America spoke......the beginning of the end?.....

I tend to keep myself so up to my eyes in it these days that general blog postings are a little difficult to squeeze into the schedule. Sometimes, however, something happens that simply has to have comment passed upon it. I'm not going to go into a lengthy diatribe here and I'll leave this link-free too, as there's enough else out there (particularly in the blogosphere) for people to find out more if they so wish. However, events of the past few days are ones that cannot go uncommented upon.

Growing up under the shadow cast by Reagan's White House, it felt like that period would never end (time goes much more slowly when you're a child). Particularly vividly remembered are his closeness to Thatcher (whom I loathed) and the mortal fear of the bomb that ran through the playgrounds of my youth. Following him, the first Bush got a stab at the top job, and although I was a little older and understood more about international politics by then, it still felt as if the Reagan era had simply been extended by another four years instead of coming to an end.

Then Clinton took over. There are many criticisms that can be and still are levelled at him (Iraq, Yugoslavia, etc) but the fact was that to me and many others, the world felt safer in his hands. This was particularly the case as Clinton didn't look like he was abusing his position, although America was clearly the most powerful country in the world and most other nations swayed to America's breezes. Even though the Republicans gained control of both Houses only two years into his presidency, he was still able to come out of his tenure looking relatively clean. Not a Johnson, a Nixon, a Reagan, a Bush.

In 2000 the nightmare returned. Of course, I was much older then and understood that much more again about US and international politics, plus had actually lived in America too (three months in Florida, prior to the Gingrich wave), so had a different approach to things. However, when Bush Jnr. took the election, I knew that the world was about to enter another Dark Age. I told my mother on the telephone that there would be another war coming (I didn't quite count on how many there would be!) and I began to pay very close attention to the activities of the Bushies.

The history I'm sure we all know - rejecting Kyoto, 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, Katrina, etc - so there's little point in picking at it here. Taking a broader brush stroke over it, the entire world has been taken in a terrifying and unprecedented direction by the hooligans squatting the White House for the past six years. America has become a global pariah in a way that it never had done before, even with the range of 'foreign policy' initiatives (Vietnam, Nicaragua, Iran-Contra, to name a few) it had taken prior to the latest set of misadventures.

Finally, within the past few days, the brakes have been put on. The Democrats have won back the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994, some media are reporting that they may even have taken the Senate too, and the first really major scalp of the Dark Side has been claimed by the forces of Progress with the resignation of chief architect of the Iraq disaster, Donald Rumsfeld. A scapegoat perhaps in the face of overwhelming pressure, but a vital first step all the same.

What happens next is really anyone's guess. It's kind of an open playing field again, to some extents. Congressional hearings would seem likely. Rejection at national and international level of an extreme right wing agenda finally seems inevitable. Impeachment may be less likely as the Democrats really have their work cut out for them if they're going to pull something positive from the wreckage, and they may want to be careful over the enemies they make now.

One thing's for sure, the dark, dark days of the absolute power of the Bush Administration that were ushered in during the dawn of the 21st Century have drawn to a close. One has to conclude that from here on in, it can't possibly get any worse (I'll eat my words on that if I have to, but please excuse me the gamble!) and the world now has at the very least, a little breathing space to collectively sit down, think about all that's happened and try to find better ways forward.

After all, it's not getting any cooler on Planet Earth and I think most of us would like to have something to pass on to our kids (and theirs...and theirs...and theirs...and theirs...)

America Listening

Last week, almost immediately upon my return to Japan from the UK, I had the pleasure of spending a few days in the company of an American documentary film crew. They were travelling the world to canvass current global opinion on the US, and it was a fascinating experience. Taking in 14 countries in total, Japan was 13th (Canada being the last one) having already been to Mexico, China, France, UK, Brazil, Israel, Palestine, India, Tanzania, South Africa and Afghanistan. They found me through googling the right terms that ended up with Peace Not War Japan.

I fixed them up with a load of interviews in Tokyo and hung out with them whilst they filmed, even being interviewed myself. I talked about positive and negative aspects of my opinion of the US; such as my experiences of living in Florida 11 years ago and my love of certain aspects of (initially) underground American culture such as jazz, the Beats, the hippies and hip-hop, countering it with my take on militarism and empire.

The main interviewees were Japanese people connected with PNWJ; a few musicians, a music journalist, people from Peace Boat, etc. It was the kind of project that I would have loved to have been involved in years ago (having made a documentary film myself at college) and so was delighted to finally get a chance.

Not only was it a really interesting project to be part of, but they were also really nice people too and genuinely keen to hear what the world had to say. Perhaps some new friends there.

Instead of telling you more about it myself, I'll let you read their words for yourself. Excerpts from their Japan journal can be read here, here, here and here.

