On a gorgeous, Sunday morning we headed over to Ueno Park for the first time in two and half years. It was still early so few of the duck paddle boats were in the middle of the pond yet. We found out a couple hours later that we should have arrived even earlier as the number of people in Ueno Park on a Sunday afternoon becomes rather insane.

Shinobazu Pond was ripe with giant lotus. It turns out this pond is natural and looks very different depending on the season. I had never seen it like this before.

Posted on October 22nd, 2009 under Japan. Tags: Tokyo, ueno. Comments: 1

While out for a walk along the Kanda River (神田川) we came upon some Tokyoites taking their pets for a walk.

Someone had a dog on a leash. Another had his pet tortoise walking behind him, no leash required.

The tortoise was almost as fast as the dog and seemed to know exactly which way to go.

The tortoise sported some fancy booties. I’m not sure if the booties were just for looks or if they protected the tortoise’s hind feet.

Another time I was out in the rain, without a camera, and watched pet owners walking their dogs. The dogs had on raincoats. They looked rather miserable–not because it was raining but because they had to wear raincoats. I think they wanted to enjoy the rain hitting them, but that wouldn’t have been fashionable in this town.

Posted on October 21st, 2009 under Japan. Tags: people, pets, Tokyo. Comments: 2

Slayer was the headliner for day two (Sunday) of Loud Park.

Tom Araya, Slayer’s bassist and vocalist, didn’t speak very much, which made sense given that most of the crowd wouldn’t understand him anyway. Some others (Rob Zombie for instance) seemed completely clueless to the fact that everyone in the world can’t understand English.

The above photo was taken at the moment when Tom said oyasuminasai (お休みなさい) at the end of the show. He, and the Children of Bodom keyboardist Janne Wirman, were the only non-Japanese artists to go beyond arigato in Japanese.

I have seen Jeff Hanneman live in the 80s, 90s, and now at Loud Park in 2009. He is not aging well (unlike Megadeth members who look better now than they did twenty years ago). As someone appearing on a stage in front of thousands, more than a hundred nights a year, he should really take better care of himself. He can barely waddle from one side of the stage to the other. If I ever see Slayer again I won’t be surprised to see him come out in a muumuu next time, instead of an XXXL jersey, at the rate he is going.

My favorite part of the above photo is the guy’s foot in the air. When I was in the front row for Outrage it was fun to see the crowd surfers once they made it to the stage. They would bow to security before heading to the side and back into the crowd. Within a few minutes the same guys would be bowing once again to the security guards.

Slayer bids farewell to the Tokyo crowd in the above photo. Hanneman appears to have already made a quick exit to get first dibs on the post-show buffet.

I believe the only song Tom gave any kind of description of before playing was “Mandatory Suicide”.

Posted on October 20th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: loudpark, metal, slayer, video. Comments Off on Slayer @ Loud Park

Japanese attitudes about pets have changed rather dramatically in the past 100 years–especially the past 20. A few years back I read a book called Yankee Hobo in the Orient. The author describes the inhumanity of the Japanese toward dogs in pre-WW2 Japan.

A few decades later Mishima wrote about the torturing of cats in 午後の曳航. A couple decades after that, in the 1980s when I lived in Japan, I observed not much progress. Few people had pets, and those that did didn’t seem to treat them well.

All of that has now changed. The pet business is booming in Japan. Pets seem to be treated as well as children, and pampered, little, “cute” animals can be seen everywhere. Girls bring them in their purses on trains, older people are out walking them, and a large share of the population seems to own at least one–despite the limited space. I saw a guy just yesterday with a tiny dog in a purse. The dog was white but the ears had been dyed purple.

On a recent holiday, I had to wait an hour and a half for my bus (which usually arrives every 20 minutes when it isn’t a holiday) at the Ebisu Station so I killed a little time at the nearby shopping center. A dog show was taking place so I captured a few images of the pet craze. Not only were there dogs on stage, but there were hundreds in the audience as well.

