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RANMAGAZINE.COM August/ September 2011 | ISSUE 13 |

YEAR TWO ISSUE RSARY NNIVE A

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foreward.

ur cover Samurai is sick right? That dude was penned up and penciled in by DAVID MAZZUCHI, whose works we feature in this special issue. Samurai dude represents JAPAN at this crucial juncture in Japanese history. If you LOVE JAPAN, you should really be watching carefully whats going on over here, the government and natural catastrophes keep happening in tandem. No Good. But our Intrepid WARRIOR is holding steady as he goes, even with a maniacal and unruly MONKEY FIRMLY ON HIS BACK. Whats that the MONKEY is holding? Why, its a ROADMAP of course, which LEADS the mighty and majestic armored samurai warrior to his rightful destiny as one of the worlds prominent nations. But Right About Now, things are, shall we say, hectic for our Samurai. Japan must choose wisely and act promptly in these next few crucial months and years, its fate is in the hands of destiny, as well as itself. Dont Sleep Samurai, we need you now. In this issue, contributing writer MARK LAVERS gives us a personal definition of gaman, the Japanese spirit of endurance, patience, stoicism. Were all proud of gaman, but we think we need to be at least asking questions, silence is not an option right now.Cheers to DAVID MAZZUCHI, MARK LAVERS, and all the other writers who are, and have, contributed to RAN MAGAZINE in our two short but blazing years. WE LOVE YOU ALL AND WE SUPPORT WHAT YOURE DOING. RAN IS YOUR VOICE Come gather round people/Wherever you roam/And admit that the waters/around you have grown/and accept that soon/youll be drenched to the boneand you better start swimmin/or youll sink like a stone/For The Times They Are A Changin.. -Bob DylanSeems relevant Right About Now, that tuneWere Two. Happy Birthday To Us. Were now a toddler. On the cover of our inaugural issue, we boldly announced-Nagoya Grows UP, and we think weve helped make that announcement a reality. To wit, in these two years, we think there are more varied events taking place, like the BIO and STEREOPHONIC parties, each of which just keep getting better---more people here in the Nag taking chances, like ANTHONY GILMORE/Nameless Films and Theatre Productions, Steve Pottinger, Joe Sichi and the like--more independent, outsidethe-box thinking. We ourselves have had Oktoberfests, Bang Bang Boogie Beach Parties, Charity events, KaRANoke, photography exhibitions, and more. Weve opened our pages to allow people to express their ideas, their art, their take on things going on here and elsewhere. Weve introduced you to some interesting artists, writers, bands, illustrators, designers, craftsmen, cartoonists, and photographers-like MICHAEL WADE, Vinny Vintage, and in this issue, GHOST OF MATSUBARAplus others as wellsuch as make-up artist Yeni Kartikasari, writer Christina Owens, illustrator and art director David Mazzuchi, successful business woman Maki Mizuhara, restaurateur Chris Zarodkiewicz, visionary graphic designer Elios Nishiwaki, Japanophile extraordinaire Edwin Putman, our own world-renowned photographer and Go Green enthusiast ACHIM

RUNNEBAUM, hand-made instrument maker Jesse Robinson, Japanese fashion team CMBMC, cultural maven Prisca Molotsi, social commentator Mz. Sheri Love--and so many more, all of whom live right here in Nagoya. We think theyre all pretty cool people, and we plan to continue to work hard to uncover undiscovered talent right under our noses. Its what we do best. We love yall. Id also like to take a moment to thank Web and Layout Designer Adrien Sanborn and his wife YUKO, without whom RAN may never have existed. Cheers to you and your family. Since we came to life, one major international Nagoya media outlet disappeared, another one changed its format entirely, and another was born. Can you guess who they are? One was a radio station, one is a magazine, and the other is another radio station.

RAN TURNS TWO

Weve also introduced you to some cool places to eat, dance, chill, learn, go, and see. Weve tried to shed light on some of the more mysterious Japanese ways in our WHEN IN ROME columns, which make a reappearance in this issue with a wonderful and insightful treatise on gaman, written by Mark Lavers. Appreciate it Mark. Weve also made our share of mistakes. Though we began our Should I Stay Or Should I Go column with the best intentions, we decided to kill it because we decided to stay, for now anyway. Weve opened our pages up to organizations such as HOPE INTERNATIONAL, SANTA and FRIENDS, etc, to show you that WE CARE ABOUT THIS COMMUNITY AND THOSE SOULS LESS-FORTUNATE-THAN-US WHO LIVE HERE. Weve thus far been unafraid to speak up about controversial issues that we think matter, such as homelessness, racism, reverse racism, discrimination, divorce, family law, sexualityetc. If you go back and look at our inaugural issue, we stated plainly that RAN is NOT FOR CHILDREN. We hold to that. We think theres more integration, more discussion, and more experimentation, more diversity, and we see a real community on the horizon, something we think is a precious commodity. Were thankful for it all. We dont presume to take all the credit for the positive changes we see taking place in Nagoya, but were also not so ignorant to not notice that we might be having something to do with it. Make your own party, we say. Thanks for everything Nagoya, and a major shout out to ALL THE SPONSORS WHO HAVE STUCK WITH US SINCE DAY ONE. We love yall too. We dont allow advertisers on our pages that we dont believe in, were not in it strictly for the money, were trying to build something here. Finally, thanks to a certain angel who has helped us from the very beginning. Without you, RAN is still just an idea rumbling around in the back of my head. Thanks for being a Dream Maker. The Times They Are A Changin. Please check out the magazine, and if youd like any past issues of any issues, please contact me directly at: tdhouchen@ranmagazine.com cheers trev

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departments

features

13

publisher: td houchen art director: adam pasion photographer: achim runnebaum submissions we accept submissions of all kinds. please send submissions and inquiries to tdhouchen@ranmagazine.com. for illustrations, comics or photos, please send submissions to apasion@ranmagazine.com advertising for quotes and rates, please contact us directly at: tdhouchen@ranmagazine. com ranmagazine.com facebook.com/RANmagazine twitter.com/ranmagazine Copyright 2011, RAN Magazine

CONTENTS

8profile. 12pagoda diaries 16driving in japan 29comics

Ken Tanaka

4the greenspot. 5when in rome. 6create. 20listen. 10help. 11go. 24club guide 26fashion.
himakajima

oceans

gaman

dave mazzucchi ghost of matsubara

hope for tohoku

cmbmc on headwear

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greenspot.

Protecting Our Oceans

words by achim runnebaum Its not just the oceans, folks. For example, In the US, 40% of rivers are too polluted for fishphoto by Stephen Codrington,. Used with permission under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.

