Saturday, September 12, 2009

Veggies in Roppongi, Yum!


I visited a new restaurant/bar in Roppongi called "Soul Village STATION - Roppongi Nouen (Garden)" that my friend successfully renovated his entire house into.
Most of the core staff members are the sons and daughters of farmers who live in other places in Japan. Fresh and good veggies they serve are carefully grown by the farmers or the ones my friend or the staff know personally, while other selections of wines, other food and drinks seem to have been chosen in the same fashion. Yum!
Also, the walls, floors and ceilings in the restaurant, bars, entrance and stairways were carefully designed and handmade with natural clay which were brought from some places in the country.
He took me to the bar in the basement, and with his affable and mischievous smile he uncovered his old piano he hid in the wall-cabinet there. I improvised several pieces and hopefully contributed to that organic and comfortable atmosphere.
It was full house even though it was Thursday, and my friend told me it was booked up until October. If interested, give it a call and take a chance...

友人が自宅を改装して六本木に出現した「SoulVillageSTATION 六本木農園」に行ってきた。
主なスタッフはみんな地方の農家の息子や娘たち。出されている新鮮な野菜は、その農家またはオーナーや彼らが直接知っている生産者から仕入れているようだ。そのほかのワインやドリンク、料理も同様のようだ。おいしい。
レストラン、バー、入り口、階段など、全ての壁、床、天井は国内数カ所から運んできた「土」を使って、丁寧に手作りされている。
彼は私をバーに連れて行くと、こっそりと壁の中にしまってあった古いピアノをニコニコしながら出してきた。即興で数曲弾かせていただき、(願わくば)お店のオーガニックで心地よい空気に貢献してきたかも。
木曜というのに満席。10月まで予約でいっぱいとのこと。ご興味の方はダメもとで電話をしてみて。

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Down in Shinjuku

Until this weekend I am working and staying at JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Tokyo International Center near Shinjuku, fortunately on the 10th floor!
It's quite a view, but ironically I have heard Bosozoku (motorcycle gang) roaring up and down the Koshu-Kaido street some 300 meters away.
However, I am pretty happy that I could buy a new super-thin filter for my camera at one of those camera shops in crowded Shinjuku today.
I can hardly find both such an noisy Bosozoku and the same filter in my hometown.
今週末までJICA東京国際センターへ出張滞在中。なんと10階の部屋。
なかなかの眺めだけれど、300 mほど離れた甲州街道で轟音をうならせる暴走族一軍が...。
でも今日は、混雑する新宿の某カメラショップで念願のカメラ用薄型フィルターを手に入れて、とりあえずはよしとしよう。
帯広では、こんなににぎやかな暴走族も同じフィルターもお目にかかれないし。

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Relax and Enjoy!



Wouldn't it be nice to have soothing and relaxing "live" music in the middle of a formal public convention or such an occasion?
We will make it happen. Daichi, who have appeared in this blog several times, and I am going to perform on Thursday, 3rd September from 12:45 to 1:30 at one of the best concert halls in the area for Hokkaido Public Health Convention 2009. (No admission, Free!)
Although I am also running some slideshows while we perform, I recommend that you close your eyes and listen carefully to his voice.
ちょっと堅苦しい「公衆衛生大会」のようなイベントの真ん中に、気持ちがなごむようなゆったりとした音楽が聴けるなんてどうでしょう?
やってみせます。何度かこのブログに登場している吉野大地さんと、9/3(木)地域でも最高のコンサートホールで開催される「第58回北海道公衆衛生大会」の最中、12:45 -1:30に登場しますよ。入場無料ですよ!!
演奏中にスライドショーも流すつもりだけれども、ゆっくりと目を閉じて彼の声に聴き入るのもいいかも。

Friday, August 21, 2009

Hanabi: Fireworks



One of the most extravagant firework festivals in the nation, "Kachimai Hanabi Taikai" is an annual function here. Thanks to my friends who own a house near the less crowded side of the riverbanks, I could relax and enjoy a nice summer evening this year.
But I just wonder why they needed those "laser beam show" and "dance music" in the main stage which was fortunately away from where I was... They probably spoiled the peaceful and quiet evening with the beautiful starry skies above, didn't they? Am I just getting older?
国内でも有数の絢爛豪華な花火大会「勝毎花火大会」は、ここでは年中行事。メインスタンドの反対側の混雑していない河原の近くに家を構える友人のおかげで、今年はゆっくりと夏の宵を楽しめた。
しかしながら、なぜレーザーショーやダンスミュージックをがんがんやっているのかがよく理解できなかった。すでに美しい星空に平和で静かな夕闇があるのに...。年をとっただけかな?


