akita city, contact lenses store in train station - has internet? 400yen/hour. raining.

i left sendai for the 3rd and final time on a highway bus to morioka. i had waited and waited, but the still wasn't a single blossom in iwate park. i wasn't the only ohanami enthusiest there, though. there were serveral big company parties going on as (badly) planned. it was cold. i couldn't even busk up a buck before abandoning the whole scean for that of the smoky, familiar interior of Mr. Donut. i sat there listening to music and waiting for the salary men in the park to get smashed. when the time was ripe (it doesn't take that long), i headed back in. as i approached i could hear a guitar playing! excellent! instant friends to be made!

the guitar was in the hats of a cowboy hat wearing couple singing with a battery powered amp and passing a menue of their repertoire. i watched them work. mediocre at best, but with a few of the drunk employees being pressured into singing karaoke they were quite a hit! the woman asked for compensation (this dosen't even sound that rude in japanese) and passed a hat - man, they made a small killing - more than i would make all night. i introduced myself. they felt bad for stealing all the business, they being loud and only a few parties going on that night. i told them i was on break - i would watch. i sat down with the loose ties and red faces, drinking their beer and watching the couple work. another score.

by this time all the people were clearing out of the cold. i got invited to join the buyskers for dinner in the car - the party left-overs they had just rounded up. of course, i jumped on it. i sat in the passenger seat next to the man and his wife sat on the bed in the back. they spoke pretty good english, "we've raised 4 kids with this guitar." they were christians - even did a lot of missionary work. i got the whole wild story, really glad i met them.

i rocked back up to my capsule hotel around 1:00 am that night. i was ready to turn in, but the 5 guys in the entrance way were so clearly in a band that had just played a show that i couldn't turn down their invite. i got to talk to some really cool guys making new music and getting somewhere with it - some of the groups had toured with a few bands i know and love, both american and japanese. really nice guys too.

the next day was a long 4 rides to akita - took all day. but i had finally found some cherries! i rocked up there and made freinds in no time. i met a cool irish chick, lorraine, and her japanese friends who play music together. we jamed, it was good - that girl can sing. later their friend rocked up and whisked us all off to a night in smoky, dimly-lit art galleries and speak-easies. we all crashed on lorraine's floor that night.

i ran to a market in the morning and we whipped up a hell-of-a breakfast! the weather was unreal perfect! we all rolled back to the park and just crashed out under those white puffs and chilled. that was yesterday- i'm still not recovered.

beautiful mountains 

hang-over ohanami with pals i met in Akita 

sendai city, again, again.. yahoo japan promotional free trail internet. drinking orange juice.

i've hit a wall. yesterday i was in the cold thinking about a hundred places i'd rather be than chasing the biting edge of winter up into the barren north of japan. i've been in a new city almost every night for 3 weeks now and i've finally caught up with the front line. now i'm waiting for the flowers ahead of me to bloom before i can move. and already the leaves are turning green in sendai.

on my second night here i met julia, from america. she's a stand-up babe and she's putting me up while i wait for the cherry blossoms to bloom in morioka and akita. i'm playing house wife and trying to make up for all her generosity. another night here should put me on my way. it's been good to take a break and get some things straight. today i'll try and bang out my flight to aus~

sendai city, media cafe, paying for it, but actually able to upload pics and burn more cds.

more rain.. the only thing i can do in the rain is sit on the bus. hence, i've traveled all the way to sendai in 2 days. the cities along the way were uneventful, but on a 4 hour bus from niigata to sendai, crossing from one ocean to another and all the rain, wind, and mountain ranges in between..