day folks, this months installment of the green spot is coming to you from Australias beautiful Gold Coast. As Im soaking up the sunshine here while looking out over the ocean, pondering whether I should brave the slightly cold water and jump in, I was contemplating the health of our oceans. Looking out over the clear, blue waters of the Gold Coast, hearing and watching the waves crashing on the sand, and feeling mesmerized by the natural beauty of this area, I wouldnt have any second thoughts about pollution or cleanliness of the water here. But unfortunately, this is not the norm around the world. Recently, I came upon some very frightening statistics about the health of our oceans. For example, a staggering 80% of sewage in developing (and some developed) countries is discharged untreated; polluting rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. Would you go swimming in Nagoyas Horikawa Canal? Thought not! But youd have no problems jumping into the Mediterranean sea, right? Who doesnt dream of a vacation on the Med? Ibiza anyone? Guess what...the cleanliness of the water is not much different from Nagoyas Horikawa canal. The Mediterranean sea is one of the most polluted seas in the world!!! How about the Caribbean? Wanna take a nice cruise to any or all of the beautiful islands there? Might as well jump into the Canal! Shocked enough yet? Thats just the tip of the rapidly melting iceberg. Im just getting started... Points contributing to oceanic pollution: -Oil spills such as the recent one in America are major disasters for our oceans and marine life, as well as for humans. -Pollution by cruise ships. Vacationers on ships contribute about 20% to the oceanic pollution -pollution by illegally dumping trash. According to scientists, theres a Texas-sized area of illegally dumped plastics and other pollutants floating in the pacific ocean. If youve

never been to Texas, just believe me that this is Huge. Its bigger than the entire Tokai area. More facts and how all this affects you, can be found here: http://w w w.buzzle.com/ articles/ocean-pollution-facts.html

ing, swimming, or aquatic life. Thats in a first world country! Things look much bleaker in the emerging superpowers such as China or India where certain bodies of water are so polluted that its considered unhealthy just to go near them. I wish we could blame someone else for those

problems, but the reality is that if were looking for someone to point the finger at, all we need to do is look into a mirror. It is due to our greed, incessant materialism, and egocentrism that things have gotten so far out of hand. It is not too late to change, however. Speak up and make your voices heard. These kinds of injustices cant keep going on, and we cant allow them to keep going on. If we want our kids or their kids to be able to enjoy the same kinds of outdoor aquatic activities that we were able to enjoy our whole lives, if we want to preserve our way of life, or perhaps even better it, then we need to start implementing a drastic and immediate change in the way our oceans and other bodies of water are treated, in order to salvage whats left of our clean, pollution-free waters, and start cleaning up the rest. Join an NPO, talk to your congressmen, donate money for a good cause, volunteer (to clean up beaches), get educated...do anything you can to help out. But most of all, speak out against the continuing injustices being done all over the world (under the disguise of progress and profit). Things arent going to change unless we actively perpetuate change. So when you go to the beach this summer, think of the impact of pollution on our oceans and try to leave the beach as clean and trash free as you found it. Better yet, if you see some people leaving behind their trash, including cigarette butts in the sand, take a proactive approach and say something, because thats the only way things are gonna change. Change can only come from people like you. You may think you cant do anything, but every little bit helps, because perhaps your actions will inspire others, who will inspire others, who will.... You get the point. I keep saying this, but if there was ever a time to help promote change, its NOW! Become the change you want to see in the world. RIGHT ABOUT NOW!

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when in rome.

photo by Stephen Codrington,. Used with permission under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.

The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience. Patience means restraining ones inclinations. There are seven emotions: joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate, and if a man does not give way to these he can be called patient. I am not as strong as I might be, but I have long known and practiced patience. And if my descendants wish to be as I am, they must study patience. - Tokugawa Ieyasu

by MARK LAVERS

ince the tragedy of 3/11, much has been written about the stoicism of the Japanese people, particularly the people of the Tohoku area. I was intrigued to find out where this now famous characteristic or quality of the Japanese people came from. Rather than go to academic writings, which are full of theories derived from studies of history and famous characters, I chose a different tact. I asked my students. In my interviews with students, I asked them two basic questions: why are the Japanese people so patient and how do you think they get that way? There were basically three ideas espoused by my students, which I have combined into my basic theory to answer the question how did the people of Tohoku become so patient? Several interesting things occurred during the interview process. The types of responses I received varied with the age of the student. Some students were far more articulate in their explanations, others more vague and general. Some, Im sure, have never contemplated the issue so couldnt really explain themselves. However, those who had ideas or theories were able to articulate them quite well. The younger people I talked to didnt really know why Japanese people were patient, but they had ideas about how patience was learned. One student in fact said that, following 4 years of living in and attending an American elementary school, he had reverse culture shock upon returning to Japan and entering a Japanese elementary school. His culture shock occurred for two distinct reasons. First, he said he felt a great deal of stress from having to learn to think more about the feelings of his fellow students than his own feelings, that being aware of your fellow students feelings was more important than your own feelings. The second thing that he learned was that he asked too many why questions. In fact, he asked why so often that his teacher sent a note home to his parents instructing them to tell their son to stop asking why questions in class. In Japanese elementary school, you dont ask why! So, while my young student couldnt explain why Japanese people were patient, he had his own theory about how patience was learned. He cited the example of a school undokai. One of the main activities of the undokai was a large student pyramid, consisting of about 100 students forming a human pyramid 25 students across and 5 students high. As one of the larger students, he was delegated to the lowest level, which of course bears the greatest share of the weight. The process of preparing for that pyramid took several weeks. My student said that several boys cried and one boys leg was broken

during the process. When kids cried the teacher either yelled at or hit the student to end the crying. When the students leg was broken, it was explained that he had broken his leg because he wasnt following instructions properly, so the accident was the boys fault. My student hated the whole process, but had to persevere through it. Patience was a requirement, but asking why the pyramid was necessary was out of the question. A middle-aged students theory was consistent with what I have heard many times since coming to Japan. The people of Tohoku are farmers and fishermen, so they have learned, over time, to be very patient. They recognize that they have no power over the weather or the sea, so have developed this extreme patience and stoicism as a coping mechanism. In his opinion, the people of Tohoku were perhaps a little too extreme in their stoicism, but that was the way of the people of Tohoku. For me, this legendary, quasi-genetic predisposition has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. People of Tohoku are patient. The older people spoke of being taught patience from their parents, who had learned it from their parents, who had lived through the first half of the 20th century with its wars and depressions. That patience had been passed down through generations before that. They felt they had been taught the importance of being aware of those who were less fortunate than themselves. Having and achieving a degree of wealth was OK, if it were based on your own efforts, but extreme wealth was not good. If you became too wealthy, you would be unable to relate to those who were less fortunate than yourself. More importantly, this awareness of the less fortunate was to be accompanied by action. The action referred to in the situation in Tohoku was, and is, quite interesting. While the foreign press was full of stories criticizing the failures of the leaders of Tepco and the Japanese government to do anything, the patience of the people of Tohoku was manifested in the belief that any action by the leaders was better than none. Now was not the time to complain, now was the time for action. Complaining and placing blame could wait. The earthquake was a once-in-athousand-year calamity. It was an extreme example of mother natures power which nobody could have foreseen, so nobody was responsible. Being aware of the less fortunate in this case was, from the people of Tohokus perspective, a perverse reverse. The people of Tohoku were aware that the people of Tepco and the government were ill-prepared and incompetent and therefore unable to help. They believed that the people of Tepco and the government, although incompetent, were trying to do their best. Complaining about their incompetence would not produce competence, it would only further alienate the only sources of help they could turn to. Complaining and placing blame could wait. Patience, it seemed, was the only proper response. If you want the governments, or anyones help, it does little good to complain, to search for meaning or explanation. What you need is action, even if you have to be patient and wait.

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create.

6 |RAN|

|RAN| 7

profile.

