Fukushima: Day 2 - Aizu Wakamatsu

If you continue on the train from Yunokami Onsen, you eventually arrive in Aizu Wakamatsu, a town with a rich history and plenty to see, as well as having a hot spring area. For just 500 yen you can get a one day pass for the sightseeing loop bus that stops at various different points around town. First stop for me was Nanokamachi, an area featuring several attractive old buildings and some interesting shops to look around.

Nanokamachi Station is also home to nice little cafe and zakka shop, and it would be easy to while away time here if you really wanted to.

Over the road from Nanokamchi Station is Amidaji Temple, where some of the fallen soldiers of the Boshin Uprising are buried.

A houjicha (roasted tea) vendor freshly roasting tea leaves in the street. At just 100 yen for a large pack, it was an absolute bargain.
One of the high points in the town is the Oyakuen garden featuring medicinal herb plots, as well as a wonderfully landscaped traditional garden complete with pond and tea arbour. It was nice just wander around and the sit and take in the scenery in total peace and quiet.

Fukushima: Day 2 - Ouchijuku

After breakfast it was an early check out and into taxi to Ouchijuku some 6 kilometres away. The staff at the minshuku had advised to set off sooner rather than later as the traffic gets very heavy by mid-morning in the holiday period.

Ouchijuku is a quiet town with a glorious past, but which is now simply a tourist spot famous for its main street consisting of Edo period buildings. It was an important post town in days gone by, making its money from people passing through, much as it does today, albeit in different circumstances.

It was good to get there early, as it was possible to wander around at leisure without getting jostled and bumped by other sightseers, though it gradually got busier and busier as mid-morning approached.

The main street consists of lots of old buildings with thatched roofs, most of which are now eateries, shops selling souvenirs or local produce. I had a lot of fun looking at the different types of jam, miso and tea on sale as well as the usual tourist tat, but the only thing that convinced me to part with any cash was a bottle of Dr Noguchi sake, which was shaped like a chemist's flask. I'm no sake connoisseur, but mainly wanted the bottle, which will make a nice ornament when I've drunk the contents. Shallow, I know, but ...





Apart from the main sightseeing street, there isn't much else to the town, but it is surrounded by some beautiful natural scenery, and I was particularly impressed by the many different shades of green in the surrounding hills.
Time was running out, as a return journey in the taxi had been booked for 11 o'clock, but no trip to Ouchijuku would be complete without a bowl of ippon soba (buckwheat noodles in a cold soup with a whole leek), even if it meant having a very early lunch. The idea is to use the leek instead of chopsticks to eat the noodles, but taking a bite from it from time to time to complement the noodles. It was a novel and tasty experience.

On the taxi ride back to Yunokami Onsen station I could see the queue of cars waiting to get to Ouchijuku which tailed back over 4 kilometres. Who ever said cars were the best way to get around?

Fukushima: Day 1 - Yunokami Onsen

Just one stop from Tounohetsuri is Yunokami Onsen with its old style picture postcard thatched station house, and it was here that I stopped for the night at a small minshuku (inn) in a converted farmhouse that had its own hot spring baths.



The communal area of the minshuku was cluttered with various different ornaments and knick-knacks, ranging from pottery, scrolls, masks and obi to stuffed forest animals and dried fish.

I had a nice long late afternoon soak in the bath, which I had to myself as the other guests were all arriving by car and were delayed in the holiday traffic ~ a good enough reason not to start driving in my book! Then it was time for dinner, which consisted of fish, soup and lots of locally grown vegetables, some of which I can't tell you the name of, but it was all rather tasty and went down nicely with a bottle of beer.

Still feeling the effects of the flight back from the UK, I had an early night in a very comfy futon, only to be rudely awoken at 4:30 in the morning by the rather noisy family in the next room who were getting an early start to avoid the traffic. I didn't mind them getting up early, but wished they had been a bit more considerate of the other guests seeing as the walls in old Japanese buildings are rather thin.

Fukushima: Day 1 - Tounohetsuri

Having got back from the UK just a couple of days earlier, I decided to take advantage of the rest of the Golden Week holiday and headed off to Fukushima prefecture for a couple of days in order to recharge my batteries before going back to work. It was my first visit but I'd heard that there was plenty to see ~ and of course it was going to be quieter than Tokyo, even in the busy Golden Week period.

A couple of hours on a train from Shinjuku got me as far as Aizu Tajima, and this was followed by a scenic journey on a local train to Tounohetsuri, a tiny little station in the middle of a wood. The only reason to get off here is to take the short walk through the wood down to the riverside, where you can see the stunning rocks on the far bank of the river, formed over millions of years of erosion. You can stroll over the rather bouncy suspension bridge to the other side and visit a small shrine in the rocks as well as take in the spectacular view.

Just another monkey . . .

Stuck on a wall in Nakano.

Street Gig in Shinjuku

A couple of Sundays ago I saw this group playing near Shinjuku station. They go by the rather unwieldy name of さけのさかな楽団 (Sake no sakana gakudan) and play an interesting mix of jazz, ska and pop which went down rather well with the large group of spectators. Wouldn't mind seeing them again some time.

R.I.P

In loving memory of

my sister Lisel

who died whilst on holiday on Goa, April 6th, 2008

Jazzy Joint

Jazzy Joint - J.A.M featuring Jose James
Life Time - Soulstance
Put On Train - Gene Harris & The Three Sounds
Paleo - Topaz
Take Off Your Clothes To Feel The Rising Sun - Wolfgang Dauner
Fujii Drive - Masayoshi Tzuboguchi Trio
Granny Scratch Scratch - Sound Dimension
California Soul - Brenda & The Tabulations
2000 Black - Roy Ayers
Roll Call - The Stance Brothers

J.A.M & Jose James at HMV Shibuya

Friday evening I was down in Shibuya to see J.A.M with Jose James for the second time in as many days. This was a free gig at HMV with tickets going on a first some first serve basis, so I made sure I arrived in plenty of time. As always the guys from J.A.M gave a superb performance and Jose James was amazing on the tracks he sang.

