Jono- Day 3, Kyoto

One would think that the combined effects of jet lag, exhaustion and sleep deprivation might allow me to sleep in. Not quite. I awoke at 7:30 after falling into bed at 2:30 at least but we did not need to leave until 10. Too impatient to try out the in-room tea service I went down to the lobby to discover a continental breakfast of miso and dried seaweed, rice formed into disks and rolled in sesame, and pickled vegetables. Delicious. I could really get into this form of eating -it is just too bizarre. Although I say this now when there is no alternative. Ask me again next week when I revert to bacon and eggs.

I went out for another walk, this time to witness the morning rituals of a major industrial center in Japan. The subway was bustling, every shop seemed to have many people eating convenient breakfasts of fish and pickled vegetables. I wandered down residential streets to the freeway overpass and wandered over to what appeared to be a modern building on what looked to be the foundations of a medieval castle with a moat. The building proved to be a prefectural library but it was not open yet. Upon returning to the hotel, I saw a directional sign for the library and a faded one for Nagoya Castle.

When researching this trip I saw that there were few tourist attractions in Nagoya but the one they mentioned was Nagoya Castle. Where was it? I returned to the hotel to see both Yuzo Sasaki and Jeff enjoying their breakfast. Speaking with Yuzo I asked him about it and he gamely went up to the desk clerk and obtained instructions. Apparently it was only 10 minutes away. The time was 8:50. We just might have time. Yuzo hurried upstairs for his camera and I convinced Jeff to join us. Jeff wantyed his camera but I assured him Yuzo would have one.

We walked briskly down the boulevard to a pedestrian overpass that led us to the landscaped grounds preceding the castle. Yuzo explained that the warlord who built the castle was quite a hero and we saw a statue of him which Jeff and I posed for photos in front of it. Time was not on our side. Yuzo graciously purchased entrance tickets and we went in to view the castle.

It is actually a compound of buildings, moats, gates and landscaped gardens. A distinctive architectural feature on the apex of the roofs is the golden dolphin, a motif we would actually see around the city of Nagoya. But we really did not have time to enter the castles and take a real tour. It would be bad form to show up late on day 3 to Kyoto. But all in all, it was a real treat to see this historical castle.

That said, in some ways it was all an illusion. The real castle was flattened by aerial bombing by the USA during WWII in the final months of the war and what we were walking around was a ferro-concrete facsimile of the real castle constructed in 1959. Only one or two gates survived and a wall of paintings which were not available for viewing because they were so precious.

It filled me with an unspeakable guilt. I am fairly fluent in the currents of history but I will not go on record as saying that the firebombing of Japan in the final months of that brutal war were necessary or not. But it happened. And I am a cynical enough pragmatist to know that the atrocities committed by the Japanese were unnecessarily cruel and inhuman. But 60 years after the fact, I am being hosted and feted in their country by warm and caring individuals and to think that any one of their ancestors were killed by any of mine fills me with thoughts I will not articulate to them. So it was rather tough trying to discuss any of these issues with Yuzo Sasaki. Of course, anyone old enough to experience and participate in that war firsthand is now entering their dotage and I don't expect to run into them at a Surf Coasters show.

We made it back to the hotel just in time. The cars were packed quickly, we checked out and hit the road for Kyoto. We said our goodbyes to Yazu who would see us again in Tokyo. We exited Nagoya and headed on to Kyoto, a shorter drive of only 2 hours or so.

Upon entering this huge city (pop. 1.4 mil), it was clear that Kyoto was a bit more fashionable and cosmopolitan than Nagoya, not to slight Nagoya. The streets were crowded and driving was difficult but we found the club and unloaded the gear while Masa and Yas parked the cars. The Kyoto Muse proved to be what I termed in Europe A Rock Palace. It had a professional lighting system, an excellent stage fully wired, a backstage with a beer vending machine.

There is one significant difference between our European tour and our Japanese tour. And that is the free food and drink. In fact, there appears to be even less than offered in America. Still, no one working in these clubs seem to balk when someone shows up with a bag full of Sapporos. And the tickets to these shows are expensive. Both the Oys and the Kyoto Muse charged 3500 yen (approx $35) to see us. And even Nao warned us that the beer at the clubs was very expensive. So I have yet to walk up to a bar and order a beer.

The sound check went well. One of the bands we were playing with (there always seems to be at least 5 bands on these bills) was a surf band with 2 very attractive girls, Whys. I borrowed the amp from Ruiko, a Fender Twin Reverb. We watched them and the Surf Coasters soundcheck.