Tanaka

interview by Adam Pasion | Photo: Ken Tanaka

f you have not yet tuned in to the viral Youtube sensation that is Ken Tanaka, perhaps your internet is broken. For expats and Japanophiles the world over, Ken has been charming audiences with his own concoction of wide-eyed wanderer and tongue-in-cheek social commentary. His inimitable blend of the naive explorations in the mysterious land of gaikoku and his witty observiations of the quirks of his homeland of Japan offer an often hilarious cross-section of postmodern Japan. For those unfortunate, Youtube deprived waifs who have not been initiated, here is Kens story. Take it with a grain of salt and two aspirin. Born of caucasian parents, Ken was adopted at a young age by a Japanese family and raised in rural Shimane prefecture. He grew up as ordinarily as that situation would allow, with the cultural identitiy of a Japanese man encased in a white mans body. Only later in life has Ken made it his mission to track down his birth parents and reunite with his roots. Lucky for us, he has decided to bring us along via Youtube, so we can experience the search. Viewers cannot help getting sucked in to the compelling cast of characters Ken runs into in his misadventures at home and abroad. As he meets new friends, has embarassing cultural misunderstandings, and glorious triumphs, Kens naive charm will win you over. If not that, the humor will. RAN magazine had a chance to catch up with Ken Tanaka and ask

him a few questions about soft, furry animals, Street Fighter and his mission overseas. RAN: In your famous sign-off, you always say Ken Tanaka loves you, but would you say that sentiment is tatemae or honne? Is there anybody who Ken does not love? Ken: I love you. And I love everybody who is watching my videos and also many animals and fruits, like Of course this is pure honneor as they say in Costa Rica pura honne. There are some people I dont love like Adolf Hitler, and Asahara Shoko, but I dont think they are watching my videos. There is also a rottweiler dog I met once who I do not love. RAN: What sort of culture shock have you experienced in The United States? Ken: I have been in America for 4 years now and I still havent seen a gun. I thought everybody would have a gun. Also, nobody has said This is a pen to me even one time. RAN: Growing up in Shimane, you must have been quite isolated from foreigners. What was your reaction the first time you saw another white person? Ken: I lived in a very small mountain village above Matsue. When I

8 |RAN|

went to Matsue for shopping in junior high, a Caucasian man came up to me in the store and started to talk to me. I didnt understand and was very embarrassed. From then I tried very hard to study English, because I realized that people will expect me to speak. RAN: What made you decide to use Youtube as your medium of choice for broadcasting your message? Ken: I had not heard of YouTube when I came to America. One of the first people I met and made friends with here recommended that I try it. He let me use his camera too before I had my own. He is a very nice man. RAN: I recently realized there is a similarity between you and another Ken from Streetfighter both Japanese speaking white guys with mixed identities. Do the similarities stop there or can you actually do a hadouken punch? RAN: I have never met Ken, so I dont know if we are very similar. I am not a fighter. I prefer to spend my time petting soft animalsalso sometimes rougher skin animals like a Cassowarys neck. RAN: The Youtube comments section seems to be a flurry with debate about whether or not you are who you say you are. Do you care to comment on that? Ken: I think YouTube and the internet is full of conspiracy theories. After I was on YouTube for a few months, some people said I looked like the actor David Ury. Some people thought I was David Ury. So I tracked down David Ury and went to meet him. I made this video about it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO5FSDHIleA I am grateful that people told me about him or we would have never met. Of course, some people will never be satisfiedeven if I release my long form birth certificate.

RAN: What sorts of things are on your buckets list to do before you die? Ken: Find Jonathan and Linda Smith. Swim with Fly like seagull Pet large friendly labradoodle, and maybe ride him around if he is large enough. Make Music CD with my friends Polo and Takeo Space Surf 15-20 foot wave Become Dolphin (sea tortoise is also acceptable) Buy bucket Make list

Website http://kentanakalovesyou.com/ Blog http://kentanakalovesyou.blogspot.com/ Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/helpmefindparents http://www.youtube.com/user/kentanakajapan Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/KenTanakaLovesU Facebook http://www.facebook.com/people/Ken-Tanaka/100000007514474 Kens NEW Book http://everybodydiesbook.com/

ENTER KENS NET WORLD

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help.

ope H
I
ts a moment well never forget, where we were, and what we were doing when the mega quake and tsunami hit north-eastern Japan. In the days and weeks following, a large number of foreign residents booked the first flight they could out of the country. They were called Flyjin. One foreign resident, on the other hand, flew himself into the thick of it. He became a different type of Flyjin. 13 members and 9 aircraft from the private helicopter owner and pilots association HCJ (Helicopter Conference of Japan) including ZIP-FM DJ Chris Glenn were amongst the first response teams to reach the survivors. From the start it was obvious. Roads and bridges had been made inaccessible by the quake, and tsunami. Only helicopters could get in and out of the ruined region. From the air, you could see the extent of the devastation. You could see where entire villages and towns once stood, and all that remained were the concrete foundations, and long, thin, smooth sandy patches that were once roads. On the ocean, you could see the remains of houses, roofs, timbers, paneling and former contents all floating in massive heaps like islands of rubbish. Containers from docks and ships littered the

oku r Toh fo
wo
coastline, as did wrecked vessels of all sizes. The first pilots up there reported seeing masses of bodies strewn along the coast. We flew over 300 missions in the first five weeks, ferrying emergency supplies, food, water, medicines and basic necessities all over the Miyagi, Iwate and northern Fukushima disaster zones. As roads became passable, our mandate changed to flying in doctors and medics direct to the emergency shelters. It still wasnt enough, isnt enough. The people there will be suffering for many years to come. May we never forget them.

y chris gle photos b rds and

nn

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go.

photos and story by Achim Runnebaum

he Cherry Blossoms are long gone, and temperatures are getting warmer by the day...that can only mean summertime is on us once again. If youre looking to get out of the sweltering concrete jungle that is Nagoya, you could do the usual thing and go to Irago... but everybody does that. You, on the other and have an adventurous spirit. You want to explore Japan and get to know the culture. Go where the locals go. Well, if youre that kind of person, we have an insider tip for you. Why not head over to Himakajima Island? If youve never heard of this secret gem, youre in for a nice surprise. Its just a relatively short 90 minute trip on the Meitetsu train from Nagoya. Once you get to the port (Kowa), its just a quick 10minute ferry ride over to the Island. You can relax on one of the two white Sandy beaches, then rent a bike or scooter to explore the island, or alternatively you can walk around the entire island in about 90 minutes. There are many nice places to see around the island and some fantastic photo ops. After all that exploring, youre bound to start feeling a bit peckish. Since the main source of revenue on the island is the fishing industry, you have a plethora of choices for some great seafood. You are adventurous, however, and thus might want to try the seasonal fugu

specialties on offer. If you dont feel like putting your life in danger for a little pufferfish, they also have excellent octopus dishes there. As a matter of fact, you can actually catch the octopus yourself and then cook them right then and there on a BBQ grill. It doesnt get fresher than that, mates. At the end of the day, head over to Sunset Beach next to the western port. A stunningly beautiful sunset will unfold right in front of your eyes and remind you that summertime in Japan doesnt have to mean sweating your cajones off in the city - there are great alternatives nearby. If somehow you miss the last ferry, you can opt to stay in one of the many ryokan around, and after a hearty breakfast the next morning, you can partake in one of the islands main attractions - swimming with dolphins. A small Island with beautiful beaches, great food, lots to explore, stunning sunset views, and dolphins right here in Aichi - only 90minutes from Nagoya? Who would have thought. This place is perfect for the Really Adventurous Nagoyans.

