20 posts tagged “kyoto”
So I've recently come to the realization that I'm a total academic masochist. Compared to the average four courses per semester standard I usually take five, I have a double major and just declared a minor, yet I manage to get by with good grades so I don't know, I guess I've just gotten used to doing ridiculous amounts of work. o_0 Kind of strange to be aware of it though...but I like learning and figure I want to get the most out of my time here so it never really occurred to me to do otherwise. I have to say though, this semester's looking like it'll be one of the toughest yet...I really ought to buckle down and get stuff done...>_>
On another note, I find myself increasingly annoyed by academia in general lately...I dislike the kind of pointless, self-absorbed, unrealistic theoretical pondering that goes on sometimes; it just seems like such a waste of time and doesn't contribute anything meaningful at all. A lot of it just seems very out of touch with reality. One example is a paper I read last week for my anthropology of gender class in which the writer postulates on the structure of family, status and experience of women in certain Polynesian societies, yet goes on to say in the end notes that she's never done any fieldwork in the region. I criticized the author's structuralist argument for various flaws such as looking for preconceived notions found in Western society in Polynesian culture which may not exist as such, and making certain binary claims about the concepts of virginity and sexuality that were rather narrow-minded, not to mention questioning the validity of her work which was based entirely on second-hand accounts.
To this my professor replied that fieldwork isn't a prerequisite for "significant comparative analysis and grasping the big picture"...which kind of frustrated me because I felt what I argued pretty much indicated the fact that I think it is. How can you go around making claims about the organization and experience of people in another culture if you've never been there and seen it first hand? At least from my experience, what you read in books and second-hand accounts is never the same as experiencing it yourself, and I think it's very important to have that understanding before attempting to make any analysis. That kind of academic scholarship really bothers me because it's mostly just an exercise in playing with theory.
Anyway, onto more positive things...I'm looking forward to tomorrow because a classmate and I were chosen to participate in this new program run by an organization that funds scholarships and donates to our library...basically they take students out to lunch at ethnic restaurants and have them talk about the culture it represents. They've chosen Japanese for their first outing, so we get to have a nice Japanese lunch for free. ^^ It also means we get to miss Japanese class, but unfortunately we still have to turn in all the homework the same day and I still haven't finished it yet. -_-;
Actually, I've kind of been distracted and watching manzai instead, hahaha! One group I've been watching a lot recently is Black Mayonnaise, they're really funny. It feels so good to hear them speak in Kansai-ben...I miss hearing the dialect, since in academic settings you only hear the standard Tokyo accent. It's so much more melodious and exciting to listen to. Some manzai is really hard to understand though because they talk at such high speed with such strong accents. But here's an interesting act of ブラマヨ's that's fairly easy to understand where they talk a bit about Kyoto (they're Kyoto natives, actually)
I think I've finally gotten over my jet-lag induced, screwed up sleeping pattern, though being waken up every morning by everyone else's noise kinda throws me off. So far I haven't gotten a job yet, but I've written a resume and just have to finish the cover letter, which is the hardest part. -_-lll I'm definitely not as active as I was every day in Japan, so it kinda makes me restless having no easy means of transport and nowhere to go besides the boring, almost empty mall and local shops. *sigh* I wish I could just hop on a bus or walk somewhere interesting and new so easily again...I know I've been saying it over and over, but I really miss my life in Japan. I'm also worried my Japanese will deteriorate since I can't speak it every day anymore...I've been working on lyrics translations for my blog as usual, as well as a book, and it disturbs me when I sometimes can't recall a fairly basic word. I need to get cracking on my kanji study too.
Oh, and something pretty cool happened to me the other day...I actually had a dream in Japanese! It's the first time that's happened, I think...maybe I just never remembered it when I woke up before, but it made me happy. I also found something amusing last night...it's a comment by DELUHI's guitarist Leda where he does an interesting new "crab" pose at the end. XD I love how he gets the (笑) and kinda cracks up at himself and runs away embarassed afterwards. lulz
But speaking of DELUHI, one thing that makes me extremely depressed is the fact that they'll finally be doing lives in the Kansai area (where I was living in Japan), in particular a show in August at Osaka BIGCAT featuring SCREW, Sel'm, DEATHGAZE, AND 9GOATS BLACK OUT as well! マジかよ〜なんで?!! I waited months while I was there hoping they'd play nearby, and now only after I've left they're finally going to! Not to mention the GazettE will be having a summer tour for the new album 'DIM'... TToTT What really gets me about this is that my visa was good until like, September, so it's totally plausible (if I had somewhere to live and something to do like a job or program) that I could've stayed there through the summer! *cries* [I am aware that this is an entirely selfish, pointless rant, so feel free to ignore it. ^_^; I just can't help being frustrated about it though...]
