Ji-bu-ri

When Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and others founded Ghibli Studios in 1985, they weren't fluent in Italian. None the less, they were determined to call their new company "Jee-buri", which is how it's pronounced here. Personally, I think some Japanese companies should just stay away from certain grammatical deathtraps (or simply, certain letters…)

Anyway, why I'm even mentioning this is because yesterday we visited the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. The museum is a colourful and cartoony building situated within Inokashira park, not far from Shinjuku. It contains a playful exhibition on the history of cinema, a mock-up of an animation studio (which may or may not look anything like the real thing) and a gift shop.

Also, a huge robot from Castle In The Sky.

But perhaps most importantly, the building houses a cinema where visitors are treated to an exclusive screening of a short film by Ghibli Studios. These films are not available anywhere else, so it's a pretty big deal.

The one we saw yesterday is the 16-minute Hoshi o Katta hi ("The day I harvested a star"), directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was really great, and full of Miyazaki-like quirkyness and style. 

After this joyful excursion, including a walk around Inokashira, we headed back to Shinjuku for dinner at a place that specialized in sukiyaki. A big bowl of boiling broth is placed in the center of the table, and guests are free to dunk whatever vegetable, meat or fish they want into it. I've had it before, but not like this. An interesting experience. And good food.

Today I decided to get some god damn studying done, seeing as how I have less than a week to remind myself of everything I've learned over the past couple of months. The sun was doing it's thing, it was about 23º C, so me and three classmates went to the Imperial garden to hit the books. 

Afterwards, I met my parents at their ryokan in Asakusa. We went for a short walk around the tourist-packed but somehow genuinely japanese neighborhood, bought chopsticks, and found some nice tempura for dinner. A fine evening, to be sure.

Tomorrow, Korea! I have absolutely no expectations whatsoever. 

Out and about.

Wow. The last three days have been busy. On Sunday, my parents landed in sunny Tokyo, so at two o'clock we met up at their hotel by Tokyo Dome. The tourist-friendly area surrounding said Dome contains many souvenir-shops, restaurants, a roller-coaster and a shopping mall, and so is worth a good walk around. We had lunch at the über-japanese establishment of Bubba Gump Shrimp, where I wolfed down my own weight in seafood (seemed like the thing to do.)

Afterwards, we headed towards Akihabara for more walking and general sightseeing. A proper, good japanese dinner finished Sunday off nicely.

Yesterday was busier still. We met up after my three hours of school and took the subway to Tsukiji, where one can famously sample the best sushi in the world (and that's a pretty realistic statement – sushi was invented and perfected in Tokyo, and in Tsukiji you can eat fish that's been dead for less than six hours.)

Great food, of course. But the sheer atmosphere of the place was just as satisfying.

Not one to waste time, I swiftly led the way towards the Rainbow Bridge, which leads to the artificial island of Odaiba. 

The plan was to walk across the bridge (a fairly ambitious scheme, in hindsight) but it was closed. So we took the monorail instead, which is obviously a lot cooler.

Odaiba itself is hard to judge after just one brief visit, but I do love the futuristic architecture of the Fuji TV-building, Tokyo Big Sight and The Museum of Maritime Science. 

And the Tokyo skyline from a kind-of-boardwalk café is not a bad view.

After all this fresh air and open space, we thought it more than appropriate to nose-dive straight into the heart of the metropolis for dinner. After a quick tour of Tokyo Tower (a 333 m imitation of the Eiffel Tower, with an extremely impressive view) we found a well-enough-looking restaurant in Ginza.

Though I'm not entirely sure why, because the entire menu was in japanese (which I understood some of, but not enough to make a confident decision about what to order.)

Anyway, it ended well with some grilled salmon, chicken and tuna, plus a sallad and some potatoes. 

Today was busiest of all. I wanted to take the folks to a Tokyo favorite of mine – the Brown Rice café in Omote-sando – so that was our first destination. After waiting for a table a bit too long, I got my hands on a vegan burger and a red fruit slushy of some sort. All was delicious, all was well.

