Kurashi - News From Japan

If you love music, do learn how to read a musical score. My father spent a lot of time with me when I was a kid, working through the musical score. This is what a conductor has in front of him, be it a small chorus or a symphony orchestra. It all starts with the musical score. The director has to read it all, page after page. We just hear the magic. Here is a track that you may know, by Jean Sibelius. This music is familiar to British television viewers as the theme of the world's longest-running TV programme (1957-present), BBC and the The Sky at Night.

Just a few years before I first arrived on these shores, TV Asahi made a special dramatization about the events I cover in my novel, Kamikaze to Croydon . Order it here at Amazon The 1985 TV drama is a bit silly, but then so was a lot of TV back then. These scenes, however, are really beautiful, filmed with a model airplane, set to the music by Brahms. 美貌なれ昭和 (Bibonare Showa) means something like "The Beautiful Showa" and the dramatization included segments about the female Japanese violinist, Nejiko Suwa , who was studying and performing in Europe during the 1930s until 1945. Enjoy. Now, if seeing that makes you want to make a balsa wood model of the Ki-15 , there are the drawings and lots of helpful advice, from Mike Stuart in the UK! Thanks for finding, P.

An amazing take on "Departure" as we all at some point have to leave this world. From the Oscar winning film. And yeah, some of us may leave it from here. Or there. Does it really matter? Composer: Joe Hisaishi Performed by: The London Symphonic Orchestra

Thanks to everyone who stayed interested in Kurashi, the blog that started ten years ago, what a journey we have had. UN meetings and local events, updates from my back garden, images of a Japan that I think still is being under-reported. Peace activism and anger at politics that is not inclusive - why I can't vote locally even though I have the permanent visa? The magic of ordinary people making a difference. I might change the setting of this blog to something more private, what do you think...? My pottery also increasingly popular and a fun way to approach Japan in a different way. So, don't be surprised if this blog changes.

Sunday Nov. 1 - Lots of organic farmers and peace activists and artists meeting up at Hibiya Park in central Tokyo. Music and talk shows plus the chance to support climate change groups and meet anti-TPP experts. All GMO-free. Hope the weather is better than 2 years ago when I participated, and it rained all day. The market and the show and everything started back in 2007, thanks to Tokiko Kato and Yae and many, many others. A great way to celebrate harvest and autumn, and join up with so many wonderful people. This is a Japan that the rest of the world can learn a lot from.  Yae official page (J) Makes me so very happy to live here. And that message comes from Anja (E) This event is the start of Artists for Farm Aid for Japan . Following up from the Love Farmers Conference on September 3-6, 2015 第１回ラブファーマーズカンファレンス Tanemaki official website (J) Talk show website (J)

Hanno chum Spencer is going to Edinburgh for a theatre job for the festival, but before that, he decided to take his orange Suzuki scooter for a ride north. Amazing images. He set his camera to take one image every ten seconds, thus the madness, but he is getting better at stopping at cool places. My music. Using GarageBand, and other tricks of the trade. All rights reserved, 2015. Love how that works with his videos. And if you post the videos on your blog can you put a link to http://spencersheridan.is ?

Hikaru Utada I wonder where this wonderful video was made. Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean...

Sweden vs Russia, well. I rather liked the Russian entry, the Eurovision is such a laugh. Australia was even invited. Måns from Lund won, my brother knows his mom. Great efforts for peace, dancing. from all over the world. And yes, yes yes, there may be demons in our minds, but hey, we can do better. Karma? We all have to stop complaining. Reach for the great, each morning, say: good things will happen. We are all different, we are all great. And we had all better stop depending on politics that rely on anything but love and peace. Meditate. Dancing with the demons of our minds, indeed. How could that end up being the anthem of 2015 in Europe... Don’t tell the gods I left a mess I can’t undo what has been done Let’s run for cover What if I’m the only hero left? You better fire off your gun Once and forever He said go dry your eyes And live your life like there is no tomorrow, son And tell the others To go sing it like a hummingbird The greatest anthem ever heard We a...

