"A More Artistic Japan? - Meeting Artists on the Fringe of Ginza"

I hesitate to write this, as it's not based on proper research, but rather just my own observation and surmising. Nevertheless, combined with some generally well-known trends, it might even be on the mark.

In the early eighties, there was talk in Japan of how the country could be a little less obsessive about working and studying all the time - how this might be the key to becoming a more creative country, where ideas were not just successfully taken in and implemented, but where innovation and new ideas would originate. And so the six-day work week soon became a five-day work week, and soon thereafter, the six-day school week became a five-day school week (at public schools anyway - many private schools still have six-day weeks). In school, the amount of homework was reduced, and the grading system was simplified in order to place less emphasis on completing for top grades. (Ironically, this led to ever more people sending their kids to juku's [cram schools] after school, but going into that now would derail the point of what I'm writing about.)

And here we are in 2009, with the current crop of people in their early twenties being the product of the changes made to the educational system. There are stories in the newspapers about how fewer and fewer college students are studying science, and how science and math test scores are down compared with other countries, etc. In fact, people are so worried, that they've begun reversing the changes made in the late eighties and early nineties. More homework, talk of returning to the old educational system, etc.

The upside to all this? There seem to be many more people interested in art - certainly in creating it, and hopefully also in appreciating it.

Hmm.... Just when I reach the part where I thought I'd take off and write several paragraphs, I realize I've basically said what I wanted to say, so... there it is.

Why do I bring this up? I've recently spent a little time checking out some art galleries over on the edge of Ginza in 1-chome, a bit away from the central (and more fashionable) part of (overly?) fashionable Ginza, and the following gallery and artists' links are from postcards I picked up while walking around looking at art and talking to artists. Most of the art on the cards (one example from Naoko Fukuda at the top of this page) I saw myself (but not the sample at the top of the page, which I unfortunately missed!).

I may be wrong in my assessment of Japan becoming more creative and artistic, but I hope not. In talking with young artists at exhibitions on the fringe of Ginza (some from Tokyo, some in town from other regions of the country), I believe that there really is a wave of artistry rising up with this next/current generation.

It may turn out to be a special generation - as the world heads into more troubled waters, and the educational system goes back to an environment more conductive to math and science, and less tolerant of art and free thinking. But change is the only constant anyway, and once you have a generation thinking in a different way, that thinking doesn't change overnight.

And so, as I feel myself on the verge of derailing the point of this... essay (is that what it is?), I'll stop here and leave the links below:

Offside Gallery
Aoyama 3-10-21
http://offsideg.exblog.jp

Ginza 1-9-8 (Okuno Bldg.)
http://www.spinn-aker.co.jp/kobo.htm

Gallery Camellia
http://www.camellia-planning.com/

http://boku.info/

Gallery Ginza Itchome
http://www.ginza1.jp

Yuco Oyama
http://yucoon.com

Illustrator - Nishibata Nobuhiro
http://blog.livedoor.jp/n_nob/

Kobo
http://www.spinn-aker.co.jp/kobo.htm

Vivant Annexe
http://www.geocities.jp/penga_hebime/
http://www.g-vivant.com/galerie/tenji.htm

Masashi Ito
http://www.geocities.jp/massagesidopaintingworld/toppage1.htm

Saihodo Gallery
Ginza 6-7-7
http://homepage2.nifty.com/saihodo/

APS - A Piece of Space
Ginza 1-9-8 511 & 502
http://www.a-piece-of-space.com

Gallery L Mer
http://www.g-lamer.com

Ruike
http://ruike.heya.jp/

exhibit Live & Moris Gallery
Ginza 8-10-7
http://artlive.cool.ne.jp

artist RIXY
http://www.rixy-art.com

galerie non
Suginami-ku
http://www.batta.co.jp

Akane
Ginza 4-3-14
http://www.akane.com

Ichienso
leather & brass artist
http://www.ichienso.com

Vivant Annexe
http://www.g-vivant.com

Gallery Platform Studio
http://platformstudio.nobody.jp/

Yoshino Akira
http://www.355713971.com

--------------------------------------------------------

"The Old Marunouchi Building (1922-1999)"

Describing the Marunouchi Building is complicated, because there are basically four of them! First was the original Marunouchi Building, completed in 1923, and then the Shin-Marunouchi Building (New Marunouchi Building), built next to (not in place of) the Marunouchi Building in 1952. Coming out of the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station, if you walked over to the center of the station (where there is not a general use exit), and faced away from the station towards the Imperial Palace, the Marunouchi Building was ahead to the left, and the Shin-Marunouchi Building was ahead to the right. Fast forward to 2009 and that description stands, except the buildings called the Marunouchi Building and the Shin-Marunouchi Building are completely different new high-rise buildings. The original Marunouchi Building was destroyed in 1999 (or "by" I should say, I think it took some time to first tear down the building, and then to tear out the basement levels and old foundations), and the Shin-Marunouchi Building was destroyed in 2005. The new Marunouchi Building was completed in 2002, and the new Shin-Marunouchi Building (the new New-Marunouchi Building!) was completed in 2007.

This system of naming a new structure that replaces an old structure (at the same location) with the exact same name of the old structure goes way back - thus if you ask how old a particular temple is, for example, you are likely to be told the date of completion of the first one built at that location, while the current structure may well be version number seven (so what sounds like 800 years or so, may be only 70 years for that particular version of the structure, and 800 for the total of several similar structures with the same name, built on the same ground, one after another). With this system, if you visit Tokyo (via time machine) in the year 2817, there may well be a "Marunouchi Building" and a "Shin-Marunouchi Building" that are the 16th versions of the original ones (new, more durable buildings are torn down faster than older, more fragile temples!). This naming custom makes sense I suppose, but in the year 2009, it's a bit of a headache researching (via the Internet) the history of the four buildings with (discounting the "Shin" of Shin-Marunouchi) the same name! This is where a printed book detailing the history of Tokyo Buildings would be far easier to use than the Internet - but I don't have that book, and if it exists, it probably costs a bit more than I would be willing/able to pay. (The library... maybe I should see what they have.)

The thing that has been interesting to me personally regarding 1920-1960 (or so) style buildings in Japan, is that they have reminded me of childhood memories of visiting similar type office buildings that my father worked in. So while I haven't visited the US is over a decade, visiting buildings like the (former) Sanshin Building and (former) Marunouchi Building, has felt a little like going back home in a way. So as they are destroyed, it feels like bridges to the past are being destroyed, and - aside from my personal feelings - I think old structures really are a kind of bridge to the past, and a certain number of them should be preserved.

It's a hard balance to get right in a city. Overly protecting old buildings can fossilize a city, but overly promoting new-new-new like Tokyo does, leads to a feeling of disorientation, where only the under-22 crowd feels at home. Beyond about 20 years, buildings seem to be considered ripe for destruction, so don't fall in love with any structural aspect of Tokyo, for it is only a matter of (sooner rather than later) time before it will be destroyed. It keeps Tokyo from ever becoming boring though. Without even bothering to leave the city, it changes from under your feet! Great stuff I guess... but to avoid getting disoriented, always push forward, forward, forward, and don't try to revisit something from your past - chances are, it will be gone by the time you return to where it once was.

Anyway, if you'd like to come with 1991 me on a quick trip inside the version-1923 Marunouchi Building, have a look at the embedded video near the top of the page.

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

Availability note: For news organizations, media companies, advertising agencies, etc., that might be interested in using any of this material, the original is of basically DVD-level quality. I can be contacted via my YouTube page.