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PAGODA DIARIES
You hurry to the station and get on your train with less than 1000 yen in your wallet after youve bought your ticket, and you unceremoniously leave this town having learned almost nothing about it, except that they make a mean pumpkin salad, and now in the morning light, you wish you hadnt been so rude to the woman at the restaurant last night. Youre an asshole. You have issues. The womans not even the one who was laughing at you. In fact, no one was laughing at you. The boys were laughing, yes. But they were laughing simply because they were embarrassed. They were embarrassed because they cant speak English. They cant speak English because they never studied it. They never studied it because they didnt have time to. They didnt have time because they were too busy at school everyday studying that unfathomable nonsense the Japanese Bureau of Education calls English, and that unfathomable nonsense doesnt have anything whatsoever to do with actually learning to communicate in the language. And if those kids only understood that fact maybe they wouldnt have been so embarrassed. But like all Japanese people, theyre under the government-sponsored illusion that they actually studied English in school. So of course theyre embarrassed, beaten down, frustrated and fraught over the inescapable fact that they cant begin to function in the language. They feel stupid. What they dont realize is that their government wants them to feel that way. The Japanese government is slow, and often its heartless, but its certainly more efficient than many governments, and if it actually wanted a population that could function in English, sooner or later, no doubt, it would have one. At least until very recently, however, the process of learning English hadnt even begun, and what theyve been teaching in Japanese schools isnt English. Yet the nation has dedicated millions of man-hours to abusing their citizens with this process, which doesnt teach anybody even the rudiments of English. It seems impossible that there can be absolutely no method to such national madness. They must be doing this on purpose. They must be. So what exactly is it that theyre doing, then? And what exactly have the schools been teaching in English classes here for the past 60 years if it isnt English? You personally think all that effort the country has poured into this absurd excuse for English education is not to teach anybody English at all, but merely to teach everybody how different the English language is from the Japanese language,

ou fell asleep just after nine oclock last night and woke up at 11:53 dreaming that an old high school friend named Lee Rigiero was being beat up by the Japanese police. This was the most vivid of dreams. The only thing odd about it was that this beating was taking place in the little town of Central Point, Oregon, where both you and Lee Rigiero once lived, and waking up you felt completely disoriented. It felt you were waking up again in Central Point, but that didnt seem odd at all. You felt right at home there. What you couldnt help wondering, though, was what were the Japanese police doing there? As if there arent enough gaijin for them to beat up over here in Japan? It wasnt clear in your mind why they were there, but there was no question about why they were beating up Leehe wouldnt stop singing a song. He was singing it for another friend of yours who was getting married. He was singing it over and over. You thought it was a great song, but the Japanese police didnt like it as much as you did, and they told him to stop. He didnt, so they beat him up. Bastards! You rolled over and went back to sleep. Now youre awake again and wishing you could remember the song Lee was singing in your dream. It has left your mind completely, and all you remember about it is how much you liked it. You wish you had got up then, at 11:53, and made some sort of record of it immediately, the way Paul McCartney did with Yesterday when he woke up dreaming that song. But, oh well. What does it matter? You cant play the piano. You cant play the guitar. You cant play the left handed bass. You cant even sing. And youre not good looking either, so in spite of the Sgt. Pepper shirt, youre no Paul McCartney. But except for that sad series of facts, you feel convinced that one of the best pop songs of all time has just slipped through your fingers and out of your sleepy mind while your old friend Lee Rigiero was getting the shit kicked out of him in his own back yard by a bunch of uniformed foreigners screaming at him in a language he didnt understand. You understood it. They were calling him a Mexican. It didnt seem to make any difference to them that he isnt one. You like Ofunato better this morning than you did last night. But not a lot better. The mountains still hang over the edge of the town like gargoyles on a medieval castle, and theyre still smothered in thick globs of fog. The harbor side, however, is prettier than the city side if you can manage to overlook the long row of small industrial operations lining the far edge of the inlet, but you cant.

| Story and pictures by EJP |

worice T andab
and by extension, how different white people are from Japanese people. Both aspects of this myth, of course, are ridiculous. Still, this appears to be whats happening here. You see evidence of it every day. In fact, youre a part of it. Youre part of the problem, not part of the solution. Youre a goddamn English teacher, after all. You have a lot to answer for! Looking out from your seat on the train, you see the bay scattered with marine farming operations. They consist of orange or blue baskets floating in rows just below the surface of the water. And just out of curiosity you ask a boy sitting near you if he knows what they are. He says wakarimasen. This, on the surface, means simply I dont know anything about it. But many times it includes the additional message, I dont care either, and this is definitely one of those times. Are you f r o m around here? you ask h i m , though you already know he is. Hes wearing a high school uniform he prob ably thinks hes studying English every day. He says, Yes. And, as if to prove your point, he says this in English. And that marks the end of that conversation. He has more important things to worry about than what people can do for a livelihood in the town where he lives. He has enemies, after all. He has the entire Japanese Bureau of Education and all of the Sadists who earn their livelihood there to deal with all day every day for the next few years, if not for the rest of his life, and you can hardly blame him for his unpleasant attitude. You leave him alone. But when the train attendant comes by you stop him and ask him if he knows what theyre growing out in the bay. He doesnt seem to have much of an idea either, but at least he tries to answer. Scallops and seaweed and maybe oysters, he says but his answer has

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THE

eballs c eoftea bottl

the intonation of a question more than a statement of fact. Hes made the same guess youd already made. The same guess anybody would makeanybody but a high school student, that is, because high school students spend all day everyday memorizing things that dont matter, and being taught never to think about those things in any logical ways, though that isnt likely anyway since nobody has ever taught them any logical ways of thinking about things in the first place, at least not here in Japanand for about the bazillionth time in your life you wish you were one of those people who lacks all curiosity about things. How much easier your life would be. Not to mention the lives of people your bag there on the bench while you walk to Fumanji, your next templeyour next pagoda. If you do, there is almost no chance that it will be stolen, but you recall the big uproar you caused at Juo station in Ibaragi when you left your bag sitting on the grass there, and it occurs to you that if you leave your bag in the waiting area here there is a good possibility somebody might contact the police about it, which is about the last thing you need. You have neither the time nor the energy to deal with the Japanese police, especially after what they did to Lee Rigiero in Central Point, Oregon last night. You walk around behind the platform and hide your bag under a bush. You do this quickly. You doubt very much that anybody will notice your green bag at the base of a green bush next to the platform once youve left it there, but youre a little worried that somebody may catch you in the act of hiding it there. There is no chance that your presence will go completely unnoticed here, after all. Some harmless citizen could be staring out through a window at you right now, and saying to himself Fuck a duck! You walk across the two-lane highway in the cool, quiet morning and climb up a ladder to stand on one of the highest seawalls in Japan. Its six and a half meters above the shore. This, you understand, is because the area has a history of huge tsunamis. The largest earthquake ever measured struck southern Chile on May 22, 1960, and 22 hours later tsunami waves as high as 10.7 meters hit this area of Japan, 17,000 kilometers away from the epicenter, killing 142 Japanese people and destroying both the railroad station you just disembarked from and large parts of Ofunato where you stayed last night. That 1960 tsunami also destroyed the life of a five-year-old boy in an isolated area of southern Peru where villagers gathered on higher land to watch a series of waves rush relentlessly through their homes and fields on the coastal lowlands. Looking out on this destruction, a local religious man named Juana Mamuncura Anen demanded the sacrifice of a neighbors grandson in order to calm the earth and settle the ocean. The sacrificial child had his arms and legs cut off by the religious man and his neighbor, the childs own grandfather, and was planted in the sand on the beach like a stake, to be washed away into the great big blue. The whole story sounds like something from the legends of the Incas, but it happened during your lifetime. In fact, this boy was born a year after you were. And the only party unsatisfied by his brutal death, apparently, was a young man from whom two horses were stolen and cooked up to feed those who attended the ritual. When the stolen horses were reported, local authorities learned of the sacrificial murder and arrested the two men who had done it. The men pleaded guilty then recanted, but were ultimately convicted. They were released after two years, a judge ruling that those involved had acted without free will, driven by an irresistible natural force of ancestral tradition. This is a little story you have learned to keep in mind for those occasions when religious minded, if well meaning, people question your atheism. You may, in fact, be wrong about god, you tell them, but so what? You will gladly choose that over being wrong about almost everything else. Youre looking out upon the calm waters of the Pacific Ocean. There are a few small boats down on the shore, and scattered around are all the signs of a fishing community. They are all so far below you that youre afraid to walk the wall. Talk about your life as Humpty Dumpty! You would hate to take a fall. You stand in one spot for a few seconds then climb back down the ladder and spend the next few minutes photographing a beautiful stack of effervescent blue fishing nets folded up neatly and placed in rows along the inside of the seawall. These are another of the kinds of things that catch your photographers eyepatterns and colors; colors and patterns. As long as the light is right, almost anything can fall before the focus of your lens, and one of the photos you get here will make you very happy when you get home and get a chance to work on it. Youve taken the map from here to Fumanji Temple out of your bag, and with that in one hand and your camera bag in the other you finally set out to see your 104th pagoda. Its supposed to be 40 minutes away by foot, and you look forward to the walk more than the pagoda itself. The air is cold and damp. You walk fast. If you miss the next train youll be here till late afternoon with nothing to do, and you dont want that. Theres a nice beach here, you understand, and according to the pamphlet you found at Ofunato station last night, its flanked by a lovely row of ancient pine trees, but you grew up in Oregon, for crying out loudyouve seen enough pine trees flanking the ocean to last a lifetime, and you dont want beaches. You just want to get to the end of this long pagoda road. Youre restless and rushed. Youve been traveling too long and youre tired to the bone. You go north a couple hundred meters past the lumber mill and turn left. You grew up in a little mill town yourself. Your father worked in the mill there. He was the sawyer. He came home everyday smelling of sawdust, and the smell of cut wood reminds you of your child-