Swedish duo, here is Simon & Garfunkel's amazing tune, their take on it. I did some Greyhound travels back in my days. Almost got mugged at the bus station toilet in Albany, NY. Loved New England. Most of it. Wow, this takes me way back. I have American friends who say Japan is the only country you can hitchhike in, these days. Klara Söderberg – vocals, guitar: 2007 - Johanna Söderberg – vocals, keyboards, autoharp: 2007 - Melvin Duffy – pedal steel guitar: 2013 - Scott Simpson – drums: January 14, 2015 (first concert) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Aid_Kit_%28band%29

"The Things We Desire" or "Our Wishes" is a song by Nobuyasu Okabayashi from July, 1970. It is also about what we do not want. We do not wish to live and suffer, what we wish is to live to enjoy... We do not wish to live for the sake of society, what we wish is a society, for us... We do not wish to be awarded, what we wish is to grab it by ourselves... We do not wish to kill you, what we wish is to live together with you Not for the unhappiness we feel, but for the joy yet to come... Here are two versions: Live, with his band, Happy End:                                                                          ...

50 years ago, nuclear bombs were still being tested in the atmosphere, but increasingly, the concern about the radiation fallout ended that horrible practice. 50 years later we still have a few countries that won't give up their nuclear arsenal, and others (including Japan and South Korea) hiding under the so-called nuclear umbrella. Others, like Sweden and South Africa, briefly considered going nuclear, in order to stay independent, as sovereign states. In most - if not  all- the countries that produced nuclear weapons, those are now getting very old and dangerous - and obsolete. Meanwhile nuclear power remains the big question mark for mankind. We need to more clearly see the links between nuclear power and nuclear weapons. Here is a wonderful song from 1964, by the UK band The Searchers. Song originally written by Malvina Reynolds , and later also recorded by Joan Baez. Here in Japan, the initial contamination from the Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdowns spread through rain in...

I have been wanting to post about this for a while, there is this great movement to do group calligraphy, set to music, and it's like a mad dance really. Groups of students clad in traditional hakama from different high schools even compete, in the annual Shodo Performance Koshien ... This is hard work and takes serious practice. It all seems to have started at a high school in Ehime, Shikoku, in Shikokuchuo, a town that specializes in making calligraphy paper. The movie, Shodo Girls even made it to Cannes in 2010. Saitama students from Matsuyama (first video below) are known to spend hours perfecting their cool routine. Monday is Coming-of-age holiday, so here is a big cheers to all the youngsters in Japan! Enjoy the videos.

Happy New Year, or as we say in Swedish, Glad fortsättning (Happy continuation..) just like in Japan, where there are 2 different greetings, one before, and one after the actual event.. But isn't it kind of curious that 正月 Shougatsu is celebrated religiously on December 31 each year at all shrines and temples, as a great tradition, even though the current calender was only introduced in the Meiji era? Trying out some new equipment tonight, so, here we go, Space Dandy, a crazy anime that went viral as long ago as  last year. Recommended by my pals Spencer and Sharadan (hat tip). Anime, definitely, humour, maybe? Lovely tune by Ravel. Song - Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte

Love music, love all of those who wrote the great music. Homage to Monica Zetterlund in Tokyo this weekend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugTa4rU5-TI http://youtu.be/ugTa4rU5-TI Published on 13 Nov 2014 http://www.bluenote.co.jp/jp/artists/... モニカ・ゼタールンドを演じた映画が話題、スウェーデンの 人気シンガーとニルス・ラン・ドーキーの豪華顔合わせ EDDA MAGNASON with NIELS LAN DOKY TRIO "Homage to MONICA ZETTERLUND" エッダ・マグナソン with ニルス・ラン・ドーキー・トリオ “オマージュ・トゥ・モニカ・ゼタールンド” DATE & SHOWTIMES 2014 12.20 sat. - 12.21 sun. [1st]Open4:00pm Start5:00pm　[2nd]Open7:00pm Start8:00pm MEMBER Edda Magnason(vo) エッダ・マグナソン（ヴォーカル） Niels Lan Doky(p) ニルス・ラン・ドーキー（ピアノ） Ira Coleman(b) アイラ・コールマン（ベース） Niclas Bardeleben(ds) ニクラス・バーデレーベン（ドラムス） 後援：スウェーデン大使館 後援：デンマーク王国大使館 後援：J-WAVE 協力：ブロードメディア・スタジオ Category Music Licence Standard YouTube Licence