"Tokyo Station - March 1991 #2"

The continuation of a day I spent in March 1991 video-recording in and around Tokyo Station. At the time I took this video (and the others I took in 1990-92), the purpose was to record "present-day Japan", but now - eighteen years later - suddenly the videos are a record of the past. There are a number of things in this video which no longer exist, starting with the area between the back of the old brick station building and the elevated tracks (now part of the expanded platform access area), and including a view of a cigarette vending machine with only Japanese brands (before barriers to imports were lifted), a pre-touch screen ticket machine with it's illuminated round buttons, pre-cell phone people actually using public telephones on the platform, the Dai-Maru Department Store (closed quite a while ago - the building is now being demolished), the Marunouchi Business district before any of the high-rise office towers went up, the Chuo Line running low before the high (and relocated) platform was built, etc:

Availability note: For news organizations, movie-media companies, advertising agencies, etc., that might be interested in using any of this material, this YouTube video is of very low resolution, but the original is of basically DVD-level quality (although converted from Hi8 analog to digital). The video quality is - naturally - not as sharp as images generated by recent digital video cameras, but - interestingly - the sound quality is better. The cameras I used recorded digital sound and had isolated microphones of higher quality (and with wind screens) than the newer digital cameras, which have microphones built into the case of the camera, with no wind screens and higher susceptibility to wind noise. So even if you're not interested in the pictures overly much, if you need authentic sounds from 1990-92 Tokyo, the sound quality of what I have is good. And - final note - this clip is a tiny part of the original footage - I have a few hundred hours of tape from 1990-92.

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

"Running With the Herd"

The first day of my new "leave early" schedule last week (reduced hours due to the bad economy), I left the company at 4:30, and marched down the street feeling half-concerned about the reduced paycheck that leaving early is going to produce, and half-happy at being outside earlier than usual. Since Tokyo is hit by the double punch of being in the wrong time zone to begin with, and also not having daylight savings time; for over half the year, the light is nearly or completely gone by normal quitting times of 5:30 or 6:00. So I happily looked around at the glorious daylight and thought "Now I can take more daylight pictures!". (Some people think I specialize in taking night scenes, but the main reason I have so many night scenes is simply due to that being the only time I can take pictures!) Of course, it'll be more difficult to pay for transportation to go places and take pictures, but if I can manage that somehow, I will have more time to take the pictures in.

And so I approached the train station thinking I had mentally gone over the main parameters of the new situation I find myself in. But... I got on the train, sat down, and within seconds realized that the atmosphere was different. I looked around and saw that in place of purposeful businesspeople and students, there were many older people who looked like they were either retired or just shy of retirement age, but not working; and students. One thing about Tokyo is that you can see students (easily identifiable by their student uniforms) pretty much any time of day or night, weekdays, weekends, national holidays, and whatever other kinds of days there are in the 365 days of the year (well - okay, maybe not on New Year's Day), so that's a constant, but even the students seemed more subdued than usual.

So how has it been at 5:45 instead of 4:45? At 5:45, there's a sense of purpose in the air, with people feeling glad to be off work, and heading somewhere with money in their pockets for shopping, going out for dinner, meeting friends, going home early (no overtime - banzai!), etc. Even the students seem to amplify the generally happy vibes of the working people.

And then, on the weekend, I went out for a walk and noticed a late-teenage (or maybe early twenties) man applying for a job at a restaurant (with an open front, taking advantage of the nice weather). He had an air of quiet desperation about him, and I thought back to my student days when I looked for part time work and felt worried/desperate/etc. until I found something. I continued my walk, thinking of how hard it seems to be to get the balance right - to get it so that you're gainfully employed and making enough money to pay the bills, as well as buy some fun stuff (eating out, acquiring tech gadgets, etc.), and you have enough free time to enjoy yourself outside work. For someone who has achieved that balance, I suppose this is just a lot of verbiage, but the "When I have enough money, I don't have enough time; and when I have enough time, I don't have enough money" routine must be familiar to many - and I dare say most - people.

Finally, the element I tend to overlook when thinking about working society: the element of being comfortable when running with the herd, and feeling unease when stepping away from the herd and finding that freedom comes with the price of increased risk. Standing alone on the sidelines, you want to belong to one group or another. Standing within the group, you want freedom from the group. .................. The elusiveness/difficulty of achieving balance, and the ease of going from one extreme to another.

Would I rather be bored? Certainly not - the constant existence of a quest is what makes life worth living.

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

"Great Contract! - Where Do I Sign?!"

Sarcasm - just in case it's not obvious. It's been my unfortunate experience over the years that just when I think I'm positively dripping with sarcasm and there is no possible way anyone could not see it - just then, especially then, for some unfathomable reason - (some) people mistake the heavy sarcasm for honest enthusiasm and... what? Fortitude? Strength of purpose? Whatever it is, each time I'm flabbergasted at the misunderstanding, and each time I begin to see how politicians get away with their crimes.

So, I'm telling you here, now, in no uncertain terms, that the following "enthusiasm" for a contract I was sent is sarcasm, driven on by disappointment, disgust, amazement, etc.

Here's the story:

The video, or The Train Video. (Do I hear groans? Yeah, I feel your pain - in fact, I'm feeling the same way - maybe even worse I think.) I've had three television stations approach me with offers (excluding one TV show in the UK that I gave permission to use for a single use of the low-resolution version). The first two I'll just give the details from memory, and the last one, I'll show you the wonderful (unsigned) contract itself (with the name of the guilty company taken out of course).

1) I was offered about 100 pounds from a UK broadcaster for (non-exclusive) rights to use the video an unlimited number of times within three years. I wrote back and basically asked "Well - what's in it for me?"

2) I was offered around 200 pounds from another UK broadcaster who wanted (non-exclusive) rights to use the video an unlimited number of times within five years. I wrote back and said (in addition to "Well - what's in it for me?"): "Actually, I don't particularly even want this on TV. It's already caused an enormous amount of misunderstanding due to the way it's been shown out-of-context." In response, I got an indignant-sounding e-mail saying that it belonged to history now, and the world should see it(!), as though that company already owned it and I was getting in the way.... As for the world seeing it, they have been, and are. The total number of Internet views that I know of (mostly stolen copies posted without my permission) is over five million (not counting it's appearance on TV in the UK and the US... and - if what I've been told is true - China and Germany).

3) I am now being offered $350 by a US company for what the contract calls "non-exclusive" rights, but goes on to say (if I'm reading the legalize correctly - let me know if I've got it wrong somehow), that they will - for $350 - get the right to use the material (in any way they like) forevermore - for all eternity - and if they sell it to someone else, they also have the right to use it forevermore - for all eternity. Also, since the company would be paying such an astronomical amount of money for the clip (heavy sarcasm there, for those with very dark sunglasses on who managed to miss it), if ever there should arise some complaint by someone regarding their use of the material, I would be responsible for any legal costs, etc.

Now *that's* a great contract! It brings tears to my eyes. How could they have come up with such wonderful terms? It makes me feel downright warm and fuzzy about the world, etc.

Well, here's the contract (with the guilty party's name removed). Have a look for yourself. And just in case my preamble didn't get the point across, I'm being sarcastic about saying it's a great contract. It's a horrible contract! I do not agree to such outlandish terms! (It even uses the factually incorrect and insulting title of one of the stolen copies of the video!)

LHS


LICENSE AGREEMENT

DATE: 3/23/09

LICENSOR: Lyle H. Saxon, address & telephone #

LICENSEE: [US company]

LICENSED MATERIAL: All Aboard The Train Fail – Japanese commuters get pushed into train.