i got on and took my place about half way back - a window seat on the right side. we stopped once or twice on the way out of town and the bus was pretty much full, business men and older couples. the last time we stopped a girl got on and sat one row up on the opposite isle. she stuffed her bag overhead and then noticed me. we had a single long second of eye contact - more than what i would consider a passing glance. it became clear that we were monitoring one another the way friends whould had they been sperated on a crowded bus. not speaking, but occationally taking note of the other's progress. i listened to music and read more of the book a new friend in toyama passed on to me. i took out the chocolate i brought for the ride. the girl, took out her chocolate - the same one in fact. she took out her phone and emailed a friend. i took out my phone - the same one in fact - and emailed a friend. we were communicating. my headphones were urging me on. i started planning what i might say when the bus stopped at a rest area.

we both got off the bus, but i didn't get a chance to speak to her. the man next to me sat down before she could get on and seperated us with a newspaper. she got on and gave me an exhaused look. i took out my ticket booklet and wrote a short message:

hi! you are cool! let's write email on the bus. my name is mike! (then my phone number)

i wrote it in two languages, so she wouldn't be scared of using english. but there was still the man and his newspaper. i held my note. read it over, checked my japanese on my phone. i folded it. i was so nervous, it wasn't even normal. i don't usually get nervous - well, no more than usual anyway. i thought about how to get it to her. i was suddenly concerned with what other people on the bus might think if they saw me hand it to her. or, worse, how awkward it whould be if she chose to ignore me. two more hours of total bus-load embarrassment.

she was practicing looking sleepy and uninterested, but out of curiosity checked her own ticket book at pulled out the little orange paper i was now rolling around in my hands. she was in. i had to make a move. should i disturb the man to go to the bathroom? i could hand it to her in the getting-up commotion. i got an idea. i took out the little japanese doll on my cell phone strap - a gift from a recent driver - and punched a hole in my note. i looped the doll's chain throught the hole and passed it over while the man was flipping pages. she was totally ready for it and the doll landed in her open palm.

we spent the ride getting aquainted. it was entertaining, but she was in sendai to take an exam (law school), so she left me at the train station - too busy to chase chances around the city at night. i called a friend i had met 2 weeks ago, traveling in kyushu on his spring break, now back at school in sendai. we went out and did the ohanami party thing and had a good time of it. weathers good - i'm right on track!


 

wow. 

little kabuki kids - this art form is far more entertaining (tolerable) when little kids do it!  

MIKE on the sakura trail 

toyama city, again. library computer, locked down tighter than a coed res-hall.

again, i can't post pics today because this computer's been bolted, bound, and resricted to only it's most basic function.. sorry.

anyway, i left toyama a few days ago for kanazawa and it's famous garden, kenrokuen! that garden looked good all over after a long day of hitch hiking out of an ugly and industrial city. i was at peace there for 25 min. then they closed and kicked me out. i walked around aimless until i realized the last bus to my hostel had gone even before the garden closed. it didn't look that far on the map - but the map did fail to show the elevation.. there i was climbing a big ass hill after dark with little to guide me. thank god the hostel had a hot bath and a beer vending machine. uhg. i got out of there the next morning and set my horizons north to the noto peninsula and it's northern most attraction, wajima. i took a bus.

in wajima i found the ohanami spot and checked out the town. it was a really little town in the middle of no where - attrative, and with a healthy tourist draw, but little and nowhere. i walked all over! i got some radical ocean views but by the end of the day i was contemplating the term "ankle support" for the first time in my life. i wonder if that's a sign of getting old or if i should have just worn my hiking boots instead of my nike's. i stopped to take a bath at a public onsen off the main drag. i payed an old lady 370 yen to share bright green boiling bath water with a wrinkled old man (and she really should have paid me for all the peeking she did). i felt good and clean, though and with the sun gone climbed the hill to the long row of lit up cherry trees.

i've got a routine now - i hang around and play to myself until i get invited to a party and then i take the leftovers i'm gifted to offer a party of my choosing - that is who ever looks fun or has good food. i sell a few cds as i go - it's my job and it's even more fun than teaching english!