who find themselves sitting near you on trains. But the fact is, you do have a curiosity in things, and looking this up later youll find to your surprise that theyre raising squid out there as well. Scallops, seaweed, oysters and squid. All of these are foods you have learned to eat only after coming here, and theyre all foods you now love. You disembark at Wakinosawa Station in the small city of Rikuzen Takata. There is no turnstile here and nobody to take your ticket. In fact, there isnt much of anything here and you have no idea what to do with the ticket. Usually theres at least a box to put it in. Not here. And of course there are no coin lockers anywhere nearby either. There is a small, covered seating area on the platform and you consider leaving

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hood. Its one of the most beautiful smells in the world. It makes you feel suddenly younger and lighter. You feel happier. You walk faster. You come to a junior high school, but there is no junior high school on your map. Normally this would be fine. Lots of things get left off of maps here. There are just too many roads and too many buildings to include everything on every cheap little map. But it so happens that there is a grade school on the map, so you cant help but wonder if the map isnt mistaken. You cant help but wonder if the junior high school youre standing in front of right now isnt the same building as the grade school on the map. It wouldnt be the first time your maps had let you down. You stand at a crossroads in front of the school, trying to compare the streets on the map to the streets you see before you. Youre convinced that this is not the school on the map, but there are five different directions you can take from here and you cant figure out which one of them leads past the school on the map and on to Fumanji. A boy comes by in a crew cut. He stops in front of you and bows. This is strange. Its like a scene out of a movie. He smiles. He says konnichiha. Do you know a temple named Fumanji? you ask him. Yes. I know it. Do you know which of these roads leads to it? He looks around. He points one way. Then he points another. Im nervous, he says. This, you have already noticed. Dont worry, you say. Ill ask somebody else. As if there was anybody else around to ask. Its either that way or that way, he says, indicating the two directions he had pointed to earlier. Okay. I see. I think Ill be able to find it. Thank you. Ive never met a foreigner before, he says. But because Japanese works the way it does, hes able to say this without using either the word gaijin or its more politically correct form, gaikokujin. A direct translation of what he actually says would be I met for the first time. But you know what he means. Clearly it isnt you, as an individual, hes talking about. Its true that he has just met you for the first time, of course, but that fact is obvious to both of you, and just like in English, it goes without saying. Its somebody like you generally that hes just met for the first time, and thats what he means. Hes a twelve-year-old kid, maybe eleven, and hes purposefully trying to avoid using a word that might offend you, so hes simply omitted it. You want to hug him. This is the first time for you to meet someone

from another country? you ask him. He nods and says, Shake hands? Okay, you say and extend your large rough hand to him. He can barely get his own hand around your fingers. He says, Thank you. Hes polite, typically formal and thoroughly Japanese. You take his photo. He barely smiles. Since hes the only student in sight, you ask if hes late for school, though it seems unthinkable. Kids are rarely late for school here. They either go regularly and on time, or they dont go at all. Until they get into college, that is. College students regularly saunter into class late. College teachers do too. He says, There is no school today. It starts next week. Of course it does, and this gives you an idea you should have thought of minutes ago. You ask him, Which way is the grade school? He points up one of the roads he had pointed out earlier and smiles. Hes proud of himself. You say, thank you. He bows again. Hes a cool kid. You want to invite him along with you. But, of course, you cant. And, of course, you dont. Fumanji is a pretty little temple in a grove of big evergreen trees. It was founded here in 1241. The temple ground is larger than most and everywhere it has the sweet and sour smell of green quince, though you cant find a quince tree anywhere. You cant find a person anywhere either. Theres nobody here but you. The threetiered pagoda is set in a garden with a reflecting pool at its base thats placed so poorly it doesnt really reflect anything. The pagoda was built in 1809. At that time it had wooden shingles on the three roofs, but they were replaced with copper shingling in 1962, and of course, the copper has turned green. The 12.5 meter pagoda is one of the smallest youll see on this trip, but its lovely. It has several unique aspects to it. The three roofs become both successively smaller and steeper. The chambers between the roofs become successively narrower. The bottoms of the lower and upper tiers are almost the same, though different sizes, and theyre little different from what you normally see, but the middle one is like none youve ever seen before. It doesnt have the normal slatsor at least the slats arent visible. Instead, what you see is a ceiling of circles, curls, and curves carved into heavy wooden planks. All in all, its not a grand beauty like so many of the five-tiered pagodas youve seen, but its petite, cute and coquettish, and you spend most of an hour walking around it, trying different angles with your camera. Its a difficult pagoda to photograph. Finally you find a view with a statue of the Buddha and a small Shinto torii in the foreground. Its not a great photograph, but most photographs arent great anyway, and this will do. You have to get back to the station. You need to get money. You could use a bite to eat. And theres a train to catch. Theres a small post office not far from the station and there you are finally able to get your hands on some cash. You have about an hour till your train comes, and you ask the clerk there if theres anyplace nearby to eat. Not really, youre told. How about a convenience store? This is Japan, after all. There are convenience stores everywhere. You cant throw a rock without hitting one. Not really, youre told. Then the clerk who

has told you this has a sudden brain-storm and turns to another clerk for support. She walks a few steps away, and after a three-minute pow wow she comes back with the information that there is one about a kilometer to the south, but informs you that its too far to walk. I can walk a kilometer, you tell her. Easy. Normally, a kilometer would take about 15 minutes to walk. And you can do that easily. You head out. Then 20 minute later you come to a fork in the road without having seen the remotest sign of anything that resembles a convenience store. You turn into a gasoline station and ask the attendant there where the convenience store is. Convenience store? Theres a convenience store about two kilometers that way, he says, pointing at the fork to the left. But its too far to walk, he adds. And hes right. Your rain will arrive in 40 minutes. Youll never make it to the convenience store and back, so you turn around. You know theres a small dry cleaning shop back the other way, near the lumber mill. Youve already walked by it twice, and you know there are some cheap pastries there to be had. They look about as healthy as jumping in front of a train, and they promise similar but slower results, but nonetheless, you have to eat something you figure. Its been at least 12 hours since the pumpkin salad, and youre starving. When you get there you buy an ice cream bar, a blueberry muffin and some kaki-pi. These three items have the combined nutritional value of cow dung, though they may not taste as good. Youre not entirely sure about that, of course. Youve never actually eaten cow dung, but you suspect that if somebody only packaged it up in a high tech wrapper and set it on the shelves of a Japanese convenience storeor a Japanese dry-cleanersa lot of people would eat it, especially if they put blueberries in it and called it a muffin. And before youve proceeded 200 meters back towards the station the blueberry muffin has made you want to vomit. You feel an urgent need for a bottle of water. That has no nutritional value either, but at least it wont kill you. You change directions again, and start back towards the dry cleaners. Youve gone about forty meters when a woman comes running across the road saying in English thats structurally correct but lacking in confidence, Are you looking for something. Can I help you? And your first instinct is to ignore her the way you instinctively want to ignore all Japanese people who speak to you in English, including sometimes those who actually pay you for the privilege. But two quick observations prevent you from doing this. First, youve walked in front of her house already four times this morning and currently youre making your fifth pass, which even you have to admit could look a little bit suspicious, and second, shes sweetit seems her true intent is only to help. Shes about 40. She has perfect skin and great posture. No makeup. Doesnt need it. Slip on shoes. Simple clothes. A striped t-shirt and a simple skirt. Hair as black and shiny as a Halloween cat. Simple, pure, smiling, innocent, curious and kind. The backcountry here is full of women like this. She wears no personal advertising whatsoever. She doesnt need that either. The truth speaks for itself, and this woman doesnt need anything that isnt a true part of her. She has the natural