PERMITTED USAGE OF LICENSED MATERIAL:

Within the television series entitled [xyz program]

LICENSE PERIOD: In perpetuity

NUMBER OF EXHIBITIONS: Unlimited

LICENSE FEE: $350 (based on 100% ownership)

TERRITORY: Worldwide

MEDIA: All media now known or hereafter devised

For good and valuable consideration, Licensor hereby grants to Licensee, a non-exclusive license to use the Licensed Material in the Production for the purposes and in the manner set forth herein. Rights granted include in-context and out-of-context advertising and promotion rights in all media now known or hereafter devised. Licensee may use Licensed Material in all versions and derivative versions of the Production in whole or in part, including, but not limited to any retrospective or “best of” programming at no additional cost. This license is subject to both parties’ agreement to and compliance with the following:

1. Licensee shall have the right to edit the Licensed Material including but not limited to dubbing over or eliminating the soundtrack.

2. Licensor represents and warrants that (i) Licensor has full right, power and authority to enter into, fully perform and grant the rights granted by Licensor in this Agreement, and by entering into, fully performing and granting the rights granted by Licensor in this Agreement, it is not and shall not be in violation of the terms of any agreement or understanding to which Licensor is party, (ii) it owns or controls 100% of the copyrights in the Licensed Material, (iii) the Licensed Material does not and shall not infringe upon the rights or interests of any third party; (iv) all elements within the Licensed Material are either original with the Licensor, or Licensor has the right to grant the rights set forth in this Agreement in connection with such elements, including but not limited to all video and musical elements, master recordings and synchronization rights; (v) the Licensed Material is free and clear of any liens or claims with respect to the use of such Licensed Material in the manner authorized herein, and that such use authorized herein will not give rise to any claims of infringement, invasion of privacy or publicity or claims for payment of re-use fees, residuals or additional License Fees.

3. Licensor shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless Licensee, its officers, directors, consultants, employees, successors, licensees, agents and permitted assigns from and against any claim, demand, action, damages, loss, expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) and other liabilities arising from actions brought by third parties arising from (a) any breach of any of the representations, warranties or agreements made by it hereunder; or (b) a claim that the use of any or all of the Licensed Material infringes any intellectual property right(s) of such party. Licensee shall promptly notify Licensor of any such claim. Licensor shall bear full responsibility for the defense of any such claim. Licensor shall keep Licensee informed of, and consult with, Licensee in connection with the progress of any litigation or settlement of any such claim. Licensor shall not have any right, without Licensee’s written consent, to settle any such claim if such settlement obligates Licensee to make or contribute to a monetary payment; arises from or is part of any criminal or quasi-criminal action, suit or proceeding; or contains a stipulation, admission or acknowledgment of any liability or wrongdoing (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) on the part of Licensee. Licensor shall reimburse Licensee promptly upon demand for any payment made by Licensee at any time to which the foregoing indemnity applies

4. Licensor acknowledges that due to editing and other factors; Licensee is under no obligation to include the Licensed Material within the Production. If the Licensed Material is not used, Licensee has no obligation to compensate Licensor under this Agreement.

5. Licensee acknowledges that its use of the Licensed Material will not affect Licensor's continued and separate copyright ownership of the Licensed Material and Licensee represents and warrants that it shall take necessary and appropriate steps to protect Licensor's copyright and trademarks.

6. Licensee shall be entitled to assign all or a portion of the rights and licenses granted herein and shall be entitled to assign this agreement in its entirety to any person, firm or corporation acquiring ownership of or production rights to the Production without further payment to Licensor. This Agreement is binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of the respective licensees, successors, and assigns of the Parties hereto.

7. This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding of the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof and there are no other representations, understandings or agreements between the parties relative to such subject matter.

8. This Agreement and all questions arising hereunder shall be governed by and construed in accordance with, the laws and decisions of the State of New York without giving effect to the principles thereof relating to the conflicts of law.

[Name of Licensee] [Name of Licensor Here]

By: ________________________ By: ________________________

Its authorized representative Its authorized representative


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Tokyo Station & the Chuo Line - March 1991" (Video)

Another look back at 1991 - the year I walked around Tokyo with a video camera (nearly) always in hand. Most striking in this video is that the current highly elevated Chuo Line platform had not been built yet, so the Chuo Line platform on the same level as the other lines. (When they needed to add a new Shinkansen platform, they had to shift the regular lines over, so the current Chuo Line platform is to the side - and up - of the Chuo Line platform in this video:

The other thing that I noticed in revisiting 1991 Tokyo Station, and the older type Chuo Line trains (a few of which are still on the rails, but not for long, they've been almost completely phased out with a newer type), is that the paint color of the back of Tokyo Station is about the same color as the old solid-color Chuo Line trains. Seeing that in the video, I wondered - for the first time - if that was the reason for the color of the Chuo Line, since it begins at Tokyo Station. I'm sure there's an answer to that lurking on the Internet somewhere, but I need to get some sleep now, so I'll stop here.

Lyle

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

Color Photo from 1934 Japan #1

I just stumbled upon this very sharp looking photo from 1934 Japan. Here is a link to it and a blurb from that page:

Tokyo 1934 • Modern Obi

This photo, taken in Tokyo in May 1934, shows two girls wearing a kimono, and two more girls wearing western style clothes, one of them a middy suit and a hat. The girl with her back towards the photographer is wearing an obi (the beautifully decorated sash used to tie the kimono) which must have been quite modern at the time.

Lyle

"Here & There in Tokyo - February 2009"

With no particular focus (pun unintended) or theme, I've posted a new photo page of various scenes in Tokyo, taken in February 2009. The page is here:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgc/Iroiro200902a.html

There are several pictures taken in train stations.... People have asked me before why I take so many train & train station photos. I don't aim (another unintended pun) to, but I spend so much time on the train system, that I end up taking a lot of pictures there. Also there's the fact that, when you're waiting for trains, you often have a few minutes to do something while you wait, whereas if you're walking, you have to stop to take pictures.

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

"1906 Article - Where is Japan Headed from Here?"

In the September 1906 issue of the National Geographic, there is an an article entitled:

"Japan, America, and the Orient"
By Hon. Eki Hioki
Charge D'Affaires of Japan, 1905-1906

This was written after the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and right after the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), when the world was wondering what direction Japan would be heading in from that point forward. The following are a few quotes from the article - for the full article, see the September 1906 issue of National Geographic:

Now that the Japanese-Russian war is ended, the world seems to be vigilantly watching the next act which will be produced on the stage of Oriental politics. Speculations of various kinds are advanced by all sorts of people. Some anticipate that the next play that Japan will put on the stage will be a peaceful comedy. Some predict that it will be the repetition of another tragedy, while others apprehend both. No doubt the power that Japan developed during the last war with Russia must have surprised the world, but that surprise of the world has surprised Japan more.

Some preach the doctrine of the yellow peril, some question the ambition of Japan, others apprehend Japan's designs upon the Philippines. Such questions as these: Will Japan adopt the Monroe Doctrine for Asia? Will she control China? Will she not beat the Americans in industrial and commercial competition? Will she not monopolize the markets of China and crowd out American goods? Will not Buddhism come into rivalry with Christianity? Will not the 700,000 Japanese soldiers, now in Manchuria, when disbanded, flood the western coast of the United States with Japanese immigration? are constantly asked on all sides.

......................................

(5) Industrial and Commercial Development of Japan

The last war with Russia has increased the national debt of Japan to the amount of 960 million dollars - the interest of which alone requires nearly 50 million dollars annually. It is indeed a heavy, an enormous burden. And every dollar of it, interest and principal, must be paid. Japan will and must devote her full energy to her commercial and industrial development, and with the capability she has shown in the past no inconsiderable achievement can justly be expected of her new efforts. During the ten years that followed our war with China, the wealth of the nation increased more than ten times and we are now perfectly confident that we will fully recuperate from the effect of the present financial drain in due course of time. It is absurd, however, to say, as some ventured to do, that in the course of a few years American goods will be crowded out of the Chinese market by Japanese competition.