Next stages for them are editing and then trying to find a distributor. I guess that in the post-Fahrenheit 9/11 climate and particularly with the Iraq War (or more accurately, the Iraq Occupation) going so wrong, it's easier nowadays in the US to speak out about the worrying directions the world has been led in during the past 5 or 6 years.

Further news about the film will be posted here, if or when I get it.

I'll finish this entry with a question or two, similar to those asked of me.

Q: What does the United States mean to you?

Q: If you could send a message to the people of the US, what would it be?

(Note: Abusive comments will be removed)

Another 2 weeks off...(or, 'back to the old country')

The rollercoaster that has been 2006 continues unabated!

Last week, I returned to Japan after a sudden and unexpected fortnight in the UK. It was my first trip back there in about two years (the longest period of time off the island so far), and involved trekking across quite a large amount of the country. I was in London about three times, in Brighton twice, Shoreham too, plus North Yorkshire and the Welsh Valleys. A very British odyssey, it turned out to be too.

I managed to catch up with many people there, friends and family alike, which was the best part of it all. It was quite a strange trip though, as it reminded me once again what I loved about the place and why I left in the first place. Coming to Britain from Japan can be quite a surprise as much about Britain simply doesn't work as well as Japan. The trains trundled, slowed down and sometimes stopped completely, as they always did. Traipsing around London with a suitcase was a drag as escalators seem to be in short supply on the Underground (I felt for the mothers with pushchairs or the people in wheelchairs who have to do it evey day). The pavements are not as smooth to walk or wheel something on as the asphalt sidewalks here are. I was reminded of Britain's 'can't do' culture, which can cancel out some of the nostalgia felt for the place. I won't even get started on trying to make a telephone call and reaching an automated limbo land or a callcentre in Bangalore.

Nevertheless, there is no green quite like that of the pleasant land of the English countryside - a place that can veer between the most beautiful and bleakest of places to be even within the space of a day.

There was the strange dual feeling of fitting in and not fitting in at the same time. As usual, time doesn't really permit me going on into too great a detail about the whole trip here, so instead I'll let a few images from the journey do the talking instead. The following series of pictures are amongst those that will be added to the 'Images Of Britain' album over on my Image Gallery - when I get the chance to do so.

Bicycles outside Brighton Station


York Station, on the way up North


Railway arches beside Scarborough Station


Cloudscape at dusk over the North Yorkshire Moors


Throxenby Mere, North Yorkshire


Pub sign for The Leeds Arms in Scarborough


Anne Bronte's grave, Scarborough


Fish 'n' chips in Scarborough


Scavenging seagull, after those fish 'n' chips


Buckets and spades, for beach fun


Sticks of Scarborough Rock


Back in London, at Baker Street Tube Station


Welsh sweet shop


Back alley in a Welsh valley


Washing line, complete with clothes pegs


Shadows across the platfom of Hove Station

Pissing rain at Heathrow, prior to departure

2 weeks off...

As those readers who know me will probably already be aware, 2006 has been a very full and hectic year in many ways. It was therefore with great joy that I grabbed a couple of weeks off this month for my summer holiday. No going abroad this time, but I received my first family visit here in Japan. Along with the missus, we all managed to get some quality time in, relaxing, sightseeing and hanging out within and around Tokyo.

After a while, even when you live in a completely different place to the one you started in and no matter how exotic or different it may be, you get used to it and it becomes your regular routine life again. With this in mind, it was great to be able to look at Tokyo as a visitor or outsider again, as opposed to being just another runner in the wheel.

Below are some images and comment about a few of the highlights of two weeks off in Tokyo...

A few days into the break, I got to tick one of those 'must do before I die' experiences off the list along with throwing a big surprise on the folks. For between roughly $60-80 each and running in at a mere 15 minutes that could have gone on for much, much longer, we all took a sunset Helicruise over Tokyo.

It was quite an incredible sensation, floating in a bubble over a vast sprawl of cityscape as the night lights began bursting into show. I felt lightheaded without being dizzy and entranced by the perspective that it afforded over the city I currently call my home. All the way back, everybody seemed to share the same sensation of feeling somewhat elevated.

The tour operator doesn't permit photos during the flight however, so I've illustrated it with a picture from their website. The image depicts the heliport at Yokohama, where they also operate tours.

Speaking of Yokohama, above and below are a couple more images from Japan's second biggest city, the first day trip we took together.

I love Yokohama. The streets seem to be much wider than in Tokyo and somehow, whenever I go there, there's always beautiful weather and the bluest of skies. This time was no exception.

