A brief account of two days

I’ve been going into too much detail, I fear.  I mean, I’m just writing a blog here.  No need to fill you in on every mundane detail of my life.  Just the facts, mam.  I’ll try not to bore ya’ll from now on.

Plus, it takes too long to write down everything, especially when my computer keeps crashing every 10 or 15 minutes.

Two days ago, I walked through Den Den Town (the electronics/appliance/anime capital of Osaka, it seems) back to ‘Jazz Coffee,’ sitting there for about an hour listening to ‘Four and More.’  After I left, I headed up to Dotonbori, where I had heard there was a camera store.  I had left the chord that connects my camera to my computer somewhere in Hong Kong, and I needed a replacement.  The store was so large two Walmarts could have fit inside it, and it sold everything from camera parts to… well, everything.  It was a department store on steroids.  I found what I needed (only $6) and then moseyed over to a nearby Ramen stand and had lunch.  People watching in Dotonbori is tops.

It’s been raining/sprinkling/cloudy since Monday, so I needed a break from getting rained on.  I headed back to my hotel, uploaded the pictures, and blogged for a bit.  After a while I got antsy again, grabbed my umbrella, and started roaming the streets.  I headed South, the direction I had explored the least.  I took the smaller streets, peering into all the little shops and itzakayas (small Japanese pubs).  I was hungry, too, and looking for a place to eat.  It was raining, but not too bad.

Eventually, I found myself in what we’d call the ‘Red Light District.’  I was surprised, though afterwards I remembered Franz telling me about the prostitutes to the South.  There are dozens, maybe over a hundred, small houses, each signified by a white lantern dangling outside.  The first floor is open to the street, and usually lit by pink lights.  Inside there’s a young girl in a nightie or something sitting on a giant pillow, and next to her is an older woman (I’m guessing her madam).  There’s either a door to a backroom or stairs to a second floor. 

These are observations I took in at a glance.  I didn’t of go into any of the places, nor did I stop and stare.  I felt it’d be rude to stand there and gawk.  Most of the girls seemed very, very young, too.  One had braces.

I had wandered into the area pretty deep, and while getting out, I came to realize how large it is.  Eventually, I stopped with the sidelong glances (they were just causing the madams to yell stuff at me) and kept my eyes forward until I made it out of the place.  I past several older, disheveled businessmen heading the other way.

Eventually, I found myself walking down busy street.  The rain was coming down harder.  My stomach pangs were getting fierce when I suddenly heard a 1982 Herbie Hancock trio recording issuing forth from a small stereo.  I turned to see a small roadside eatery, with a bunch of food items sitting in oil.  There were two people in it.  One was the owner, and the other was (you guessed it) the artist I’d met the previous day at ‘Swing Masa Jazz House.’  He said that the owner of this place is his friend.  I could see why.  In addition to a love of jazz, this guy also had cat paintings all over his place (in addition to a real cat who was sleeping directly next to the cooker).

I stopped in, ordered three kebabs of some sort of a meat, a squid (also on a kebab), a piece of corn, and later a beer.  He slapped some very hot mustard on the side of the bowel, and I sat down with the two guys, trying my best to keep out of the rain.  It tasted pretty good.  The mustard had far more kick than I expected, but it was a good mix with the meat.  The squid was my favorite.   It was an entire squid.  Body, head, eyes, and tentacles.  Very tasty, especially when washed down with a cold, cold beer.  The texture was weird, but I got used to it.

I’d been rained on all day, and was tired, so even though it was early, I decided to tuck in.  I grabbed another beer from a vending machine (!!!) and headed up to my room.

I got up at 6am the next morning, opened the window, and stuck my hand out.  When I brought it back it, it was wet, so I assumed it was still raining.  Osaka Castle was out, so I decided to visit the aquarium, which I had heard has whale sharks.  Looking to save some cash, I decided to walk all the way uptown, then take the subway West to the port area where the aquarium is, thus saving myself the money from the connecting subway (about 250 yen).  It was about a two hour walk, but I got there.  I past Namba and walked through the central business district of Osaka, past lots of high fashion and corporate offices.

I caught the green line East and got off at Osakako.  The aquarium was about a five minute walk away, next to a GIANT Ferris Wheel and a small park.  The fee was steep at 2000 yen, but once I got inside, I realized it was worth it.  KAIYUKAN Aquarium I basically an 8 story cube with seven or eight major tanks in it.  You ride an escalator to the top, then slowly make your way down in a spiral, getting different views of the tanks as you go.  There are also many other small exhibits, featuring (among other things) squirrel monkeys, crabs, river otters, jelly fish, and a baby porpoise. 

