Just like last year, I went to the "Kita-ku" Karate Tournament, which is one of the oldest karate tournaments in Tokyo still running. Kita-ku is the northern region of Japan and the school I work at is conveniently a part of this, so naturally the karate club was competing. All the students competed in individual kumite and there was a Seiritsu grad (past members of anything are affectionately known as OB's, or "old boys") who entered individual kata and helped comprise the kumite team.See above was a board breaking demo. The sensei who's arm just had a board broken over it (R side) is some 75 years old...... intense.......
On Friday night, one of my roomates was going to what he called an "experimental noise" concert. What the heck, I figured, and I went along.
The club itself played a lot of techno, but not trance or house or anything like that....... it was really bass heavy and at times strangely arrhythmic. I'm sure there's a name for the genre, but I have no idea what it is. Dancing, apparently, consisted of swaying like zombies to the "beat"..... very interesting, to say the least......
The band that was playing is called Kuruucrew, a 5-man band that play what I would considered something that borders between ultra-heavy metal and flat out noise. There was a drummer, a guitarist, a bass guitarist, a saxophone player, and a guy who played a flourescent light tube.... and I'm not joking.....
I have yet to figure out how he "plays" it, but it almost looks like he had a mic hooked up to it and then he just turns the tube on and off to generate that characteristic buzzing noise. Then he feeds the noise through some reverb pedals to make............ "music". I've also yet to figure out how he manages to turn it on and off so consistently because anytime I turn on flourescent lights, they tend to flick randomly for a few seconds before fully turning on.......... oh well haha....
As for the band, it borders on simple loud noises atop a 130+bpm beat. Upon a background of constant guitar feedback and nearly constant bass strumming and bass drumming is that light tube "guitar", almost random cymbal crashes, and that saxophone (also mic'd through reverb pedals) which I could never hear.
Beyond that, they had 3 dancers (one male, one female, one yet-to-be-determined) in skin-coloured leotards and green Hawaiian grass skirts pole dancing. They also pulled stockings over their face like bank robbers. Dancing consisted of....... anything....... from spastic jogging-in-place to interpretive arm waving...... and moshing from the audience at the front......... I didn't partake =P.....
The band played a 30min set which was, for me, an.............. experience, let's say =P....
Tokyo Motor Week
Now that the Tokyo Motor Show has returned to its biennial roots, there isn't any big car show until the Tokyo Auto Salon next January. In response to this, the Japan Automobile Manufacturer's Association (JAMA) held the Tokyo Motor Week. Held in three locations, the motor week gave the public a chance to see new models from various Japanese manufacturers, last week in Yokohama and Odaiba, and this weekend in Roppongi.
It's set up like those "display shows" often seen in malls, where the cars are more like adding to the action rather than being the action itself.
I went to the one in Roppongi, held in the rather high-end Tokyo Midtown shopping complex.
Unforunately, despite the ads claiming to appeal to younger audiences with live DJ's and guest appearances, the show didn't offer much. In fact, each "display" was a single car. And, seeing as "average" people tend not to buy cars with "uncomfortable" sport suspension, "cramped" sporty interiors, and "noisy" performance engines, it was mildy interesting at best. They did have an Evo X, but that's not anything to get that worked up over.
There were, however, a couple other neat things.......
Such as these....... whatever they are. I know they're two back-halves of a Nissan Cube welded together. I have no idea what they're for though.
And this.....
Yes, that is really the dash for the Toyota Crown Hybrid. Yes, it's a complete LCD screen, capable of displaying...... well...... anything. Including a picture of the car when you get in. Also note the little unit on top of the steering column. That houses a sensor that constantly monitors the driver's eyes in case the driver is shoulder checking (ie- not looking forward) and the car bears down on some obstacle. It then beeps at you to warn you about the impending crash.... =P
The last thing I'd like to mention is that the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo is connected to this shopping complex, and the driveway of the hotel had cars worth more than the entire show including a V-10 Audi S8 and a long wheelbase Rolls-Royce Phantom.......
Tomorrow I'm off to a karate seminar led by Antonio Oliva Sensei, the Spanish National Team Kumite Coach and coach of "iro iro" karate world champions. He's in town for the World Karate Federation World Championships next weekend. And you can be sure there'll more to read about that next week =)......
2 comments:
What is "Iro Iro"?
The other day, I saw an Audi S8 (I think) with the license plate of "OPEN RD". I thought that could be your old boss.
I guess it must be a very fancy car!
Dad
It means "various"....
Yes, that is indeed Christian. Up until recently, he used to drive a Lexus (amongst his other cars)....
But when Audi put a V10 in the S8, he decided he'd rather drive that around instead....
And I don't blame him haha....
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