Choir Festival

I couldn't go to the Choir Festival last year as its held in the afternoon on a school day and I was busy teaching. But this year luckily I was free, so I asked to go along and listen. It was one of the most interesting events I've been to so far - not only because I love listening to some of the compositions by Japanese composers for Japanese choirs, but also, it was a chance to see all of the students of all the schools together in one place.

The three biggest schools, Akayu, Miyauchi and Okigo, only have their 3rd graders participate, but the four smaller school Urushiyama, Ringo, Nakagawa and Yoshino need all of their students in order to make a decent sized choir (or a choir of any size at all!)

I may not have mentioned before, but each school has a distinct personality about it. I believe this personality is highly influenced by its Principals', who influence the teachers, and in turn, the dynamics of the students' naturally blossom into a whole-school personality, but quite distinct from the other schools. You have Akayu, the biggest school with a military air about it, and its confident 3rd graders shouting out a deafening 'HAI' when they're called up to the stage, standing up and walking down in near military precision. You have Miyauchi, the second biggest school in complete contrast with Akayu, with a slightly more playful and casual attitude, but can work hard when they need to. Okigo students are similiar to Miyauchi's but perhaps a little more rowdy and relaxed.

Then the smaller schools, Urushiyama - despite being the largest of the small schools, its a real rural school with some very innocent, good-natured and solid students, but who essentially don't see the wider world as a place they're interested in (English isn't the most popular subject in that school I can tell you...!), Ringo - an interesting school with quiet shy kids. The school often comes across to me as very proud and proper about its history and its presentation, but once you earn the trust of the students and teachers, you can have a lot of fun with them. Nakagawa - a school with freindly students who have a little bit of a cool edge about them. Perhaps this is due to Nakagawa Junior High being the newest Junior High School in Nanyo, and also because, next to Akayu they have a train station that is situated on Yamagata's main line that connects to all the biggest cities of Yamagata. The Shinkansen runs past the station too....but it doesn't stop.

And last but certainly not least you have Yoshino, the smallest in Nanyo. It's 20/21 students were a sharp contrast to the loud acknowledgement and swift maneuvers of Akayu JH. When they were called to the stage, they got up from the seats a little sheepishly and casually. Very quietly they made their way down to the stage, and probably had the biggest amount of confidence amongst them, to sing in a choir of so few, after hearing Akayu's students try to belt out their 'power song' (as I like to call it - all the big schools sing this particular song that goes well with 'big-dramatic-mono-rhythmic-singing-with-lots-of-big-crescendos-ultimately-leading-up-to-singing-as-loud-as-you-can-to-ensure-maximum-emotional-effect')



The other interesting thing to witness, was the other students reactions to other schools. Students from the big towns know Yoshino exists, but probably have no reason ever to go all the way to the small town, and probably can't understand the way of life around there. Its a sure thing that the personalities and cultures of each town will be disrupted significantly when the merging of schools begins from next year. It's a sad thing, but it is inevitable. I only hope the communities can continue thriving without the junior schools their to support them. Anyway, the choir festival was great - all the schools sang really well!

Sketch days

Towards the end of summer, every school in Nanyo (probably generally every school in Japan) has a sketch day where all the students grab their sketch books, pencils and paints and head off around the neighborhood to select a scene fit for sketching and painting.

Of course, the event is extremely organised, with students having pre-selected (or pre-assigned?) their location, and detailed instructions on what to do and when to do it.

The first time my schedule encountered one of these sketch days was whilst I was in Akayu Junior High. The biggest school, and the one that often left me with no clue as to what was going on. I'm pretty certain that on my schedule there was a big white space on that day - no lessons scheduled and the words 'Day to sketch' in the space....I assume I just thought the day hadn't yet been 'sketched out'...ah the beautiful ambiguity of our English language. So on the day, the teachers were rushing about the place whilst I was wondering where the fire was...

Eventually, one of the English teachers explained to me what was going on, and asked me what I was going to do for the day. I rather excitedly said that I'd like to join. The teacher looked a little unprepared for that answer, but he helpfully supplied me with some paper, some brushes, and some paints. Off I went to wander around the various areas where the kids were painting. Unfortunately the sky was cloudy - not the best condition for a nice painting, but I thought i did a rather nice job of the Yoshino river that runs through Akayu. I hung out with a group of 1st grade and 3rd grade kids and the day was really relaxing, calmly painting while going 'sugoi, jouzu' (wow, really good) at each others paintings and having a bit of a laugh.