Last night I saw D'espairsRay live at the Kyoto Muse stop of Tour 2009 'Psychedelic Parade'! D'espa were excellent as always and it was a super fun, awesome show! D'espairsRay is a band I've always wanted to see not only because I'm a big fan of their music, but cause from their DVDs and whatnot you can see how good their performance is...they sound even better than their recordings live!
Once I entered the venue, I got the black version of the tour shirt, then put my bag down and found a good place in the middle of the crowd toward the right side, so I ended up being on Zero's side of the stage. : ) When the band came out they were wearing fairly simple, mostly black clothes, and with the exception of Hizumi (who was brunette), were all sporting rather blonde hair. I was surprised how short and light-coloured Tsukasa and Zero's hair was, but they both look good with it.
They started off with 'Lizard' then played 'Redeemer' and soon after 'Reddish', which made me ecstatic because it's one of my favourites by them and I was really hoping they'd play it. D'espa did nearly all of the 'REDEEMER' album during the show, even 'Paradox 5', which I was afraid they might not include since it's rather different from their other ballads or harder songs, and I wasn't sure how they'd incorporate it or how it'd play it out live, but it was great! The atmosphere during the song was hypnotic and swept you up into the melody. Other songs that were a pleasant surprise were 'Damned', 'Trickst☆r', and 'Mirror' from their previous album. As I suspected would happen, they ended the live on a bright, high note with 'Yozora' and 'Heaven's Color'. I personally wasn't a huge fan of 'Yozora' when I heard the new album, but it was ok live...I suppose when you're in the middle of things and the mood is right, it's a fun, nice song, but I'd take their dark stuff over it any day. >_>
The first encore included 'Hollow' and.....'Subliminal'! \^o^/ 'Subliminal' made everyone go crazy as soon as they heard the voices and pumping electronic intro. Though I enjoy their recent work too, it makes me so happy when they play their older material, since it's what first made me fall in love with the band. The second encore was 'Kamikaze'.
During the MCs there was some funny banter between the band members, though Hizumi was usually rather brief and didn't pause for long before getting on with the next song. The other members' individual MCs were amusing...I think Tsukasa and Karyu didn't really know what to say, so they just came out with silly stuff. :D They all said they like Kyoto <3. When Tsukasa was telling everyone to get even more heated up and excited he was like, "Yes, use Yatsuhashi Power!*...Tea Power!", trying (and sort of failing) to think of things related to Kyoto, which made everyone laugh. XD
Here's the full setlist:
Lizard
REDEEMER
TRICKST☆R
Reddish〜DIVA version〜
Dears
SIXty∞NINe
琥珀
Lost in re:birth
MASQUERADE
BRILLIANT
Subliminal
MIЯROR
PARADOX5
DESERT
R.E.M-冬の幻聴-
Bullet
HORIZON
夜空
HEAVEN'S COLOR
1st Encore:
LOVE PARADE (cover session w/o Hizumi)
2nd Encore:
Hollow
Cocoon
「浮遊した理想」
3rd Encore:
KAMIKAZE
* Yatsuhashi are triangular shaped traditional Japanese sweets made from a flat kind of mochi (soft pounded rice) wrapped around various flavoured fillings. They're a local specialty here in Kyoto, and really delicious!