Sunday, August 16, 2009

Four-Leaf Clover


Here is my recent discovery of a four-leaf clover in response to my friend's posting. Take a close look and find another one behind it too. I found this in Obihiro-no Mori (Forest) when I was testing my new (second hand) camera last week. Will this be a sign of "double" good luck?
It also reminds me of the front page of "lonely planet" Ireland, country of clovers.
友人のブログ投稿に応えて、私の見つけた「四つ葉のクローバー」もこちらに。先週帯広の森で新しい(中古)カメラをテストしていて見つけたけれど、よく見るともう一つ後ろにありますよ〜。ダブル幸運の前兆だといいけれど。
lonely planetのアイルランド版の表紙も思い出す。

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Something Unusual?

Earlier in August, I visited Saito Farm on the outskirts of Asahikawa, where another music festival called Celebration of Oneness 2009 is going to be held on Sunday, September 27th.

I am very happy to find this farm very peaceful and full of lives. It will surely be great for me to perform music "outdoors" here with a whole bunch of great artists.

Great smile! The owner, Akira Saito has been practicing his own way of sustainable farming style consistently and stubbornly for more than 60 years!

The milk produced here is thick and rich, which instantly reminded me of that good old flavor of Trappist Monastery Butter Candy.

However, there are some things very unusual with the cattle grazing on this farm. Look at this photo!
In Japan, it is hard to find such dairy farms. Have you noticed?
For more photos, please visit my gallery page on this farm.



8月初旬、旭川郊外の「斎藤牧場」を訪ねた。ここでも9/27(日)に音楽祭「いのちの響宴2009」が開催されるからだ。
とても平和で生命力にあふれた牧場。こんなところで野外ライブ、それも名だたるアーチストたちと一緒にできるなんてきっとすばらしいに違いない。
この笑顔!牧場主の斎藤晶氏、60年以上もこだわりの(今でいう)持続可能な牧畜スタイルを貫いてきた。
牛乳も一飲みで懐かしいトラピストバター飴の風味を思い出させるほど、濃くてリッチ。
そして、この牛の写真。日本の牧場ではかなり普通じゃない風景。気がつきましたか?
他にもたくさん写真をこちらでどうぞ。

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Come feel the music in the air!

Sorry, it's been a long time since I updated last. So many things have been going with me that I couldn't work on my own publication. However, this surely will be your lifetime experience. Please don't miss it!

Daichi "Voice from the Sky" Yoshino & ken live at laugh-la
Saturday 11th July 2009 from 7:00 p.m.

しばらく更新をサボってしまいました。すみません。自分のPRにまで手が回りませんでした。でも、きっと思い出に残るライブになります。ぜひお越しください。

吉野大地 & ken プレミアライブ
at laugh-la(ラフラ・帯広市西1条28丁目4番地 0155-25-1455)
開演 7 p.m. (開場 6 p.m.)

Daichi's Website: TURIYA MUSIC

for further information, please check out this flier:
詳しくはこちらのチラシをご覧ください。

Monday, April 20, 2009

The Circle: Live Cherry Blossoms


There is a nice cherry tree near the venue, Rancho El Paso where we are going to have a gig on this coming Saturday, 25th April, and that's why I titled the show "live cherry blossoms."
"The Circle" is named partly after Marumigaoka Onsen, which can literally mean "Circle Beauty Hill Hot Spring" where Claude, the vocalist of the band lives and works. The five-piece session band is going to cover some of cool rock classics and rock the whole house!
NO DOOR CHARGE! I hope you will come and enjoy our live music!

The Circle:
Claude Burrows: vocal, guitar
Yohei: guitars
Naoto "Choppa" Fuke: bass
Dan Marino: drums
ken: keyboards
For further information: The Circle: live cherry blossoms
4月25日のライブの会場となるランチョ・エルパソのそばに、すてきな桜の木があったので、こんなライブ名にしてしまいました。The Circleというバンド名は、ヴォーカルのClaudeが住み込みで働く「丸美ヶ丘温泉」から少し引用しました。5人編成で、ロッククラシック(60's、70'sなど)のカバーなどで、ドカーンと行きます。
入場無料!ぜひお聴き逃しなく。

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

"Pawpoiz???"

