Ancient glass

Ancient glass, a photo by nofrills on Flickr.

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Over 50 years old, I think. We seldom see this type of glass nowadays in Tokyo. I think I took this pic a while ago at the door of an old, deserted apartment house. I don't think the house still stands.

ふきよせ（いちょう）

ふきよせ（いちょう）
Originally uploaded by nofrills

ふきよせ (吹き寄せ: read "fuki yose") = blown and drifted.

We call a variety of fallen leaves ふきよせ. (See also: ふきよせ images)

そろばん window

そろばん window
Originally uploaded by nofrills

Tokyo, Japan. August 2009.

そろばん is en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soroban

"Leave Them All Behind" - 19 April 2009

"Leave Them All Behind" - 19 April 2009
Originally uploaded by nofrills

Leave Them All Behind
Sunday, 19 April, 2009
Liquidroom, Ebisu, Tokyo, Japan
www.smash-jpn.com/band/2009/04_leavethem/index.php

Conclusion: envy + Boris + SunnO))) + Isis + several hours sleep = vertigo + the loudest ever ear noise.

The show was sold out. All of my friends I met at the venue said it was surprising. "Heavy rock" in Tokyo have come so far.

Overall, it was LOUD. So LOUD. Sunn O))) and Boris. Their soundwave shakes your eye ball and brain - not only your eardrums. That is what Boris and Sunn O))) have been doing for years. I know. And so, I only wish I were ten years younger... Actually it was nothing on the next day back in the 1990s; I was all right (with less level of ear noise) on the day after I saw Boris live. ;-)

The LOUDEST of all was Sunn O))). So LOUD that they erased my memory. If you are going to see them live, make sure you are prepared. Take enough sleep, eat well, and don't drink too much. You stand on the floor and you just can't move during their whole set simply because of their sound. As you are being kept unmovable, the sound shakes your inner organs and changes your senses. I couldn't see the stage at all. Standing around me were people taller than I, and I was nailed to the floor and frozen. With things around you like that, there's nothing that can distract you. You are face-to-face with the sound wave. Theirs is the most creative way of using three-chord structure: repetition, feedback and wall of sound, for more than 45 minutes, live. The floor, your trousers, your shirt and your hair - you feel them tremble. Your eyes, ears, stomach, and everything get affected in ten minutes. You can't explode. You can just implode. Dope.

In fact, I wasn't fully prepared (lack of sleep etc), and I felt kinda physically sick at the end of their set, so I had to leave the floor early in order to get to the restroom without waiting - I have no idea how "early" it was as I totally lost the sense of time; maybe five minutes or so. Shame. Only if I had been fully prepared. Maybe next time.

And the fact is, they cured my dry eye syndrome. Next time, I hope they would shake my teeth and be my dentist! :)))

Somehow Boris' stage tonight reminded me of the first time I saw them live. A real floor shaker shakes your spine (and eye balls). It was a real shame that there was a persisting technical trouble with Wata's equipment. Even so, the music was good.

So, for me, ISIS' set was a bliss. After these two "VERY LOUD, and you are nailed to the floor" sets, they finally let me dance. They are a superb band. The song "Celestial" must be experienced live, at least once in a life time. They are a hardcore band in essence, methinks!

I had something to do before heading to Ebisu, and unfortunately I missed Growing. It was the first time for to see Envy play live in ... how many years I can't recall, and their live music is totally beautifully emotional. Check them out if you have a chance. Sadly enough I don't have much to write because my memory was erased during Sunn O)))'s show.

The crowd were like 70 percent male and 30 percent female, at least I could see. Apart from Japanese, I heard American accents a lot and some British accents on the floor.

It's Monday today, and I've been struggling all day to kill this super massive ear noise. This is the LOUDEST ear noise ever. And since I woke up, I feel a bit strange. My usual mayonaise or plain biscuits taste so strong. I opted for simple おかゆ (rice porridge), hoping my taste would be back to normal in a few hours. You know what I mean. Their records can't do this to you. Their live music does. This is what the true 轟音 is . Awesome.

Additional info:
Liquidroom has got a gallery space on the first floor (upstairs). Currently on the show is an Acid-house retrospective. A lot of eye-candies from the Second Summer of Love!
www.timeoutcafe.jp/news/090410000066.html
ourculturalhistory.com/

Writing on the wall

Writing on the wall
Originally uploaded by nofrills

Somebody wrote his/her friend's name (和也 or 和哉) on the wall.

The kanji 和 means ... a lot of things. "Harmony", "peace", etc.

Dog

Dog
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

A sticker for a dog owner to show the dog is registered.

If you are interested in kanji (漢字), I reccomend this page:
portal.nifty.com/2006/04/15/c/

There you can see ”つぎへ ＞" at the bottom right just below a picture. Click on it nine times, they explain how the 犬 letter was born.

But after you see the 犬, basically it's all jokes. The author says "If a dog is represented in this way, how about a cat? A giraff?"

"Here I am, and my name is Nagatsuma" poster

"Here I am, and my name is Nagatsuma" poster
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

A street in Tokyo, 15 September 2007. Click on the pic and see notes for some language tips.

Well, I decided to make my kind of documentary after the Upper House election (on 28 July 2007) and looked for the two main party's posters on my way.

This poster is for Mr Akira Nagatsuma, a Liberal Party MP for the Lower House, who has been doing great job as an opposition lawmaker. He has a lot to say.

But the poster has too much - who can read all these words while walking by?

Ozawa poster No 3

Ozawa poster No 3
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

A street in Tokyo, 15 September 2007. See notes for some language tips.

