Sheena Ringo in Concert!!! / 椎名林檎アリーナツアー！！！

Yesterday evening was one night that I'll never ever forget! I was able to cross an item off my bucket list so to speak. I finally got the chance to see my favourite singer-songwriter, Sheena Ringo in concert!! This is Ringo-chan's Arena Tour called "Ringo Expo '14 -Toshi Onna's Counterattack-" ** (林檎博'14 －年女の逆襲－), which my wife and I saw at the Saitama Super Arena (埼玉スーパーアリーナ). As you can see the seats were pretty far away, but that did nothing to take away from the pure joy and excitement of seeing a musician of such incredible talent live in person. I have to admit, though I was a bit envious of the folks who had floor seat tickets when Ringo-chan made her entrance up the center aisle, riding on a boat, and then again when she was paraded up and down the center aisle riding on a skateboard!

The show was nothing short of amazing and literally moved me nearly to tears on several occasions. She performed most of the songs off her album from earlier this year, "Reimports: Ports and Harbours Bureau" (逆輸入 ～港湾局～), as well as some from earlier releases and even a couple of songs from her days with her band, The Tokyo Incidents (東京事変)! It was a profound experience.

The musicians she's touring with are incredible talents, including the orchestra and conductor doing much of the accompaniment. Shockingly, the drummer even performed his part in the song, "Vortex Boy" (渦中の男) live, and since that song is essentially hardcore drum & bass, this is no simple endeavor! Of course Ringo-chan herself put on a guitar and rocked along with the band for a few tunes, which I was eagerly anticipating, and was so happy to experience for myself.

The lighting and stage effects were also fantastic and perfectly complimentary, meaning that they never became too overwhelming to the point that they overshadowed the performance. This included plenty of live video so that even those of us way in back could get a good look at the star of the show and enjoy her four costume changes. When not utilizing live video footage, the stage was alive with impeccably-produced graphics that literally transformed the stage giving impression of being at different venues. Amazing.

While leaving the stadium I said to my wife, "今死んでも満足だ。" "If I died right now I'd be satisfied." It's an extreme sentiment of course, but that's how fulfilled I felt after this concert. I'm still living in the afterglow even now.

Here's the Set List from last night!

1. 今
2. 葬列
3. 能動的三分間
4. 決定的三分間
5. 密偵物語
6. ちちんぷいぷい
7. 望遠鏡の外の景色
8. 殺し屋危機一髪
9. NIPPON
10. 最果てが見たい
11. 流行
12. 自由へ道連れ
13. Between today and tomorrow
14. 都合のいい身体
15. 赤道を越えたら
16. 走れゎナンバー
17. やっつけ仕事
18. 遭難
19. 渦中の男
20. 私の愛する人
21. JL005便で
22. 暗夜の心中立て
23. 禁じられた遊び
24. 主演の女
25. 静かなる逆襲
    Encores:
26. マヤカシ優男
27. ありきたりな女
28. BON VOYAGE

Some concert tour goods

**There's really no good translation for "Toshi Onna" so here's a basic definition: a woman who was born in the current year's sign of the Chinese zodiac (which of course would mean that Ringo-chan was born in the year of the horse). Also, please note that this is my own translation of the Concert Tour Name as I could not find an official translation anywhere.

Allow me to leave you with this video  for "Vogue" (流行) from the album 3-Penny Gossip (三文ゴシップ) which was performed last night:

Part 2 : Autumn Leaf Viewing / 紅葉

Part two of this year's autumn leaf viewing (紅葉) is all about the Koishikawa Kōrakuen Gardens (小石川後楽園), here in Bunkyo City (文京区), about a 10 min bicycle ride from my home.

Kōrakuen is ranked as one of Tokyo's top autumn leaf viewing spots. The park was originally a residence built in the early 1600s by Tokugawa Yorifusa (徳川頼房), domain ruler of the Tokugawa clan division known as Mito (水戸). In the next generation, Kōrakuen was made into a permanent garden under domain ruler, Tokugawa Mitsukuni (徳川光圀), who was the subject of the long-running Japanese TV period drama, Mito Kōmon (水戸黄門).

Kōrakuen is somewhat atypical as Japanese Gardens go because it borrows heavily from Chinese landscaping styles, as is evident from the use of the many hills, and intricately-patterned stone walkways. Other aspects of the garden that make it unique, are the subtle recreations of far-away lands, both Japanese and Chinese; not that they're meant to be exact replicas, but that the feeling is captured in these re-created landscapes.

As time passed, the park grew to have special historical significance as it was very often used by the Tokugawa Shogunate and Mito clan as a gathering place, and for hosting meetings with many foreign dignitaries and domestic leaders alike. Today, the park boasts two official designations as both a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and Special Historic Site, one of the few spots in the country to have this double-distinction protected by the constitution under the Cultural Assets Preservation Act.

Koishikawa Kōrakuen Gardens is literally a living, breathing work of art with thousands of years of history. Being just a short walk from Tokyo Dome City, I highly recommend this spot to anyone who might be coming in to Tokyo for a visit!

There are lots more photos! Interested readers are welcome to visit the full photo album here.

