The Scene of Too Many Crimes…
Finally figured out how to properly size photos for inclusion in the slog – went back and re-sized the previous shots and future ones should all be much more reader-friendly. That should also spur me to include a few more per posting…
I first came to Japan in 1999, as an advisor to a consulting case team in Tokyo. It wasn’t an easy immersion – let’s just say that Lost in Translation looked a lot better than my first few months in Japan – with quite a few similarities. But I grew more comfortable with the place and its ways, and the fact that I’m back here so soon speaks to my affinity for Japan and its people.
My main reason for coming back to Japan only 7 months after quitting my job and taking off was to see the 3-day Fuji Rock Music Festival. In recent years I’d always threatened to attend this extravaganza, but always had to pass due to work and other committments. Last year Coldplay and Foo Fighters co-headlined, and I was sorry to miss these acts. This year the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Franz Ferdinand were co-headlining, and that was enough – along with the promise of random mayhem – for me to get my shit together and put Japan on my round-the-world itinerary.
After touching down in Tokyo I went to Yoyogi-Uehara Station where I met my friend Lisa; she and her husband, my old buddy Shin from Tufts University, were kind enough to let me stay with them whilst in Tokyo. I’ve stayed in touch with Shin fitfully over the years, and we managed to hang out a fair amount during the latter stages of my working days in Tokyo. Shin left the consulting biz a few years back and now is a senior marketer for Dell in Japan. Lisa and Shin took wonderful care of me and accomodated my unpredictable lifestyle for almost 2 weeks, and I really owe them one. I’ll miss them and definitely plan to crash on their futon again in the future!
After a couple days in Tokyo I met a few friends – including the irrepressible Sean – at the Dubliners Pub in Shibuya. This has to be one of the top people-watching venues on the planet – it’s on the 2nd floor and has a great view of the Dogenzaka hill and road. I met Sean and a few other folks at the Dubliners – one to watch was Danny from the UK. Danny’s a professional photographer and a hilarious character – at Fuji Rock he was able to talk his way past all the guards and get us (free) access to pretty much everywhere we wanted to go. If we wanted to go backstage, he got us there; and he saved us quite a few Yen which we were then able to squander on beer and food.
Fuji Rock was such a marathon of music and life that I can’t nearly describe half the goings-on in this blog. So I’ll just jot down a few fun memories and events:
-During the first night, hanging out backstage with Shonen Knife, the world’s only female Japanese heavy metal band. I had seen Shonen Knife many years ago in New York, and it was random to see them again in Japan, their home market. Here’s a photo from that night:
-Watching the lead singer of Painproof Circus stick birthday candles mounted on needles into her arms, light the candles, and wish Fuji Rock a happy 10th anniversary. This act later got into various other forms of self-mutilation and S&M…they really stood out from the ‘regular’ rock acts at Fuji!
-Staying up till 4 a.m. on Thursday (first) night, which was intended to be a ‘practice session’ but kicked off a marathon festival. Not much sleep was had during the course of the festival but somehow we mustered enough energy to play through.
-Running into a convoy of Japanese university students and talking music with them – and them convincing me to down 3 straight shots of tequila with them before moving on. They were kind enough to buy all the shots…
-Watching an extended set the The String Cheese Incident, a Grateful Dead-like ensemble with a wizened fellow on vocals and guitar. While watching them strum away I reflected on the crowds watching the band…it was fascinating to see so many young Japanese fans getting into this American folk music, whereas 60 years ago we were at each others’ throats. This is not a bad time to be alive by any means…
-Having a sudden attack of travelers’ syndrome (or fast-moving festival food) and having to take a crap in the woods behind the stages. Good thing I had a back copy of the New Yorker magazine with me – while I have always loved reading this mag, this was perhaps the most useful one yet, for obvious reasons…
-Spending an hour with my friend Rob trying to find Sean’s van. We kept ringing each other and getting more & more confused, but finally found each other and headed to the hotel around 3 a.m.
-Slogging through rain & mud on Saturday, and then getting rewarded with a glorious day of mellow sunshine on Sunday. I still have tan marks on my feet from that day – the Teva strap marks are clearly delineated on my feet. And the draft beer certainly made its mark as well…see below for a bit of proof:
-Hanging out with a cool Vietnamese-German woman for the Sunday night festivities – and then unfortunately losing her phone #.
-Having a real blast watching the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ set – Flea was at his crazy best and the band played some of their best stuff. Definitely one of the musical highlights of the festival. Other top acts: Jet, Gnarls Barkley, Snow Patrol, and Franz Ferdinand. My ears were ringing for 2 days afterward.
Many, many more memories, but those are worth mentioning here. Thinking back, I was glad that I was in reasonable physical shape going into Fuji Rock – I had been running and practicing yoga regularly, and that helped me endure some demanding conditions (and serious drinking) for the 3-4 days.