The next one was at the next school in Miyauchi - a little more prepared, but still a little difficult with my Japanese listening and speaking skills not as well equipped as they are now! Again, I was selective with my 舞台装置 (mise en scène if you will) and whilst the day was still cloudy, it was fun and relaxing.

The view I chose to paint in Sosho Park, Miyauchi

The boys enjoy chatting while they get on with there paintings

...and having the odd joke around, can't remember what was so funny?!

This year I was really prepared - being able to read the Japanese announcing the day and having a clue as to the general schedule of the day. Luckily (I thought) I was at a different school again, Okigo - and even better, the day turned out to be lovely. I chose a spot by the lake by the school, which I've always admired. The spot I wanted to paint only had one quite shy first grader in the same place, so together we painted with the occasional short conversation in a mix of Japanese and English. At lunch, I chatted with some 2nd grade girls (mostly in Japanese!) and tested out a group of 1st grade boys' English with a bombardment of questions. Its so nice that the schools have this day. Often I feel that Japanese schools first priority is sports, followed by education, and then the arts are a little after-thought. But such events like this, and the Nanyo School choir festival make me feel better about the balance.

This was the first one I did - Akayu

This was the second one - Miyauchi. (work in progress!) It was still grey and dull, so I used a bit of creative license to make it more brighter and impressionistic...!

And this is my latest - Okigo. This is my favourite, probably because its so bright and looks most complete out of all of them. The weather started off dull and cloudy, but cleared up completely and became glorious (I got a little bit sunburnt which I didn't expect!)

The Sound of World Music with Chris!

So if I was ever trying to have a break from piano playing, it turns out my hopes were inevitably dashed, because at the end of the day, I just can't resist playing whenever, wherever to whoever doing whatever!

I've been steadily doing more and more playing for various things, choirs, schools, soloists, little bits and pieces here and there, and then one of the gentlemen from the choir I was singing in asked me if I would like to do a little concert for his international society, as well as teaching the members some simple songs from England to sing at the performance too.

So, in September the performance was held, in the small town next to Nanyo -Takahata. The venue was a beautiful cosy circular hall called 'Hirosuke Hall' - and never realised it was a hall until I arrived there to play - thinking it actually some kind of architects designer houses, with an interesting slanting oval roof that really stands out among the rest of the uniform Japanese-style houses.

ALL Japanese concerts I've noticed MUST have interesting titles (this must be a stipulation required by the Ministy of Culture, in an effort to make concerts seem more interesting and appealing amidst all the Pokemon and crazy electronic contraptions that fly about the rest of Japan.) Some of the concerts I've been a part of have included 'Dream Concert', 'Thanks Concert', and then this is painted on a big wooden board that is hung above the stage. So obviously - my concert needed an interesting title - and they didn't disappoint me!

'THE SOUND OF WORLD MUSIC WITH CHRIS!' and then in Japanese 'クリスと一緒に歌いましょう！’　which translates as 'Let's sing together with Chris!'

It's definitely, plain-to-see-for-all: 'with Chris'!

The interesting thought that passed through my mind when I saw 'the sound of world music...' was that when I think of 'World Music'...I think of African drums, Spanish guitar, Moldovian folk music, Inuit throat singing etc. - however, obviously when the Japanese think of 'World Music' they think of 'Elgar', 'Mozart' 'Beethoven' - as that was the kind of thing I was playing. Perhaps if I was playing traditional English folk songs on some kind of fiddle, or recorder...I don't know, maybe that would be more 'English-style worldy music'? I wonder what they would actually consider a performance of Inuit throat singing - 'the sound of Alien music' 'the sound of Universe music' 'the sound of....well we don't actually know because we never knew Inuit's ever existed before...'

But whether or not they had any expectations of me performing 'world music' or just classical music, they all seemed to enjoy it. There was a nice baby grand Yamaha piano - and about 50-60 people came along to listen and support (and it just so happened that my bro, Kieran, Becky and Chris were in Yamagata at the same time - to further enhance the international flavor of the concert!)

