A three day festival called Bon Odori marks the beginning of summer. A special dance is performed every night for three nights on a temporary podium. The dance is done to honour the souls dead who have died in the past year. A podium was erected in Inokashira Park. It has two levels above the ground. A circular dance floor and a central higher platform where a large taiko drum is situated. The decoration for a Bon Odori podium consists of with red and white lanterns. There are four lines of lanterns which radiate from the top of the podium into the surrounding trees.

When I first saw this structure complete with dancers in yukata (traditional summer garb) I realised that this is the dance that Speilberg wrote into Karate Kid 2. The dancing looks great and the festive atmosphere, with the the lighting from the lamps is very cosy but the best feeling was that of making a connection between my experience of Japanese culture in Australia through Karate Kid 2 and the genuine article here in Japan.

Street Vending in Shinjuku – I am interested in selling my wallet and coin purse somewhere in Tokyo. I see a lot of people who have just set up their stuff on the street and I was thinking that this might suit me. I’ve been concerned about the legality of this activity though. Another hint came from some signs I read which said that street vendors are not allowed. To my mind this meant that normally it is OK. Recently I spoke to a Russian street vendor in Shinjuku about the legality of having a table set up in Shinjuku selling stuff. He said that it was illegal but because he is married to a japanese woman the police don’t bother him. As for me and my working holiday visa, I might get deported. So I guess street vending is out of the question after all.

Four of the japanese vetinary students and I left Axxcis at about 2am to head to Atom. By this time I had given up on the idea of getting the last train home and had instead opted for the all nighter.

On the way to Atom, two of the girls wanted to go to sing karaoke together. So it was just me and the two others.

The first concern was to find a 7eleven and get some more money out. After this was accomplished I was finally in a position to buy another beer. Not surprisingly everything after this point is a bit of a blur.

We arrived at Atom soon after. The cover charge was 2000 yen and unlike Axxcis this included a free drink. The bouncers at Atom were fine. They asked to see my ID and I was let in without any trouble. The first thing I do after I get into the crowded club is to try to get a beer with my free drink token. It turned out that the free drink only covers all 500 yen drinks and beer costs 700 yen so I had to hand over 200 yen as well as the free drink token to claim my beer.

The place is really crowded. On one of the levels the music is happy techno. This level is the girls’ favourite level so we spend most of the time here. Everyone is dancing and at some point a special song comes on that the girls get excited by. They dance on the podium. The special song comes with a special syncopated dance that I never really get the hang of. As I am dancing I notice a section, running the length of one wall, where only women could be.

The level above was the R’n’B level. That was my favourite part of the club as it was not so crowded and the music is more laid back. It has a big glass window that overlooks the happy techno level below.

The lowest level was electronic trance techno where there were plenty of green lasers, which always look good.

When we get out of the club it is light. I get one the girls’ details. It was a pretty fun Friday night.

So my attempt to get more money had gone awry. Plan B was to try my hardest to get into the music that was playing on the dance floor while I waited for my friends to come. By this stage the dance floor was still half empty so I felt a little self-conscious but I took comfort in the fact that my friends would be arriving in about 20 minutes.

20 minutes later I got a text from my group of friends . One of them had forgotten his ID and wasn’t allowed to enter. In an act of solidarity they forewent the special entry tickets to Axxxcis  and decided to go to Camelot. Camelot is another club whose bouncers are presumably more understanding about missing IDs. I should have met them outside but I didn’t want to upset the Axxcis bouncers again, because I really didn’t want to leave just yet. The place had not yet come into its own.

I decided to explore the place a bit more. I discovered another dance floor upstairs which was where everyone had gone to. There were two electronica musicians making music with a beat box and a laptop and two people painting pictures on the canvases. The place was much cosier than the other two levels and not too long after I started dancing a group of Japanese came on to the dance floor too. One of the guys from the group actually came over to me, mentioned something about me looking frustrated and promptly introduced me to his friends. We all got talking after a while we went to the couches that were positioned near the walls. The girls in the group were studying vetinary science which I thought was very interesting.

Some of the vetinary science students were keen to leave Axxcix and head to Atom. Atom was a familiar name because an Australian friend hates the place. I hadn’t yet been so I asked if I could join them and they said yes.

The group of friends that I had been fortunate to meet had to leave after about half an hour of conversation. I decided to look a round at the dance floors again. They were a bit more populated than before which was good so I tried to get my groove on.

After a while I couldn’t take it any more. I couldn’t help thinking what a stupid rule it was that would effectively prohibit someone from getting more money and spending it in the club. I could only guess that the argument for such a rule was to avoid the confusion that can occur at the entrance when trying to determine who has been in and who hasn’t.

I went down to the ticket window and started explaining that I needed to go to an ATM to get some more money. Eventually they agreed and I hoped that the bouncer got a good look at my face so that he would remember me when I returned.

My bank is Shinsei bank which means I can get money out from only 7elevens and MUFGs (but only during certain times).  It turns out in the area surrounding the club for a few kilometres in every direction there are no 7elevens and at that time the MUFG that I found would not serve me. It took me about 45mins to admit defeat and return to the club.