Autumn Leaf Viewing / 紅葉

Yesterday was the perfect day for going out to view autumn leaves, which is called "kōyō" (紅葉) in japanese (literally, "red leaves" undoubtedly in appreciation of the bright red colour of japanese maple trees in autumn). Yesterday's sunny, crisp, autumn-chilled-yet-warm weather made for a perfect outing. Not feeling particularly adventurous, my wife and I took a five minute walk to the University of Tokyo (東京大学) campus where the Ginko trees are nearly at the peak of golden colour. I must admit that I'm a little bit envious that this beautiful scenery is a normal, everyday sight for my wife who is a staff member at the University.

Lots of other people were out with their cameras; some folks even packed a picnic. I'm particularly fond of leaves that still have a bit of green, thus displaying a lovely gradation of colour. For me, this is a graceful homage to the season itself, representing the time of transition between summer and winter on a single leaf.

Here's an orange tree I never noticed before!

Please enjoy the rest of the photos! There's a link at the bottom to the full album for anyone who'd like to have a look.

The link to the photo album is here.

[Photo of the Day] Snack Time! Milk Tea Ritz Bits Sandwiches #risingsun

via Instagram http://ift.tt/1u0mj7v

Birthday BEEEEEEF! / 誕生日のぎゅ〜〜う肉！

I don't usually like to write posts that celebrate my own day-to-day personal life events, but this time it seems worthwhile and is relevant to the subject matter of my blog, so please forgive me for this Happy-Birthday-to-me post. Yesterday was my birthday, and to celebrate, my wife took me out for an incredible, amazing dinner!

She took me to Kagurazaka Shōzantei (神楽坂 翔山亭), recently-opened in the neighborhood of Hongō (本郷), nearby our home. This new local dining spot is a restaurant that specializes in very high quality yaki-niku, meaning "grilled meat" (焼肉). As indicated on the red Noren , this restaurant buys their meat by purchasing the entire black-haired Japanese wagyu cow (黒毛和牛一頭買) which means they can get very special and select cuts of beef that most places cannot provide. This also keeps their costs lower, a savings which they happily pass along to their customers. Upon being seated at our table, which was in a very modern-japanese minimalist style room, we found a selection of three dipping sauces waiting for us, and we were greeted with complimentary champagne in honour of my birthday, which was a wonderful surprise and delightful way to start the evening.

After getting situated, we got right down to business by ordering a plate of beef tongue, selection of specialty beef cuts, a seasonal veggie plate, some pickles, and I ordered a glass of shōchū (焼酎) on the rocks. The first to arrive were the pickles which were as delicious as they were beautiful, and this wonderful beef tongue.

The vegetables and beef assortment came next and I could hardly believe my eyes when it came to the table! Take a look at this dramatic presentation-- this is absolutely gorgeous and extremely appetizing, is it not!? Honestly this is some of the best beef I have ever eaten in my life. The rich flavour, juiciness and melt-in-your-mouth tenderness were absolutely superb! From this plate, I think my favourite was the "Sasabara" (さだばら), which is outer rib meat from the area closest to the thigh of the cow. This was so incredibly tender and juicy that it was almost unbelievable.

After this selection of beef was consumed, we order a plate of "Horumon" (ホルモン) which in English is called chitterlings. This was definitely the highest quality horumon I've had up until now.

After achieving full meat intoxication we wanted to round off our meal with a bowl of Rei-men, which is very-mildly spicy chilled noodle soup (冷麺). The noodles were light but chewy, and this dish was both delicious and very refreshing after gorging on all that meat!

The restaurant space, the food and drink, and the special time with my wife-- one of the best birthday dinners ever!

Tokyo Drifter: Day Trip to Kamakura

Today's post is finishing up the last leg of last month's visit of my friends from Chicago. Unfortunately due to work responsibilities, my friend Valery needed to return to Chicago before the Phonaut, but I wanted to be sure and make the last day of Phonaut's journey a memorable one. I decided to show him around Kamakura (鎌倉)! I went to Kamakura for the first time 10 years ago on my second visit to Japan, and I had such a wonderful time that I wanted to share the experience with my good friend as well.

We got up early and headed off to Kamakura via the Yokosuka Line (横須賀線) from Shinbashi Station (新橋駅) and on to the Enoshima Electric Railway, a.k.a. "Enoden" (江ノ電). The weather was perfect and we enjoyed some fun sightseeing starting with, of course, the Great Buddha (大仏) in Hase (長谷).

Feeling refreshed by the centuries-long meditative peace and tranquillity of Buddha, we headed off to Hase Temple (長谷寺).

After hanging around in Hase for a while longer, it was back to Kamakura city for some shopping and a visit to the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine (鶴岡八幡宮).

Up until now I never had a home to go back to that was not thousands of miles away, so I took advantage of the opportunity to finally buy some of the famous Kamakura Ham. It was every bit a delicious as I'd always imagined! This seems sort of crazy, actually, because predictable answers to the question, "where is the most delicious ham you've ever eaten?" might be Germany, Poland, etc, but no-- Kamakura, Japan is the answer! 

Tired from a long day of exploration, we rode the Green Car (first class) back to Tokyo, enjoying a cold Kamakura Pale Ale while  making the return trip to Tokyo. A relaxing evening was all that was in store for us that night, and I'd have to say it was a great day!!

The rest of the photo's from the trip can be viewed here.