Well, I decided to make my kind of documentary after the Upper House election (on 28 July 2007) and looked for the two main party's posters on my way.

I have no idea when it's posted. They use the same photo as the other poster, but use different (a bit funnier) words. I think this is an after-the-election-win poster, which shows he's waiting for the next big move...

Compare with an Abe/LDP poster, which seems ... well, he's resigned.

Ozawa poster close-up No 2

Ozawa poster close-up No 2
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

A close-up of this poster. See note by clicking on the pic for the katakana.

Compare with a close-up of another poster.

Ozawa poster close-up No 1

Ozawa poster close-up No 1
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

A close-up photo of this poster. Just for some kanji fan. (Click on the pic and see the notes.)

Ozawa poster combination No 2

Ozawa poster combination No 2
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

A street in Tokyo, at the end of August 2007. See notes by clicking on the pic for some language tips.

Well, I decided to make my kind of documentary after the Upper House election (on 28 July 2007) and looked for the two main party's posters on my way.

As with another pair of Ozawa posters from the same week, the top one looks pretty new - probably one month old (they must have put this just before the election). The other one (smiling Ozawa) looks older - faded and losing the red colour - and it shows the date "4th July 2007". (Mr Ozawa's speaking tour.)

Compare with an Abe/LDP poster which I suppose is as old as these Ozawa posters.

Ozawa poster combination No 1

Ozawa poster combination No 1
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

A street in Tokyo, at the end of August 2007. See notes by clicking on the picture for some language tips.

Well, I decided to make my kind of documentary after the Upper House election (on 28 July 2007) and looked for the two main party's posters on my way.

The top one looks pretty new - but I don't think they put it after the election so it's at least one-month old. The one (smiling Ozawa) looks a bit older. I also posted another pair of Ozawa posters from the same week.

Compare with an Abe/LDP poster which I suppose is as old as these Ozawa posters.

すだれと朝顔

すだれと朝顔
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

すだれ is barred lattice of bamboo, according to Eijiro dictionary. It blocks sunshine and let the wind through. We hung it outside of the window, not inside, just during summer. The owner of this house have planted some morning glory too, so it's double glaze for summer.

What's the story?

What's the story?
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

Morning glory is very often seen in Japan in summer. When I was six or seven years old, my school gave us the seed for each of us to plant at our houses, in order to see how the plant grows. It's part of elementary scientific education.

Morning glory is called 朝顔 ("asa gao") in Japan, which literally means "morning face". Two or three centuries ago, it was like tulips in Europe -- everybody was so keen on the plant and there was a huge craze.

The owner of this house in this picture seems to be keeping a very traditional (and reasonable) way. If you plant some morning glory and let it grow on the wall, the leaves will block sunshine and make the house cooler.

空蝉

空蝉
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

If you are interested in Japanese classic literature, you might have heard about the third chapter of the Tale of Genji, "空蝉 Utsusemi ("Cicada Shell")". That's this.

9th August 2007.
Tokyo, Japan.

Dream (half man-made)

Dream (half man-made)
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

Another zoom attempt. This sakura, somei-yoshino (ソメイヨシノ), is man-made: a crossbreed of two kinds of wild cherries. They do not usually bear fruit. They don't have seeds. Wikipedia Japanese is worth reading.

桜の森の満開の下

桜の森の満開の下
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

Another zoom attempt at this one, and different crop of this one.

Ango Sakaguchi (坂口安吾) wrote in 1947:
　桜の花が咲くと人々は酒をぶらさげたり団子をたべて花の下を歩いて絶景だの春ランマンだのと浮かれて陽気になりますが、これは嘘です。なぜ嘘かと申しますと、桜の花の下へ人がより集って酔っ払ってゲロを吐いて喧嘩して、これは江戸時代からの話で、大昔は桜の花の下は怖しいと思っても、絶景だなどとは誰も思いませんでした。近頃は桜の花の下といえば人間がより集って酒をのんで喧嘩していますから陽気でにぎやかだと思いこんでいますが、桜の花の下から人間を取り去ると怖ろしい景色になりますので、能にも、さる母親が愛児を人さらいにさらわれて子供を探して発狂して桜の花の満開の林の下へ来かかり見渡す花びらの陰に子供の幻を描いて狂い死して花びらに埋まってしまう（このところ小生の蛇足）という話もあり、桜の林の花の下に人の姿がなければ怖しいばかりです。

--　坂口安吾、『桜の森の満開の下』
www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001095/files/42618_21410.html

This novel is translated by Roger Pulvers. The book seems to be out of print now, but at the amazon JP store you can find some second-hand copies.

A theatrical play

A theatrical play
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

Inside Hibiya Metro station.

春団治 was a rakugo performer in Osaka before WW II. His life story has been made into stage plays. This poster is for 新橋演舞場, starring 沢田研二 Kenji Sawada [English] and 藤山直美 Naomi Fujiyama, in April.

If you are into "cult movies" of Japan, you might have been the film called 太陽を盗んだ男 (The Man Who Stole the Sun, 1979). Kenji Sawada starred in the film.

Naomi Fujiyama is a daughter of one of the most famous comedians in Osaka, Kanmi Fujiyama.

An old comedy film poster

An old comedy film poster
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

On the same wall as this poster.

The film is one of the 社長シリーズ (1956-70), a classic comedy series.

Yet another cinema poster

Yet another cinema poster
Originally uploaded by nofrills.

On the same wall as this poster.

The film is 極道罷り通る (1972), and I've never seen this film either. The leading actor is 若山富三郎 (1929-1992), whose younger brother was also a famous actor, 勝新太郎. The youngest man on the left is 菅原文太.