かえるじかんです

Now it is finally september 20th at about midnight and I will be travelling to narita airport in japan today at about 3 pm to board flight number 875 to sea-tac international airport, washington, united states. What a time it has been and I will never forget what an amazing experience I have had in Japan, visiting old friends and finding out that people are the same everywhere you go but they have different foundations. So I don`t wanna type too much, here are some pictures from the last times here in tokyo with naoko and mino. Naoko has shown me a wonderful time in japan and I can`t thank her enough for an easy adjustment into a world so foreign but at the same time just like home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! peace and love and happiness to you and keep on living!

Im coming home sooooooon

Today is the 18th of september and I have a couple days left in the country of Japan. Indeed, it will be sad, it will be strange leaving, and it will be slow in seattle. Everything here is so fast, people never slow down. The part I don`t understand is.... why? I have seen people running to catch trains when there will be another in 5 minutes, seen men sleepwalking on the street because they are so tired, why don`t they just sleep in their bed? It just seems like everybody in tokyo is going as fast as they can to get to the same house, the same job, the same tailor, and probably every night to the same bar. It`s sometimes painful to see so many suits walking around and getting on / off of the train everyday, but that is a huge part of what japan is. It seems like an ancient society that has become too modern for its own good, so modern that its culture is rapidly declining. Wow, does this sound negative? I think so. On a more exciting note, my friends are cool! and I got to see Tsujiko Noriko in Shibuya, talked to a homeless Japanese guy for a long time (he was fluent in english) about problems of Japanese society and culture, mostly the same problems as we have in the U.S. or any country. I am going to visit Kaji and his family tomorrow in Saitama!! exciting. tonight is the last big party night so naoko and I will probably see Aki and his friends and make it a fun fun night. Here`s to feeling lost and happy about it!!!! -tyler tyler tyler (by the way the girl in the picture is aya, naoko`s older sister. we were playing badminton in the park near naoko`s apt. fun!!!)

TOuji is is calmed down

this baby is fascinating. click on the picture to enlarge it and just stare at his face!!!!! とてもたのしね

とうじさんはここ

well I am back in the neighbourhood of makuharihongo now after spending a few days in the beautiful oceanside city that is Ito, Japan. I can`t imagine eating more food than I ate in the last 3 days being stuffed to the brim by Naoko`s amazing cook of a mother Emiko, and I`ve never been so excited to eat more new foods even when my stomach is completely full. Natto beans are amazing, boiled raw peanuts are great, tofu steak is something else, and I have to say that the japanese know how to make delicious sweets or cakes. In Ito we walked around the old city and I got the same feeling I get walking around the waterfront at redondo shores, with a few more sushi and soba restaurants. Ito had palm trees shipped in at some point in history so it does have a bit of the san diego feel to it. People are very friendly in the town and unlike tokyo, the don`t run into your shoulder every 20 ft. Even if something like that did happen they would probably actually stop and say, `excuse me, I didn`t mean to hit you` nice people. The first night at Emiko`s house, some of Naoko`s old friends came to visit and we had some snacks (mainly pocky) and souchu (a weaker sake). It was fun to talk with people that Naoko grew up with but they may have been a bit shy. We had some simple japanese talk for about 10 min. and then their camraderie takes over and I feel stupid because I can`t speak enough japanese to participate. frustrating!!! It actually feels like I know less of the language now compared with in seattle, merely because It is around me constantly in this country. So that night of the stay in ito was very fun, but then the next day brought me more fantastic surprises. I went to a public bath!!!!!! it was awesome. initially, naoko and emiko and myself were going to get a private bath and be naked together!!! but, it was a tad busy so We had to split up into the women`s bath and men`s bath. It was very humorous going into the bath solo and having every short man in the place look at me and probably think, `what is this guy doing`??? so naturally I just gave them the same sort of look and shortly thereafter we stumbled into funny conversation. definitely one of the best times of my life, honestly. Part of the spa was outside on a deck and the bath had no ceiling, basically on the roof. You could loooook out into the ocean while relaxing and chilling out in the hot water!!! so good. I`m so excited to have that memory that I can`t tell you anymore, here are some pictures. おやすみなさい！！！　　タイラー 　　　　　