--------------------------------

Japan has no hired soldiers. Every Japanese, without distinction of class or rank, profession or trade, rich or poor, is equally under the obligation to serve three years with the colors and several years in the reserves and national guard. Therefore the Japanese army is not like that of some other countries, composed of men who were taken from among those who had no employment. On the contrary, all and every one of the men who compose that formidable Manchurian army had been taken from actual work at home, so that the effect of the sudden withdrawal of hands from the field of industry is actually being felt in the productive power of the nation.

-------------------------

Other points of the article are that Japan and America have a valuable relationship that Japan wouldn't want to damage and that Japan certainly doesn't have any designs on the Philippines. A few decades after this was written, World War-II seemed to indicate otherwise, but maybe this is why the post-war period went by relatively smoothly - since enough of Japan was already on good terms with the US, the new wave of western influence went by mostly okay.

I was going to comment more extensively, but I need to get some sleep!

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

"Y17,000 ($170) for Concert Tickets?"

I almost never go to concerts (although I would like to), but just about all musicians seem to come through Tokyo at one time or another, so I probably should make more of an effort (although competition for tickets in 30,000,000-people Tokyo can be really intense). On February 21st & 22nd, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck performed at the Saitama Super Arena, which is in... er... Saitama.

I haven't been to a concert in a long time - so I would expect to be a bit out-of-touch regarding ticket prices and whatnot these days, but still - when I heard a friend say that they had spent Y17,000 (about $170) for a concert ticket, I was... not exactly flabbergasted, but definitely surprised. (It turns out there were four(!) different ticket prices: Y10,000, Y13,000, Y15,000, and Y17,000.) Actually, I can't even remember what I paid for concert tickets back in the deep, dark ages, long-long ago, when I fairly regularly went to concerts... in... (why am I ashamed to say it?) the mid- & late 1970's and then a few in the 1980's and fewer still in the 1990's, and just a few (classical) concerts in the 21st century.

Anyway, back to the Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck concert. A friend went to one of the two concerts and was still buzzing with concert joy when I talked to them a week later. Looking on-line, I found a review ("Eric Clapton & Jeff Beck: Two Legendary Guitarists Share Stage In Saitama, Japan"), which states:

"Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck - legendary guitarists and former Yardbirds - performed their first co-headlining concert in Japan at Saitama's Super Arena on Saturday 21 February. This was the first time they have shared a bill as co-headliners in an arena show. The 20,000 people in attendance witnessed an event that lasted between two and a half and three hours."

The full review is here:

http://www.whereseric.com/tour/winter-tour-2009/22-February-2009_eric-clapton-jeff-beck-saitama-super-arena-saitama-japan.html

Looking at a concert pamphlet for the Clapton-Beck concert, there's a flier inserted for Deep Purple, indicating that they'll be playing at the International Forum (right by Yurakucho Station) on April 8th & 15th. Ticket prices are listed as Y10,000, Y11,000, and Y12,000. It would be interesting to see them, but I'm not sure I can budget in the ticket price. My hours at work are being cut (due to the economic free-fall), so this is not a good time to be spending money unnecessarily.....

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

"Looking Back (via National Geographic Articles on Japan) - #1"

I bought "The Complete National Geographic - 110 Years of National Geographic Magazine on CD-ROM" about ten years ago or so, and other than playing around with it a bit when I first got it, the set of disks has been sleeping in its box all these years - until last weekend, when I pulled out the disks, and did a search for articles on Japan. Just the titles explain what they are for the recent articles, but the older they get, the more the summary was important to understand what the article was about. (That said, I see the second most recent article (of the set of disks that I have anyway), from June 1997, needed the summary, but mostly the titles worked. For example:

Sumo
July 1997

Just like it says - the article is about sumo. In contrast with the old days, long-long ago, back when Japan was an exotic largely unknown country, a couple of weeks away (was it more? less? I think more for sail; less for steam or diesel) over across the vast ocean, now most people have some picture in mind when they hear "sumo", so the report is explaining the known, rather than introducing the unknown.

Okinawa: Claiming Its Birthright
June 1997
Summary: Japan's southern outpost has hosted the U.S. military for five decades. Some argue that's long enough.

Okinawa comes into the news from time to time, and then there's a long silence, followed by some incident or other that puts it back into the news. For a small island, it really does have a large military presence though. The last I heard, some of the US forces there were being moved to other locations - some to Guam, some to other bases in Japan.

Storm Watch Over the Kurils
Oct. 1996

Four of the islands above Hokkaido are in the news here on and off - I haven't heard anything about them lately. They were in the news a lot more in the eighties and nineties.

The Great Tokyo Fish Market: Tsukiji
Nov. 1995

Tsukiji - billed as the largest fish market in the world (in general, maybe also in this article, I haven't read this since it came out in 1995) is slated to move to a new location in a few years. There was a recent news story that they have found toxins in the new land that the fish market is to be on! Doesn't sound like a good idea to me, but space is hard to come by in Tokyo and apparently they're working to clean it up more before the move. Still, I'll probably have an uneasy question floating around in the back of my mind when I eat fish in Tokyo after the market moves there.

Geisha
Oct. 1995

The word "geisha" basically just means "entertainer", although the modern word for entertainer in Japan (TV personalities, etc.) is "geinojin". It's either a complicated topic (tradition, complicated customs, etc.) or a simple one (modern women wearing ancient clothes and make-up) - but there is something timelessly interesting about it either way. I seem to remember that this particular article irritated me at the time, but I can't remember why. I've have to have a new look at it in 2009 and see what I think of it now.

Up From Ground Zero: Hiroshima
Aug. 1995

I visited Hiroshi myself in 2007, and my comments and pictures are here:
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgc/Hiroshima01a.html

Kobe Wakes to a Nightmare
July 1995

The Kobe earthquake was instrumental in showing that no one is immune to the destructive power of earthquakes. Some of the more bloody-minded politicians had gone on TV after the January 17th, 1994 Northridge Earthquake in Los Angeles (magnitude 6.7) and said that the destruction to bridges and buildings couldn't happen in Japan, since Japanese construction was superior. Then, lo-and-behold, exactly one year later, on January 17th, 1995, Kobe experienced an earthquake of nearly identical intensity (6.8 by the same scale that labeled the LA quake 6.7) and there was widespread destruction of property and loss of life. After the BM politicians' boast that Japanese construction was superior, and there was nothing to worry about, the death toll of around 6,434 in Kobe didn't stack up very well against the death toll of 72 in Los Angeles. I remember an angry taxi driver I spoke with saying "Their lies have been exposed". The way the numbers lined up (exactly one year later; nearly the same magnitude; 72 LA deaths; 6,434 Kobe deaths), I think some people may have come to the conclusion that there was some "bachi-ga-ataru" (divine retribution) in play here for the over-the-top bloody-mindedness of the politicians.

Well, enough of this for now!

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

"Dark Clouds Growing Darker, Thickening Atmosphere..."