Incidentally, I could have gotten a 50% discount if I a) had been under 15, b) was over the age of 75, c) had a physical or mental disorder, or d) had an A-bomb survivors certificate.

It’s an amazing place.  My only beef was that there were about ten different elementary schools there on field trips.  Hundreds upon hundreds of Japanese schoolchildren running around and screaming in such a tight space made me feel like my eyes and ears where bleeding.  They were constantly darting in and out of people, and I had to very careful not to step on them.  I really like kids, but drowning in a sea of three or four hundred of them is a horse of a different color.

In the main, central tank, swimming amongst hammerhead sharks, leopard sharks, blue fin tuna, manta rays, spotted eagle rays, two or three scuba divers cleaning the tank, and other things I cannot remember is one helluva big whale shark!  I audibly gasped when I first saw it.  It’s somewhere between 8 to 10 meters long.  It swims slowly, but it gives off this impression of strength as it does so.  Dozens of smaller fish swim around and with it, above and below.  I was in awe.

After leaving the aquarium, wandering around the port and nearby park for a while, I caught the subway back to downtown.  Once I got off, I continued my walk North, for I thought I might check out ‘The Royal Horse,’ another jazz club uptown.  After about a forty-five minute walk, I found the place.  I went in, sat at the bar, and ordered a beer.  It was then the band started sound-checking and I realized what I was in for.

I love jazz.  I really do.  I love most styles of jazz, and I’m not that picky about who I like.  I can find something to dig about almost anyone’s playing.  However, if there’s one sub-category of jazz I’ve really soured on it’s fusion, and that’s what it was last night.  It wasn’t even interesting fusion (although the keyboardist did sound quite tasty, I must admit).  It was smooth jazz with slightly more chords and ever so slightly less lame solos.  Not good enough for me.  I managed to persuade the staff to let me just pay for the beer (which was dark and delicious) and leave without paying the ‘live fee.’  Fortunately, the barman knew the word ‘soundcheck.’

After leaving the Royal Horse, I headed back South a block or two to another place I seen on my way up called ‘Bricks.’  The sign had said something about jazz, so I was obviously curious.  They weren’t open yet, so I took a stroll around in the fading twilight.  I walked down several small streets, through a park near the hospital, and eventually back in big loop that put me back in front of a newly opened Bricks.  I headed down the stairs (the place is underground), and opened a wooden door at the bottom to find…

… my new favorite bar on the face of the Earth.  It’s very, very small, and when I went in it was totally empty.  The walls were partly bricked (made sense), and the parts that weren’t were covered in signatures, among them Rodney Green, Jeff Ballard, and Ray Bryant.  There were a pair of old, great-sounding speakers near the back, and lots of CDs on shelves.  The barman/owner was named Tohyama, or at least, that was his last name.  His first name sounded like Mitzyoshi, although I could be wrong or not remembering quite right (I ended up having a lot to drink).

When I walked in, I heard John Scofield on the speakers.  Mr. Tohyama, who spoke some English, said it was the new record.  Over the next five hours, we sat and listened to bits and pieces of dozens of records.  We talked a bit, too.  He plays trumpet in a local blues band horn section.  He’s owned this bar since 1987, the year I was born.  He has great taste in jazz, or maybe I should just say that he and I have the same taste.  Much to my surprise, he put on ‘Jazz at the Santa Monica Civic, 1972,’ a record I hadn’t heard in years but listened to non-stop in high school.  He told me how he’d bought it when it he was 22.

We listened to Art Pepper, Larry Goldings, Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum, Brad Meldau, Joshua Redman, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Ray Brown, Roy Haynes, Larry Young, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, and a Japanese trumpet player whose name I can’t remember but wrote down (among other things, too).  I’ve never felt more at home in a bar, and I’m glad it was empty.  Some people did come in shortly before I left and ordered some food (Tohyama san is also the cook, as well as the DJ).  I ended up drinking about five or six beers.  He gave me the ‘travelers price,’ which was the happy-hour price sans happy hour.  Very nice man, great bar, and an amazing time.  I will never forget that place, and will try to go again before I go (I would go more frequently, but it’s literally on the extreme far end of Osaka from where I’m staying).

Somewhat drunk but very pleased, I stumbled North to Umeda station and caught the subway home, making it back before they shut the doors.  I woke up this morning with a bit of a hangover, but I’m feeling better now.  It’s noon, and I’m starving.  I’m going to find something to eat.  The sun is finally out, too.  I may visit Osaka Castle today.  Hopefully I can find it this time.

Soupy twist,

Edward

PS~ That was still pretty long.  Next time I’ll try my best to keep things succinct.