Curiosity about the Nobel Prize in Physics that went to three Japanese researchers who developed the blue light emitting diodes (LED) that has ushered in a revolution in electricity savings: Back in 1981, a Swedish band, Adolphson & Falk, had a hit with a tune called Blinkar Blå, recorded with Greg Fitzpatrick from the US who was selling novel Japanese synthesizers by Casio and Yamaha in Stockholm. The lyrics paint a lonely picture of a man sitting by his controls, maybe in a space ship, or at night inside a nuclear power plant, and as long as the controls are "flashing blue" all is OK. He trusts his computers, but... Back then, of course, there were no such blue LED lights, so the lyrics had a certain sense of futurism...And uncertainty. Wikipedia has more about the song: Blinkar blå (Flashing blue) På panelen ser jag lamporna som lyser. Processens steg står under min kontroll. Jag håller ögonen på datorns analyser. Här har ovissheten spelat ut sin roll. K...

I should have posted this, they made a regular movie out of the anime Silver Spoon... So Hachiken, this regular Tokyo city kid goes to agricultural college in Hokkaido, and learns to love animals, and the rest that humans do to them... He reluctantly finds out what most people prefer not to know about, like how eggs are "made" or what happens to cute piglets when they get big and fat and... Well, if you read Kurashi, you most likely know the rest of the story! Enjoy... if that's the word ;) Music by Sukima Switch 銀の匙 Silver Spoon 2014 映画 予告編 I kind of prefer the anime version, though! 銀之匙 片尾曲 - Hello Especially 

I saw Paul at Tokyo Dome when he first played the old Beatles tunes, 1989 or so. Was glad to have him back again but now he is - down - with a cold so here is a medley of videos, from Shea Stadium and The Budokan, back in 1965 and 1966. So very much loved here in Japan, after all these years. Back then I was impressed that he promoted Friends of the Earth , the NGO here in Japan. Do support them, if you have the means. Paul has also always been a proponent of the vegetarian way of life, and encouraged " Meat Free Mondays " for people who needed that kind of inspiration. Climate change? EAT LESS MEAT is a major message if you try to contribute to a world that has looked at all the evidence, and we need to get the message across. Is it that difficult? Paul says, it is the kids that give us the hope for the future. I like how Paul also supports meditation  McCartney has also in the past called for Transcendental Meditation to be used in schools. He said: “I believe...

(This one is for Ken and his amazing efforts up in rural Nagano) So this month we have Wood Job !, a Toei movie about forestry, a comedy actually, by the same team that gave us Swing Girls and I Forget What Other Fun Film About 18 Year Old Amateurs Getting It All Wrong At First... But this seems to be a rather genuine story about a guy who tries to escape the city life and do something worthwhile. Expect being shouted at, a lot. Filmed in Mie Prefecture, where there are no convenience stores and no mobile phone access. But there are also the fabulous festivals and the sweaty fundoshis (ahem) and the reluctant girl (what Japanese movie would be without one?) except she actually gets to bring said young man to some sort of character development. And I think I will stop trying to review this film right there and then, except to note that Swedish singer Maya Hirasawa is back with another great hit, Happiest Fool. Speaking of forests and Sweden, The Japan Times mentions (wit...

A Tokyo version of Pharrell Williams' Happy video. Enjoy your Golden Week vacation. Love from Kurashi