Thats right, back in Los Angeles after fifteen years in Japan. Feels strange to say the least, like I never really left. Getting back into th music scene a little at a time but I am mostly just letting my family get used to their new lives in a new country. My daughter loved the beach and can't get enough of it. The warm southern California weather keeps us there a few times a week. Anyone who will be at the NAMM show next week, let me know. I'll be demonstrating at the K-T-S booth.Links:
I've been living here in Japan for 15 years now and I always get a good crack up when I talk to my fellow Americans about Japanese culture and customs. I've written up a top ten list of Japanese misconceptions: 10. Japanese people are worried about "saving face" - I have never even heard a Japanese person use that expression. Japanese people are just like the rest of us and pretty much want to get ahead and could give a flying crap about how people perceive them. The Japanese do however hate to be embarrassed and try to avoid situations that may lead the an embarrassing outcome. Still, the concept that the Japanese are more concerned than the rest of us about how they are perceived is news to me.9. Japanese women are submissive. Ha! My wife would kick my ass if I tried to make her do some kind of mystical oriental sex technique on me. 99.9 percent of married women do the finances and make the decisions around the house. Granted most married Japanese women don't work but they don't take orders from anyone. Submissive? Don't make me laugh.8. Japanese guys all know Karate. Ha! I've never even met a Japanese cat who knows Karate. Judo is definitely a better bet because they have a Judo team in high school. Kung Fu is Chinese by the way as well as Bruce Lee.7. Japanese people have a better appreciation of nature - Oh yeah right! You couldn't find a blade of grass anywhere in this country. Or a natural beach for that matter. Japan is completely paved over. Japanese people like to tell you that they have a special appreciation of nature but it is a bunch of crap. I will say however that Japanese people do keep the place clean. You would be pretty hard pressed to find any garbage anywhere in this country but everything has to be paved over first. Safe and clean, but far from natural.6. Most people in Japan speak and understand English - No way. Japanese and white Americans are similar in this way. Neither speak a language other than their native tongue. I hear it a lot; "It must have been a big adjustment living in Japan. But most Japanese people speak English right?" Wrong. Although it is true that all Japanese kids start studying English in middle school, they never learn how to speak it. They don't have any desire to do so. The reason is pretty simple: they don't need to, every expensive hotel anywhere in the world caters to the Japanese and has someone who speaks Japanese for them. English and Japanese would seem to be the international hotel language. When you have a bunch of cash, you don't need to be bilingual. Go to Taiwan for example and it seems most everybody speaks a few languages.
5. Japanese, Chinese and Koreans are all pretty much the same - If you believe this you deserve a slap in the head. Geographically, spiritually, culturally completely different. The only thing Japanese have in common with the Chinese is that they borrowed the Chinese characters (known in Japanese as Kanji) ages ago and not until the Heian period (794-1185) did they start developing their own written language. Even though they borrowed Chinese characters a few thousand years ago, the spoken language is completely different. Japan, compared to their Chinese neighbor is tiny, a tiny island or actuall a series of islands, and completely safe and clean. If I had only one thing to say about Japan and nothing else, I would tell you the it is the only place in Asia where it is safe to drink the water. The Chinese and Koreans hate the Japanese for the most part because they have yet to make amends for World War II where China and Korea paid the price for Japanese aggression. Japanese culture was outlawed in Korea until recently but have been enjoying cross cultural exchanges lately. There is a decent sized hall inside the Japanese embassy in Seoul because that was the only place you could hear live Japanese music in Korea at one time (I know because I played there once as a guest of Japan). Although the Japanese love Chinese and Korean food, Japanese food is completely different. Delicate I suppose with the lack garlic and strong spices. Different in every way, don't confuse Japan with its neighbors.4. Japanese people are all spiritual - You're killing me here. It is pretty much standard behavior for a Japanese person to have a Christian wedding and a Buddhist or Shinto funeral. Japanese people all generally have a formal religion (actually two of them) but are by nature Atheists. But, one thing I will give credit to the Japanese for is that for a bunch of Atheists they have managed to keep their country