What a Great Time a Cup of Coffee Can Make!

This could be one of the most rich coffee I have ever experienced. I am not a coffee connoisseur or taster, nor do I drink it everyday either, but I could immediately feel that this presents very deep taste and lush and diverse aroma.

I brewed it at home one warm afternoon of October and it could be a perfect match with any relaxing music you name. I would choose this.

I had a kind of noteworthy chance to meet, Mrs. Unnamalai Thiagarajan, the owner of a fully-organic, Biodynamic coffee estate in India, at the local airport. She came to Tokyo to attend a specialty coffee convention and she took this opportunity to visit Biodynamic Farming practitioners and farms in Hokkaido, and we were going to guide her. But unfortunately, she had to turn back on the airplane she flew to here since she had to go back to India ASAP due to unexpected urgency. That was the coffee she left with us.

From her very, very concise presentation (in front of the departure gate!) of her farm in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, we could see that it was carefully grown with no chemicals in the mountainous region blessed with abundant biodiversity, good water and soil. See more details of Balmaadi Estate.

If you are interested in trying the coffee from my brief impression by any chance, check out for further distributor information (in Japan)

Well, I hope to see her again wherever it may be.

今まで出会った中でもおそらく一番リッチなコーヒーの一つかも知れない。コーヒー鑑定士でもテイスターでも毎日飲む愛飲家でもない私にも、とても味わいが深くて、贅沢で沢山入り交じった香りに包まれるのがすぐに分かる。

10月のあたたかな昼下がりに家で入れてみた。どんなゆったりした音楽にもぴったりかと。私ならこれかな。

地元の空港で、インドで有機農法（バイオダイナミック）の農園を経営するUnnamalai Thiagarajan女史にお会いする機会があった。実は東京でのスペシャルティコーヒーイベントに出席するために来日、ついでに北海道のバイオダイナミック農家を訪ねたいとこの地にいらっしゃったのでご案内する予定だった。しかしながら、急用でインドに帰ることになり、着いたその脚で同じ飛行機に乗って帰られる事に...。上記は彼女のおみやげのコーヒー。

（なんと出発ゲート前で!）タミールナドゥ州ニルギリにある農園についての超短いプレゼン。山中の現地の、とても豊かな生物多様性と、上質な水と土壌に支えられ、化学肥料や農薬を一切使っていない事をとりあえず了解。詳しくはこちら（Balmaadi Estate）。

こんな紹介でもお飲みになりたい方がいらしたら、こちらへどうぞ。

また機会があればどこかでお会いしたいものだ。

Beaujolais Nouveau 2010

We had another music show at Rancho El Paso's "Beaujolais Nouveau Dinner Special" on Thursday, November 19th.

I was joined by Yohei (guitars/center) as usual and also by the superb guitarist, Yoichi Watanabe (right) and the natural-high vocalist, Ai Tanaka (not shown) both from Minimokudo, as a full acoustic set.

It was a great opportunity to make Minimokudo's debut at the venue showing off the great original songs by Yoichi sung by Ai, whom I joined with Choppa (bassist) in their groovy gig on October 30th at Mega Stone.

Besides, wouldn't it be nice to perform under those ham and sausage and between those cactuses? They are all real ones!

To those who came to the show, thank you all for joining us and I hope you enjoyed the fill variety of music we played.

11/19（木）またまたランチョ・エルパソ「ボージョレー・ヌーヴォー・スペシャル・ディナー」に今年も出演。

フルアコースティックセットで、いつもの洋平（guit./中央）に加えて、ミニモク堂の最高のギタリスト渡辺洋一さん（右）とナチュラルハイのヴォーカリスト田中愛さん（写真なし）も登場。

洋一さんのオリジナル名曲を愛さんが歌って披露するエルパソデビューのよい機会にもなった。ミニモクとは10/30メガストーンでベースのちょっぱさんとグルービーなライブもやりました。

それにしても、ハムやソーセージの下、サボテンにはさまれてライブっていうのもいいかも。全部本物。

お越しいただいたみなさま、最後までおつきあいいただきありがとうございます。なんでもありの選曲で楽しい時間を過ごされたか？と願うところ。

(photo by T. Noda)

Heat Wave from Africa

I was involved in a live music show by an African music group on the 20th of October at Hokkaido Yell Center as a sound engineer. (I was asked the day before! My Goodness!) It was unexpectedly small but I really had a big time though.

