Osaka Day 14 June 2, 2008

As beautiful as day 13 was, day 14 , we woke up to cloudy skies and wet floors. The weather once again began to turn and the day became wet as we as left. Before we left osaka though, we hooked up with a good friend of mine, Kishin of 2000BC and he introduced us to the best udon joint in Osaka, Fu FU~ Te Udon. The noodles are so good, there was even a comic feature of the store in which some sumo wrestler turned udon maker had to battle a little old woman from osaka for the title of best udon restaurant. Of course, as the comic ended, the little old lady from osaka won the title and we were sitting at her restaurant. The recipe in the restaurant was simple. Udon, Tsuyu (dipping soup), ginger, green onions and either fried tofu or plain. On the road, this was the magic elixier. Here was the food to cleanse and fulfill. Our bodies were nourished. You like Udon, you have to go Fu Fu~ TE UDon. this is the best. There is no complete tour of osaka without visiting all the crazy neighborhoods that is old dangerous japan. I mean, you don t need to go. It is so sketchy and dirty and run down, you have to wonder what the hell?!.. yes, japan can be a dangerous place. They still have a brothel system run by parents and mafia members where it is a whole neighborhood with a tiny house next to all the other tiny houses down the row. Here the 'mom' sits in the front with 'daughter' all decked out and lit up smiling. Just the eye contact alone is enough to encourage business. Another neighborhood not too far away is run down and piled up with garbage, junkies and dealers. It's another part of town that looks so crazy, I wondered where japan left and universal junkie town began. It is a neighborhood no police officer ventures into. I m sure with all the right reasons. It feels lawless as much as it is controlled. It is enough memories for the naive me and the souvenirs were not what I wanted to take home with me. After the grand tour, we left Kishin, our host and took off to go back to Kamakura. Once again, we started to discuss the wave conditions and we all prayed for surf. There were trickling news of waves kicking up and the surf getting momentum. We left Osaka around 4 pm.. we arrived back to Kamakura around 1am. It was as easy as can be and coming back to shonan, it felt like being home.

Osaka Day 13 June 1, 2008

Day 13 began at Obake party in Downtown Osaka.. or, right near the american town, right near channel.. some place like that. After the event, we all crashed out above Kulu Kulu in Sakai, Higashi-Ku. When we awoke, it was to a beautiful bright sunny day. The weather had cleared and the day was perfect. It was hot enough for shorts, tee shirts and flip flops. The highlights of the day was the birthday cake for yours truly by Kumetani Satoshi, a happy anniversary phone call from my wife and a birthday text message from my son. It was quite an exceptional day. Of the day's events was to hear Ash Grunwald perform for the second time in japan, Afnica, a jazz sound five piece from osaka, Caravan, Keison, and Blue King Brown. That is in fact, not to say that the other bands were no good, it was that I did not have time to check out all the musicians involved and actually feel quite sad about that. There were many beautiful ladies and gentlemen who approached our walls and all the artists and their artworks made the osaka festival even more eventful than the yokohama event. In osaka, the arts was actually seperated from the live music venues by a staircase and a wall lined with windows that faces out to the outdoor stage. In our vantage point, we could hear all the music filtering from outside as well as get beautiful sunshine and be in the shade. how dope is that?! The artists that were at the event who especially made the times super exciting was, Naki, the camera. He was especially enjoyable!! Thanks for the wines and hugs! Yusuke Hanai! U-Ske! Taisuke's Wall from yokohama! and even a special guest appearence by Rockin Jelly Bean!!!!! my favorite! The day flew by like a dream. After the show, we had to pack up and ship out. Tired from the crowd, the music, the sun and all the sake, we finally arrived back to Hiro's spot and got another birthday cake and ate some awesome unagi courtesy of Jinta's Eels, the best Osaka Eel Eatery. After the cake, I crashed like a paper plane into the wall. My life passing before me like a pleasant blur.