I've begun to notice a change in atmosphere on the trains and at work. You can't read of companies laying people off every day and not worry about whether you will continue to be able to pay the rent and buy food. Some example sentences in a few different articles I read just today:

- Japan's exports plunged more than 45% in January compared to a year ago to hit the lowest figure ever recorded, official figures showed.
- Japanese exports to the US, which is at the centre of the slide, fell nearly 53% in January while shipments to the European Union retracted by 47%, Japan's finance ministry said.
- The government said last week that Japan's economy was in its most serious crisis since World War II, after it contracted an annualised rate of 12.7% in the last quarter of 2008.
- Gloom over Japan economy deepens
- Other analysts are worried that the Japanese economic recovery could be completely derailed and that a mild recession could be on its way.
- Japan posted a record trade deficit in January, with exports tumbling 46 percent from a year earlier, as the global economic downturn tightened its stranglehold on overseas demand.
- The Finance Ministry said Japan's trade deficit for the month widened to 952.6 billion yen ($9.92 billion) — the fourth straight month that imports exceeded exports. It was the biggest trade deficit since the government began compiling comparable data in 1979.
- Japan, long criticized by trading partners for its big trade surpluses, has become a net importer in recent months because of the global slump. Exports were cut nearly in half, as shipments of cars, machinery, electronics and semiconductors to all major markets plunged.
- The latest data mirrors the sharp declines throughout the export-reliant continent and signals that the pain in Asia may only deepen in the months ahead. South Korean exports fell a record 33 percent in January from the previous year, Taiwan's retreated 43 percent, and Singapore's fell 35 percent.
- Exports to the U.S. fell 53 percent, with car shipments down 81 percent on a value basis. Japan's trade surplus with the U.S. fell 75 percent to 132.8 billion yen.

This is not looking good. As other people are reading similar dark and gloomy news reports (and people are beginning to lose their jobs), the collective dark radio waves are something palpable in the air. I want to be positive and forward-looking, but the increasingly stormy seas seem to be leading into a full-scale raging typhoon. Hopefully not, but the downward spiral is still headed down. How to turn it around.....

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

National Geographic Articles on Japan

Articles related to Japan in National Geographic Magazine:

Sumo
July 1997
Pages 42-57

Okinawa: Claiming Its Birthright
June 1997
Pages 86-105
Summary: Japan's southern outpost has hosted the U.S. military for five decades. Some argue that's long enough.

Storm Watch Over the Kurils
Oct. 1996
Pages 48-67

The Great Tokyo Fish Market: Tsukiji
Nov. 1995
Pages 38-55

Geisha
Oct. 1995
Pages 99-113

Up From Ground Zero: Hiroshima
Aug. 1995
Pages 78-101

Kobe Wakes to a Nightmare
July 1995
Pages 112-136

Inner Japan
Sept. 1994
Pages 65-95

Kyushu: Japan's Southern Gateway
Jan 1994
Pages 88-117

Japan's Sun Rises Over the Pacific
Nov. 1991
Pages 36-67

Suruga Bay, In the Shadow of Mount Fuji
Oct. 1990
Pages 2-39

Japanese Women
Apr. 1990
Pages 52-83

In a Japanese Garden
Nov. 1989
Pages 638-663

The Prodigious Soybean
July 1987
Pages 67-91

Tokyo, A Profile of Success
Nov. 1986
Pages 606-645

The Pearl
Aug. 1985
Pages 193-223

The Preposterous Puffer
Aug. 1984
Pages 260-270

The Japan Alps
Aug. 1984
Pages 238-259

Hagi: Where Japan's Revolution Began
June 1984
Pages 751-773

Japan's Izu Oceanic Park
Apr. 1984
Pages 465-491

Silk - The Queen of Textiles
Jan. 1984
Pages 2-49

The Japanese Crane, Bird of Happiness
Oct. 1983
Pages 542-556

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot!
July 1983
Pages 2-35

The Lost Fleet of Kublai Khan
Nov. 1982
Pages 634-649

The Chip: Electronic Mini-marvel
Oct. 1982
Pages 421-457

Plight of the Bluefin Tuna
Aug. 1982
Pages 220-239

The Bonanza Bean - Coffee
Mar. 1981
Pages 388-405

Bamboo, the Giant Grass
Oct. 1980
Pages 502-529

Jari: A Billion-dollar Gamble
May 1980
Pages 686-711 Japanese paper mill taken to Brazil.

Hokkaido, Japan's Last Frontier
Jan. 1980
Pages 62-93

Day of the Rice God
July 1978
Pages 78-85

Japan's Amazing Inland Sea
Dec. 1977
Pages 830-863

Japan's Warriors of the Wind
Apr. 1977
Pages 551-561

Kyoto and Nara: Keepers of Japan's Past
June 1976
Pages 836-859

Oil, the Dwindling Treasure
June 1974
Pages 792-825

Those Successful Japanese
Mar. 1974
Pages 323-359

Quicksilver and Slow Death
Oct. 1972
Pages 507-527

Human Treasures of Japan
Sept. 1972
Pages 370-379

Living in a Japanese Village
May 1972
Pages 668-693

Nature's Night Lights: Probing the Secrets of Bioluminescence
July 1971
Pages 45-69

Ama, Sea Nymphs of Japan
July 1971
Pages 122-135

Scientist Studies Japan's Fantastic Long-tailed Fowl
Dec. 1970
Pages 845-855

Kansai, Japan's Historic Heartland
March 1970
Pages 295-339

Okinawa, the Island Without a Country
Sept. 1969
Pages 422-448

Snow Festival in Japan's Far North
Dec. 1968
Pages 824-833

The Bonins and Iwo Jima Go Back to Japan
July 1968
Pages 128-144

Kayak Odyssey: From the Inland Sea to Tokyo
Sept. 1967
Pages 295-337

Japan's Sky People, the Vanishing Ainu
Feb. 1967
Pages 268-296

Shrimp Nursery: Science Explores New Ways to Farm the Sea
May 1965
Pages 636-659

Tokyo, the Peaceful Explosion
Oct. 1964
Pages 445-487 (Regarding 1964 Tokyo Olympics)

YWCA: International Success Story
Dec. 1963
Pages 904-933

Round the World School
July 1962
Pages 96-127

Oregon's Sidewalk on the Sea
Nov. 1961
Pages 708-734

Japan, the Exquisite Enigma
Dec 1960
Pages 733-777 Tradition continues as innovation drives Japan's booming economy

Deep Diving off Japan
Jan. 1960
Pages 138-150

Around the World and the Calendar with the Geographic: The President's Annual Message
Dec. 1959
Pages 832-866 Melville Bell Grosvenor ...... summarizes his own fact-collecting tour of Asia

Okinawa, the Island Rebuilt
Feb. 1955
Pages 265-288

Cruising Japan's Inland Sea
Nov. 1953
Pages 619-650

The Yankee Sailor Who Opened Japan
July 1953
Pages 85-102 On July 14, 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry sailed his black fleet into a harbor south of Tokyo and opened Japan to the rest of the world. (100th anniversary)

The Fur Seal Herd Comes of Age
April 1952
Pages 491-512

Japan Tries Freedom's Road
May 1950
Pages 593-632

Okinawa, Pacific Outpost
April 1950
Pages 538-552

Adventures with the Survey Navy
July 1947
Pages 131-148

Backwoods Japan During American Occupation
April 1947
Pages 491-518

Sunset in the East
June 1946
Pages 797-812

American Pathfinders in the Pacific
May 1946
Pages 617-640

Face of Japan
Dec. 1945
Pages 753-768

Behind the Mask of Modern Japan
Nov. 1945
Pages 513-535

Okinawa, Threshold to Japan
Oct. 1945
Pages 411-428

The Society's New Map of China
Jun. 1945
Pages 745-746

Peacetime Rambles in the Ryukyus
May 1945
Pages 543-561

South from Saipan
April 1945
Pages 441-474

Springboards to Tokyo
Oct. 1944
Pages 385-407

Manipur - Where Japan Struck at India
June 1944
Pages 743-750

Japan and the Pacific
April 1944
Pages 385-414

Timor, a Key to the Indies
Sept. 1943
Pages 355-384

War Finds Its Way to Gilbert Islands
Jan. 1943
Pages 71-92

Japan Faces Russia in Manchuria
Nov. 1942
Pages 603-634

China Opens Her Wild West
Sept. 1942
Pages 337-367

Unknown Japan
Aug. 1942
Pages 225-252

Hidden Key to the Pacific: Piercing the Web of Secrecy Which Long Has Veiled Japanese Bases in the Mandated Islands
June 1942
Pages 759-785