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beauty of a happy housewife, not that youve known very many happy ones, mind you. And the truth is shes probably very lonely. Her name is Kayako, her husband owns the lumber mill across the street, and shes studying English on the Internet. She walks with you to the dry cleaners while you draw a slow, careful English picture for her of how hard it is to find anything that resembles food around here. She says, You cant get real food at the cleaners, but theres a convenience store about three kilometers from here. Not that convenience stores have real food either. You laugh. You tell her, You should work at the post office. She says, What? You say, Never mind. They dont have bottled water at the dry cleaners so you buy some green tea. This is supposed to be one of the best foods on the planet, and its probably the secret to the longevity of the Japanese populace, but unfortunately you dont care for it much. It still tastes better than the muffin. You ask Kayako if she wants anything to drink. She doesnt. You tell her you feel like throwing up. Youre still holding the remnants of the inedible blueberry muffin in your hand and she takes it from you. She makes a face like she wants to vomit toothe sympathetic response, possiblyand crams it back into its plastic wrapper, then she drops it into a trashcan near the counter. You cant help getting the feeling that she and the old lady at the cleaners dont get along very well. She tells the old lady that you have come from America to see the pagoda at Fumanji, and youre hungry. You figure thats a reasonably accurate assessment of the situation. Anyway, it will have to do, because it turns out to be the whole sum of the conversation between them. The old woman doesnt even grunt. Come to my house, Kayako says. Ill make you some food. I cant let you do that, you say, but you know youre lying. She lives in the biggest house on the street. Its a huge stone structure. She tells you it used to be the office building for the lumber company when times at the company were good. She also tells you that times no longer are. You ask her what she does all day in Rikuzen Takata. She studies English and keeps the house clean. Does she ever work at the mill you ask her. Almost never she says. They have more people working there now than they have work to do, she tells you, and indeed you notice that the house is absolutely spotless. You get the feeling she rarely leaves it. In 20 years you have been invited into a number of family homes in Japan, but the number is so low you can count them with your fingers. Kayakos house has just become the tenth Japanese family home youve been in. And you cant resist adding that the first seven of those homes you were welcomed to during the first year you were in Japan. And you dont think its a coincidence that during most of that year you couldnt really communicate in Japanese. Nor do you

think its a coincidence that once you learned a modicum of the language you abruptly stopped being invited to visit people. Japan is a funny country. And Japanese have some serious issues when it comes both to English and to English speakers who can function in Japanese. Maybe youve already mentioned these things. Maybe youre beating a dead horse. Or maybe the dead horse is beating you. Anyway, youre speaking English to Kayako. Youre going into her house. And shes going to make you lunch. This is one of the most surprising things ever to happen to you. Japanese people simply dont invite strangers into their homes. Not sober people, anyway. Her entryway is hugeabout the size of a typical bedroom hereand its lined with beautiful black wood. She leads you into the dining room. You sit down at a thick, heavy table big enough to seat ten, and she steps into the adjacent kitchen where she begins making you two large rice balls. Its a simple process. She drops a big glob of sticky rice in her hand. She smashes it into a ball. She pokes a hole in the middle of the

ball and stuffs a sour plum in it. She forms the glob of rice into a triangle about two and a half centimeters thick. She wraps the whole thing with noridried seaweedpossibly the same stuff growing out in the bay at Ofunato. It takes her less than a minute to make two of them, but in that time a man from the mill comes to the house. He sticks his head in without knocking. He calls Owada-san, are you available to come to the mill. Owada-san needs your help. Now, never mind the two Owada-sans in this sentence, because Owada-san means both Mr. Owada and Mrs. Owada in Japanese. Also, in Japanese, Owada-san, are you available to come to the mill. Owada-san needs your help, means Fuck a duck, Owada-san! What the hell is this huge gaijin doing in your house and lets get him out of here this instant! You arent the least bit surprised by this. Its not near as surprising as the fact that you are here in the first place. In fact, you would be surprised if something like this didnt happen. Kayoko

calls the man into the kitchen and introduces you to him, explaining again that youve come from America to look at the pagoda at Fumonji. And, of course, that youre hungry. The man is very polite to you, naturally. Hes Japanese, after all. He bows several times and you bow back, uttering all the set Japanese pleasantries, then he mentions once more to Owada-san that Owada-san needs her at the mill immediately. She says, Ill be there in two minutes, and the man slips out the door with a couple more bows. Kayoko wraps the two rice balls in kitchen wrap and shoves them into your hands. Im so sorry, she says, I have to go to work at the mill. And suddenly shes speaking her native language. She has become the perfect Japanese housewife again, and she says this like its merely a matter of course. Never mind that shes just told you she almost never works over there. You understand that she has no choice, and of course, so does she. You are standing in the big black entryway again, putting on your pathetic shoes, when she suddenly grabs the empty tea bottle out of your hand and scurries back into the kitchen. Shes gone for 30 seconds, and when she gets back to the entryway your PET bottle is full of hot homemade tea. You want to get a photograph of her in front of her house, if only because its the biggest and sturdiest private residence youve entered in 20 years here. That only makes it the biggest out of ten, of course, but still, its a pretty grand place to live. You say, I know youre in a hurry to get to work, though you know she really isnt, and youre pretty sure shell only be there long enough for you to get your own big ugly white ass out of the way before she gets sent back to clean the house again and study more English, which shell rarely get to use. But youve been here a long time. You follow protocol like everybody else. But, you continue, Could I receive the honorable favor of being allowed to photograph you in front of your spectacular home. She demurs for a shy moment, but soon relents, standing like a tiny princess in front of her castle. She flashes you the peace sign. You ask her not to and she peacefully obeys. After you photograph her, you thank her many times. And you promise yourself that youll send her a thank you note as soon as you get back to Nagoya. Of course, you never will. And the next time you come here, after the 2011 tsunami, you wont be able to find her. Her big beautiful house, standing before you now like a fortress on a rock, will be long gone. This entire city will be gone. It will be wiped off the face of the earth, swept away by forces of nature that you and everybody else in the world will find almost unbelievable. Rikuzen Takata, and several other little cities just like it along this coast will be devastated, destroyed, trampled, trashed. Every square centimeter of Rikuzen Takata will be broken. So will be every square centimeter of your already unstable and faltering heart. And so will be every square centimeter of everybody elses. Nobody in Japan will survive the onslaught unscathed.