The group was led by Chiaki Hayakawa (vocal) and Masaya Onishi (vo., gt. & perc.) and joined by Norihiko Yamakita (perc.) and Hiromi Kondo (perc.) (photo: from left to right), and (some of them) were on tour all over Japan calling for people's support for the education and independent lives of African children and their monetary fund, "Maisha ya Raha ("happy life" in Swahili)" they built for such purposes. For further information on their endeavor, please check their website.

Their passionate and energetic performance as well as the beautiful slideshow they presented were so impressive that I hoped much more people had known this event earlier. Probably because of the lack of organized advertisement efforts, there wasn't a big turnout of audiences this time unfortunately, but definitely not next time though.

10/20に帯広エールセンターでのアフリカンミュージックのライブに音響のお手伝いをした。（頼まれたのは前日！ぎゃあ〜）予期せず小さなイベントになってしまったけれど、とても楽しかった。

パフォーマーは早川千晶さん（vo.）、大西匡哉（まさや）さん（vo., gt. & perc.）、そして山北のりひこさん（perc.） そして近藤ひろみさん（perc.）の4人。そのうち何人かで日本中をツアーして、アフリカの子供達の教育と自立のための支援を求めて回っている。詳しい活動内容はこちら。

心に残る熱い演奏と美しいスライドショーを目の当たりにして、もっともっとたくさんの人たちがこのイベントのことを早くに知っていたらと思った。おそらく組織的に広告宣伝ができなかったので満員にできなかったのが悔しいが、次はそんな事がないようにと願う。

VietJapBraz 2010 Meet

In September, three gangster clan bosses from Brazil, Vietnam and Japan (in the order of the photos) had their annual secret gathering in downtown Obihiro.

You know it's cool to hang around by bus these days, not in those outrageously huge black limos anymore. Yes, we even go green too.

9月にブラジル、ベトナム、日本（写真順）のギャングの親分3人が帯広で恒例の

秘密会議。

最近は路線バスでうろうろするのがクールなんですぜ。あのバカでっかい黒いリムジンというのはもうナンセンス。私たちもエコで行く時代だ。

Nashville, Just Across the River

Great! Finally I have got Jimmy Webb's latest CD "JUST ACROSS THE RIVER," which was produced by Fred Mollin, the same producer as "Ten Easy Pieces (96)," and recorded in Nashville (!) with his live band and whole bunch of prominent artists featured in its tracks.

For example, Billy Joel sings "Wichita Lineman" just as if it had been written by him, while Jackson Browne covers "P. F. Sloan" perfectly with the composer. Needless to say Linda Ronstadt and Glen Campbell prove that they are really meant to sing his songs. And more...

Out of quite a few great American songwriters, "Tunesmith" Jimmy Webb has always been very special for me.

How could I forget the great low-keyed light in his eyes when he really grabbed my hand when I met him in Tokyo after his solo gig? (photo: JUST ACROSS THE RIVER and "Suspending Disblief (93)" CD sleeve autographed by Mr. Webb)

最高! Jimmy Webbの新譜"JUST ACROSS THE RIVER"（セルフカバーアルバム）をやっと入手。プロデューサーは96年の"Ten Easy Pieces"のFred Mollin、そして自分の生バンドを従えて、超豪華なゲストアーチストたちを迎えてナッシュビル録音！

例えば、Billy Joelが"Wichita Lineman"をまるで自分の曲のように歌い、Jackson Browneが"P. F. Sloan"を作曲者と一緒に完璧なカバー。もちろん、Linda RonstadtやGlen Campbellも彼の曲を歌うためにいるようなもの。そのほかたくさん。

並みいるアメリカの偉大なソングライターたちの中でも、私にとって"Tunesmith"のJimmy Webbは特別だ。

以前彼のライブのあとに東京で会った時、がっちり私の手を握ってくれた彼の目の中のしぶーい光を未だに忘れない。（写真："JUST ACROSS THE RIVER"とスリーブにサインしてもらった"Suspending Disbelief (93)"）

Busking in Downtown

To promote Ben & Konomi's Summer Solstice Eco Festival 2010 for the Organic Movement, 13 artists who are appearing in the festival showed up in downtown Obihiro last Sunday. It was a beautiful sunny day, but if it had not been a sports day for school kids in the area, we could have seen more people walking around though. It was totally not like Shibuya or Yokohama.