everyone said rain before morning, but i was the last one on that hill at 1:00 am. i had the place to myself and rather than paying 5000 yen for a smoky efficiency at a business hotel, i decided to just camp! this worked out fine, save the disapproving look from the 6:30 dog walker. i got some wind and rain, but i was under a pavilion and stayed pretty dry. i'm pretty well recovered for not getting much sleep, but don't think i'll get too many more chances to do that again. i'm headed north! it's going to get cold from here.

toyama city, new-australian-friend-from-last-night's computer, sitting on the floor

well - the rain continued. from kyoto to osaka to nara, some of the best of japan, really, and on into gifu.. i did visit some friends and did see some amazing temples, etc. but the whole souther half of the country cancelled their ohanami plans to rain and the wind and rain scattered petals on the streets and left piles of them in the gutters.

by the time i got to takayama, somewhere in the japan alps, the rain had quit - but i had gained so much elevation that i could see SNOW on the hills all around and the sakura were off by another week. i left that place after some fridged site-seeing and rolled up to toyama. my timing was perfect and the weather was holding. i finally got to do my ohanami thing and really made a night of it! sold some cds and met some cool people who let me crash at their place!

on a mac now, so i can't get the ap i need to upload you these pictures - but soon!

osaka sity, kujo - hx/iz's place, on the toshi - sitting on the floor, dinner on the make.

catching up with some groovy friends in osaka, hardy and isabel. we may be the only 3 in the city still interested in sakura. i seem to be running a little behind the front and most people have had their parties and are now over the whole ordeal. the weather's also been right shit. anyway, we've found some indoor entertainment - namely, eating and karaoke!

some great photos - lousy weather in kansai..  

Kyoto is out of control 

okayama, taku's apartment - my laptop, drinking real coffee!

hiroshima was going off!! there were groups on groups crowded under every blooming tree in the peace park. there were lots of tourists from western and other asian countries. i played for a while and eventually got scooped up into a circle of friends playing music in a variety of bands around hiroshima. we played lots of beatles and weezer covers that everybody knew. they were friendly, but as a down-side i found myself drinking from about 11 in the morning until late that night.

around 5 i rolled to meet up with the hiroshima mod-rock friends. most of them knew i was in town, but had no idea i was just passing through with the sakura on my way across the country! i showed off my map, now with an impressive black line winding up through kyushu and already stretching east~

we ate, we sang - it was a good time. i ran through everyone's names in my head a hundred times, trying to make up for the fact that i had forgotten nearly all of them since i saw them all in december. as the night progressed my checklist eventually turned into a list of girls who i thought might take me home with them. i didn't have a place to stay, and would take any couch, futon, or floor i could get, really - but if i could tilt the scales to the sexy..

i was surprised, actually - with almost no warning whatsoever a girl who i had already discounted from my list of likelihood came over and attached herself to my side. in fact, she was still at my side on the bus to okayama the next morning. she knew some of the mod group kids partying sunday night in okayama, so decided to stick with me. i couldn't complain, really. turns out the party was more than mods - after my constant invites to shows and finally my going away party, all of my groups of friends were so intermingled, that nearly everyone i knew was at this bbq! all the englsh teachers, all the mods, the street artists and musicians - it was incredible~ i surprised them all with a spot over, and what amazing timing! i got to see everyone and fill them in on all my adventures thus far!

today it's raining and i'll spend a day recovering and taking care of some essentials (laundry, email) while i've got the resources and a place to stay. tomorrow it's off to visit friends in kansai~

bands circle, hiroshima 

miyajima~ 

sakura! 

miyajima guchi - youth hostel computer, 100 yen / 30 min, old ass mac. drinking beer made from soy beans 184 yen / 500 ml @ 7eleven. bandaid on righthand index finger tip.