This location also meant a close proximity to Harajuku, leading into Shibuya, and off we went for more easy strolling in the sunshine. We did some shopping (books, frying pans that look like Winnie the Pooh, colourful socks, etc.) and took several pictures of Shibuya crossing, like real tourists. I love it!

Today is St Patrick's day, so from Shibuya we took the train to Roppongi for Guinness and green hats at a very Irish pub. Really cool, and pretty random considering that I've never celebrated St Patrick's day before (but that's all about to change, now I've seen the fun-and-fancy-free that is catholicism, I'm like totally converted!)

We had dinner at Wolfgang Puck's, which is not very japanese at all, except for a pair of starters that pretty much blew my head off. I had some fish after that, which was also ridiculously good.

Pictures will follow.

わたしわあめがすきですが、あめきらいです。

Well hell, I never meant for this to be a weekly endeavour. 

The past couple of weeks have just all looked fairly similar. I spend monday through friday taking walks to and around record stores close to the school, eating rice, studying and talking to my favorite gal until bedtime.

And since I don't have much to share on the subject of rice-cooking, or what records I want to buy (but haven't, yet) I just don't write that much.

Well, a slap on the wrist for me.

This week I went to Ginza, again. It takes a good 30-40 minutes to walk from school to the posh, New Yorkish Ginza-dori, so if I feel like visiting the Apple store or Uniclo (or just walking south because it feels like going downhill) I'll steer towards fancytown.

This particular promenade was, as usual, fairly fruitless. Except for one item – a book that Nathalie bought called Tokyo Maniacs Guide. It's a somewhat random collection of tips about record stores, cafés, thrift shops and other such gems, in areas like Shimokitazawa, Shibuya and Harajuku. It basically seems very useful to me, even though I have yet to take advantage of it.

I also went back to Daikanyama. I've been there twice before, which isn't really a big deal now that I've discovered it's proximity to Shibuya. It's just part of the area between Shibuya and Ebisu (oh, and for those of you who haven't been to Tokyo – sorry about all this geography nonsense.)

I like Daikanyama. I think. It's a pretty area, I like the many small shops and the ultra-hip, english-speaking japanese who occupy them. What I don't like is the price of almost anything you find there. A second-hand t-shirt shouldn't cost 3500 yen.

Having said that, me and my companion did stumble upon some colourful ski hats, and bought five for 500 yen. Nice!

Apart from that, I'm trying to study for the test in less than two weeks. We are still learning new and exciting ways to conjugate verbs in japanese, which seems to be all they ever do here. Like a hobby or a lifestyle.

"Say, are you at all into music or films?" 

"No, I'm far too busy conjugating verbs in my sparetime. Sorry, ask the Koreans."

Tomorrow my parents will join me here for a two-week tour of Tokyo, and a short trip to Seoul. I'm really looking forward to it, if only to do some proper sightseeing. I've lived here for a while, but being a tourist is great too.

Weak end.

Yesterday was a very long day. Most of it was fun.

I got up bright and early because it's my turn to handle the garbage disposal here in our communist collective. Japan has a very strict and somewhat confusing system of dividing trash by their ability to burn, or be recycled. I'm not sure anyone gets it right, but I'm pretty sure we don't.

At noon I met an old collegue in Harajuku. She's been visiting Tokyo over the weekend, so I had offered my services as a guide. As it turns out, I do know my way around Tokyo, but giving a general tour of the choice locations in the city in less than a day is difficult work. 

We did alot of walking, saw Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Akihabara, and they did some modest shopping. So I think it went well.

It was nice to see a familiar face, too.

When they had seen enough for one day, we parted ways and I headed for Shibuya, to converge with Nathalie and our new japanese friend Kyouhei, who we met at the Café-thing a couple of weeks ago. 