Facts about the Philippines
Feb. 1942
Pages 185-202

Around the World for Animals
June 1938
Pages 665-714

Women's Work in Japan
Jan. 1938
Pages 99-132

Friendly Journeys in Japan: A Young American Finds a Ready Welcome in the Homes of the Japanese During Leisurely Travels Through the Islands
April 1936
Pages 441-480

Motor Trails in Japan
March 1933
Pages 303-318

Japan, Child of the World's Old Age: An Empire of Mountainous Islands, Whose Alert People Constantly Conquer Harsh Forces of Land, Sea, and Sky
March 1933
Pages 257-301

Tokyo To-day
Feb. 1932
Pages 131-162 (Reconstruction after 1923 earthquake)

Some Impressions of 150,000 Miles of Travel
May 1930
Pages 523-598 (William Howard Taft, former President's travel tales)

The Columbus of the Pacific: Captain James Cook, Foremost British Navigator, Expanded the Great Sea to Correct Proportions and Won for Albion an Insular Empire by Peaceful Exploration and Scientific Study
Jan. 1927
Pages 85-132

Goldfish and Their Cultivation in America
Oct. 1924
Pages 375-400

Sakurajima, Japan's Greatest Volcanic Eruption: A Convulsion of Nature Whose Ravages Were Minimized by Scientific Knowledge, Compared with the Terrors and Destruction of the Recent Tokyo Earthquake
April 1924
Pages 441-470

How the Earth Telegraphed Its Tokyo Quake to Washington
Oct. 1923
Pages 453-454

The Empire of the Risen Sun
Oct. 1923
Pages 415-443 Country will rebuild after disasters

Some Aspects of Rural Japan
Sept. 1922
Pages 275-301

The Arctic as an Air Route of the Future
Aug. 1922
Pages 205-218

Adventures with a Camera in Many Lands
July 1921
Pages 87-112

The Geography of Japan: With Special Reference to Its Influence on the Character of the Japanese People
July 1921
Pages 45-84

Western Siberia and the Altai Mountains: With Some Speculations on the Future of Siberia
May 1921
Pages 469-507

Shifting Scenes on the Stage of New China
Nov. 1920
Pages 423-428

The Making of a Japanese Newspaper
Oct. 1920
Pages 327-334

Around the World with the Salvation Army
April 1920
Pages 347-368

Japan
Oct. 1914
Pages 415-420 Series of photographs from Japan, Korea, and Burma

Young Japan
July 1914
Pages 54-64 Every year, a half-million children are born.

The Probable Effect of the Panama Canal on the Commercial Geography of the World
Feb. 1914
Pages 245-248

Do Volcanic Explosions Affect Our Climate?
Feb. 1913
Pages 181-198

Glimpses of Japan
Nov. 1911
Pages 965-1002

Recent Population Figures
Aug. 1911
Pages 785-786

Race Prejudice in the Far East
Dec. 1910
Pages 973-985
Summary: If the United States is to retain influence in Asia, argues the general manager of the Associated Press, Americans and Europeans must recognize that racism toward the people who live there can give rise to potentially dangerous levels of resentment.

Glimpses of Korea and China
Nov. 1910
Pages 895-934

Notes and Scenes from Korea
July 1908
Pages 498-508 (J-rel)

Why Nik-ko Is Beautiful
April 1908
Pages 300-308

Koyasan, the Japanese Valhalla
Oct. 1907
Pages 650-670

The Giant Spider Crab from Japan
April 1907
Pages 280

Women and Children of the East
April 1907
Pages 248-271

Cultivation of Marine and Fresh-Water Animals in Japan
Sept. 1906
Pages 524-531

Japan, America, and the Orient
Sept. 1906
Pages 498-504
Summary: Once perceived by the U.S. as a Yellow peril, Japan now appears to be a beneficial and friendly influence in Asia.

The Population of Japan
Oct. 1905
Pages 482
Summary: Thought Japan's population growth from 1893 to 1903 was not excessive, the recently industrialized island nation faces the issue of urban overcrowding, a problem already well known to Western countries.

Japan and the United States
Sept. 1905
Pages 432-434

The Purpose of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance
July 1905
Pages 333-337

A Chapter from Japanese History
May 1905
Pages 220-228

The Fisheries of Japan
May 1905
Pages 201-220

The Characteristics of the Japanese People
March 1905
Pages 93-100

Observations on the Russo-Japanese War, in Japan and Manchuria
Feb. 1905
Pages 80-82

Some Facts About Japan
Nov. 1904
Pages 446-448
Summary: Japan has abundant coal and raw materials to become a great industrial country.

Geographic Notes
Oct. 1904
Pages 427

Some Early Geographers of the United States
Oct. 1904
Pages 392-404

The Fisheries of Japan
Sept. 1904
Pages 362-364
Summary: Japan's shore fisheries export herring, sardines, and bonito. One out of 20 Japanese is a fisherman.

Agriculture in Japan
Aug. 1904
Pages 323-326

Lessons from Japan
May 1904
Pages 221-225
Summary: Japan produces strong, durable paper and also profits from its bamboo groves.

Japan and China - Some Comparisons
Feb. 1901
Pages 69-77
Summary: The progressive Japanese are compared to and contrasted with the more traditional Chinese. The author concludes that the origins of these two peoples must be quite separate.

The Manila Observatory
Nov. 1900
Pages 427-438 ... storm forecasting....

The Commercial Development of Japan
Sept. 1899
Pages 329-337

Deep-Sea Exploring Expedition of the Steamer Albatross
Aug. 1899
Pages 291-296 Planned voyage from San Francisco to Japan

President Alexander Graham Bell on Japan
Dec. 1898
Pages 509-512
Summary: The President of the National Geographic Society predicts a brilliant future for Japan, and commends the Japanese for their emphasis on education.

The Recent Earthquake Wave on the Coast of Japan
Sept. 1896
Pages 285-289 ["earthquake wave" = tsunami]

Japan
Dec. 29, 1894
Pages 193-199

------------------------------------------------

"Shibuya to Hiyoshi on the Tokyu Line at Night- 1991"

Back in 1991, I carried a video camera with me nearly all the time. This video is of a nighttime trip I took from Shibuya to Hiyoshi on the Tokyu Line

It's only ("only?" Hmmm...) been a little over 17 years, but things feel quite different on the trains these days. No wonder, when you stop and realize that it's a different generation of young people on them - and the young people in this 1991 video are now middle-aged....

The sights and sounds of the trip will likely be familiar to anyone who used that line around that time (October 1991). Several of the windows were also open, which is quite rare now. People seem to like(?!) riding around in sealed boxes now - no mater how nice the weather is outside.

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

"Last of a Long Day at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show"

Watching only the edited set of videos I took on Saturday, October 26th, 1991, the four clips only amount to around 25 minutes, but if I add up the time I spent editing out those 25 minutes from the original two hours I took in 1991, it amounts to about the same length of time I spent with video camera in hand on the day itself in real time (all day that is). That, combined with watching the entire thing (a few times) intently, has brought the day to the forefront of my mind, and I remember the fatigue of the day. Tired here in 2009 from the editing process and remembering how it was to be banging around in 1991 in that crowded show all day (fun, but headache-inducing) leaves me feeling like I've now had quite enough of the 1991 Tokyo Motor show!