いきましよ！！ to ITO WE GO!!

alright alright, today naoko and I head out the door in about an hour to ride the train to Ito, the beautiful Japanese ocean city in which she grew up. Her parents await our arrival and it will be amazing to have some japanese home cooking!! Naoko thinks that we`ll meet up with some of her old friends from Ito and have a get together `get together` ahha, later tonight I guess. OOh, last night I went to a restaurant that specializes in okonomiyaki お好み焼。it is delicious fooood!!! somewhat of a vegetable pancake you might call it. fun night fun night today is going to be sooo good!!! OKay, maybe I won`t post for a few days again, sorry, but the travelling impairs the internet ability. perhaps I can post from naoko`s phone, we`ll see. hheeee technology!!!!! The other day Yudai told me that japan actually has a car now that you can drive near a parking spot, get out, and the car finishes the job by using cameras and a computer. wild stuffff! Gotta get going, bye bye!!! -tyler

ふるい 友達！

Well, this weekend was an exciting one, and now that I feel my self being sleepy it was most definitely exhausting as well. Saturday morning Naoko and I woke up early and decided to make a day of the day! Luckily we had somewhat prepared for it the night before by heading to fresh cost (veggie shop) and the market to get some avocado and bread and tomatos. In the morning (saturday), I made some sandwiches and then we walked over to the park that is very close by the apartment here and had a picnic!! yeahhahhh it was really nice and we filled our stomachs up for a day of walking. After the park we gathered our things and headed by train to asakusa, the old town tokyo and gazed at the huuuuge temples and great looking statues. We ended up sitting inside the main temple for probably 45 min. or so just thinking about what all these places are for and what kind of ideas are behind them, religion in general and observed older japanese women and men praying to buddha and reading from some shinto books. needless to say it is a very interesting place. I was even approached by a rather forward japanese man that wanted to practice english so we talked about seattle for a while. really though, it was more just me listening to him tell me what he knew about washington, apples, bill gates, microsoft, coffee, salmon, native amercans, etc. He was a fact man! Very nice guy though. So after the temple and candy snacking we went to kichijouji to meet with kaji and yuta and all the old friends from CWU!!! yea!! it was a great time and yuta is doing great!!!!!! We are hopefully going to meet up again before my departure but its gettting tight! especially with squeezing in a 3 day trip to Ito, naoko`s hometown, but its going to be awesome!!!! here are some photos. oh, and last night I played in takadanobaba, met some nice people from manchester england and also new york city. tokyo is fun!!! -tyler tyler tyler tyler

might not update in a whileeeeee

well today naoko and I are off to the part of tokyo called asakusa to see the feel the old japan, temples, shrines, big trees, and yes, space! its not completely cramped with building after building! we plan on making sandwiches here in just a bit, then eating at asakusa and later tonight we are going to meet with my old friends from cwu to have some party time. Then we`ll stay the night at naoko`s sisters apt and tomorrow I am playing in takadanobaba at the pub called the fiddler. Yes I still have yet to journey to Ito but we plan on heading out there for a few days next week. sooo, I`m excited for that and this weekend should bring many surprises as well. If i can post some more later today or tomorrow I will here is a photo to tie you over. -tyler

WRONG TRAIN!! WRONG TRAIN!! TAXI!