After the festival we stayed a night in Sean’s rural house in Ueda-Sugidaira, it’s a cool little building in a small village in Nagano. Danny the photographer downloaded his remaining photos to the UK – he had taken 3,000 photos on Saturday alone – and we told jokes and stayed up late one more time. The next day I raced back to Tokyo to attend a reception for the new Dean of the Darden School (U. Virginia), where I got my MBA in 1993. The new Dean, Bob Bruner, is a good fellow, we met a few months ago back in Boston. It’s kind of funny that I was so busy in Tokyo – business school reception, dinners with old colleagues and clients, etc. Strikes me that I could return to Tokyo at any point and have a ready-made social life and network – that’s a good feeling.
Along those lines, I caught up with my yoga teacher and friend Leza Lowitz the next day. We ended up going to her yoga studio, Sun & Moon, and taking a class together. Leza was my first yoga teacher (save a brief stint in India many years ago) and got me hooked on it. She’s also a deeply spiritual person and a fine poet/writer/editor, and always seems to have 5 projects going at once. At some point I’d love to join forces and work on a book together…will need to get on that at some point!
Had many other worthy experiences during my trip to Japan, to wit:
-Went to my old office (Monitor Group) and caught up with ex-colleagues there. Was glad to see that things are going smoothly and that the staff is now up to 25 consultants, led by my old partner in crime Nishitani-san, who’s a lovely guy. Hopefully one of these days they’ll be able to move to a new, roomier space, but things generally seem to be well these days. That helps assuage my guilt at leaving the firm.
-The firm had a dinner for me later on, at an izakaya (dining bar) in Nishi-Azabu. There’s no place like Tokyo for eating and drinking, and we shared a lot of laughs about ‘the old days’ while knocking back sake and umeshu together.
-Visited my old client’s new headquarters – a major league improvement on the old, shabby building. Had lunch with my longest-standing client, and a dinner later on with a few others. Still felt some guilt at moving on, but getting together with them reminded me of the power and importance of keeping the relationships going over time. Life’s long and you never know when you’ll be back in the boat with someone.
-Numerous drinking bouts over the 2 weeks in Japan. These were often at the Hobgoblin Akasaka, managed by my buddy Rob and frequented by many other friends – Steve, Sean, Miho, and others – but also at The Baron in Nishi Azabu, managed by my French pal Cyril. Cyril was still recovering physically and emotionally from the World Cup, during which time he was apparently way out of control – but got his shit sufficiently together to show me a good time at his new bar. Had many late, late nights in Tokyo – as in the old days. Made me reconsider one of my old desires, which is for the melancholia of Sunday nights to disappear and to be replaced by the joie of Friday and Saturday nights. I know I’m not alone in being slightly depressed on Sunday evenings as Monday morning work loomed large…and I’ve always wanted to have every night feel like Saturday night. Since I quit my job I’ve gotten partway there – in other words, I’m no longer bummed on Sunday evenings, but at the same time I realize that every night has its own character and that if every night was Saturday, I’d quickly get bored of that (or die from lack of sleep). So I’m pretty relaxed now – and am happy about replacing the melancholy of Sunday night (and of weeknights in general) with calmness and reflection. There are enough Friday and Saturday nights during which time blow off steam – and the other nights have their own specific purposes and value too.
In all, really enjoyed my trip back to Japan, the scene of too many crimes from 1999-2005. Even more than before, I was able to recognize the amazing cultural aspects and sensibilities that Japan has to offer – and I find that I do miss many of them. It’s a very cool and classy place, with so many quirks that it never grows boring. At the same time, I occasionally encountered frustrations that reminded me of my early, challenging days in-country – and which popped up often enough to sometimes drive me nuts when I was working 80 hours a week. On the Sunday evening before I flew out to HKG, I had drinks with friends in Shibuya – the ever-present, always-entertaining Rob and also Aki, who’s an awesome hip-hop dancer and a real talent. Afterward intended to take the subway home, but got a bit confused and finally decided to cab it. Jumped into a cab and told the driver the destination…and he told me that it was the opposite direction, insinuating that I should get out and catch a cab going the other way. This was no big deal, but yet a pain in the ass – my Japanese is not great so didn’t feel like telling him to do a U-turn. Tipping isn’t done in Japan, so perhaps this figures into the equation. Still, in most other places the cabbie would be happy to have the fare and would simply take me the long way round, with a bigger fare the result. I suppose I should respect the Japanese cabbie’s lack of greed and his helpful counsel, but I was in his cab and just wanted to get home. Clash of cultures and mindsets, to be sure. At least I wasn’t in a stressed mood, so was able to hop out, laugh it off, and catch a cab going the other way.
Made tentative plans with Rob and Sean to return next year for Fuji Rock. I’ll miss Japan and my friends there, and will be thinking of them often until I return.
See you in a few days, when I’ll post a few thoughts from my next stop, Hong Kong.
Tags: Travel
mbsloney
Nice one matey. That was a very concise description of your stay in Japan. How the hell did you write it at 5am after we had been out on the piss for most of the previous day???