Urgh, right now it's Golden Week in Japan, which is a week where a lot of national holidays fall one after another, so almost all Japanese people have off from work, school, etc. It's one of the few long-ish periods of time when people get vacation, aside from New Years, so everyone travels and goes out and about doing stuff. And that means the majority of the Japanese population is currently flooding the streets and transportation system, so trying to get around is INSANE. It's been taking almost twice as long to get anywhere 'cause the traffic's congested and there's tourists crowding EVERYWHERE you'd want to go (sightseeing spots, shops, main streets, etc.). You can barely make any progress walking down the street in some places...you just end up shuffling along in a giant mass of people! >_<
Also, the other day I tried going into a cafe I like, then tried a big Starbucks but neither them would let me order unless I found a seat first...and of course they were totally packed, so I just gave up eventually. : ( *sigh* Really, for someone in my position (i.e. not a regular tourist and not currently employed here) the only upside to Golden Week is the sales....otherwise it's just a hassle. -_-lll
Anyway, something a bit more positive...here's the pv for Kiyoharu's new single, 'Kurutta Kajitsu':
Woo, THE KIDDIE finally made a pv! It's for their latest single 'NOAH', which came out on April 15th. I like the pv...it's nice and simple but creative. I think it shows THE KIDDIE's good sensibilities that they don't overdo things and just keep it natural and fitting to the mood of the song. I like how the splashes of colour in their clothes and the flowers that spring up everywhere stand out against the white background. Both the music and pv have a happy, refreshingly energetic feel, which is one of the things I like the most about THE KIDDIE's sound.
I made a new banner from a photo of a maple tree I took the other day at Byodoin. : ) I felt it was time for a change again since spring is here, all the plants have come alive again, and the semester's finally over and all. Last week we had our final ceremony then had lunch together, so everyone from the program was gathered for the last time...it's always kinda sad realizing you won't see the people you've been around everyday for such a long time anymore. I mean, we're all going back to the same country, but we're widely scattered all over, so although there's plans for a reunion, it's not the same. I really liked the group of people in my Japanese class and sensei this year...I think we were all unique, which made for very interesting interaction and discussions.
Also, I'm sad that tonight is my last night in my host family's house. : ( I really like them and it's strange thinking about how I'm no longer going to be living here when I've been in this house for almost 7 months now. I already know it's going to take some major adjusting to get used to life back in America...it's almost like I don't know how to live there anymore, I'm so used to how things are here! ^_^; Well, anyway tomorrow I'll be heading to Tokyo for a few days to see some friends that're studying there now and places I couldn't make it to during my first trip there. After that I have another week in Kyoto to finish my omiyage shopping and do all the remaining things I still want to do in the area. I can't believe I have so little time left...it's really depressing, honestly. Though I'm gradually warming up to the idea of going home, I also really feel like I want to stay here longer.
I'll leave you with a translation I did of a Japanese folk song that some of my friends performed at the final ceremony. It's called 'Nagoriyuki' and is one of my favourites. Though it's very hard to express the same beauty and emotions of it in English, I did my best.
「なごり雪」
伊勢正三
汽車を待つ君の横で僕は
時計を気にしてる
季節はずれの雪が降ってる
東京で見る雪はこれが最後ねと
さみしそうに君がつぶやく
なごり雪も降る時を知り
ふざけすぎた季節のあとで
今春が来て君はきれいになった
去年よりずっときれいになった
動き始めた汽車の窓に顔をつけて
君は何か言おうとしている
君の口びるがさようならと動くことが
こわくて下をむいてた
時がゆけば幼い君も
大人になると気づかないまま
今春が来て君はきれいになった
去年よりずっときれいになった
君が去ったホームにのこり
落ちてはとける雪を見ていた
今春が来て君はきれいになった
去年よりずっときれいになった
'The Last Snow' ＊
originally by Ise Shouzou
Standing next to you who's waiting for the train,
I keep looking at the clock,
Snow is falling out of season,
"This is the last snow I'll see in Tokyo, isn't it",
you murmured in such a lonely way,
Knowing it's also time for the final snow to fall,
After a season that played around too much,
Now spring has come and you've become so beautiful,
So much more beautiful than last year,
Putting your face up to the window of the train that's started moving,
You were trying to say something,
Afraid of your lips forming a "goodbye",
I turned my gaze downward,
As time goes on, you who's young and childlike,
still won't realize it even once you've become an adult,
Now spring has come and you've become so beautiful,
So much more beautiful than last year,
Remaining on the platform you've departed from,
I was watching the snow fall and melt,
Now spring has come and you've become so beautiful,
So much more beautiful than last year
＊ The title can have many connotations, since 「なごり」can refer to the final snow of winter, the sadness of parting, or vestiges of something.
Ugh, since we started new semester a few weeks ago and classes got going, I've become insanely busy. I don't have time to keep up with things or post as much as I'd like...it's rather depressing. T_T This semester I'm continuing Japanese, of course, taking a class on translation and another on ukiyo-e prints. They're both very interesting, but rather work intensive because rather than having big tests every once in a while, we have lots of smaller assignments each week...which means I'm always trying to get things done for the deadline on top of reading and Japanese homework, which is a rather heavy and time consuming load on it's own. Anyway, last week my ukiyo-e class got to visit the workshop of some printers, who're still making woodblock prints with the old traditional techniques. It was really interesting to see how ukiyo-e is actually made and how complex it is.