PAGODA DIARIES
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THE

GETTING YOUR

JAPANESE DRIVERSLICENSE
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ant to save up to 40% on getting your Japanese Drivers License? Getting your Japanese license can be a timeconsuming, complicated, and frustrating process. The average first time pass rate for the driving test, unassisted, in Nagoya is 20%. Our full service clients enjoy a greater than 70% first time pass rate, and 95% pass by the second try. There is no better resource when trying to convert your foreign license to a Japanese license than www. japandriverslicense.com. Whether you are taking advantage of our full service conversion packages, basic packages, or free online tools and information, Japan Drivers Licenses extensive knowledge of the process will help you get your license quickly, and as stress-free as possible. The driving test in Japan is less about driving, and more about knowing what skills and techniques to use while driving the test course-for example, the proper sequence for checking your mirrors. This information is not readily apparent, and is not what is taught in driving schools outside Japan. No matter where you take your test in Japan, knowing these simple sequences and processes will greatly improve your chances of passing the test. Our driving test simulator and practice lessons will: Provide an accurate simulation, or practice run, of the current test courses at the Hirabari Drivers License Center in Aichi Offer additional simulations of courses used in Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka Give you unlimited access to practice simulations as many times as you need Help Aichi residents memorize the Hirabari course beforehand, as is required for the test Show you what to do during your test and when to do it Point out key areas most likely to cause you problems As a special present to readers of Ran Magazine we are offering up to 40% off our Basic Packages, which include services such as license translation, driving test practice lessons, and access to our exclusive interactive web-based driving test simulation of test courses including the Hirabari Drivers License Center, where Aichi residents must take their test. To get your discount on one of our Basic Service Packages, go to www.japandriverslicence.com and write the word RANMAG into the comment box when placing your order. The following discounts are available until September 1st 2011. Basic Service Package 1, was 26,520, now 20,000 Basic Service Package 2, was 36,750, now 30,000 Basic Service Package 3, was 16,800, now 10,000 See the contents of the discounted services, as well as additional services, packages, and free online tools and guides to help you do it yourself. Visit www.japandriverslicense.com today.

illustration by adam pasion

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|RAN| 17

18 |RAN|

Art for Humans

s your entire life taking place on Facebook? Have you become a smartphone zombie? On September 18th, the Red Rock 3rd Annual Charity Film Festival is exactly the cure for you. Turn off your social media for the day and get out and actually be social. Watch short films and music videos all produced by talented locals, and all new. Turn and discuss what you liked or didnt like with an actual person and not their avatar. Later at the party as you mingle with the crowd and enjoy the fabulous All You Can Eat Buffet, youll hear which films won, and what the judges have to say, youll find room for agreement and disagreement, and youll be in the mood to talk with the directors, actors, musicians who will all be in attendance, as the party is an all you can drink affair. Now doesnt that sound better than staring at Facebook commenting on what somebody had for breakfast? You will be allowed in with your smartphone, but do yourself a favor, turn the thing off for once and come on out and converse. All Proceeds after cost will be going directly to Santa and Friends Nagoya.

Mark the Date!

Sunday, September 18 Matinee Showing All Entries 2 to 5:30 pm. 500 Yen Donation to Santa and Friends Nagoya. Awards Party 7 to 10pm. Showing winning films and music videos. All You Can Eat and Drink. 3,000 yen donation to Santa and Friends Nagoya

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listen.
LO M FAL TO N

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om Fallon is a bonafide Rock Star, but well get back to that.

GHOST OF MATSUBARA. No dancing around the big issues, I guess. I came up with the name Ghost of Matsubara while I was living in an area of Nagoya called, (dun dun dun) Matsubara. The idea of being a ghost came about out of the feeling of sort of transient transparency that you get as a foreigner in a foreign country. Im not Japan bashing by any means. I imagine the same sort of feeling could happen to anyone in any country. You know, youre here and people can see you and occasionally say hi, but as an ethnically different person who struggles with the language, you dont fit in and youre not really an accepted member of the community. So, sometimes Id feel like a ghost. Thus, Ghost of Matsubara. 2. What type or genre would you consider your bands music to be? Well, Im always fast to say punk, but when I really take a listen to what were doing, Id have to say were much wide than that. I personally listen to lots of stuff, but most

Toms from a small town in New York state called Cazenovia. Cool town name. Tom calls Cazenovia a sweet little town, but says he was bored to tears by his self-confessed one stoplight town. He says Cazenovia was snowy, cold, and slow. Tom also says hes lived in Nagoya for 7 years now, and says he works as a teacher at a few of the local universities. I know Tom recently copped his MASTERS DEGREE, which makes him a much better person than I am-at least in my book-the book which Im still working on. Props to Tom for having achieved this great achievement. Seriously. Tom lives in Motoyama, his fave Japanese food is SOBA with tsuyu sauce, and by the way, Tom also plays a mean-ass guitar in a dope band called GHOST OF MATSUBARA, therefore, in case you didnt know, Tom is a total and complete ROCK STAR. This interview is about that. 1. First of all, what or who the eff is a

of it revolves around distorted guitars, hooky riffs, and catchy melodies. Recently, Ive been listening to The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. I didnt really give it a chance when it came out, but its been blowing my mind the past few weeks. Anyway, GoM has a driving rock punch with lots of catchy melodies and thought provoking lyrics. 3. What recent CHANGES has your band gone through, and why? Hmmmm..... Where to begin...Well, yes. Our original bass guitarist left us to pursue her academic career. It was a big shock and a bit of a heartbreak for me. I really liked her chemistry with Mike and I, but, ya know, you cant force people to do stuff. I tried to make her stay, but she wasnt having it. But, as luck would have it, when we lost Keiko, we gained Tak!!! Tak Kudo is freakin amazing! Hes an awesome bassist, and probably a better guitarist than me!! I think Tak really brings a lot to the table, and Im excited to see what the future holds.

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photos by achim runnebaum

4. Whats the HARDEST part of keeping a band together? Are there any EXTRA DIFFICULTIES that you have encountered HERE IN NAGOYA/JAPAN? In my mind, the hardest part of keeping a band together is making sure everyone is on the same page. I mean, were all adults. We all have lives. And, unfortunately, sometimes in the midst of lifes hectic turmoil we end up shifting our priorities, and then suddenly people stop communicating, and the next thing you know, your band just dissolves. Ive seen it happens many a time... Mike Bagley, our drummer, is a rock. Of course, hes in more bands than Heffners got bunnies, but he knows what its about. He and I share the same mind in that long, long ago, we both decide that weather rich or poor, famous or obscure we will be play music until the day we die. I cant express how good it feels to know that someone in youre band has got your back! 5. What have your BEST MOMENTS in GOM been? Oh, there have been lots! I had a blast at Oktoberfest in Tsuramai park. Saying farewell to the Nagoya Hard Rock Cafe rocked! We also played a killer show at DayTrive in Shinsakae. But if you wanna see a really fun show, go check out our Halloween gig at Six-Dog in Shinsakae. Its up on YouTube. We went for the sick sexy haunted hospital theme!! http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=SDfT-qeNmXw 6. Best Case Scenario, what would you like to see happen with GOM? Is world domination too ambitious? I joke, but Im also stone cold serious. Of course,

