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Published: September 20th 2006
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In a week I’ll be heading back to Toronto, which means that my last few days here are full of plans and events to cram in last minute things I want to do here in Japan.
It was a busy long weekend because everyone had a day off on Monday to celebrate Respect for the Aged Day- Eve and I went out for dinner at an izakaya before meeting Yassu for a DJ party at a local bar. I am really going to miss Japanese food and their style of eating- most places have family style platters that are shared among the table so ordering 8 dishes between two people works well and allows for a chance to sample a bit of everything.
On Saturday, Eve and I rode our bikes around town, stopping off at the rotating (kaiten) sushi restaurant, and doing a bit of shopping. Just to further illustrate how weird a place Japan can be: I saw a man walking a cat on a leash (for the second time). He then tied his cat to a bench and went into a store. After shopping, it was time for karaoke.
Since it was a rainy day,
it was over a 90 minute wait for a karaoke room at our regular place, so we ventured somewhere new to a karaoke place that looks like a castle, both inside and out. Later that night, we met up with Corrie for some sake, before we parted ways and Corrie and I went to a local blues bar called Catfish.
We just missed a live music performance by some Rockabilly’s but they hung around the bar after their set, so when we walked in, there were 4 guys in Elvis-style hair-do’s and an upright bass in the small, dark bar. Corrie and I chatted with the bar owner and admired his collection of things displayed around the bar: a Dennis Rodman doll, a King Kong statue, old vinyl records, a plastic dinosaur, and other odds and ends. We met a new Japanese friend and discussed the famous “Soul Stew” on the menu. There were only about 8 of us in the bar and before long, another foreigner showed up.
Turns out this new foreigner was really an accomplished Polish pianist who now lives in Japan. The bar owner pulled out some of the pianist’s CDs and showed them
to us. But the pianist was weird, which, as our Japanese friend turned to leave, he patted me on the back, leaned in and whispered, “I hate him” referring to the pianist. It was an odd comment from a Japanese person since usually when you meet strangers they don’t give you a strong opinion of something like that. It was funny, but we understood exactly why he said it. The pianist was creepy.
On Sunday it was time for the Musica Festa Fukushima- a big outdoor concert that took place on Mt. Shinobu at the Shinto shrine. After I met Corrie for lunch, Eve, and her friend Takashi, and I, walked over to the mountain to the festival site. On the way, we passed the weird pianist and ran before he could enter into an awkward conversation with us.
The festival was not at all my style of music, but there isn’t much else to do in Fukushima so we all went anyway. We met a lot of other foreigners, had some good food, and listened to everything from American hip hop performers, a Japanese version of Bjork, and a Japanese steel drum band that were arguably the
Catfish
Me with new friend Kaz best of the night. Some of the other foreigners showed up in odd costumes, prompting people to ask them to pose for pictures all day. We were all in the crowd together dancing and jumping around, having a good time, despite the off and on-again rain. When foreigners see other foreigners- especially in a smaller city like Fukushima- everyone talks to everyone to find out where you teach, where you’re form and how long you’ve been in Japan. You get to meet a lot of people that way.
After the show, a group of 12 of us headed to the local Indian restaurant owned by a friend and his wife for a late dinner and drinks. Corrie and I then made our way to another izakaya for some more drinks before calling it a night.
The rest of my week is pretty full with various plans including a weekend trip to a hot spring resort with Eve.
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patrick
non-member comment
worried!!!!
Hi! Just found your blog as I was looking for some info/memories from my time in Fukushima-shi at the Fukushima English Center (2000). I really hope all those people will be ok!!!! It looks bad! I used to go to Namazute a lot with friends and it's cool to see your pictures. Let me know if you have any information about what is going on there right now. ARE YOU THERE RIGHT NOW???