Nihongo de "under the hood" nan desu ka?

The trip to the "ladies clinic" sans translator was both terrifying and hilarious.

Secret Garden

Shimonoseki is home to myriad abandoned buildings. It reminds me of depressed Southern cities, once alive and bustling, now shells of their former selves. But, of course, full of romantic possibility.

I had been eyeing one building, set on the water, for a couple of months. Lou and I decided to investigate, so in our typical hazy state, we set out at dusk. There were too many people out fishing and skateboarding for us to climb in from the pier side. We went around to the street side and I kicked in the locked, barbedwired gate. It was more magical than I could have imagined, empty and waiting for us.

Mega-Hurts

After a rough couple of days, I sought to drown my sorrows in a bottle of vodka and a sea of JAfros. Lou said there was a hip hop DJ at Megahertz and I said "Ikimashou!"

Thank god Lou and Makoto were there to save me and feed me yakitori and ramen at the end of a long night.

P.S. Remember, Jack Whitebread: We don't need bright lights (no, no we don't)...

winter adventures

After a crazy night in a Japanese mosh pit, I somehow managed to make my way back to Yamaguchi-ken, bruises and all. I rejoined my fellow foreigners in pursuit of Akioshidai. We raced the sunset, and we won.

Miho-chan and Craig took me to the beach near Kokura. They are expert beach combers and not at all afraid of the heaps of garbage that cover all Japanese beaches. The Japanese blame the Koreans. Again.

Street Fightin' Man

The night started beautifully with a lovely train ride into Kokura with friends and plans to meet up with others. It quickly degenerated into me cussin' at Ken and leaving his bar, returning with a posse of overstimulated Gaijin, dancin', drinkin', squeezin' 5 drunk people into a cab (highly illegal in Japan), and headin' out to a pyschobilly/punk show where Ken would be DJing. The culmination of all my pent up aggression came a few notes into the set of one of my favorite Japanese bands, Jericho Bunch.






At this point we still had 4 more hours until the first train back to Shimonoseki...

Sweet Child O' Mine

Hisashi made me a mix tape! How psyched am I? No one has made me a mix TAPE in a million years. I don't even have a cassette deck and I'm still elated. Although, I'm kinda bummed that there's no Guns-N-Roses listed.

Incognito

Lou and I retreated to Kokura to escape the paparazzi...

Remember kids,

karato at night

Papa-san

My dad came to visit and I tried to give him Japan as featured in the overly romanticized memories of his childhood. I think I failed, but on the plus side, I learned how to drive on the left side of the road.