It's been a while since I posted last. Meanwhile I finally got my overused iBook G4 broken so I had to slow down a bit.
Today I am urged to write about something which came to my attention when I was watching TV.
There was an unfortunate crash of a big FedEx freight airplane at Narita Airport yesterday morning. I felt sorry for the two pilots who died (as well as those who had to miss their vacations which were cancelled or affected due to this accident).
However, what I felt awkward today was not it, but the way most, probably all of the Japanese news anchors explicitly pronounced something that sounds like "porpoiz" or "pawpoiz" which was considered to be the cause of the crash. "What???" Yes, it meant "porpoise," which is how the aircraft bounced up and down when landing. I even wonder if those bilingual newscasters felt uncomfortable about it.
Is it just a de-facto-standard pronunciation long established in Japanese aviation personnel's jargon? If so, I suggest that this kind of misunderstanding be reviewed and corrected for this particular purpose since any miscommunication (e.g. between pilots and ground control) caused by such mispronunciation may lead to a serious disaster... before it's too late.
Some may say,"Why fuss so much? How could they change?" But it doesn't make sense to me since no one in Japan calls the popular vocalist "Tortoise Matsumoto" (from a band "Ulfuls") in the same fashion.
しばらくぶりに書きます。とうとう酷使してきたiBook G4がイカレました。少しペースダウンです。
テレビを見ていたらちょっと気になったことがあって、書きたくなりました。
昨日朝の成田空港での不幸なFedEx機の事故。亡くなった二人のパイロットのご冥福を祈るとともに、この事故が原因で休暇が台無しになってしまった人たちも気の毒と思う。
でも、今日気になったのはこのことではない。テレビのアナウンサーたちが、事故原因は「ポーポイズ...」とあからさまに発音していたことだ。なんじゃそりゃ?ああ、"porpoise"(イルカの仲間!発音はスペル通りではなくカタカナなら「ポーパス」)、つまり(イルカのように)航空機が着陸時に上下に跳ねる動きをすることを意味していた。各局のバイリンガルのキャスターたちは気持ち悪くなかったのだろうか?
国内の航空業界用語としてすでに浸透している発音なのだろうか?もしそうだとしたら、特にこの業種のためには、このような誤解は他にもないか早いところ見直して是正した方がいいと思う。なぜなら(たとえば)パイロットと航空管制官間の通信で、このような発音の間違いによるミスコミュニケーションが起きたら、ただでは済まされないことになるかもしれないからだ。手遅れになる前に...。
「そんなに騒ぐなよ」とか「簡単に変えられるわけないよ」という声が聞こえてきそうだが、言い訳にならない。だって、あのウルフルズの人気リードボーカリストを「トートイズ(tortoise: リクガメのこと)松本」って呼ぶ人はいないっすよ...。

(Sorry, no photos again)


Saturday, February 21, 2009

Amazing Virtuosi: Dudamel & SBYOV

I was watching NHK-Edu Channel then. Was it just another Tchaikovsky's No. 5? No, it turned out to be the most breathtakingly passionate performance of the work I'd ever heard in my life.
It was a concert in Tokyo Art Theater in December 2008. Wait. Something looks unusual... My goodness! Look at those players in the orchestra... All of them are obviously as young as high school or college students. The Simón Bolívar Youth Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela is comprised of young musicians of ages from 16 to 20. Amazing!
Being conducted by the genius Venezuelan colleague Gustavo Dudamel, I would say, being one entity with the body and soul of Dudamel, their rendition was full of spirited energy from the New World. The great addition was Mambo! from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story as encore.
I was just trembling with excitement throughout the show in spite of the non HiFi program. Had I been there, I am sure that I would have stood up to send my full ovation.
(Sorry, no photos.)

驚きのヴィルトゥオーゾ:デュダメル & SBYOV
その時、NHK教育を観ていた。あれ、またチャイコフスキーの5番かぁ。いやいや、こりゃ今まで聴いた中で、胸が締めつけられるほど最も情熱的な演奏になってしまった。
2008年12月の東京芸術劇場での公演。なんだか変だぞ。ありゃりゃ?奏者を見てみて。どう考えても高校生か大学生くらいの若者たち。シモン・ボリバル・ユース・オーケストラ・オブ・ベネズエラは、なんと16才から20才までのプレーヤーだけによるオーケストラ。驚き。
そして、同じくベネズエラの天才、グスターボ・デュダメルの指揮により、いや、デュダメルの体と魂と一つの生き物のように一体となって繰り出される演奏は、「新世界」からの情熱あふれるエネルギーがいっぱい。素敵なオマケ?は、バーンスタインのウェストサイドストーリーから「マンボ!」のアンコール。
高音質放送でもないにもかかわらず、興奮して震えが止まらないくらいの演奏会。その場に居たら、間違いなくスタンディング・オベーションを送っていただろう。
(すみません。写真はありません)