I might even have forgotten the headache, but there I am on the screen (not in the edited material posted to YouTube) taking a break in the middle of the day and telling the camera (and 2009 me) that I have a headache and I'm getting tired of the still photographers banging into me as they physically force their way to the front, while I'm trying to take video scenes.

Watching my 1991 self and the 1991 scenes and sounds; and then thinking about it, the specific memory of the headache (and escaping outside for a break) come back. The headache had three causes basically - 1) the incessant, competing, loud, and conflicting noises of the show, 2) being continually banged into as I attempted to hold the camera steady for video recording, and 3) the heat - the exhibition halls were overheated... no doubt for the many scantily clad show-women.

All-in-all, taking a good look at my 1991 material keeps leaving me with (among a flood of related memories) thinking of the following:

1) It's a different era! A seamless flow of time between 1991 and 2008/2009, but there is a great wall somewhere in-between now and then. Different clothes, different hairstyles, different feeling in the air, different thinking, and different this, that, and other things.

2) The "bubble years" are always portrayed on Japanese TV as something akin to "the roaring twenties" in the US, but for most people at the time, it was just news stories of excess on TV, and most people's lives were - shock & surprise - a carryover from a few years before. I have video of children playing in the street in the "shitamachi" area of town (sometimes/often radically-wrongly translated as "downtown" - a more accurate translation would be "low area of town" or "the far side of the tracks", "the poor side of town" etc.) and old 1950's style buildings, etc. What people don't seem to generally comprehend is that the plans laid in that era are what resulted in the modern Tokyo of today. So to around-20 people who say "I wish I could experience what it was like in the roaring 'bubble' years", I say "Take a look around - you've got it! They didn't then, but the results of their plans for shiny new structures and modern lifestyle have arrived! You're there! Now!"

3) The fragility of memory. After watching several 21st century fictional portrayals of the "bubble years", I had begun to see the era as having been (somewhat) that way. This has been the biggest surprise of all for me - since I was here for the entire time, I should know very well how it was, but it has taken watching hours and hours of my life then (recorded by me at the time), to bring back the authentic memories of how it felt and what the atmosphere was, and that atmosphere is radically different from what comes across in modern fictional depictions of the era on TV and in movies.

Number three in particular should give one cause to pause and think hard about... things - all things. If you can be pushed away from reality by fictional depictions of something you lived through (and should know as well as anyone), how can you correctly understand a reality you have had no proper exposure to?

4) From the evidence of young modern actors faultily attempting to portray young people of a different era, it would seem it's no easy task to comprehend how it felt to live in a particular era. (How I wish I had a time machine to go back and sample different eras! I would especially like to go back for photos of certain key events. Better yet, video! Actual video of ancient peoples - would they seem more familiar than expected, or more alien? Of course, to really do the job properly, you would have to be invisible. The sudden appearance of a biped with a picture & sound recording device wouldn't exactly be taken in stride....)

Derailing here... so I'll stop. Here's the link to the fourth & final (unless at some point I use parts of the 90 minutes cut out in editing) of the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show series:

And if you'd like to follow October 26th, 1991's Lyle through the day, here are five videos (the fifth one being a short clip of riding in a car that evening) that cover nearly the entire day. There's one gap between leaving Tokyo Station at the end of 1991-TMS #4 and getting in the car - maybe I'll get to that at some point.

"Tokyo Auto Show - 1991 #1" (I misnamed it; it should be "motor", not "auto")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k_lOBIPTag

"Tokyo Motor Show - 1991 #2"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLa8lm7c9TQ

"Tokyo Motor Show - 1991 #3"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RcBrhe7PXc

"Tokyo Motor Show - 1991 #4"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQkseeKkARE

"Driving in Tokyo - October 26th, 1991"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAl7QM3z-V0

And here are some still photos from the 2003 and 2005 shows:

Tokyo Motor Show - 2003 (a couple of photos at the top & one at the bottom)
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/Random02.html

Tokyo Motor Show - 2005
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/MtrShw05_1.html
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/MtrShw05_2.html
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/MtrShw05_3.html
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/MtrShw05_4.html
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgb/MtrShw05_5.html

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

PS - Valentine's Day in Japan - when women give chocolate to men. I considered posting some pictures of stores selling chocolate, but then I thought "Naw - why do that? It's just a local way of handling a foreign import."

"Cars, Cameras & Models - More of 1991 Tokyo Motor Show"

I thought I would wrap up the subject of the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show with a third edit of the material I took that day, but after editing another five-and-a-half minutes out of the next (around) forty minutes of tape, I decided that was long enough and I'll have to edit one more to wrap up that topic. The video is here:

Incidentally, have on-line videos been playing well for you over the past week? I've been experiencing what looks like a slowdown, probably due to excessive demands being maid on the servers. I read somewhere that something like fifteen hours worth of video is uploaded every ten minutes, or something like that. It's amazing the system works at all with that much material constantly pouring into it! Still, I wonder if the slow results are from my provider's servers, or the servers on the other end.

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

"Grueling Commute in Tokyo"

The daily commute started fairly normally, but then got "fun" on the second train. As I walked into the train, near the front of the wave of people, two determined gorillas took up position directly under the hanging straps near the opposite door. As the twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or however many people (unwillingly made into canned sardines) behind me pushed me into the gorillas, they braced themselves and - doing a good imitation of the Berlin Wall, steadfastly guarded enough empty space in front of them for four people to stand with ease.

And there we were - lots of sardines smashed up against me, driving me into the pair of gorillas, who then looked over their shoulder's at me from time to time with "Why are you touching me...?" looks. For thirty minutes they pushed back mightily - defending that poor, vulnerable empty space - and for thirty minutes, we bipeds-turned-into-sardines behind them, suffered. As the train rolled towards its rendezvous with train number three, I contemplated the pleasant idea of the two of them getting run over by a large, heavy, speeding truck....

Pulling into the transfer station, I expected the two gorillas to also do their best to block people from getting off the train and proceeding to the stairs, but once the doors opened at the station, they turned into regular bipeds. It may be that they were trying to keep a meter of space between themselves and a woman against the far door, lest they be accused of improperly touching her, which is a life-ruining, jailable offense now. Meanwhile... their actions meant that the women in the sardine pack behind them were being smashed that much more tightly between different men. Myopic vision - such a horrible thing. Probably a very large proportion of the suffering in the world is due to someone's bloody-minded myopic vision.

Train number three.... Fun-fun-fun. As I climbed the stairs to the platform, I heard an announcement saying the train was behind schedule, but I didn't think too much about it, since there are so many trains in the morning, the schedule doesn't matter too much so long as they're running. But... as the train came in and I merged with a line (the platform was completely full and people pushing onto the platform from the stairs forced me into that action), I noticed that the train was unusually packed and would likely require a little muscle to get onto.

Crossing the threshold from platform to train, it wasn't as bad as I expected, but the train didn't get under way right away, as it usually does, and as it sat there at the platform (waiting to take on more bipeds in order to take some pressure off of an overloaded train behind it I imagine), more and more people forced their way on-board.

Looking between a couple of heads back towards the platform, I saw four High School girls standing between the lines of people waiting for the next train (and this is the difference between a couple of decades ago and now - many people don't even attempt to get on a really packed train now), staring back at the tightly packed people in the doorway with wide-open eyes and open mouths. I couldn't help but smile at their reactions. It must have been their first experience at a Yamanote Line hub station during the morning crush-rush. They seemed particularly impressed with a nicely dressed young woman who forced her way on, and they kept looking down at her shoes only half on the train - no doubt wondering what would happen to her nice shoes when they were caught in the closing doors. (Incidentally, that's no big deal - the doors have rubber edges and don't press hard enough to break bones or do any serious damage to shoes, etc.)