relatively safe and as a whole the Japanese are pretty scrupulous people. Americans tend to believe in God more and live by his rules less. Japanese tend to follow the rules of their religions and both Buddhism and Shinto do play a part in society but it is more of a tradition more so than a spiritual belief and most Japanese do not believe in a God or spirit or afterlife, heaven or hell. Regardless, I have traveled all over the world and can say honestly that Japan is the safest country I have ever been to. So much for Religion.3. Japanese chicks are hot for foreign guys - Nope. Sorry, there are some women who like foreign guys but most of them would never marry you. The Japanese women who would marry a foreign guy usually are the ones who want to have careers of their own. Most Japanese women have little interest in working after they are married and most parents would forbid their daughters to marry a gaijin or foreigner anyways. Also, Japanese women hate hairy men. Second, they hate muscles, they prefer men that pluck their eyebrows. Granted they do enjoy the manners of Western men who tend to pull out chairs and open doors for them unlike their Japanese boyfriends. But all and all they find foreign men more of a nuisance than anything else. 2. Japan is too expensive to live a normal life - This has changed in the last fifteen years that I have been here. True, it isn't an inexpensive country but take it from someone who lives in both Tokyo and Los Angeles, Los Angeles is more expensive. Japan has gone through deflation for as long as I have been here and I have slowly watched prices come down. I remember thinking American guitars were out of hand back when I first got here but now it is about the same. Rent is expensive but so is the rent in LA. Both Tokyo and Los Angeles sport about $2,000 a month price tags for a two bedroom in a good area. Rent is cheap in the suburbs, maybe an hour out of Tokyo. Food will set you back a little more here in Tokyo, especially the price of produce but you can still find a health Japanese lunch for about four bucks. You also have to remember that you don't need a car to get around in Tokyo and most companies pay your transportation fees. Also, everybody is on the national health care system so health care is cheap. Property is more expensive in Los Angeles thanks to the Fed. Granted it is safe to assume that per square meter, Japan is more expensive but considering that a condo in LA is 500 grand you have to be making some cash to buy your own place. A slightly smaller place in Tokyo would set you back less. I'm not sure what the statistics are but take it from someone living in both cities, Los Angeles is a money black hole, especially considering that you can make more money in Tokyo and you a guaranteed a bonus two times a year and severance whether you quit or get fired.1. Japanese put soy sauce on everything - This is one of my pet peeves regarding Americans. Anytime I go out to eat Japanese cuisine in the states, I always get grossed out by the way Americans insist on putting soy sauce in their rice. In Japan I have never seen any Japanese people do this. I think the only reason they put soy sauce on the table on Japanese restaurants in the states is because Americans keep asking for it. The trick with eating Japanese food is balancing out the rich flavor of certain foods with the white rice. Even with Sushi, you are supposed to sort of brush the fish side of the Sushi in the soy sauce, not the rice side. And Sushi and Sashimi, is one of the few foods that you actually put soy sauce on. Japanese tend to cook with soy sauce but it doesn't get too much attention other wise. So see if you can lay off the soy sauce or at least refrain from drowning your rice in it, the cook is peaking out of the kitchen laughing. Links
Got the chance to record using the new "Duality" console made by Solid State Logic. It is probably the first commercial recording done using the board, so I sort of made recording history yesterday. SSL consoles are pretty much the standard mixing consoles since the early 90s, they are in just about every commercial recording studio. They became popular because of the advanced automation feature I suppose, in other words, the board remembers the mix and recalls it. The boards are analog and the new one was designed to interact seamlessly with Pro-Tools. I wrote the song for my old flame and Joey Carbone (legendary Los Angeles producer, song writer) came in to play the keyboards and did the perfect arrangement for the tune. There is some stuff I still want to fix (my guitar especially) but it came out pretty good I think. Have a listen but keep in mind it isn't mastered. Takashi Fujimura did the mix. We're a bunch of goofballs so after the session someone said; "Let's all take a photo in front of the SSL console to commemorate the the first ever recording using it!" We took a look at the photo and discovered you can't even see the console because we are blocking it. If you want a good look, check the link below.
