September Japan Tour 2009

Kaz before our first show in Sapporo. After the show everyone pulled up tables and chairs and we all drank. I was given several rums and some beer on top of the sake I had smuggled in earlier in a water bottle (I love that sake looks like water). Kaz wrapped a towel around his throat 'cause we both had soar throats that night...

Kaz's high school friend

Another one of Kaz's high school friends and a girl whose little brother went to school with Kaz. Everyone moved to Sapporo...


One of the guys who gave me rum...


Yanagawa san set up a great show in Tokyo and Kaz and him showed up with matching shirts!


Sound check...


Kazutaka Nomura


Kazutaka Nomura


Mari and Yanagawa


Tokyo neko #1


Tokyo neko #2 (I could waist a whole roll of film on stray cats in Tokyo. They're everywhere!)


I think purple was the color of the tour... Everyone was wearing it.

Koware Kake No Tape Recorders sound check. (Purple)


Dennis and Yu chan (Purple)

Mari, Kadotchi, Yu, and Dennis. (Purple)


Door guy Kaz.


Bar


Joe kun


Matsumoto show was really fun! This band was the highlight of my evening for sure. It was their last live for awhile because they are pregnant and due in November. They played really well!

Dancing with cat toy.


We signed the wall of the venue before leaving


Chifumi set up the Matsumoto show and let us stay with her. She lives with her parents in an apartment over their sushi restaurant. They fed us so much delicious sushi and for breakfast they made curry.


Chi san!


Modeling a Grandma's Homemade Pin (Pregnant women always wear masks in Japan...)

Kaz and the father to be.


There was a homeless guy dragging this pile of trash around. When he left it to go pick up some more bottles I quickly took a photo. I love the owl!


Big in Japan...


Yu


Mice in Tokyo


Yu


Mari


Band members from an opening band...


Yu and I


Kaz playing shopkeeper at Yu's work


Sake


Yu and Dennis


Mari-mari on the train! I love this lady...


The day before Kaz and I left for Korea we met a bunch of friends in Tokyo for a Korean dinner.


Mari gave me a new camera 'cause I lost my old one (which is why there's no photo's from the middle part of the tour). I love this camera!


Mari-mari and Dennis





Everyone was taking photos...


Mari chan eating the film case



Love,
10

Asahikawa

Kaz and Happy go for a walk



Japanese cars make me want to learn how to drive...



I thought my camera was broken and pointed my camera in a random direction and took photos. This was the result.



Cafe Nob



Kaz's cousins kids are awesome. I'm very jealous of Asari's Anpanman collection. She's even got an Anpanman drum set!



Asari enjoying the summer festival...



I knew Misaki was a great artist, but after that night I learned she's also a great dancer! Kaz and I couldn't pick up the festival dance moves, but she had them mastered.



Pleasure

Kadotchi and Mari visited us in Asahikawa!

I like how they're really slanted in this photo...


Mari-mari looking at Kaz's baby book.


Kadotchi taught me how to write the days of the week in japanese while waiting for our soba.


Soba photos!

In All Our Glamour

Visiting Kaz's grandparents in Pippu. A day of many compliments and cherry tomatoes.


Stuck in the rain without umbrellas...


Kadotchi's wife Mari was the only one smart enough to carry an umbrella with her at all times, but cardboard boxes make fine protection against the Asahikawa weather. We found these outside of a used bookstore and they smelled like old books.


I tried to take a quick sneaky photo of Kaz's ultra-cool-grandfather-from-Pippu without him posing. In my rush my fingers got in the way...



Kaz's lucky day! We ran into a girl who was the drummer for one of the bands we played with last Japan tour. She was working at a Ramen restaurant and Kaz got extra egg and meat for his ramen and a snare drum all for free!


Making coffee shirtless. Now you know why I fell in love with him...


We ate bento lunches from Best Price in a small playground near Kaz's childhood house. There was a wall with SEX spray painted on it. These Asahikawa kids are pretty hardcore...


Blueberries are ridiculously expensive here. Kaz's grandmother got some to make jam and let me have more then my share. I was in blueberry heaven for a full two days...



Cool Kaz.


Kaz and his mom in the country. We ate two different kinds of ice cream: the best soft serve in Asahikawa and also this really good blueberry sorbet ice cream cone. So yummy.


Leo. The meanest little dog on the block. Bit several people 'til they bled and never gets taken out for a walk. His "mom" Kaz's youngest sister throws books near him whenever he's too noisy which only makes him louder. When he's put in his cage he likes to try to jump high enough to get out. He hasn't made it yet, but he's getting close... Kaz wants to feed him chocolate and mustard.



Kaz showing off his new tiny cell phone and his tiny french fries at Mos Burger after swimming at the local swimming pool.



Mos burger has fake brick walls. There's also a lot of fake concrete walls here in Asahikawa...


Why do I have white raccoon eyes?



Love,
10