the rain did quit! and kokura castle looked good all over!! holy cow! i had a full day of playing and brought in a few bucks. after nightfall i was ushered over to a company drinking party and watched the smashed city hall employees cut loose for once. they cleared out early and i was gifted a carton of sake~

i took my sake over to a fun looking group and party crashed! i got fed and made some friends. i sang and entertained and sold a cd. when that group cleared out i was left with half a carton of sake and a left over 6 pack. this pattern continued to 2 more parties and i found myself crashing into every cubical in that internet cafe with a backpack full of booze and 6000 yen in my pocket! i "slept" there - first in my chair, then on my inflatable sleeping pad right on the cubical floor. there was so much crashing. the place was all blacklit and the muzac played musicbox versions of pop-rock balads. my neighbor evendently LIVED in his cube and snored like a encaged creature from the deep.

i finally got up and out of there around 10 and blinked in the light of day with no agenda for a few hours. i finally got my act together and took a train out of town - under the ocean and to the main island of hanshu - to what i hoped whould be a good place to hitch hike east. that was a long day, it took 4 rides to get to iwakuni (a mother/daughter, 2 university students, a mom of three, 2, 4, and 6, all in the back seat, and a web designer) and it was after dark when i finally arrived. i walked and found the hostel in the old samurai quarter. i walked over ancient bridges and down dark, ancient streets - it was really incredible. i checked in - they had lots of room - and did my laundry, took a shower. i walked to the ohanami spot and played for a little while. everyone ignored me, don't know why. one christian woman from the us military base talked to me for a while and gave me some cash.

at about 10 the whole wide world shut down. i've never seen such darkness in japan - the whole historical quarter was surrounded by mountains and when the lights when out there was nothing - i was impressed. i crashed, needed the sleep. the next morning i hiked out of town to the highway heading north. i caught a rided easy enough and enjoyed talking to the driver, a painter off to do some sales work, his trunk full of dentist's office art, and got to miyajima guchi in no time. i spent all afternoon on the island and filled the card in my camera~ pictures on the way!! feeling good - tomorrow i party with japanese mod friends in hiroshima!

my bus driver! 

enka lesson! 

cherry blossoms in hita 

kitakyushu, kokura city. internet cafe in a pachinko parlor - 100 yen/hour + free drink (grapefruit juice in my case) - attractive all night rate: 1560 from 10-8 - considering staying.

oh man, i had fun in beppu! i ran into this canadian guy who was cycling across an island or two and we rolled to the beppu gardens. he played a little guitar too so we set up and started playing. an older lady gave us beer and then we ran into some dudes from wisconson who were studying abroad. i sold another cd, but they lived out in the country and had to catch a bus back. the park was pretty dead at 9:30, but there was one wild party going on under a big tree a ways off - we could hear it. when we got there we could see that the group had brought a generator with them so they could party late - their trees were all lit up and beautiful! we walked by close, but not not too close, and slow, but not too slow, and sure enough they caught us. they waved us over and shouted, we politely refused their hospitality and then they dragged us down to the tarp and forced endless food and beer on us! it was a good score, they loved the guitar and i sold the last cd i had with me that night. when they packed up to leave they gave us 6 surviving beers and we made friends with a family resting at the onsen attached to the hostel.

that morning, slightly hungover and the staff slightly anoyed with me, i rolled out of beppu. i had some trouble catching a ride, but eventually got one to yufin. i had lunch, got orientated and took a ride out to an interchange. at the interchance i crossed out to a wide berth of north west bound road and a bus pulled over instantly. what? maybe he doesn't know how this works. "no, no, i'm hitch hiking!!", "ok," he said, "where to?" haza! he was returning to nagasaki after dropping a brazilian tour group in beppu - i had an entire tour bus to myself!

the driver dropped me in hita and pointed me to the park. i camped out and watched the noon-time ohanami croud do their thing - all groups of moms with little kids and wheel chair country clubs. i played for a while and an old lady gave me 1000 yen. then this middle aged guy in fisherman cloths came over with a friend and asked me loads of questions. he played the guitar and showed me some country and japanese enka (like country, maybe, but japanese). soon his friend had materialized two more guitars out of thin air and we all played together. later he showed me to a cheap place to stay, a b&b run by a friend of his and that night the whole group sat around and i got an enka lesson. very groovie experience, really!