He was one of the many friendly people we spoke to, and helped us get back home (well, tried to…)

Apparently, Kyouhei's friend's band was playing Shibuya AX, so he wondered if we wanted to tag along. Guest list and everything.

Now, I'm not very down with concert venues in Tokyo. I basically don't know any. But Shibuya AX is pretty big. Even bigger is Come Back My Daughter (epic name), the "friend's band" that we saw perform. They were nothing special, or even that good, but I was just excited to see some live music. 

After two and a half hours (!!!) they decided to go home, but we didn't. Even though my body was pretty much devastated from walking and standing for eleven hours, with barely anything to eat, I figured "Aw hell, what are saturdays for, if not staying up all night?"

So we promptly followed Kyouhei to the second gig, a club in Shimokitazawa where yet another friend was set to play around midnight. 

After some much-needed Moss Burger indulgence, we dove into the smokey basement of the Shelter. Dark, hot, inviting. And we got to be on the guest list again.

This was around twelve o'clock, and for the next five hours we were treated to a very random concoction of japanese music, from hip hop to… some sort of keytar-club-shit. I wasn't paying that close attention. 

And for once I managed to get off the Yamanote train at the right stop. We got home at about six.

Today, I've enjoyed a few hours of disturbed and uneasy sleep. And made food! Mmm… rice.

Me, Fredrik and Anna with three japanese students of english, who gave us a spontaneous tour of the Meiji shrine in Yoyogi park.

CBMD and a really good crowd.

Nathalie and Kyouhei – diggin' on some ripe tunes.

Around five AM, ready to throw in the towel.

わたしのしゅみはいぬをたべることです。

So, another five days of school careened past me like a salaryman on his lunch-break. This has been a mellow week. 

It's been raining pretty much every day, so I've mostly stayed indoors watching Heroes or reading random articles on wikipedia.

Which is nice, actually. 

But I would rather like some sunshine and, if possible, adventure.

On monday morning I was greeted in school by a jar of peanut butter, courtesy of Akiko-san. She asked José to bring it for me, since she had bought too much peanut butter. She's great.

Yesterday I went for a long walk around Ikebukuro (I originally went there for camera equipment reconnaissance) which yielded seeings of two big graveyards. Very uplifting indeed.

And today I went back to Sweets Paradise with three friends from my class, to once again discover how much pasta and cake I can physically fit into my stomach. It was fabulous and all, but I think twice is enough.

Some musix I'm excited about right now include: M83 – Saturdays = Youth, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Crystal Castles, Deerhoof – Offend Maggie, The Album Leaf – Into The Blue Again, God Is An Astronaut, Stereolab – Peng! and The Great Redneck Hope – Behold The Fuck Thunder. 

Also, I'm watching a lot of Darkwing Duck. Why aren't you?

Rockin' the sanshin all night long

Yesterday I went to a party. Well, "party". How I came to be there I barely understand myself.

A few days ago, one of the other swedes from my school was approached by a woman on the subway named Yumi. She asked him if he wanted to go to a party at her friend's house on saturday (yesterday) and he thought it sounded like a swell idea. She said to bring some friends. 

So he told me about it, and most of our jaunty, swedish gang. He also told his neighbor Phillip, a swiss guy who's in my class.

Gets a bit confusing, I know.

Anyway, last night we were set to meet at Hatsudai station around six o'clock. When I arrived, punctual and proper, there was no one there. Eventually I found Phillip, and the japanese girl from the subway, whom none of us knew. Yumi had with her two friends named Asami and Nami (makes for a great superhero team, doesn't it?)

She informed us that our mutual friend wasn't coming due to illness (I call bullshit, but whatever) and we decided that no one else was going to show. It was him and me.

So, in the company of three japanese girls whom we'd never seen before, we headed off to meet the host of the party, Kazu.

After some last-minute shopping (when someone says they're getting snacks for a party, you don't expect them to leave the store with a bag full of raw vegetables) we found his apartment.