Links:
I'm going to miss not having to worry about violent crime and robbery. You don't realize it living in the states because it is a daily thing, but it is a drag having to deal with danger. I realize it everytime I get into LA, it starts when you get out of the airport. You have to think to yourself; "Where is my suitcase?" and "Where should I lean my guitar while I take a piss?" and "Maybe I shouldn't be carrying this much cash on me." I have never once been concerned for my personal belongings or for my safety for that matter here in Japan. America could take a lesson from the Japanese on scruples and morals. I remember once while in LA I sat down and had a slice of pizza in a restaurant with my guitar sitting next to me in its gig bag. I got up and took 10 steps from where I was sitting and realized I left my guitar back at my seat. I went back and got it and caught a bit of the conversation the guys sitting at the next table were having. One guy said to the other guy; "Shit, he remembered his guitar." They where waiting to steal it. On the other hand, one time here in Japan, I was trying to catch my train one morning to go to the college where I teach guitar. It was a hot summer day with a hundred percent humidity. I was rushing to get my ticket and all of a sudden someone tapped me on my shoulder. I looked behind me and it was this guy in a suit and tie who was sweating and breathing like he had just ran the marathon. He had obviously been chasing me. He told me I dropped some money on the ground and gave it to me, about fifty bucks. Imagine that. In the States it would have been long gone. It is a cultural difference I guess. I mean, think about it for a minute, we as kids say that stupid saying; "Finders keepers, losers weepers" which basically means that if you find something it is yours and who ever lost it is shit out of luck. In Japan, for the most part nobody would want something that belongs to someone else... Sure to bring you bad luck. Something that you could not imagine in the sates, shop keepers sometimes have their goods out on the sidewalk in front of their stores. Customers take a look, find what they want and bring it inside to pay for it. I'm an American patriot but I wish America was a safer place for my family. It could be if we all wanted it to be so.Links:Crime in Japan
As many of you may know, I'm relocating my family back to Los Angeles. I'll still be coming back to Japan to teach and play but I will move my home base to the South Bay. I've been living in Japan for 15 years and the Japanese way of thinking and life style has become a part of me and I've decided to post a few memoirs of my life in Japan here on this blog.
I came over from Los Angeles in 1990. I had been to Japan before and have always liked the country, its modern conveniences and love for gadgets contrasting with its Buddhist and Shinto roots. The first thing I recall is the urinals at Narita Airport in Tokyo and the way they automatically flush, once while you are doing your business to prevent any embarrassment and once again when you are done with your business. The Japanese can't imagine actually touching the little lever that flushes the urinal and try to keep things as "touchless" as possible. Not too keen on germs. I've almost never seen a urinal in Japan that doesn't flush itself. Matter of fact, a lot of the toilets are automatic too and are wired to keep your butt warmed. You can control the temperature with a little lever. There is also a button that sends a stream of warm water to clean your nether eye. Go figure... an automatic bidet. American toilets leave a lot to be desired compared to their Japanese cousins. The public toilet stalls are also much better in Japan than in the States. The little room with your heated toilet and automatic bidet has walls that go from the floor to the ceiling so you can escape from reality and don't have to worry about anybody peaking up under the door like in an American stall. In America if you made the stalls like that you would have people living in there or at least having sex. In you home the toilet is in a separate room from your bath tub. Again the Japanese could not imagine something dirty like a toilet could get put in the same room as a bathtub where you want to get yourself clean. I'm going to miss going to the bathroom.Links:
Thats right, back in Los Angeles after fifteen years in Japan. Feels strange to say the least, like I never really left. Getting back into th music scene a little at a time but I am mostly just letting my family get used to their new lives in a new country. My daughter loved the beach and can't get enough of it. The warm southern California weather keeps us there a few times a week. Anyone who will be at the NAMM show next week, let me know. I'll be demonstrating at the K-T-S booth.
I've been living here in Japan for 15 years now and I always get a good crack up when I talk to my fellow Americans about Japanese culture and customs. I've written up a top ten list of Japanese misconceptions: 
Got the chance to record using the new "Duality" console made by Solid State Logic. It is probably the first commercial recording done using the board, so I sort of made recording history yesterday. SSL consoles are pretty much the standard mixing consoles since the early 90s, they are in just about every commercial recording studio. They became popular because of the advanced automation feature I suppose, in other words, the board remembers the mix and recalls it. The boards are analog and the new one was designed to interact seamlessly with Pro-Tools. I wrote the song for my old flame and Joey Carbone (legendary Los Angeles producer, song writer) came in to play the keyboards and did the perfect arrangement for the tune. There is some stuff I still want to fix (my guitar especially) but it came out pretty good I think. Have a listen but keep in mind it isn't mastered. Takashi Fujimura did the mix. We're a bunch of goofballs so after the session someone said; "Let's all take a photo in front of the SSL console to commemorate the the first ever recording using it!" We took a look at the photo and discovered you can't even see the console because we are blocking it. If you want a good look, check the link below.
As many of you may know, I'm relocating my family back to Los Angeles. I'll still be coming back to Japan to teach and play but I will move my home base to the South Bay. I've been living in Japan for 15 years and the Japanese way of thinking and life style has become a part of me and I've decided to post a few memoirs of my life in Japan here on this blog.
