tea farm!!!

went to a tea farm in kyoto, and we got pick the new tea leaves!!!

picking little bits of tea leaves,,, it's like picking any grass but this one, you get to taste it afterwards!!!

we collect the ones we picked then put it in a special pan to roast it and the rub it.  we repeat this cycle several times,, then we see what we used to see!!!

this is the traditional green tea!!! it was so good!!

Aki and I played a few tunes when people were enjoying there tea and sold some CDs!!!

The Obubu tea farm comes to Columbus to promote there farm every year, so check them out!!


http://obubu.com

4/27 parlor and "The Golden Week"!!

ah,,,, finally some time to catch up!

4/27 was last official gig in kyoto at the Aunoun Parlor.

great nite,,, with some very very kind audience.  almost like a big home party!!!

the next day, i went out by myself to sight see Kyoto, which i haven't done for a while...

it was supposed to be a short walk but man, something turned me on...
i walked around the old city for more than 4 hrs.... lol
visited 4 shrines and temples... all of them so beautiful

one of the shrine had a special garden... it costs about 6 bucks to even get in,,, but once you got in... oh yes it was so heavenly

so today, it's the beginning of Japanese National holiday week called the "Golden Week"

it's golden because the week is filled with national holidays next week and schools and offices are closed for that whole week!!

tmrw,,,

im going to that tea farm again and gonna help pick some tea leaves!!!
then gonna play a few songs with aki to sell some CDs there!!!

this week

was pretty laid back.

monday and tuesday, we chilled and went for little sight seeing.

20th, we did a show again at the cake shop in kyoto.
their french based cake is just awesome!!!

this one was matcha based ,,,, yummy!!!

next day, i went to Nara, which is the old/ancient capitol of Japan.
they just celebrated there 1300th year of history last year.

this is absolutely my soul spot. 
I met up few of my old berklee buddies, and went for a little hiking on the mountain to visit of the oldest shrine of Japan, The Omiwa Shrine.

most of the shrine in Japan is centered around a tree, water or other natural thing, because it is believed that god lives in it and it will protect the shrine.  this "god's tree" was huge and it really did represented how old this shrine was.  This was a special shrine because not only it has the "god's tree" it also holds the "god's mountain" which is located right behind the shrine. 

after nara, we had two gigs,

one at a music house, formerly a public bath.  talk about a natural reverb!!!
as a musician, it was the best place to play.
the echoes and reverb made it a very dreamy atmosphere!!!!

and today, it was my first solo show in the west.
40min session at a music cafe in Osaka.
met some great ppl, and heard some good music!!!

4/17 nagoya "gen"

after osaka,
we drove an hour and a half to Nagoya for a gig

I was actually born in this area, so it really felt nice to actually be home!

forgot to take some pics, but will update when Aki's back lol

so today was my off day~!!! 4/18,,,,

but not really,, had to go for a meeting for a show,,, which is a tea farm that takes like 2hrs to go lol

despite the time it took, it was beautiful place!!!

4/16 Primo Piatto Osaka

so, continuing with the tour,,,

Aki and I went back to the western area on the 14th,,,,
right after we got back, we were invited to a private party and asked to play.

man, this party was awesome!!!
the house was like the most luxurious house i have ever been in Japan!!
The owner even had a little stage and sound system at this living room!!

we jammed few tunes, ate some awesome kyoto style food and drank i donno how much

the next day,, we were invited to another private party.
This one was more chill.. or should i say proper.
this was a get together in the memory of the wife of Aki's friend. 
She passed away 3 years ago, and instead of having some quiet private moments, Aki's friend decided to invite us over to enjoy music with his wife's family and close friends.

it was probably the most memorable gig i did.
i realized how sweet it is to be loved and to be cared, even after you passed away.
im sure her soul was close to us when we played music.

so then next day was a real gig in Osaka.
this place is called "primo piatto" very casual music bar/cafe and the owner is the winner of the fingerpicking contest 2011!!!

pics tells it all lol!

4/12 Miyauchike

The tour is half way there, and I finally got the time to settle... few....

I've been playing everyday since last tuesday, Miyauchike.  gigs, private parties,,,

I am so so so blessed to be able to play like this and meet some great people at every show!!!

so I will recall those events one by one... first is Miyauchike!

it's actually someone's living room made into a music bar/cafe.
this is a well known place for many acoustic musicians in Japan, especially us finger style guys.

many people came out, despite of the fear of earthquakes and radiation (this area is bit closer to the north, and there were few big earthquakes in the past few days) 

the show went as awesome as usual, and the best part was the after party!!! almost everyone sticked around, enjoying some good food/beer and more live music as well!

we were lucky enough to sleep here for the nite, and the next morning, we went to see what you can only see in Japan, full bloom of cherry blossoms!!!

just purely beautiful

next up, live in Tokyo at this Jazz bar called "Hot House",, it's the smallest Jazz bar in the world!! 8 people, the place is packed lol but the biggest number of crowd they had is 20 lol

i wish i took pics with my cam, but will update that when i get some pics from AKI

Al-cafe and Finger-picking day 2011

My first official show in Tokyo was a blast!!!

should of mentioned this, but it was on live with ustream, which means everyone in the world could of seen our show!! live that is.  another good news, it was recorded and it's certainly available to watch!! here is the link:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13850775

and today,,, it was the National Finger-picking contest!!!

i did try to compete for this, but couldn't make it to the finals, which was today.
I was disappointed for not making this, but i took it as a message.  it's probably not my chance yet.

From 12:30 to 8pm, i was listening to almost 25 fingerpicking guiarists,,, with out eating or drinking anything lol and that was my choice, i was so into the music.


it probably was the most meaningful musical experience i ever had.
i have been competing for the last 2yrs, 2 contest per year and i never had the chance to actually see and listen to other performers at these events.  this was my chance and im sure glad i took it.  It was so fun to see others play there absolute best and compare it with my musicality and thoughts. 


the best thing, the winner was my friend!!!!


congrats to Aki Miyoshi.  he's gonna be at Kansas on 2012 to compete at the international finger style competition

tmrw is another gig!!!

aki Miyoshi is gonna play, Aki Tanaka and I are gonna play, and special guest from Korea is gonna play some guitar for us too!!!

it's gonna be another blast at Tokyo, Ueno tmrw!!!

spring is here in tokyo!

3/30@kyoto 3/31@tokyo

so im back in Tokyo now
it really feels like i've been here for a month already...
but yes, it's been a week since i got here.


I just got back from Kyoto yesterday.
did a gig with Aki at his home ground and it was another awesome night.

I checked out Aki's gig in Tokyo with was a CD release party of a famous Japanese guitarist,
Chuei Yoshikawa

He has recorded guitar tracks for numerous big hits in Japan.  Also, one of the pioneers of acoustic guitar movement in Japan.  A 64yr old guy.  He was purely proffesional!!!

Aki was one of his guests, and many other famous studio musicians came to support.

It was those shows that made me feel so glad to be Japanese.
not in traditional way but Chuei's style is one of the most influential in the contemporary Japanese pop music.  that's what i heard in my teens and my favorite.