I have a day job that I love, and I think Im quite good at, but, if I could Id either be out on that stage or locked every night in that studio everyday! As they say in Japanese, (Ongaku dake de tabetai.) 7. Talk about the music scene in Nagoya, likes/dislikes/etc. Love it or hate it, Nagoya is what it is: Nagoya. Im actually one of the former, I love Nagoya! Its the ugly sister city of Tokyo & Osaka, but what this sister lacks in appearance, she makes up for with personality! You know what Im sayin. Youre with me! As much as we bellyache sometimes, Nagoya has the tightest and coolest gaijin population in Japan! Our scene is eclectic. Were all doing different things, be they music, art, theater, or other. I gotta say, this is my town. 8. Got a girlfriend man? Type? Ah ha ha haaaaa!! I think that every good front man should keep an air of mystery about him. A type? How about cute, fun, and stress free. And, if you could have her here by 5pm, thatd be just great. 9. Any good groupie stories you can share? Unfortunately, all our groupies live outside of Japan. Id love to do a tour of Europe, Australia, and America. According to our YouTube and Facebook accounts, a European Tour might turn out some really interesting groupie stories in the future. But, here in Japan, the local population doesnt really know what they got under their nose. Thats okay though. Our YouTube page has over 14,800 subscribers, and thats a much

bigger stage that were ever gonna play here in Nagoya. Now, all we need are some digital groupies... 10. After and since the Quake, thought about going home? Really, no. Despite my mothers tearful pleas of course... That earthquake was truly the definition of the word awesome. It was the shear power of nature showing us how small we really are. My whole apartment shook for like three minutes, and then I was glued to the TV, watching that tsunami just roll over those towns and cities... I was totally speechless... And, now we have to figure out how fucked the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Reactor really is... But, again, I havent been inspired to leave. We here in Nagoya are luckily not in the way of the radioactive fallout. Gotta keep those fingers crossed though. Theres another nuclear reactor in Shizuoka. If we get smacked with another major quake, and that reactor gets effected, then Ill be on my way back to the states. I think most of us knew the risk we were taking by moving to the land of shakes & rumbles. Nagoya is still in good shape. I aint goin nowhere.

Connect with

GoM online

photos by achim runnebaum

YouTube - youtube.com/ghostofmatsubara Facebook -listn.to/ghostofmatsubara Twitter - twitter.com/ghostofmatsbara

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Book Store

Los Novios Mexican Restaurant

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NAGOYAID E C L UB G U
HIP HOP
CREAM BAR info@bar-cream.com 052-261-1766 Located In Sakae. Open until 6am. The Underground www.underground.co.jp/index.html The Underground is actually a three-club conglomeration located on three floors in Toshincho. Lush/052-242-1388 Cypher/052-264-9603 SoulGround/052-241-7366 STEPS www.steps-nagoya.net/info/1.html 052-242-7544 Located in Sakae. Open until 6am, 7 nights a week. ID Caf www.idcafe.info 052-251-0382 Located in Sakae. ABIME 2030 www.abime.info 052-951-4155 Large modern space near Sunshine Sakae. Club Shelter www.club-shelter.com 052-242-8030 Off in the cut behind the Chunichi Building. 3rd floor, same building as Arena. Ozon/Spiral www.ozon.jp.com Located in Sakae near Wakamiya Park. Upstairs, Spiral Downstairs, OZON PLUS PARK www.plus-park.com 052-261-1173 Located in Sakae. Open late. Club Quattro www.club-quattro.com No phone number available. Located in the Parco Building in Sakae. Diamond Hall www.diamond-hall.com 052-265-2665 Located between Hirokoji Dori and Sakae. Heartland www.theheartlandstudio.co.jp No number available. Located underneath The former Hard Rock Caf Huck Finn www.huckfinn.co.jp 052-733-8347 Located on Imaikes backstreets. The Bottom Line www.bottomline.co.jp 052-741-1620 Legendary big hall in Imaike.

HOUSE/DANCE/ELECTRO
Mago info@club-mago.co.jp 052-243-1818 Located in Shinsakae. About www.club-about.com 052-243-5077 Located in Toshincho. Emporium www.theemporium.jp 052-262-7027 Located in Sakae. Club JBs www.club-jbs.jp 052-241-2234 Located in the Toshincho club cluster Domina info@cafe-domina.com 052 264 3134 Right around the corner from JBs. Plastic Factory ww.plasticfactory.jp 090-2346-1682 Located on the backstreets of Imaike.

Rock
Electric Ladyland ell@ell.co.jp 052-201-5004 Located in Osu.

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fashion.

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or me, the quintessential delicious food is a juicy burger packed with yummy toppings, lettuce, tomato, ketchup with a side of fries, or onion rings. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Here in Nagoya, there are several places that purport to being able to deliver an oishii hamburger, but Im always disappointed. For whatever reason, it seems the burgers are always too dry, too small, too tasteless, theres just something not right about them. Eating a bad hamburger is like seeing a bad movie, so disappointing as to have lingering effects days after. Now, I consider myself a bit of a hamburger connoisseur, having had burgers in super expensive NYC restaurants, as well as having sampled burgers from LAs vast array of burger joints, and, having had my fair share of backyard barbeque burgers made by so-called hamburger experts, and I gotta say, among the best burgers Ive ever had are those Ive had at LAYERS HAMBURGERS, located right here in Marunouchi, close to Sakae. If youve never been to Layers, you need to get your punk ass over there asap. Theyve got a wide variety of the most absolutely delicious burgers youve sunk your teeth into since youve been here in Japan, trust me, somehow, them dudes have learned the art of concocting a super delicious and satisfying hamburger each and every time. Im there at least once a week, and Id go more if I could - maybe every day even - but, well I cant. But I would. Layers is a cozy, well put together caf, easy to find, easy on the eyes, and the staff there speaks English, mostly. My personal favorite is the Pineapple Burger, which I think Im on my way to go get right now. Theyve also got fried chicken, shrimp burgers, rocking salads, beer, fries, onion rings and a madd assortment of super-delish burgers for you to choose from. I am dead serious about my hamburgers, and LAYERs is too. You ought to make it your mission to find LAYERs, it will become your new favorite restaurant. Its a 7 minute walk away from HISAYA ODORI Station. Have It Your Way, because You Deserve A Break Today. tdh

from Hisay. walk a-odori Sta . exit 1

5 min.

Fresh juicy burgers!

052-961-0121
www.layers7.com
OPEN: 11:00am - 10pm (11am - 5pm on Sundays and holidays)

3 -8-26 Marunouchi, Naka-ku, Nagoya

Sotobori-odori Chunichi Hospitcal Honmachi-odori

Meijo Elementary

Circle K
Sonpo Japan Nagoya Bldg

Otsu-odori

Sakura-odori Nishiki-odori

ZIP FM

Hisaya-odori

Enjoy

thetasteof

Hawaii
aranniversa 1yeonAugust5th ry
1beerwithad duringAugust.

OPENfor

breakfast, lunch anddinner

OPEN
7:00-1:30Mon-Thu, 7:00-2:30Fri-Sat (Happyhour5-7pm)

ks is now is now ndo Boo Mondo Boo ks Mo

ks Lounge! Mondo Boo

s s Book Book

4,000+ new and used books in En glish huge seating spac e, WiFi access, ta , drink corner, ble games! 4000 +

wi-

March 26th, 5 p.m. 3 26 5

Launch Party

Free food and drinks. Come and win a new Apple iPod Nano!

OPEN

( ) iPod !

New location just minutes from the previous Mondo Books, 40 seconds walk from Kamimaezu Sta. Just nd exit #2, cross the street and look for Nagoya Bank on the east. Next door from Nagoya Bank, second oor.
Books
Nishiki-dori

052-533-0085
5-24-3Meieki Nakamura-kuNagoya
5-24-3

To Nagoya
Yanagibashi Nayabashinishi

NagoyaKankoHotel

Hirokoji-dori
Hilton Nagoya

To Sakae
Hirokojifushimi

Ask details/
info@mondo-books.com/ 080-5166-6318 http://www.facebook.com/MondoBooks

K
Kamimaezu St.

2 3

NakaHealth Center

Fushimi-dori

Ekawa-sen

Hori-kawa

Misonoza

www.lealeahale.net

NewNagoya MusicalTheatre

NagoyaBank

Mikura-dori

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comics.
bike
by simon taylor

fried sushi

by liam akin

get yer comics

published in
new full page We are consideringstories, sorts. strips, serialized single panel gags and comics of all To have your material considered, please send all submissions to:

apasion@ranmagazine.com
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