It's located right nearby the Park Hyatt and has a superb, futuristic view of downtown Tokyo.

At this point we'd broken some ice with the usual "I'm swedish. Yes, Ikea. No, I'm not a polar bear." Our four companions were friendly and curious, as per usual.

The "party" turned out to be just the six of us, seated around a low table in Kazu's very small and hospitable flat. We had soup, drank tea and wine, listened to japanese hip hop, and it was great. Really nice. Really friendly people.

Kazu thought it appropriate to produce his sanshin, a japanese lute much like the shamisen that Kobayashi-san plays. Obviously, I couldn't help but lay down a few tight licks. I rock anywhere, at any time.

So, a great night that came to be by unlikely circumstances. I like when that happens.

Asami, Yumi, and soup.

Phillip and Kazu.

Riffing the shit out of a lute.

A merry bunch. Kazu, Yumi, Asami, Nami, Phillip and me.

わたしはかせいじん。なにもしりません。

Well, that's almost another whole week passed. Time flies when you're eating nattō, eh?

So last saturday, I moved from my favorite japanese family to a student "guest house" where I share a small room with a friend.

The change was not without it's anxieties. Mainly, I miss dinner with the Kobayashis, and the high-speed internet connection I had there. You know, for surfing on teh webz.

But I won't complain. It's nice here, and warm.

Saturday was eventful in other areas, too.

After dinner, me and Nathalie headed off to Ikebukuro where a café was supposedly celebrating some sort of anniversary. I knew nothing about it, but tagged along for lack of anything else to do.

Turns out, this get-together was largely one of artists and musicians, three of whom were performing when we arrived. Clad in white, heads bowed, they delicately manipulated their instruments (a steel plate, a mixer with a delay pedal, and some mutation of a record player) to create random noise and ambient hum. It was very good.

Most of the expensive-glasses-wearing clientele seemed a bit awkward by the whole affiair, which obviously made it even better.

After their set, I wasn't late to approach the oldest of the three to compliment his weirdness and ask about his steel plate. His name is Ken-ichi Kanazawa, and he's a sculptor. The audio-thing was just one of many ways to explore the uses and features of steel. Or so he said.

Fascinating old dude, he quickly introduced me to the other two; Shinjiro Yamagiuchi and Hiroyuki Ura. Behind the usual japanese politeness, they were really cool people, and were far less pretentious than I would have thought. Shows me.

The event also hosted a screening of a very artsy short film, which I didn't care that much for. Most of the next four hours was spent talking to nice people. A canadian named Luke took several pictures of our shoes, and his english friend Lisa gave us tips about vegan eateries in Tokyo.

Tired and smiling, we left just after eleven to catch the last train home. Or so we thought. Through some misunderstanding, we missed the train and had to find something to do for five hours. The proximity of Tokyo Dome seemed encouraging, so we approached the premises, immediately finding a 24-hour Denny's.

We figured we could get some tea, get warm, then go someplace else. Right.

We woke up around 4:30, and staggered off to catch the first train instead.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday came and went. Got some studying done, which was good. Went for a walk and found a good 100-yen shop that sells food (not all of them do.)

Yesterday me, Nathalie, Maria and Nathalie's visiting friend Erika went to a vegan restaurant/café in Shibuya to eat falafel burgers. I've been curious about places like that, but it was actually a bit disappointing. The food was bland and expensive, the room small and grey.

And obviously there's a sign on the wall that reads "Vegan. Make the change you want to see in the world." Shit, can't we just eat food without meat? We're not better people for it.

School is trucking on, getting more difficult now. I just hope that when I go home, I'll actually be able to use some of it. 

Also, the weather sucks. Hope that changes soon enough.

The last meal I had at the Kobayashis' – sushi and tempura. 

Stupidly good.

And the first thing I had in my new house. Rice.

Ken-ichi Kanazawa, fucking shit up.

Five talkative japanese and one lingually challenged foreigner.

Denny's. They know their stuff.