J.A.M started off with Quiet Blue and moved on to Roy's Scat before Jose James joined them on stage for a rousing version of Spirits Up Above. Soil & "Pimp" Sessions sax player Motoharu then appeared for Park Bench People, giving a blistering solo and then sparring with Jose's vocals and scatting ~ simply amazing stuff. It was back to J.A.M next for Quiet Fire, with both Josei and Midorin offering up amazing solos, which went down like a storm. Jose James was back after that for an extended version of Moanin' which was a match for the version played at Liquid Room the previous night. We were then treated to an unexpected aside as an over-enthusiastic member of the audience tried to make his case to jam with the band on his bamboo flute before the boys launched in to Jazzy Joint, which was closed out with some call and response playing between Jose James and Josei that was great fun to watch. As an encore they played a wonderful version of Body and Soul. An amazing in store gig that continued for about 75 minutes, and I truly hope that both Jose James and J.A.M can continue to push this wonderful music to a wider audience.

Books: The Possibility of an Island by Michel Houellebecq

As a misanthropic, cynical middle-aged man obsessed with sex, free love, loss and death, Daniel1 is a typical Houellebecq main character, and The Possibility of an Island revisits a lot of the same themes as his previous novels, Atomised and Platform. A writer who is as detested by some as he is admired by others, he often poses some big questions in his books, though without necessarily providing satisfactory answers.

Daniel1 is a highly controversial yet successful stand-up comedian who has made a name for himself by using the prejudices of the general public to create themes for his jokes and sketches. He gradually tires of his fame and success and seeks to escape it all, at first by embarking on a highly erotic affair with a young actress and then by becoming involved indirectly in a cult. For a large part it is easy to aspects of Daniel1 as a satirical self-parody and Houellebecq seems to enjoy this and is on top form in these parts of the novel.

The other narrators are Daniel24 and Daniel25, the comedians cloned progeny who are looking back on their originator's life story some thousand or more years into the future. With society and life having evolved, these clones are curious to know about the feelings of love, lust and regret that Daniel1 spends so long agonising over.

For me the futuristic sections don't work quite as well for me as Daniel1's passages, and it feels as though the ideas in these parts didn't come to the author as easily as in the present-day narrative, though that could also be in part down to the translation. As with his previous books, Houellebecq's latest novel gave me plenty of food for thought, while at the same time hoping for something a bit more, and I will certainly be looking forward to his future writings.

Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Showcase 2008

Thursday evening I was down at Liquid Room in Ebisu for Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Showcase 2008 for some live music and DJs. I got there shortly after the 7pm start time and Jazztronik were part way through a live set of electronic-jazz fusion tracks. Shacho of Soil & "Pimp" Sessions appeared on stage for one track to work the crowd and get the evening well and truly started. After that we were treated to a DJ set from what GP called "Tokyo Jazz Originators", which was basically a pantheon of some of the biggest names on the Tokyo club jazz scene, such as Toshio Matsuura, Shuya Okino, Tatsuya Tsunaga, Kei Kobayashi, Raphael Sebbag and so on. Each had a limited time slot to spin one or two tracks, with styles ranging form soul, jazz and funk to latin, hip-hop and electronica, with Shacho acting as the MC.

Next up were J.A.M on stage opening their set with Quiet Fire and New Things before being joined on stage by Jose James, and together they performed Jazzy Joint, Spirits Up Above and a monster version of Moanin' with an amazing drum solo from Midorin. It was a really natural collaboration and they looked really comfortable playing together. A real winner.

GP himself was at the decks next for a great eclectic mix of tracks that went down really well, starting out soulful and closing on a Brazilian note. Sweet.

The final live act was the 9-piece Japanese afrobeat combo Kingdom*Afrocks. It was the first time for me to see them, though I had heard that their live shows have been causing something of a buzz. The start to the set was atmospheric and slow, but they gradually got into their groove and the people at the front of the crowd were certainly getting into the music. Their songs had all the hallmarks of great afrobeat, with the shuffling drums, percussion and driving bass and guitar, that allowed the keyboard player and horn section to punch out their riffs over the top. A worthy addition to the new afrobeat scene and a name to watch out for.

Under The Bridge at Ebisu Station

Perfect Form

Being rather ignorant when it comes to plants and flowers, I have no idea what this is called, but it seems to be in season right now and you can see them on trees around the city. This particular bloom caught my eye as it is perfectly formed and completely blemish free. If anyone can tell me what flower it is, please feel free to leave a comment.

Silver Lady

Near the Museum of Modern Happiness in Higashi Nakano. Whether it's a karaoke joint, a place to take singing lessons or an altogether different establishment, I'm not sure.

Sounds Like Bliss

Rode past this place in Higashi Nakano yesterday. I was intrigued to see what was inside, but from what I could make out there was just a cafe plus some halls and banquet spaces for hire, but no exhibits as such. If you were going to hire space there, what would you exhibit to help the place live up to its name?

Kitanomaru Koen

Kitanomaru Koen is near the Yasukuni Shrine and just north of the Imperial Palace Gardens. This time of year it is teeming with people out cherry blossom viewing.

Kitanomaru Koen is home to the world-famous Budokan, and yesterday the three-piece female pop-punk badn ChatMonchy were playing there.