The Landmark Tower is a great place to take guests and visitors to Japan. At 70 stories high, it is Japan's tallest building and offers incredible views of Yokohama and Tokyo from the 69th floor Sky Garden. Above is a view from the ground, below is a view from the top, including the shadow that this beast casts over the bay. While it has now been surpassed by the one in the world's current tallest building, the 1667-ft, 101-story Taipei 101 in Taiwan, Landmark Tower once boasted the world's fastest elevator, which takes 40 seconds to get to the top.

A substantial focus over the last couple of weeks was on visiting as many Japanese gardens as possible, both for my mother's gardening research and a great opportunity for us to get some green air into our lungs and me to let the weight roll off my shoulders.

It does put a very different spin on the carpet of concrete that Tokyo can be if you let it. There are many parks and gardens all over the city, some big and bold, others squirrelled away on a back street somewhere.

We visited 4 in total: Shinjuku Gyoen, Tonogayato Teien, Showa Kinen Koen and Rikugi-en. The picture below is of a part of the Japanese Garden that is featured in Shinjuku Gyoen. It also has English and French style gardens too, and being in the heart of the city, makes for a very pleasant escape amidst the skyscrapers.

Below is a tunnel constructed from strips of bamboo at Tonogayato Teien, in my neighbourhood of Kokubunji. Japanese gardens make very good use of bamboo for all manner of features and structures.

Halfway through the fortnight, the Peace Not War Japan/Dynastic Records CD release party was held at Super-Deluxe in Roppongi.

A watershed moment of sorts for PNWJ, it turned out to be a most enjoyable event at a great venue, and included acts featured on the CD, belly dancing, a peace fair with local NGOs and a very talented VJ for the visuals. I made my live DJ debut as Control K, there were also DJ sets from Bhang Lassi and Young Jeff of Quante Jubila. Live acts were Cheryo & The Berovolas (depicted below, with whom I also sang 'Imagine') and KP, who were one of the highlights of the event for most people.

With a reasonable turnout too, all who attended gave me very positive feedback about it, which was almost a relief! Hopefully, it'll turn out to have been the first of a number of great music events for peace in Japan...

After finally getting some much needed sleep, with the launch party out of the way, it began to rain. This pretty much put paid the intended week's worth of hiking and required a set of 'rainy day in the city' activities. Fortunately, Tokyo's very well equipped in this department and has a wide range of fascinating museums to discover.

The highlight for me was the National Science Museum, that includes probably the most incredible array of fossil specimens of dinosaurs and other long-extinct beasts I've ever seen. The Tokyo National Museum is well worth a visit too, for learning all about Japanese art and archeology and which also includes a range of other Asian relics and treasures.

By Friday, the rains had cleared sufficiently for a trek out to the nearest peak, Mount Takao. 599m above sea level, it's one of the closest natural recreation areas to Central Tokyo and has a temple near the top.

Shortly after beginning work on PNWJ, I picked up a partner to help on the project. While he was a great guy and very keen on what we were doing, I had the feeling that we'd not complete the aim of releasing a CD together.

One day, we planned a trip to climb Takao. He arrived at the train station late, having been at a meeting in Shinjuku in the afternoon, and I looked at the climb as a metaphor for whether or not we'd be able to meet our aims together. Needless to say, it got too dark to continue before we reached the peak and we had to abandon the climb. I took this to be a sign.

He's back in England now, having been round the world on Peace Boat since. I stayed here in Tokyo and carried on with the peace project. Now, the CD is finally released and I climbed the mountain too.

The picture below is a forest reflection in a pool that gathered between some of the tree roots which line the paths up the mountain.

The parental visit and my summer holiday ended with a weekend visit to the region that includes Japan's most recognisable icon, Mount Fuji, and the Japanese Lake District that surrounds it. It was my first time on Fuji, having only experienced it from a distance. We only drove up to the 5th station instead of actually climbing the thing, but still managed to get some pretty remarkable views from there. The picture below shows some of the mists that were shrouding the peak on our visit.

Another view from the 5th station (shown below) depicts the ocean of cloud that spread between Fuji and other neighbouring peaks. Definitely a most mystical sight.

On the shores of Kawaguchiko (Lake Kawaguchi), we happened to come across the curious little museum named ArtGaia, that had a very modern Japanese set of exhibits going on, including a live 'graffiti' artist drawing fascinating cartoons on the walls and a major themed exhibition that seemed to be about the dog that belonged to a socialist Czech playwright from the 1920's...

...above is a back shot of me watching a film about the dog, and below is a shot of Tomomi from above, possibly watching the same animation.

These interesting little creatures seemed to be all over the museum too, hiding in corners or loitering in window sills - headless wire and wool sheep.

Now, the folks have returned to England, I'm back at work, autumn is upon us, and we're collectively hurtling towards the end of the year. Where on earth has this year gone?

Hope you had a good summer, wherever you are and whatever you did...