This was kind of the first recital I'd ever done, so I was excited and a little nervous. I tried to make my programme accessible, entertaining and informative - containing things that the audience would probably know; my favorite pieces from my favorite composers; and I played the English National Anthem too, in the form of a 'theme and variations' by Beethoven!

After my performance of 40 minutes or so, the small choir sang a few English songs (very simple) like 'Row row row your boat', 'London Bridge' 'Greensleeves' and 'Loch Lomond' (yes, I told them it was from Scotland but they wouldn't listen to me!) and then they had invited a cool jazz guitarist who lives in the town, called Fujio Takeda. It was nice to be able to play some jazz and jam with him. He's a pretty talented man - nice but very modest and soft spoken, but very good playing style and improvisational skills, and also composes original songs too, which are very nice. His normal job is a small car mechanic with a garage at his house. Jazz is not the easiest thing for me, so it was good to get an opportunities to have a go at it again!

I got coverage in the prefectural newspaper, and the more exciting thing was that the local cable TV company came to record the whole thing - so I could well be on TV too with my performance!

After the concert, I got quite a few politely-angry messages from various people I work with or acquaintances who said they didn't know about the concert and would have liked to come! SO, in Spring I've decided I'm going to have another piano recital - I'll organize it myself if I have to, only this time it will be held in my very own Nanyo city! Wooo! Get your tickets booked for spring!

Yatta the concert was a 成功! (Success!)

TIMMAY comes to Japan!

If you happen to watch Japanese news, you will have happened to see a news-flash at the beginning of september, which caused nationwide panic similiar to the panic that was caused by Godzilla running havoc among the streets of Tokyo a while ago (this happens maybe once every two months...).

The news headline read 大きいモンスターのプリーン・ティモザイ君は日本に来ています！

Which translates as 'GIANT MONSTER TIMOTHY PULLEYN IS COMING TO JAPAN!'

(Artist's interpretation...)

But after a bit of discussion between English and Japanese Embassies, calm and understanding was restored, and Japan was ready for my little brother, and along came three other guests too! Kieran came for a second visit, along with two of mine and Kieran's friends Chris and Becky.

Unfortunately it was during school term, so I couldn't be with them all the time, but I managed to get a few days off around the weekend in order to spend time with them down in Tokyo.

I went down to Tokyo the day before they arrived, to meet up with my great mate from Yamagata lastyear, Guy, who had only just moved into his new home two days before I saw him. But it was great to see a familiar face from last year, had a good catch up, and he was kind enough to offer me a place to stay for the night. He has a nice new home in a community with quite a character. It's interesting to see the difference between living in the big city, and living in a...small...city...

The next day I met the guys at the train station, terribly jet-lagged (for once I wasn't in the same state, having taken the Shinkansen instead of the dreaded night bus!) so I introduced them to some Tempura (delicious fried, battered fish) and my superior (not quite) Japanese skills, and then we checked into our hotel and had a steady day to recover from their heavy flight.

We wrote a little prayer, as is a popular custom at Japanese temples, hopefully the gods will hear our wishes!

We did all the usual Tokyo things I've probably mentioned about beforehand on my blog, but one particular highlight was the night out in Shibuya. My Japanese best friend/mum Marie was in hospital at the time having a hip replacement, so she wasn't going to be able to meet my friends. But my other friend Shoko has a daughter who lives in Tokyo called Naoko, and she speaks amazing English, having moved to London at the age of 16 (by herself!) for a year and a half. She picked it up quickly, and we thought it would be a good idea to meet up.

The weather in Tokyo at the time was absolutely horrendous! (Towards the end of summer is Typhoon season...) There were huge thunderstorms every night, and torrential rain frequently too. On the night we decided to go out, it was raining cats and dogs, godzillas, Japanese salarymen - it was horrendous. We met Naoko outside as it was soaking, and had to run (without umbrellas) to the little bar in Shibuya that we were going to.

THEN, during the midst of this downpour of all downpours, Kieran and Chris think it a good idea to run to a relatively close combini (convenience store) and try to purchase a few umbrellas (they had sold out....)  so when we finally arrived at the bar (which wasn't too far away from where we met Naoko)...we were SOAKED.

