Aomori Rock Festival

[Taylor]

Over the weekend Julie and I drove to Tsugaru City on the Western side of the prefecture for an all day rock festival.

We mostly wanted to go because one of our favorite bands from Japan was scheduled to play in the afternoon:  Eastern Youth.  Eastern Youth strike a nice balance between noise and melody.  Their music is cathartic but very listenable.

They played a great set — a nice mix of old and new material.  The highlight for me was “Into the Sandstorm,” which was the first Eastern Youth song I’d ever heard and is still one of my favorites.

The other bands we saw were also fun to watch and listen to.

Interesting enka/rockabilly/storytelling solo act.

The Beaches. They played a fun set of reggae dance rock.

Neatbeats. 60s style garage rock.

Mari, the lead singer from Tsushimamire. They probably gave our favorite performance of the day.

Not pictured:  the King Brothers.  During the last song of their set, the lead guitarist climbed the scaffolding of the stage, about twenty feet off the ground.  He then jumped off, not into the crowd, but back onto the stage, did a ninja safety roll, and immediately picked up his guitar and began playing music again.

Peculiar Impression

[Taylor]

The other day I was flicking through the local channels and came across a variety program showcasing various comedians impersonating famous people from Japan and elsewhere.  I managed to get the last few seconds of the Obama impression on camera.

It’s a short clip but the rest of the skit followed the same premise.  Basically the comedian impersonating Obama would say something like “Yes we can!” or “People, people, people, people…” and then get wacked on the head by a secret service agent standing behind him.

Flute music for my students

[Julie]

During my introduction lesson, which I give during my first time to a new class, I mention that I like to play the flute.  One teacher asked me to play for her students the next time I came.  She requested that I play some Christmas songs.  I incorporated this November Christmas Special in a lesson with the target phrases “Yes, I can,” and “No, I can’t.”  For the first part of the lesson, my flute was hidden away from the 6 and 7 year-olds and a box full of maracas, tambourines, castanets, jingle bells, and a harmonica were up front.  I would ask a student, “Can you play the tambourine?”  If they responded, “Yes, I can,” they were then able to demonstrate for the class.  As you might imagine, the other target sentence, “No I can’t,” was neglected.

At the end of the lesson, their homeroom teacher asked me, “Can you play the flute?”

After “Jingle Bells,” “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” a classical Japanese New Year’s song, and “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter, I played what turned out to be their favorite: the Doraemon theme song.  Everyone, including the teacher, enthusiastically sang along.

I’m pretty sure that someone at every school that I’ve visited (8 in all) has asked me if I like Doraemon.  This television series, starring a time traveling cat robot, is something that I have yet to see other than on YouTube or in various plush forms, often adorning dashboards and phone charms.  I get the impression that his popularity in Japan can be comparable with Sesame Street in America.  The two actually debuted one month apart from each other in the winter of 1969.  At that time, Doraemon was a popular manga (Japanese comic) and was later turned into a TV series which still runs today.  The popularity of Doraemon is widespread.

Everyone sing along!  Pay attention to the tricky flute introduction.  Yikes!  I played up until Doraemon and the boy are flying over the clouds into the sunrise. Watch the whole episode if you like; I found one that provides English subtitles.