I would like to say thanks to all the dedicated musicians who joined together to enjoy performing outdoors.

Participated are: Trevor (vocal, guitar & mandolin), Hiroshi (vocal & guitar), Choppa (ukulele), Charles (accordion), Maud (vocal & accordion), Ai (vocal), Yoichi (guitar), Ako (percussion), Yuma (vocal & flute), Toshimitsu (percussion), Keiichiro (guitar), Maa-kun (percussion) & Shinya (special appearance).

We are going to have a fabulous music festival!

BenとKonomiの夏至オーガニックフェスティバル2010のプロモーションのために、同フェスティバルに出場するアーチストが13名集まって、帯広中心部でストリートライブを敢行。

晴天に恵まれたけれど、運動会の日だったために人通りもまばら。渋谷

や横浜のようにはいかん。

屋外ライブに参加してくれたすばらしいミュージシャンたちに「ありがとう」。（出演者は上記）

いけてるミュージックフェスティバルにしたいものだ。

(musicians photo by TH)

Nice Ride through Forest

Yeah, Monday was a perfect day for riding through "Obihiro's Forest." The bikers & walkers' path is also a perfect shortcut without traffic lights or any other obstructions up to almost halfway to the destination. It normally takes about 15 minutes by car, but it takes me exactly the same by bicycle, then why go by car?

「帯広の森」を走るのにパーフェクトな日和。自転車歩行者遊歩道はもちろん信号も障害もなく、目的地までの半分くらいの地点まで完璧なショートカット。通常クルマで約15分のルートが自転車でも全く同じ。自転車で充分か?

Food Not Being Eaten?

Do you know that in Japan more than 5-million tons of harvested or processed food is disposed of every year? This is the reality in the country of "Mottainai" culture.

I have seen on TV about Second Harvest Japan, and it has also given me a lot of hints about what an NPO can do for the society.

Food is made not so much for financial profit as for humanitarian benefit of all people, I hope.

日本では毎年500万t以上の食品が廃棄されているって知ってますか？でもこれが「もったいない」文化の国の現状。

テレビで「セカンドハーベスト ジャパン」が紹介されているのを見て、NPOというものが社会のためにできることも考えさせられた。

「食べ物」は経済的な利得のためより、全ての人々が恩恵にあずかるためにあるはずだと願いたい。

As Free As The Wind Again

Once again, I went biking in Naitai Highland Farm which I introduced in my previous post.

This time I was shot all day by NHK TV crew with a reporter, who for the first time climbed the grand and hilly farmland by bicycle, but she really made it. Quite a girl! I testify it isn't a staged show.

We were expecting the weather to be fine, but the foothill of the Daisetsu Mountain National Park was covered with pretty dense fog (photo).

Let's see what the report will be broadcast like:

(both on NHK-G)

Ohayo Hokkaido/Burari Mite Aruki on Saturday, 29 May from 7:30 a.m. (hokkaido-local)

Yudoki Network/Retto Tsutsu-Uraura on Thursday, 10 June from 4:50 p.m. (nationwide)

またもや、ナイタイ高原牧場へ自転車を乗りに。

今度はNHKのクルーに、初めて自転車での登頂？に挑戦するリポーターとともに撮られっぱなしだった。心配をよそに彼女は登頂に成功！なかなかだ。ヤラセではありませんよ。

天気はよくなるはずだったけれど、大雪山の麓は濃霧（写真通り）に包まれてしまった。

放送内容はどうなることやら...。

5月29日 7:30 a.m. おはよう北海道・ぶらりみてある記（北海道地方）

6月10日 4:50 p.m. ゆうどきネットワーク 列島津々浦々（全国）

As Free As The Wind

On Saturday, I biked with my friend up to and down from the top of the biggest dairy farm in Japan, where we still saw snow patches all around.

This is a part of the video footage he captured then, of course, on the way down!

土曜日に、残雪の散在する日本一でかい牧場の頂上へ、自転車で登って降りてきた。

こちらは、（もちろん下りの時に）彼が収録したもの。