At this show the dogs are auditioning to become a “Dog Idol.” I’m guessing this is like “American Idol” for dogs?

Everyone at the shopping center on this day seemed to own a little dog (or two or three).

On a recent walk around the Okubo part of Shinjuku we happened upon our first Japanese pet store. I didn’t have a camera at the time. Sorry.

The pet store was the strangest I’ve ever seen. Many, if not most, of the animals can not be legally sold in the states I’m guessing. There were owls, falcons, pigs, rare birds, monkeys, ferrets, hedgehogs, chinchilla, and about a dozen species I have never even heard of or seen before. It felt like a pet store one would find walking down Diagon Alley. The prices also seemed fictional, with many animals being listed for the equivalent of thousands of dollars.

Posted on October 20th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: people, pets. Comments: 1

As I mentioned before, I found out about Loud Park via Outrage’s website. I purchased “Blind to Reality” way back in 1989 while in Japan. I’ve listened to their first four CDs countless times since. I’m not nearly as fond of their subsequent releases, but I am hopeful that their new CD, “Rise,” coming out in November will be great.

Before Outrage came on stage I landed a ticket to their signing session (サイン会). I was so happy. Not only was I finally going to see Outrage, live, but I was also going to get to meet them afterwards. I made my way to the front row before they started. Unfortunately, this meant crappy sound and no photos as security in front of the stage were all over me every time I pulled out my camera (despite the fact that the signs said no professional cameras which should exempt my little TZ7).

As you can see from the top photo, I got the picture off just before the security guard put his hand in front of my camera, but the picture came out horrible in the process.

Photos weren’t allowed when the drummers (including Shinya Tange, above, and Dave Lombardo the next day) met fans and signed autographs. Why? I have no idea. Nobody did. It was just a rule that had to be followed. I grabbed this one from far away and that is why it is lacking in quality.

My only other attempt at photography while Outrage was on stage didn’t come out well either. That’s Yoshihiro Yasui, the Outrage bassist.

Even with flash turned off, I was not allowed to take pics with the band or even of the band during the signing session. Oh well. The signing session was quite fun anyway as I was able to meet and speak with all of the members of Outrage. I had actually had prior internet conversations with Yousuke Abe, the Outrage guitarist, and Shinya Tange, the drummer. They remembered me which was cool. They also liked my Metaltown t-shirt.

They were signing everything in English. I asked Yousuke Abe (阿部洋介) and Shinya Tange (丹下眞也) to sign their names in kanji, too, and they were happy to do so. One funny thing about Outrage is their songs are all in English and Naoki speaks to the crowd in English even though they only play in Japan. They only spoke to me in Japanese though. 😉

When Naoki grabbed the microphone to begin their set he said something like, “It’s time for us to show you our samurai spirit.” I already had a smile on my face before he said that, but hearing those words made my smile even bigger.

Outrage was great, of course, although I would have liked to have heard tunes off of “Blind to Reality” and “The Great Blue.” Their set list (セットリスト) was something like this:
Megalomania
You Suck
Under Control of Law
Death Trap
Rise
Fangs
My Final Day
Madness

I’m not sure if Outrage was in control of the music before they began to play or not, but I thought it was really cool that they had an Opeth song just before the Immigrant Song which started their set.

These last two photos I did not take. They are from Shinya’s blog. I include them here since my pics of the band are so poor.

I liked Shinya’s shirt too (although I didn’t have time to tell him). Riot was a great band back in the day and “Restless Breed” was one of their better efforts–not as good as “Narita” and “Fire Down Under” but still classic.

I’ll be seeing Outrage again when they play in Tokyo next time. If you are reading this Shinya, let’s get together before or after the show. I noticed you said in your blog that you went to Shinokubo after Loud Park to eat and drink. I’m walking distance to Sinokubo so if that’s your spot I’m there. 😉

Posted on October 20th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: loudpark, metal, outrage. Comments Off on Outrage アウトレイジ @ Loud Park 2009