Days Off, Kabuki-Cho, and War Memorial

So, we had the last two days "off", which doesn't mean we didn't put in a work day...it just means we didn't shoot shows. Don't get me wrong, it was nice to not be on our feet as much. But days off are more like regular work days, instead of overtime work days.

Last night we met back up with Micah, the Elevation drummer from Seattle, and went out for a drink in Kabuki-Cho. Kabuki-Cho is kind of a mini red-light district...lots of shady things going on in dark corners...guys will come up to you with a little magazine book with pictures of women, young and old, and I think they're asking if you want to rent time with them...weird.

So we ended up walking around a bit before finding THE TINIEST BAR IN THE WORLD.

You walked up a very steep set of stairs about 18inches wide that led from the street to a tiny room. Inside was a room about 5ft. wide by 10ft. long. There was a wall of booze floor to ceiling, and a bar with 5 stools. It was actually very classy despite being so small. To get out, everyone has to stand up to let the one person squeeze by.

Nuts.

From the look of the area, there were tons of these mini-bars...micro-bars...bite-size bars...I wonder if there are regulars at these places.

"Hey that's my seat!"

This morning we stepped a little outside of our bounds. There was a ceremony/protest occuring in Tokyo, where a bunch of prayers and ceremonies were acknowledging the efforts of Kamikaze pilots during World War II. It was a ceremony of worship for Japan in those times. However, liberal Japanese have been protesting the event, saying that Japan has done wrong during the war, and it should not be praised. The two sides are reported to clash on this one day, at this one shrine. However, due to a late start perhaps, when we got there there was no opposition to the prayers. Nonetheless, it was a very akward place to be. I felt pretty akward as an American being amongst those in favor of WWII Japan. I guess I thought they weren't fond of having Americans around...but I don't really know.

I had a camera out, but was told by a riot police-man to put it away...here's one of the only shots I took before I turned the camera off. It's one of the riot cars they had all over the place.

After that, we went and interviewed a band we will be seeing tonight. They're called Moja, and they consist of a drummer, and a bassist. Power Duo! Alright! The drummer spoke great English, as she had studied in Boston, and helped to translate answers. Anyway, here they are during the interview:

Here's a few shots I took while walking back from the train station to our place. The building in the second shot is a theater where you can see traditional Noh style theater.

Anyways, we're heading off to Yakiniku, which is a type of restaurant where they bring you raw meat and you cook it yourself in boiling water (or maybe oil). After that, we'll film the Moja show...then hit the hay!

Sayonara!