The train did eventually get under way however, and by then, a few more people had forced their way aboard, so the woman on the threshold who was only half-way in the train, was now fully aboard (behind the newcomers). It was just like the old days in the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line express trains, crowded to a point that's strangely less stressful than when the density is less, but people are still bumping into you - and I suppose "bumping into you" is the key there. When it's really tightly packed, there is no bumping into anyone, since it's just one huge mass of people, so when the train lurches, the crowd inside moves as one - individual will has nothing to do with it.

Further down the line, I realized that I might miss my connection to the next train if I didn't move down the train to a door nearer the upcoming stairs at the (next) transfer station, so I got off (without much trouble, surprisingly) and walked down the platform. As I got in line again to re-board the train, I realized (with a slight sense of alarm) that I might not be able to get back on. The train wasn't sitting around waiting this time, so I began pushing, backing towards the door, and when I got close, I pushed harder... no go... harder still... still no go, so I reverted to 1991-Seibu-Ikebukuro-Line-Express mode (like that wild video... who took that anyway?), and - pulling with my arms from the top edge of the door frame, and pushing with all the strength of my legs, I finally got so my feet were wedged against the bottom rails for the doors. At this point, with both arms up against the upper door frame and both feet set, I formed an arch with my body that could withstand a lot of pressure, and waited for the doors to close, holding back the combined pressure of many compressed rib cages.

Most new arrivals to the platform took one look at the situation and either didn't even try to get on, or went down the platform further in search of a less crowded door. One extra guy forced his way on to the side of me though, and he had a hard time of it, but did finally manage to compact everyone enough to get on. The doors closed somehow and we moved out. (Incidentally, they must use very powerful motors in the trains here, I can't remember ever feeling that the train was having trouble accelerating - no matter how heavily loaded it is.) As the train moved out, it became apparent that the man on my left was not enjoying the ride - maybe he was being smashed into the vertical handrail by the doors - but there was absolutely nothing I could do. I was pinned against the door myself and unable to move anywhere. Fortunately it was only about a three minute ride to the next station.

As we pulled in, I observed that I was right in the middle of the opening, so I anticipated jumping out of the train through the middle of the opening as soon as the two doors were half open. The train stopped... and it sat there for a few seconds without anything happening "Come-on! Get a move on! Open the bloody doors already!" I thought. Then the doors just barely moved about a centimeter, and it was suddenly apparent that there was so much pressure against the doors from the inside, that they couldn't open! But being right there in the middle, I reached my fingers in and gave a mighty pull - forcing the doors open enough to jump out the middle. As I reached my left leg out to cross the train-platform threshold, someone stepped on the back of my right shoe, almost ripping it off my foot. Out on the platform, I stumbled a little, and as I hopped on my left leg long enough to get my right show on, I had a flashback to a news reel from about thirty years ago, where they showed several people's shoes left behind on the platform after a crowd had fought their way onto a train....

Next train - no problem! But I was still frazzled, and when I finally reached my desk, my workmate wasn't overjoyed to hear my tales of the morning battle to get to work. I almost think (recognizing that it is in no way comparable in a serious way) that I can understand (a little) what soldiers feel like when re-entering society, where friends and family don't want to hear what it was really like. You think a wild experience is something people want to know about - but in the passion of decompression, it seems to scare/disgust/worry/something people. So, I suppose the only way to convey it, is to write about it (hello folks!).....

So how will tomorrow's commute be?

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

"The Japanese Automotive Industry - 1991 & 2009"

The Japanese automobile industry was still flying high in 1991 - and a lot of industry money and public attention was spent on the auto show that year. Foreign manufacturers were also pushing to get a better foothold in the Japanese market, in contrast to some large companies not even bothering to display anything at the last show (although private import companies displayed some of these missing companies' vehicles). For a look back at 1991, see this video (the second one covering the show that day):

Beyond the cars, the people had different hairstyles, hair colors, eyebrow thicknesses, and were wearing different clothes. I'm not sure what to think about the car industry - considering how many cars the world's manufacturers are capable of pumping out every month, you have to wonder if it makes any sense to fill up the world with fire-breathing machinery. Something without the internal combustion might be nice - electric?.....

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

"Express Checkout & Future Gambling"

As I entered the station to get on the Yamanote Line this evening, there were announcements about there having been a "jinshin-jiko" (passenger action, which generally means suicide by jumping in front of a train), so the Shinjuku - Ikebukuro bound trains were stopped. After a bit of back-tracking and some trouble, I managed to get on a Saikyo Line train in Osaki. It was pretty intensely crowded though, so I got off in Ebisu and hung out there for a bit, before taking the Hibiya (subway) Line to Hibiya Station (near Yurakucho, etc.), finally getting home close to 10:00 p.m.

(2009/01/22) - Then I sat down in front of the computer and barely managed to wrote the above... before falling asleep in my chair in front of the keyboard. Now it's morning and it's time to begin another day. I really hate the way yesterday consumed itself without my having managed to write anything. Either there are too few hours in the day or I'm spending too many of them on the trains and etc.

Okay - all in a rush here, but here's a quote from the the old Japanese book about Japan (NIPPON - A Charted Survey of Japan - 1936) that I picked up recently. Considering the direction the country went in, it seems interesting...:

"It is unfortunate, however, that there has of late years emerged in our midst a number of those who, though extremely small in number, hold views different from what is common to most of our people. The more radical of this group scheme to supplant the existing polity of the country by a system of Communism. The radical movement of Communism, in fact, has been declining since some years ago. In its place there has now sprung forth a group of reactionary minds which propose to enforce under the slogan of nationalist conservatism ideas as radically right as those of the others are left. Nothing surprising to be sure, if a fraction of the 70 million population have turned heretics; but they must be well taken into the hands of the authority because of the possibility of misleading minds which can know no better."

It's so easy for a country or group of people to fall into one extreme or another - and so hard to get things right. Same as for individuals. The thing that makes me stop and think about this, is how one person, or a small group of people, when moving in a constructive direction, is an inspiring thing... but how the same process also works in a negative way. Best for more people to think deeply about the world they live in, and not leave it to chance for a leader to appear in their midst. Such a method is a gamble that leads to great heights at times, and horrible depths at other times....

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon

"Here and There in December 2008 Tokyo"

The clock has not been cooperating over the past week! I try to get things done and the clock speeds ahead before I can complete things. This has led to many nights falling asleep on the floor in front of the computer, where I end up sleeping the night half-frozen and wake up more tired than when I went to bed. Next night, repeat.

In spite of this bad situation, I managed to post a couple of new things. First a reposting of the 1991 crush-rush train video, which I posted a second time to YouTube due to there being something wrong with the original file. It would play on some computers, but not others. It seems not to work with the newest (version-10?) Flash player. The new link for this is here:

"Actually Full Train in 1991 - Why Flex-time is Needed - Reload"
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BgropnG8rNE

Then I posted a few photos taken in December 2008, here:

"Here & There in Tokyo - December 2008" - Shinbashi, Yurakucho, Setagaya, & Shinjuku
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/PhotoGlryMain/pgc/Iroiro200812a.html

Finally, a short video of driving in Tokyo - showing how many of the streets aren't really intended to handle more than pedestrian and bicycle traffic:

"Driving in Tokyo - October 26th, 1991"

Now to get to work on more things - and get proper sleep at night!

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/
http://uk.youtube.com/lylehsaxon