After a certain point, I was starving so Jeff, Jeremy and I went down to a coffee shop for a nosh-mayonnaise and meat sandwiches. I have certainly had worse. The rest of the crew joined us for a quick bite and we adjourned to the Kyoto version of the Tokoyo hotel. As Ferenc noted, they were almost identical and probably prefabricated and airlifted in. But seeing as how the show started at 6 and we really wanted to see Whys at 6:30 there was no time for sightseeing since we were finally checked in around 4. Seeing as how I had opted to walk to a castle that morning in lieu of a bath, I decided to rectify that and relax in a deep tub.

Upon arrival at the club, the first band was already on. And upon entering, it was clear that surf music is only popular to a select group of people. As Ferenc noted, 25 people in a tiny cavern is much more impressive than 25 people in a giant Rock Palace. Shades of Hengelo.

But our interest level rose when Whys hit the stage. They are adorably cute and wore Hawaiian grass skirts with lei headbands. The bass player Nomi looked like she was wearing a leopard skin loin cloth/top cannibalized from an old stuffed animal (I swore I could see the tail) and they both had these false eyelashes with stick-on rhinestones. A wild get-up to say the least. They had these precocious stage moves and Ruiko had some real chops. I was very impressed that she pulled off Caravan.

I missed the next band because Ferenc and I chose to go backstage and run over Insecticide, a song we had not practiced in months. Yasu came to tell us the show would be going on soon. The weird thing was the backstage/house transition involved an elevator and going in and out of the building unless you were to go through the stage - which is rather rude while another band is playing.

We started playing and I was too loud through the monitor mix but I was confident that I was the same volume as during the soundcheck. Apparently, Jeff had gotten mixed up in the amp mike cable so perhaps they jacked it up to compensate. Many of the same surfcoasters fans were in force this evening, too. We played well but for some reason I choked on Insecticide! Good thing we practiced it. Jesus! I pretended I was out of tune to compensate for mediocrity and incompetence. Shigeo came up while Ferenc stepped down to play Tsunami Struck with us. What an honor to be playing with him. However, he broke a string on Ferenc's guitar

And of course, the Surf Coasters hit the stage and wowed the rubes. It is just a pleasure to watch them. Aside from the previous evening's set, they included a dynamic arrangement of Baja. They do what I would term a 'prog' song which turns out to be the Thunderbirds theme. Being a Gerry Anderson fan, I should know this. Ferenc borrowed my guitar and got up on stage to play Dreams and then hung around for the finale.

This included a rousing cast-of-thousands rendition of Wipeout, ironically one of our least favorite songs. But it is definitely one that crosses so many grains of ease, recognition, tradition, etc. Similar to Ferenc's 'Endless Drummer", it rotated many drummers. plus, it also rotated many guitarists. I opted to document the event but everyone in the audience who was in a band (90% of the audience?) got up there to play bass or guitar or drums. Fortunately it was practiced at the soundcheck but some drummers still tried transitioning during the drum roll break; bad idea.

But the biggest surprise of the night was when Jeff cross-pollinated onto the drums! I was shocked to say the least. Not that Jeff isn't a talented instrumentalist who can basically play every instrument he picks up, it is just not his style to brazenly sit down at the drums to jam. But he did and it rocked. He dropped about three sticks but, Jesus, he got up there and did it.

All done, we packed our gear into the van and went out to dinner. Ferenc declared he was too tired to eat. But he relented upon being pressed and I don't think he regretted it. We parked the van and were led to another traditional Japanese restaurant where we removed our shows and sat down at a low-lying table with slim pillows to kneel on. Beer and small plates were brought out and we proceeded to dine on tofu in a delicious red sauce, deep-fried (tempura) vegetables, sauteed vegetables, grilled vegetables on sticks. And of course more beer. There must have been meat or fish but I just cannot recall (the problem with late-night meal recollections days after the fact).

We were surprised to be joined by the members of the Whys. And sure enough, they were just as cute and personable in person as they were on stage. Ruiko was dressed in a very late-60s outfit (headband. flowered jeans and this knitted sarape shawl-type thing) that reminded me of what my sister Emily wore circa 1972 at age 14. Upon explaining that to Masa he insisted we call her Emily - or "Emiry" - which we did. I am not quite sure if she liked that or not. They were not from Kyoto but from Fukuoka - a mere 7.5 hours away on a different island. Oddly, I had contacted an old friend of a friend who has been living in Japan since 1985. He replied via email that our shows were too far away. If only I had known, he could have gotten a ride with them! Not quite but that takes some real dedication to drive that far for a show. And they were not spending the night in Kyoto. Nomi was drink,ing beer but Ruiko was the designated driver for a late-night drive. Ah, to be young again. Of course, 1984, I recall driving back to Albuquerque from a gig in Denver through a blinding snowstorm after 2 in the morning. It was real exciting, too.

We returned to the hotel and I made some late-night phone calls to Wendy. All is well back home. Off to sleep soon...