Day 28
Saturday February 7
Today’s sightseeing day. Or at least it is until we open the curtains and see it’s snowing and the sky is grey. And the sky is grey.
The sightseeing was going to be up one of, or maybe even both of, Tokyo’s towers – The Sky Tree and Tokyo Tower.
Instead we go shopping with Maja curious to see what clothes are around Tokyo she might not be able to find in London or Stockholm.
By the time we’re all done and back home, it’s pretty much time to just pick up the guitar and head out for what is now tonight’s show. We hadn’t talked about any particular time and when we arrive no-one from last night is there. But we plough on anyway, introduce ourselves to the guy behind the bar, who this time is the actual owner, and tell him about last night. He and his friends are delighted to have us play and so we do. And yep. Inside the bar. With Maja to my right, I have to stand right in the entryway to the actual bar – you know, the gap bit that Del Boy fell through – and with that, the end of the guitar is actually almost touching the end wall. As I’m making my way through I observe, ‘I’ve never had to climb into a gig before.’ We do two songs, which feels just about right, but there’s a call for another one, so we do that as well. Then we join in with the general bar hang during which our studio recordings are played through the bar’s speakers.
This leads to an absolutely magical moment. It’s all rock’n’roll and some of our big songs and all that and people are bouncing along a little, and talking away. But then Insanity comes on. Our quietest song. I think it’s going to get a bit lost in here. Instead, the whole bar falls silent with just guitar picking and accompanying weaving bass drifts across us all, then Maja’s voice begins. The guys have seen me play and heard us play and sing on these recordings, and expressed some level of admiration. But now they look at me as the guitar and bass flower on and say, ‘Is this really you?’ All I can do is nod. Then another level happens as Maja decides to join in with her own singing and this just knocks the guys over as they hear the same voice coming from other sides of the bar one of them live.
I really wish I’d filmed it. But then I would have missed the wonderment of expressions. And the guys wouldn’t have looked over and made their stunned and admiring little comments to me. In Japanese, but I can totally catch the meaning. And the sheer impact this seemingly small song is having on them. Again, even as they can’t understand any of the lyrics and there are no big rhythms to hang onto. None at all.
Of all our big bombastic highs and triumphant nights, I think this is one of my favourite ever Diary moments. I’m glad I lived it rather than filmed it.
Day 29
Sunday February 8
Today isn’t a great day for a day out either. A bit cold with still some snow on the ground. But it’s been arranged and it’s the one day we’ll get to meet our Yokohama friends again – the two girls and the guy we met the day we arrived at Atamy. That would be Tama, Lucy and Dai.
We had a really big day yesterday so we think we do very well to be out by one and in Yokohama by 2pm as planned.
Tama is the first to have arrived at the train station and is the only one there when we arrive. With a guitar. She asks why we’ve brought a guitar. Right. Well, here we go. This is the guitar we bought with the pickup that went a bit dodgy. But it’s still at least a perfectly good acoustic guitar, the pickup is surely a very simple fix, and we have the warranty. And we’ve already bought a replacement and that’s the one that’s coming back to Camden with us. Which means we have a guitar that’s staying here. We’ve decided it should stay with Tama, so here you go Tama. Yes, this is a bit of an emotional moment as she accepts what is, sorry modesty, a quite wonderful gift. This emotionalness is repeated a little when we meet Dai and Tama explains to him why she now has this thing on her back, and again when we meet Lucy. And now we’re out and about in Yokohama.