This weekend I went to a cooking class organized by my program. It was taught at a cooking school, so they had amazingly nice kitchens and high-tech demonstration rooms with cameras that can be moved at will to show what the chef is preparing on the worktop on a big flat screen tv at the front of the room. It was like something from a cooking tv show! We were taught how to make veggie tempura, miso soup, rice with bamboo shoots, and rolled omelettes..which is all pretty basic, but was fun nevertheless. I already knew in theory how to make everything, but I'd never actually attempted tempura before. It was quite a bit easier than I thought...it's just the frying that's kind of intimidating for me, I guess.
On the music front...alice nine.'s new album 'Vandalize' was rather disappointing, but I'm eagerly awaiting Wednesday for the release of Mucc's new single, 'Sora to Ito' (which sounded awesome on the radio). :D I'm thinking of translating it later this week. Recently I've been hooked on Aural Vampire's latest material, three self-titled eps that came out last year and featured some new songs and several reworked old favourites that hadn't been formally released yet. Here's some highlights: 'Transcrypt' 'Darkwave Surfer' 'Shōnan Zoku -Cannibal Coast-'
Also, I'd be nice if the singer improved a bit, since he sometimes croons too much and sounds kind of nasal and choppy (the lyrics are at times a bit trite as well). He has a good, strong voice, but I think if he trained to control it a little better it'd be beneficial. I'm all for appreciating the interesting, good points of wildness and instabilty of a less formally trained singer's voice, and some singers are amazing or better with little to no training at all, but in this case I think it might be good for the band. Hm, I sound pretty negative...but honestly for an indie band that just formed two years ago Matenrou Opera are probably a cut above a lot of the rest out there, and I think they have some potential. A few songs to sample: 'Plastic Cell' 'Sara' 'Eve' 'Datura'
[Interestingly, there used to be two female members in Matenrou Opera, but they've since left the band so now it's all guys...which is kind of a shame, because there are so few women in v-kei and it's always good to have more around.]
Last night I saw girugamesh, Duel Jewel, and Boogieman live at Kyoto Muse!!! My body aches and my hearing still hasn't fully returned, but I had an awesome time! girugamesh were the tour headliners, and Duel Jewel and Boogieman were the guests for the night. The venue was relatively small, and being in Kyoto, the fans weren't as extremely dressed or numerous as they'd normally be if the live was in Osaka, but the audience got really pumped up and rocked hard nevertheless. I hadn't heard any of Boogieman's music beforehand though I'd heard their name a few times...they were ok, but I wasn't all that impressed. Duel Jewel I know, but haven't been closely following their latest releases recently since I didn't think the new songs were all that great. The only song they played that I recognized was 'against'. From their recorded material and what I've seen of them before, I didn't think Duel Jewel would be too 激しい, but they held their own and rocked pretty hard. : )
Also, toward the end when they played 'Smash!!' the front half of the crowd went crazy...everyone was jumping all over the place, pumping their fists, and crashing into each other. XD It was the first time I've even seen or experienced that kind of crazy energy at a Japanese live...ususally the most intense it gets is some serious headbanging (synchronized or even down-on-the-floor full body), but moshing isn't as common at Japanese rock lives, even fairly hard ones, so I was kinda surprised. The live was amazing and the setlist was really fun and never let up...but one thing I wish they'd done was play 'Volcano'...it's one of my favourite songs by them, but unfortunately they didn't include it. : ( Oh, and by the way, they were selling the hoodies with "girugamesh" printed on the side that the band wore in the 'Break Down' pv, but they were 9,000 yen each [= $100 0_0] and there was no way I was spending that much on a single sweatshirt.