Well I finally made a real boo boo. Last night after having a great time going to some traditional izakaya (japanese bar / amazing restaurant) Aki and Ryu bid me adieu and I went through the gates to board the soubu line train bound chiba and more importantly, makuharihongo (my current place of residence). I was indeed on the correct platform and waiting in the right place for my train home, but I was unaware of the fact that this route sometimes, sometimes allows the chuo line to make a stop, and of course I chose to get on that train, about 25 min. later realizing that I was just going back and forth, being on somewhat of a shuttle route. After I looked out the window and said to myself, `wait a minute, we were just going the opposite way and I think we already stopped at this station` I had to get off and figure out what in the hissy I was to do. So I boarded a different route to the busy shibuya area, where I might be able to get a hold of my friend mino and hang with him for a bit, then crash for the night and get a train in the morning. But NO!!! this couldn`t happen of course, mino was too far away to meet me, and the trains stopped running that would possibly allow for him to come to shibuya. anyway, I called naoko and said hey Im stuck gonna call aki again. So I called aki and he said the best thing that would be the fastest way to get to he and Ryu (at this time they were hanging out at ryu`s house) would be to hail a cab. I havent even taken a cab in seattle let alone japan!! So I managed to spit out where I wanted to go, kita akabane or something or other, and then I asked for him to call aki on his cellphone and he helped me out, devising a meeting point. about 30 min. passed in the cab or crazy racetrack like driving, and finally I could see ryu and aki`s smiling faces on the side of the road. We then went to Ryu`s house and relaxed for a bit, hit the hay and here I am tonight in makuharihongo with naoko anxiously awaiting some traditional japanese food cooked by the one and only naoko.!!! exciting!!! here are some pictures of my adventure last night and then just a few minutes ago when naoko and myself walked to the `vegetable only` grocery store called FRESH COST. I thought usually people want to make their business seem inexpensive, not refer to that fact that `yeah, you have to spend money` hahaha, fresh COST! amazing place though. Missing everyone but also having a great deal of enjoyment. It is moderately good. no, tooooo good! more soon!! -tyler

yes the japanese do ride bicycles

Here are a couple of shots to show exactly how many people ride bikes in japan. Every day most people will hop on their bike, park it at the bike lot at the train station and then hop on the train to go into tokyo to work. Even just walking anywhere in tokyo there are bikes constantly parked on the sidewalk. and the locking system is great! instead of having a chain and tying your bike up to something, there is a small ring that slides around the back tire - preventing anymovement. then when you want to ride, just stick the key in and unlock it. its so easy. annnnnnnnd more rain today, just as I took these pictures it started to pour down and the wind got very strong. bikes fall over!! its kinda funny.

downtime - relax - charge energy - write - watch movies

these last couple of days I have spent by my lonesome, just chilling out in naoko`s　apartment because she is off on a camping trip with some schoolmates talking about a shrine in japan that prime minister koizumi visited, and by doing so somewhat offended some chinese people. And this calls for a camping trip to discuss? I guess it does. anyways, I kinda wonder what it has been like for them because here in makuhari hongo its just been raining nonstop so I don`t feel like I`m missing much just hanging out inside. Last evening I watched the movie, `the pianist` a very recent roman polanski film and it was quite appropriate as the pianist was almost constantly in solitude hiding from the germans as he managed to avoid being caught during the genocide attempt on the jews in poland in the early 1940`s. great movie and no today I watched harry potter!!!!! I`m going nuts sorta, but if I want to go outside and walk I need to take an umbrella with me, its really been raining hard! The reason I think is that there is a typhoon that was passing across southern japan and we are getting the edges of it here. anyways, tomorrow naoko comes back and with her my night life so here is a picture of what I am doing now, more tomorrow I hope. love you1!!!! -tyler

harajuku is gross and beautiful

this park was soooooo cool in harajuku today, I don`t really know what the name is. I know that there is a park near harajuku called yoyogi park but I`m not sure if this was it. anyways, I thought you should look at the pictures , they stock the ponds with big turtles and fish!!!! its so awesome!!!! -tyler