The two Chris's demonstrate the extremity of facial expressions and feelings that the appalling weather caused us!

But the bar was pretty cool - whilst it wasn't the most amazing of bars, it hit the nail on the head as far as cool Tokyo bars go, in my mind. Tucked away on the 5th floor of an ordinary looking set-of-flats building complex, the BEAT CAFE was a tiny, cosy little bar. Apart from a little sign outside, tucked amongst all the other Neon signs (that are generally hostess bars and such), you would never come across this bar unless you actually knew of it beforehand. (Apparently some famous English rock singer has been to BEAT CAFE, it impressed Chris and Becky but I'd never heard of the bloke at all...!)

The owner was a really nice guy, playing some nice English rock for us on arrival and another resident of the bar was a Labrapoodle - one of the most amazing kinds of dog in the world! He was a brilliant dog! We had a few drinks and chatted a bit, and then we were set to go to our next bar, and the place we originally wanted to go to in the first place. The Lock Up. The Lock Up is a pretty famous pub in Tokyo - most notably for having a 'dungeon theme' to it.

We had a chat and a laugh there (at random moments throughout the night, the lights switch off and 'monsters' (people dressed up in black cloaks and masks) are let loose around the place terrorizing the customers, whilst an elaborate story-line over the speaker system, in Japanese, explains that they're trying to recapture all these monsters....which they do....for the time being!)

The best thing about 'The Lock Up' is the drinks! They have a variety of strange looking concoctions which are presented in all sorts of scientific instruments! Conical flasks, test tubes, Pipettes etc. One even came with a jelly eyeball in it! Great fun! 

Our 'dungeon'!

AN EYE!

This drink was so much fun! 

The end of the night!

After 'The Lock Up' we were up for doing a spot of Karaoke (I think we did 2 hours worth?) which, as is usually the case, was a great success. After our time was up at Karaoke, the time was something like 3am, so what better way to finish the night off than in a Shibuya club and dance the rest of the night away. That's exactly what we did. Japanese clubs are so much fun, everyone is so friendly, no hostility or violence, no mad drunks or anything - just good plain fun, and dancing with everyone and anyone. 

Then the time came when the trains started going again and we could move our dancing feet no more...about 5.30am we made our way back to our hotel to nap....!

Naturally, the next day was one for relaxing and recovering. At night we all went to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku - one of the swankiest dining places in the world. On the 52nd floor the New York Bar is a lavish setting of dark rich colours, low lighting, great live jazz, and large windows with a fantastic view of bustling Shinjuku and the rest of Tokyo. It was my second time visiting the place, the first time having dined in the restaurant area (AMAZING FOOD), but this time we got great seats in the bar area, listening to great jazz, enjoying some nice cocktails and a spectacular view.

Lounging in the New York Bar.

The view from the New York Bar - it was a little misty and cloudy that night - but at least it wasn't raining!

The trip in Tokyo was a great one, made so much fun by having a bunch of my English folks come over to enjoy it with. I had to return back to Yamagata, whilst they got to explore the western regions of Japan :-(......BUT.....the one plus side of returning back to Yamagata when I did was that I got to....ride the special POKEMON Shinkansen!

I first saw it when I met mum and dad, who rode it when they came up to Akayu for the first time. I found out that every Shinkansen line had ONLY ONE Shinkansen decorated on the outside with giant Pokemon (all other Shinkansen trains were as normal). It did exactly the same thing...but it had Japan's mascot (pretty much!?) plastered all over it!

PIKACHU!

I had to wait 4/5 days or so, until my friends returned for a visit to Yamagata. Where we enjoyed more Karaoke, puri kura and a visit to Sendai for some good and delicious Indian curry!

I think I can confidently say they had an amazing time whilst over here, and that Japan was everything people had told them, everything they had expected, and more! They tried the whole 'naked onsen' thing (well done you lot!), sampled a load of Japanese food, saw the modern, the old, and the stuff in between (ie. Yamagata). They saw and did a whole load, but I'm sure they'll want to visit again!

THANKS GUYS FOR COMING!