychology) as well as more traditional folkloric methods in order to stave off the threat he poses to the people of London. The novel has several layers and the erotic undertones of the vampire, the fear of the unknown in uncertain fin-de-siecle times and the mistrust of immigrants, are all themes that can be explored at length. Alternatively, it can simply be enjoyed as a superb adventure novel.

Festive penguins in Shinjuku

Shop shutter in Nakano

Baan Esan in Koenji

Went to nearby Koenji yesterday in the cold rain, and, after mooching around the used CD and zakka shops, went to Baan Essan for some Thai food. This cramped, inexpensive little restaurant is a great place for a night out ~ as long as your group isn't too big. You have to squeeze past other customers to get to your table as it's a long and narrow place ~ if you stand with both arms stretched out, one would be touching the wall and the other would be in the kitchen! You're spoilt for choice on the menu, and have to shout your orders over tinny cha-cha-cha style Thai pop music (an authentic touch). Last night I plumped for glass noodle salad, stir-fried pork and broccoli and garlic fried chicken, washed down with a couple of beers. I'll definitely be coming here again.

Books: Millenium People by J.G. Ballard

This novel by J.G. Ballard is a black comedy set in early 21st century Britain. The narrator, David Markham, is a psychologist, whose ex-wife is killed by a terrorist bomb at Heathrow. No group comes forward and so Markham decides to investigate. His search leads him to an exclusive residential community called Chelsea Marina (actually in Fulham) where some of the residents are trying to start a revolution ~ the middle classes have become the new proletariat. In order to find out more about the Heathrow bomb, Markham has to become more involved in the revolt.

Throughout the novel, there are continual references to the meaninglessness of modern times, and the notion that with increased prosperity has come a spiritual/intellectual emptiness. Such serious issues are dealt with in a humourous way, with chapter titles such as 'Bonfire of the Volvos', and a group of demonstrators at a cat show being likened to 'an advancing chorus of an agit-prop musical' chanting "Moggie, moggie, moggie! Out, out, out!"

A thoroughly entertaining novel and a very astute assessment of modern life. Recommended.

10 Songs That Floated My Boat This Year

A lot of good music out this year, so difficult to limit my choice to just ten tracks, but these tracks were ones that I would certainly never skip when I has my iPod on shuffle.

Beaten Metal - Antibalas
A.I.E. - Soil & "Pimp" Sessions
Wind - Sleep Walker feat. Yukimi Nagano
African Rumble - Timo Lassy
Dangerfield - Grimace Federation
100 Days, 100 Nights - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
The Man From Nagpur - quasimode
Irresistible - Sizzla
Seven Nation Army - The Dynamics
Atlantic - Thief

Dug

After a great pasta dinner last night we popped in to a cool little jazz bar in Shinjuku for a drink. It seems that Dug has existed in one form or another for 40 years and judging from some of the photos inside, has had some legendary visitors over the years, including the likes of Horace Silver and Max Roach. Last night they were playing a lot of the Count Basie Orchestra, and while big band jazz isn't my favourite, I certainly want to check this place out again some time.

Love On A Sponge!

In Shinjuku there is a large building site where the old Marui shop used to be. While the building work is going on there is a temporary art space with works from young artists. This one is called 'Love On A Sponge'.

J.A.M. & quasimode at Unit Daikanyama

After work it was down to Daikanyama for an evening of live jazz at Unit. First up were quasimode, who played a 40-minute set comprising most of their bigger tunes, such as 'The Man From Nagpur', 'Down In The Village' and 'Ipo Amarelo'. In a slightly smaller setting than the Liquid Room, they looked a little less nervous than last month and delivered a solid set that went down well.

Then it was time for the main act, J.A.M., the piano trio from Soil & "Pimp" Sessions. I've seen them play for part of a Soil & "Pimp" gig, but this was the first time to see a full set from them. A few of the tracks were familiar, but there were quite a few new numbers too tonight. As ever, the trio played very tight together and were clearly having a great time up on stage. Josei led on piano, playing with superb dexterity and speed, shaking his head and getting totally lost in the sound, and whilst he doesn't say much on stage, he is most definitely a consumate performer. Akita Goldman strummed away on bass occasionally veering off into interesting solos, and Midorin was a powerhouse on drums. The whole crowd was dancing away throughout the gig as the band turned the heat up with a few funky numbers.

We were in for a real treat with the encore as the full Soil & "Pimp" Sessions band came out to play a blinding brand new track.

I think this perhaps ranks as gig of the year for me and I can't wait for the J.A.M. album to come out next March.

We Want More!