the next morning i hiked out to the highway and caught a korean couple on their way to the fukuoka airport. i got a ride into the rainy, aweful, big city and found myself with no agenda. i would meet a friend from okayama, now living in fukuoka at 7, but i had lots of time to kill and in the endless rain, there was no chance of ohanami.. i played at the station for a little while but the cops kept me moving along. there's no place for a poor boy in the city when it's raining. i ended up camping out in a mcdonalds.

i met ide-kun at the station and we walked to the voodo lounge. a bunch of his friends play artsy-noise music and progressive fusion jazz, ambient, etc. the show was cool, really. the last group had a chick singer who unfortunatly studied at the yoko ono school of vocal training, but she rocked - no doubt about that.

in the morning i took a bus out to kitakyushu and will let you know how it goes. so far so good.. hope this rain quits soon!

beppu city, beppu youth hostel - free internet, old computer.

screw kumamoto, stink-town!! i got run off the castle premesis by a vindictive cop after 5 min. it was getting dark so i rolled to suizenji to the local youth hostel. the guy on the phone said "go straight", and so began an hour long search for a place essentially 3 blocks from the station. i know have a collection of maps people have drawn for me taking me to places i never intended on going to! when i rolled in i dumped my 100 pound pack and smiled with all my rage to the lazy fat guy who doesn't know "straight" from a hole in the ground. "do you have a resurvation?" - oh, the bastard still wasn't expecting me after a near continuous dialog from every street corner in the lower east side. "sigh- (work's so hard when you have to do it) that's difficult, i'll have to think about it." i waited 5 minutes while he figured out how to racially segregate 2 foreigners into a 2 person room already containing one japanese guy. i know this for sure - the japanese guy came in 5 min later to collect his things and move upstairs to join another single japanese guy in a 6 person suit. we had ramen and talked about all possible interpretations of the word "straight" - he had spent 45 min looking for the place too. the australian who shared the gaijin enclosure, formerly known as the foot smell storage room, stuttered about how well read he was until i fell asleep.

anyway, i rolled out of stink town on a stupid, expensive local train and transfered 3 times until i was in the shadow of aso-san, a still active and mildly impressive volcano. there was a famous cherry blossom park, but i was early by about a week! the elevation.. of course. i walked around the town, boasting both a post office and a vegatable market. having nothing to mail, i had a nice salad. i scored a japanese-y place to stay and watched lord of the rings dubbed into japanese on tv. i was very happy.

the next morning the FIRST car that passed me took me to aso city. the driver was a young guy going to see his kids for the first time in 6 months - sort of a rare situation in japan. i was thinking about taking a bus and a ropeway to look into the crater of the volcano, but it was threatening rain and i decided to screw the whole stink-prefecture!

i waited for only about 10 min before this wild guy picked me up and we FLEW down the road. his family were refugees from the japanese settlements in china and he spoke about 4 languages. he was working as the president of two brances of an engineering firm in both okayama and kumamoto - we were instant friends. he dropped me in takeda and i did my thing at the castle ruins. the samurai gaurds didn't mind at all and i sold 3 cds! when i packed out this couple gave me a lift to usuki - the same town as the last crazy engineer driver! i gave him a ring and he whisked me off to the sakura hot-spot. he had a meeting, but would find me later and we would join his old classmates for drinks and dinner! we did - it was fun and i got to crash at his place. the next day he insisted on driving me to beppu before returning to kumamoto. nice guy - hilarious too, you all should meet him. he even bought me mcdonalds when we arrived in beppu - right now very alive with a hotsprings festival! i just had a bath in one of beppu's many famous hot springs and i'm ready to go out and hit the town!