Now that I've experienced them in person, I have to
say...girugamesh's music (and particularly the 'Music' album) is
definitely better live...to the degree that I suspect the band makes a
lot of their songs with lives primarily in mind. 'Music' is very
danceable, and way more fun when you have the freedom and atmosphere to
enjoy it in a more intense, physical way (though that's true of most
music, especially rock...it's just that I felt a significant difference
between experiencing the album on cd and live, to the extent that it's
changed my opinion of the album quite a bit.) I know many
people were divided over this album and criticized it rather harshly. But for me, more than a band's history, genre, sound changes or new
additions, what's important is whether the music moves you and sounds
good to your own tastes...that is to say, 'Music' is a great album if
you're interested in having an intensely fun, crazy, rocking party, and sometimes
it's best to just take things and accept them for what they are and what they can
offer without pushing too many hopes and expectations onto it. If that's what girugamesh set out to do when they made the album, they did an awesome job! Some music is made to be totally dark, hardxcore, and serious all the time, but if everything were like that it'd be boring as hell...it's nice to just have fun and try new things sometimes :D [Besides, it's not like the members of girugamesh are the most serious people ever...haha.]
*EDIT* I did some checking around and here's the full setlist for the night:
boogieman:
new world
偽想深愛
new song
MC
new song
[P]agent
recrrence.
13月
DuelJewel:
Partytime!!
against
outsider
Trust
MC
蜻蛉
Moon Struck
「NIGHT WALKER」
Last Letter
girugamesh:
INTRO
Break Down
ULTIMATE4
FREAKS
アングリージュース
MC
patchwork
Vermillion
DEAD WORLD
CRAZY-FLAG
MC
puzzle
MC
crime-罪-
smash!!
evolution
Encore:
shining
I had my Japanese language final today...I pretty much got my ass handed to me. _|¯¯|O Total FAIL...or at least that's how it feels. TT_TT (I realize I'm being pessimistic.) Even though I spent literally all of yesterday studying, I made stupid mistakes, and I'm just frustrated in general about several things, including not only Japanese, but the way the study abroad program is being run, etc, etc. Japanese has basically been taking over my life for the past few months. I've never been worked this hard in Japanese, or at such a fast pace, even back at my home institution. At my university we learned around 300 kanji in one year (meaning individual characters, not counting compounds made using those kanji), but in my class here in Japan, we learn that amount in one semester! Plus, taking into consideration the fact that each kanji may have up to 12 compounds listed, means we've also learned like a thousand-and-something kanji compunds! @_@ It's craziness!
There's no way my brain can remember that much in such a short span of time, especially since I don't see them everyday. I mean, how often do you see the words 半官半民 (= semi-governmental) or 群集心理 (= mob psychology) used?! I know they're useful, but still...I've had trouble keeping up with studying all this stuff regularly and retaining it, so when we have cumulative exams like this, I'm always screwed. *sigh* At least the test is over...but now I have to start working on my 10-15 page paper for my Japanese pop culture class (I'm writing about kabuki, takarazuka, and visual kei...it should be pretty interesting. If worse comes to worse, I can just rant about stuff to fill space since the professor has low standards :D). I'm consoling myself with the fact that winter break is almost here and I'll be able to do all the things I haven't had time for 'cause of school, including going to Tokyo for several days, which will be awesome. By the way, these are some photos of the pretty fall foliage I took not too long ago at a temple called Daitoku-ji.
By the way, I just watched Vidoll's pv for their new single, 'Maimu'....seriously, what happened to them?! I thought they were heading in a good direction with 'Cloud' but ever since 'Blue Star' it seems like they've been going downhill. The quality of the 'Maimu' pv is surprisingly low, and the song itself has a weak composition that's all over the place. I personally don't see anything promising in this single, and wonder if this is just a slump or a more permanent, significant shift in musical style for them.
Now that it's finally beginning to feel like winter here in Kyoto, I'm starting to miss some aspects of American-style life. That is, because there's very little insulation and no central heating in Japanese houses, compounded with the fact that my room in particular is large and has windows along half of its length, means that it's FREEZING inside. Right now I'm wearing two sweatshirts over a long sleeved shirt, thick sweatpants, and I'm wrapped up in a blanket. =_=; I have the heater on, but it just takes the bite off the cold, it doesn't actually make you that warm. Really, the fact that I have to wear so many layers of clothes inside and can see my breath when I go to brush my teeth in the morning is just not right! (At least to my admittedly spoiled sensibilities.) I've never had to live in conditions where the inside of houses are this cold. : ( I feel like I can't function properly sometimes because it's so cold I don't want to move...I just want to curl up in bed and stay there.
*sigh* Anyway, to make up for my random complaining, here's a song that's been stuck in my head lately: 'Hybrid Truth' (I'm eagerly awaiting DELUHI's pv for this song...I love it! ^_^)
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