Song For My Father - Leon Thomas
A Different View - LTC
Stars - Nostalgia 77 Octet
Fisherman - The Congos
Irresistible - Sizzla
My People - Angie Stone featuring James Ingram
Tropidelico - The Quantic Soul Orchestra
General Confessional - The Electric Prunes
We Want More - Soil & "Pimp" Sessions
Budos Rising - The Budos Band

Soil & "Pimp" Sessions a Shibuya AX

The stage was enveloped in darkness and then soft lights came on as the band took to the stage. They started the set with "Dawn" and a spectrum of colour appeared behind them while they played, leaving them in silhouette. The song gradually built to its climax and then the black sheet that was hanging down in front of the stage fell and the stage was bathed in light as they launched into "Suffocation". Tonight was the last night of their autumn tour which has seen them take in cities in several European countries and a national tour of Japan, and they were playing to a sellout crowd at Shibuya AX. They were in full throttle, barely letting up the pace for the entire gig, playing songs such as "Pluto", "We Want More" and "マクロけ"/"マシロケ" ("Makuroke"/"Mashiroke") before a funky interlude from J.A.M. and continuing with songs like "The Party", "Summer Goddess" and "Sahara" before reaching a climax with "Slaughter Suite" and "Slaughter Theme". There was a three track encore featuring "Come On Baby", a new song from the soundtrack of a forthcoming film.

A bloody good gig and even at the end of the energy-filled set the audience would have happily watched more. We definitely do want more and will be looking out for their next tour.

Hats! - 13

A suede number by the New York Hat Co.

Hand made hair salon flyer

Turn It Up

Disposition - Nils Krogh
Time Is Love - quasimode feat. Carmen Lundy
Voices Whisper - Marc de Clive-Lowe
Prayer - The Stance Brothers
Heal The Nation - Jacob Miller
90% Of Me Is You - The Dynamics
Surely - DJ Spinna
Turn It Up - Shuya Okino
Breathe - Pink Floyd
Harley Davidson - Brigitte Bardot

Street Art In Harajuku

Shop sign in Koenji

I'll leave the captions to your imagination ....

Quasimode at the Liquid Room in Ebisu

I had been eagerly awaiting this concert for some time, as I hadn't seen Quasimode before but have enjoyed their first two albums. Despite the fact that their second album, 'The Land of Freedom' was released in September, this was billed as a release party. It was certainly a special concert as they had guest appearances from Massa, the sax player from Sleep Walker, and from legendary American jazz singer Carmen Lundy. The four-piece were also backed by a 6-member horn section, so from the posters alone, it was clear that it was something not be missed .

Shuya Okino of Kyoto Jazz Massive was the warm-up DJ, and then the band were on, starting with the intro track 'Catch The Fact' before launching into 'The Man From Nagpur' and their version of Tubby Hayes 'Down In The Village' ~ a superb way to kick off the set. A few songs later they were joined by Massa on sax, who gave a blistering rendition of 'Raw Cotton Field', fingers flying over the keys and pads of his soprano. Next Carmen Lundy was on stage for a couple of songs, with 'Time Is Love' being absolutely outstanding. From there on the band turned up the heat even more, playing some great club jazz, rounding of the set with title track of their latest album, before an encore of 'Oneself-Likeness'.

A superb concert and it seems it was recorded for release as a live album, which will be out next spring.

Pottery, gyouza and jazz in Tochigi

It was up at dawn on Sunday and on one of the first trains of the morning to Hamamatsu-cho station to get on a tour bus headed for Tochigi prefecture. The trip would include a visit to Mashiko for the pottery festival and Utsunomiya for the gyouza and jazz festivals.

The bus pulled into Mashiko just after 9:30 and there was three hours to look around the festival stalls, which sounds like a long time, but in fact there were hundreds of stalls and plenty of interesting stuff to see.

A giant pottery tanuki (or raccoon dog), as seen outside many a Japanese eatery. There were hundreds of these on sale in all sizes.

A small pottery sofa at one of the smaller, trendier stalls.
Among the different souvenirs being sold to visitors was this pack of grasshoppers cooked in soy sauce (I think). As tempting as they looked, I decided to pass.

From there, the bus travelled for another hour before arriving in Utsunomiya where we had another three hours to enjoy gyouza (kind of pan-fried dumplings), which the city is fmaous for, and watch some live jazz. There were several areas around the city where gyouza stalls were set up, and after waiting in a long queue, you could get one portion (4 dumplings) for just 100 yen. Great stuff.

There were also four stage areas around the city where there were musicians playing jazz and soul music. The festival has been taking place for ovr 30 years and always features professional and amateut musicians from Tochigi prefecture. It was good fun, though with only three hours before the bus headed back to Tokyo, there wasn't really enough time to do it justice.

Skunky funky

La femme d'argent - Air
Life in the country - The Ebonys
1 2 3 4 - John Arnold featuring Paul Randolph
7 Nation Army - The Dynamics
Skunky Funky - Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra
Garra - Marcos Valle
Sphinx - indigo jam unit
Take Inventory - The Isley Brothers
Pipe Bag - The Haggis Horns
Summer Rain - Natalie Gardiner

Reflection in Shibuya