So, what to do in Yokohama. It’s wonderful to just see them, but there are things that we really should see while here. Maja knows the main place. The Raman museum. Yep. A museum dedicated to ramen, this ancient Japanese dish and one of Maja’s absolute favourite things and something we often have in London. But yes, they do it so much better in Japan. The museum is enormous. Entering it you feel like you’re entering one of the world’s great train stations. You’re overlooking this huge concourse of people all swirled around down there. What’s happening is that they’re all in different queues for their chosen ramen. This is how it works. You pay the price of a ramen to enter the place, meaning you’ve obligatorily – yes that’s a word now – bought a ramen. As you go in, the length of the queues are given in time. Some of the queues down there are long, so no thanks. Instead we opt for a more basic option and a shorter queue which is not in the melee down there. Instead, we take a walk through the museum hallways which go round this thing in wide corridors and are set up as though you’re walking through Tokyo in the 1930s. The phone boxes they have which are very different to our red phone boxes, and the types of technology they had. And here, walking towards us, is an old style Japanese policeman. The guy really is part of the security team, or is at least working in some real official capacity. But role playing at the same time. Oh, and overlooking the whole melee as I’ve decided to call it, is a table from a restaurant selling only dessert. It’s a spectacular setting for a table so has to be booked and is totally not available for us at anytime. So on for the basic ramen for us it is. Which is still as good as anything we’ve had in London.
After the ramen, the guys give us a few options, but there’s only one place we want to see. This place has an enormous Chinatown which absolutely dwarfs London, and we really want to go and have a walk round there. Unlike London’s version, which is very touristy and showy, this place, although I’ve never been to China, just feels more authentic. With small back alleys and just more day to day basic bars and restaurants. We will end our day in one of those restaurants later on. But first, I say that having had a walk round Chinatown, I would really like to go and have a look at the seafront.
Everyone’s up for this, so we go down and have a look at the spectacular night time harbour view which looks across to the Tokyo skyline. Then, as we’re walking along the seafront, we see this giant rocket shaped thing which points up to the sky. What is that? It’s the Marine Tower, our friends say. Oh wow. With that, we just have to go up it. All of a sudden we have a new activity. So in we go and once paid in, the first thing to enter is the lift from which you can actually look out and see yourself gliding into the sky with the ground rapidly falling away. Look down. Very much look down. Then we’re up and on the lower of two floors with windows all around with incredible night views over Yokohama and across to Tokyo itself. And also from here we can actually see the beginning and end of Chinatown, and damn is it big.
In the centre of this first room is an opening to some stairs and they go up the middle of the two floors to take us up to the higher and smaller top deck. Up here the light is set at a kind of twilight, all the better to see the views all around. And to see the breathtaking view through the small glasswalks on the floor which are exhilarating to walk across.
Well, apart from our friends, we came to see Yokohama. And totally unexpectedly, we really have seen all of Yokohama.
Day 30
Monday February 9
After a weekend in which we have barely even had a chance to breathe since sometime early on Friday, which right now feels like about two weeks ago, we just do nothing today. Absolutely nothing. So much so that going out for a meal sometime early evening that is made up of mostly boiled and raw vegetables constitutes a significant and noteworthy activity. So yeah, we do that.
Day 31
Tuesday February 10
The obligatory return to the Ruby Room for another lovely open mic there. This really is one of the most lively open mics I’ve ever been to. Respectful and people listen to the acts, but not the cross legged silent reverence that so many open mics ascribe to. Which I totally get and respect and observe myself when in such places. But here, it’s more a lively bar vibe yet respectful at the same time. I think it helps that apart from single guitar singer songwriters, among which we have to be counted, there’s also the facility for full bands to play with drumkit and a full backline. And rather than the all sitting back and watching intently with chin in hands, what you have here is people milling around the bar area, standing at the bar, standing at the back, mingling in the semi private just off the main area area with its single large round table, you also have people standing – and dancing – in front of the stage, treating the whole thing like an actual concert. It really is an interactive, physical, lively event.
The consistent level of quality is also hugely impressive. The locals yes – Japanese and other nationalities – but just so many musical tourists here as well, ourselves included of course. And people from New York, LA. Including an impressive rapper type act tonight who comes straight from the airport having just flown in from LA
And with us playing our own set at 9:30, we also get to have another go sometime past 11 to sign off our time here.
On our way back as we’re walking through our area to simply go home after another wonderful night, we just happen to bump into Carochan from Mum Stand. So of course the three of us now go and find somewhere for late dinner.
Having never done it before, this is now the second time in five days that Maja has gone into a restaurant after midnight.