When I got back to the club, the bouncer, whom I had previously taken pains to ensure that he remembered my face, had now been replaced by two other bouncers. I asked one of the bouncers whether the previous bouncer was coming back. They responded that he would be coming back shortly.

While I was waiting and had just begun to think that in fact the previous bouncer was not returning any time soon, one of the people whom I had met earlier asked me if I needed some help. I explained to him my situation and he talked to the bouncers on my behalf and I regained entry. Luckily they didn’t ask whether I had been successful in my attempts to get more money.

Last post finished with me facing the prospect of  spending the next hour trapped in an almost empty club with only a beer to keep me company until my friends arrived.

Normally when faced with this type of situation I would try to drink more but as I only had 300 yen left and as I was not allowed to leave the club to find an ATM I had to suffice myself with the one beer I already had.

The second thing I would normally do is to go to the dance floor and start dancing. I couldn’t do that either because there was yet no one on either of the two the dance floors.

The only thing left to do was to quickly find someone to talk to. I made my way to a room that I recalled had the highest number of people in it. Once there I saw an attractive woman sitting by herself. I gestured to her whether I could sit next to her. She seemed very against this idea. I quickly turned and approached a group of three. In particular a portly kindly looking man. I asked “Eigo o hanesemasu?” He said yes. I can’t really remember what we spoke about but I was introduced to his friends and I was able to sit down with them so I was safe from the embarassment of appearing alone. Now I just had to sip my drink really slowly.

I began talking to these people about whether they had been to Australia which they had. He introduced me to his two friends who were in a couple. The woman was Chinese and her husband was Japanese. They spoke some English.  At a certain point another friend of their’s came over and had a short chat. It turned out he spent two years in Sydney studying English.

After a while the fatter guy left and when it became clear that the couple had to go too we all got up from the chairs and went our separate ways.

I haven’t been in the habit of going out to any Tokyo clubs. This is mainly because of the expense but also because I have been busy finishing a website. By the time last Friday came around I had finally finished the website work so I was looking for a way to have some fun.

Last Friday some of the other house mates were planning to go to a club in Shibuya called Axxxcis. They had been there the Friday before and said that it was a good place to meet some interesting Japanese girls. Two of them had special tickets that could give free entry to two people or 1000yen entry for three people. Naturally I was interested.

The others were going to get to the club at around midnight which was after one of the ticket holders finished his shift at a French Restaurant.

This start was too late for me. I didn’t want to waste the next day. I wanted to get there earlier, have some fun and try to get the last train home. I decided that I would get to Axxcis early, pay the full cover charge, which couldn’t be more than 2000 yen, get a number from at least one girl and get out of there before my ears start to dull from the loud music.

I arrived at the front of the club at 10pm. I asked what the cover charge was and was told it was 3000 yen. The place looked a bit dead. So I decided to get some dinner at McDonald’s.

At 10.45pm I took a deep breath and went in to the club. After paying 3000 yen it took me some time to realise that I wasn’t getting a free drink. I was a bit disappointed but I had enough left to buy one inside. The place was still dead at this time which was bad because there is no place to sit/stand alone without people noticing. I had a good hour to kill before my friends arrived so I checked the place out and bought a beer. 700 yen for the half a can’s worth of beer. I didn’t have any more cash on me and there was a rule that meant I couldn’t go outside and come back in so I knew that I had 1 hour to slowly drink the smallest glass of beer I have ever seen.

The last couple of weeks I’ve been noticing people lighting small fireworks in Inokashira Kouen. I asked some of the house mates and it turns out that a celebration called Hanabi is coming up soon.
I know that hanabi means firework because I saw a Japanese movie in Sydney called Hanabi in 1997. The movie starred Takeshi who is a famous actor here and whom I often see on Japanese TV. That movie was about

a violent and unpredictable ex-police detective who quits the force after a terrible incident that results in his partner, Horibe (Ren Osugi), being confined to a wheelchair. After his retirement he spends much of his time looking after his wife Miyuki (Kayoko Kishimoto), who has leukemia. The film moves at a deliberate pace and devotes much time to exploring their relationship. Nishi has also borrowed money from the Yakuza to pay for his wife’s needs, and is having difficulty repaying them. Meanwhile, Horibe takes up painting and creates works of art that are surrealistic and beautiful.

Wikipedia

As you can see this movie has little to do with fireworks except that the guy who takes up painting after being confined to a wheel chair paints some fireworks at some stage. At the time of seeing the movie I must have been curious enough to ask someone what the title meant. Hana means flower and bi or hi means flames. I have known the word ever since.

Everytime someone asks me why I came to Japan I always mention a few bits of Japanese culture that made their way to Australia. I usually mention Monkey Magic or Saiyuuki as it is called here. Hanabi the movie is another example of Japanese culture that I gravitated to without ever having set foot in Japan itself.