dance at club yellow! dance dance dance

Well today is september 4th in tokyo, japan. Last evening Naoko and I had quite the time with our good friend mino and his friends miruto and hiroko. Mino had obtained some free passes from his restaurant to attend club `yellow` in roppongi. It was awesome! I`ve never really been to that kind of club before and it was definitely a great experience here in japan. The DJ was spinning some funky house music and people didnt care who was dancing or how they were dancing so I was free to feel the music! boom boom boom boom. This dance party went on into the wee hours of the morning and when we left it was daylight outside. So eventually we came home on the train and slept hard. it was an enjoyable night however and I had a really good time going crazy and getting a workout. Today I`m leaving the apartment in about half an hour to travel to takadanobaba where I`ll visit a place that I hope to play at. I`m going to give them my cd and contact info. (naoko`s phone number) and hopefully play on an open session night or free night that they have there. wish me luck! here is a picture of some of the members of `green milk from the planet orange` who we saw in shibuya on friday night. and also the apartment where naoko and takashi and I are living together in. JYA NE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bye

this is japannnnn

hey all, tyler here in makuhari hongo, chiba, tokyo, japan, asia, earth. today is september 3rd and its about 2:30 in the afternoon. I`m at naoko`s apartment by myself today because she had to wake up at about 6 this morning to go to work!!!! wild. anyways, I`ve been doing some cleaning and I`m just going to hang out here until later because I`Ve been going places everyday, I dont think a little rest and pick up time would do me any harm. Yesterday I had a fun time going around by myself and trying to find my way back to train stations. exciting times. I made a destination of the area called `ochanomizu` because its famous for many many many and I really mean tons of music shops selling guitars, keyboards, drums, and flutes and violins, lots of instruments here. I need to buy some acoustic guitar strings to put on this guitar I`m boring from our friend touji, So I can play a nice bright sounding guitar over here. I`ve been trying to contact this english pub in takadanobaba called `the fiddler` but the phone line maybe doesnt get used so often or something. Possibly tonight before naoko and I meet up with Mino we`ll head over in the pub`s direction and try to talk to them. If I play I`ll have to promote as much as possible and most likely my friends here will all just come and go yeah yeah yeah!!! music ! anyways, I`m going to put a few more pictures on here soon, I`ll show you what the apartment looks like that I`m staying in, its small but so cozy!!!! all my love, yahha tyler

n i p p o n

t h i s i s t h e f i r s t b l o g i w i l l w r i t e d u r i n g m y t r i p o u t i n j a p a n e n j o y . . . . . .

Today is August 31st, 2005 in tokyo, Japan and I`m enjoying each moment of it. As I type this I`ve just returned home (temporary home) from shibuya, downtown tokyo where I met up with my friend Mino, and his friend Miruto. We went to mino`s place of work called las chicas ( quite the international restaurant) and had some things to drink and potato wedges to chew on. This restaurant is very nicely decorated and lit inside and has a few different spots where groups can have their privacy or mingle with others if that is the case. We finished our drinks and went out into the deep sea which is shibuya, constantly walking in awe of the amount of people swarming in the streets and out of each shop we passed. We found our way to a few of the wonderful record stores of shibuya which contained some music that is very hard to find in seattle and it was really exciting to see a music shop that had every record label you would want to see with each release in stock and waiting for new ears to pollute. I don`t know why this blog is becoming so ambiguous but it maybe due to the fact that recently I`ve been speaking in very simple forms so that others may understand, and this is acting as a creative release. anwayayayayayayya, tokyo is crazy of course, its everything I expected and nothing like what I thought, I think the term `individual` does not exist here, and I can only think about people people people people people, busy busy busy busy. Today when I was changing trains at a station, a man was asleep and the train was going out of service, so the crew had to wake him up and he really couldn:t get up!!! it was stupendous. I followed him with my eyes because I was just waiting for the next train and he was constantly stumbling harshly from left to right and then,,,,,, he located a group of seats that he could sit down on and rest some more, but he failed to see the mans head on the seat directly below his landing buttocks. crash !! went the glasses and sumimasen, sumimasen, gomennasai ensued. amazing humour!!!!! I think thats a good note to end on. I think I`ll return with some great photos. - t y l e r