Kamakura Day 12 May 31, 2008

I woke up in day 13 in kamakura. I was allowed a room in Yamada residence, in front of inamura. It was wet from an incoming typhoon. Today, we, Jonas Kaku, Yuri Shibuya, Kumetani Satoshi and I were to meet at InamuraGaSaki Eki and pile into the Kaku family cruiser and head west to Osaka for Greenroom Osaka Music Festival. The plan was a seven hour drive to osaka from shonan Kamakura to set up for the next Music venue. We were not planning on an extensive art wall installation like the one in yokohama but something a little bit more mellow and more showcasing goods as well as art works. It is a show and sell. The drive down was a rain storm. The excitement in the drive was whether there are going to be waves in the west or whether there are going to be waves in the east. Will there be a storm that can create swells to last until tuesday june 3rd,
when we get back from osaka or should we detour south to catch the swell when it is just arriving? We all had schedules and we all had to be somewhere on june 3rd.. this was a sticky call. We would think about it later as we watched the storm's progress. We left for Osaka at 8 am and we arrived at 4 pm. We took an hour rest for lunch and multiple random stops to get gas and food and drinks. Gas prices were rising in japan as the day wore on. Can you imagine? It took almost $75-$95 to fill up the ride. The highway system is also quite taxing, almost $100 on the highway to get to osaka. When we arrived, it was right to setting up and getting the wall done. By 8pm, the art was up and we were ready. We only needed to get some hangers for our shirts. Easy breezy. Being in Osaka is not being in Tokyo. Even this is the same country, the west is .. well, let us say the people here are more vocal and feels alot more warm. Osaka is known for all the great comediens and entertainers. It is a place, they can sell you your shirt off your back and offer their shirt for free as well. Doesn't make sense, it is alright. It is well worth the visit. It is like the whole city was like an East Village. You got your artists and entertainers, your gangsters and your suits and every type of people all rubbing elbows down the street and just being themselves. It can get pretty hot. After the set up was the break time. We ended up at an 'Obake' party. Obake is ghost. Did I know we were going to an obake party? Were there people dressed up as obake? Was the interior done up all spooky? NO. Yes. YES. When we first arrived, it was already a bit after midnight and it was my birthday! There was some Drum and Bass and Jungle and it was fun! We got in and just jumped right into the mix. The next thing I know as I start acclamaiting to the dark room is all the heads hanging off the ceiling, the look of a burned down-run down room, fake blood and all the costumes. It was like a halloween in the summer. Which actually seems like a better time to have halloween. Something about the heat and costumes and dancing and drinking.
There were ghost-esque dancers and half animal half people dancers and 2Yang, a member of Ichiban-Boshi Crew in Osaka. He just kept telling me that Osaka was 'aho-ya!! Minna Osaka Aho~ya!!' while laughing. He is true Osakaite and I think he really loves that shit! It was good to see 2Yang, since its been about 8 years... crazy. After the DJ set was a band from london, Dokkebi Q! Kinda like the MIA style SOunds and Vocals. It is an awesome two person crew with one chatting and one on the mixing with effects and computers. They were pretty awesome!! IF you ever hear of Dokkebi Q coming to your local stage, I highly recommend it! Didn t understand all the blood on the shirt, but that s before I realized that it was a ghost party. It was getting late and the last set I checked out for a minute was a DJ guy who got all the ladies and freaks out on the floor. Ahh.. the power of music. It was a pretty full night and the travelers, never get to sleep! At the party, we even had a chance to meet up with some core skate crew riders, all 30 plus crew!! hahaha. Crazy. We had accommodations in osaka from a friend of Jonas. His name was Hiro and him and his family were generous to allow us to stay at their home. They own an awesome surf theme bar and restaurant called 'kulu kulu'. If you are out in Osaka, please check it out!! Hiro would also be traveling with us to the Greenroom Festival because he is also a member and works with the Surfrider Foundation, Osaka Japan. Surfing is traveling. The more points you are welcome, the more blessed you get. And the more humble and opened eyed. Bless!!