In Australia fireworks for personal use are banned. You need a licence to use them at any rate. To get this licence you need to answer such questions as “Is it ever appropriate to light a firework inside? Yes , No , Maybe” and then pay some money to pay for the application process. For those people that like quizes the answer to the above question was Maybe but you should write No if you want the licence.

I think the reason they are banned in Australia is that too many people, mainly children, were doing dangerous things with the  fireworks. To my mind the most dangerous thing that one can do is to painstakingly remove the powder from each firework in order to pool this powder together into one large firework. This process is frought with difficulty and many people, mainly children, lost eyebrows and worse.

The joy that I felt from thinking about being able to do that which had been forbidden for so long finally spurred me into action. I organised some of the house mates to come with me to the nearest park and let loose some of these fireworks high into the cool night air.

But it was not to be. I bought a bag of hanabi from the Seven Eleven. The bag consisted of hand held fireworks and none of the fireworks of the flying variety that I had anticipated. Although I was thinking that these Japanese fireworks were nothing but gorified sparklers, I stemmed my disappointment and with the help of the others tried to light the sparklers as quickly as I could. I decided to light the smallest most boring fireworks first and then progress to the larger ones but one of the Japanese house mates said that the little ones were to be used last.

We all waved the hand held fireworks in the air, took photos and when the fireworks were finished we marvelled at all the smoke we made.

The little fireworks were the last ones to be lit. One of the house mates  said that these were the original hanabi fireworks. This is the type I had seen people using in the park earlier. They are called senkou hanabi and they just look like little lengths of red string.

They are usually lit with a stick of incense, two of which were provided in the pack, but using a lighter was a lot easier. After the flame of the lighter is removed the red string glows orange until the glow turns into a small glowing bulb which hangs to the lower end of the string. The globe gets slightly bigger as it consumes the remaining fuel. At a certain point the globe starts to emit the most exquisite orange sparks. Because the light emitting from these senkou hanabi is so small you can really get a good look at the structure of these sparks as they fly off. For the finish the orange globe falls into the dark ground.

While in Japan I have been making a coin purse that I want to sell at some outdoor markets and shops.

Last Sunday I intended to sell them at Yoyogi Earth Day market. As a consequence I was up all Saturday night trying to get the coin purse into a state where it could be sold. It ended up being quite a fun night because the other housemates were having a party. In the end I felt that my product needed some more work so I didn’t end up selling it at last Sunday’s market. I haven’t checked when the next market is yet but I have some time I think before the next one.

The Oakhouse staff have just made a new wooden deck which will be great for enjoying the breeze on balmy summer afternoons. It wasn’t three days after hearing about the deck idea before a large portion of the work was complete.

Since coming from Australia about 8 months ago I have lived in 3 guest houses. the first two were for about 10 people. The Oakhouse one that I am currently in has about 34 people.
The place is very large. If the the plan of the house is like a big capital “H” then the entrance is on the bottom right corner of the “H”. While in the ganken you see a long hall with rooms on either side. My room is past the lockers and is the first on the right.

If you follow the connecting part of the “H” you will see a toilet there are four youshiki toilets and one urinal. There is a industrial sized box of toilet paper on the floor.

If you keep on going past the toilets down that connecting part of the “H” you will get to the other hall. On the left side is the kitchen straight is the three showers one for women and two unisex. On the right extends another hall with rooms much like the first hall I described. I am in the dormitory and we have our own shower and ofuro so I don’t use the shower near the kitchen much.

About a 5 minute walk from the house is Inokashira park.
If ever some of the residents want to hang out and drink that is a good place to do it. Luckily two of the residents play guitar so we have our own musical entertainment on hand. There are japanese locals in the park too. Towards the end of the night they come over and introduce themselves which is always a fun exchange.

I live in the Kichijouji guesthouse. I am currently studying Japanese at a school in Shin-Okubo, which is near Shinjuku. I am from Australia. Life in Japan is interesting.

I am enjoying studying Japanese.  I have been studying it for 7 months while living in Japan.

Recently I’ve started looking seriously for programming jobs here in Tokyo.  I applied for a four jobs in total so far. I got one prompt knock back and no responses from the other companies. I found the job postings by following links on  theblackship.com and metropolis.co.jp. I am not sure what is  wrong with my CV.

I got a message from a facebook group the other day calling for Caucasians to take part in a clinical drug trial. After I did a quick search on the drug they would be testing on me I applied for that too.

I also applied for an english instructors job. This represents a turn around as I had previously sworn against teaching English. I saw the advertisement for this job and saw that there is a school located close to Kichijouji. The work is well paid and comes in 90 minute bundles.

My language school is interested in me doing something for their website. I may be able to get a scholarship if I do end up helping out, which would be good. I have to show them something by the end of the week.

I have started doing the bins with two others here at Kichijouji.

Other things include:

Checking emails. Making my product for Tokyo market or shops. Going to Tokyu Hands to get materials. Walking from Shin-Okubo to Shinjuku. Having to find a 7/11 in Yoyogi because the ATM in Takashimaya department store is MUFG and as such stops servicing Shinsei Bank customers at 8pm.

I made some stickers with my logo on it for the product. They look good.