Today I said goodbye to Osaka and headed east to the city of Nagoya, situated around a third of the way to Tokyo. Originally this was going to be a second Kyoto day but in pulling the trip together I thought it would be good to go to a gig, something I've done previously with various degrees of success in Los Angeles, Seattle and Pueblo, Mexico but never in Japan, or anywhere in the East for that matter. I tried checking listings but wasn't having much luck finding anything. Jamiroquai was supposedly playing the Tokyo Dome but the tickets were over £200 each, and I'm not that big a fan. Underworld who I do love, and who would have been incredible seeing here, were playing the day after I flew home and an EDM festival was going to take place the week after I flew home, just bad luck I guess. However I did come across an Estonian band called "I Wear* Experiment" who sounded really good and so I chose to go and see them and they were playing in Nagoya today, hence the timetable change. The next problem I had was how to buy a ticket, as it doesn't appear possible to do so from outside the country (I think a lot of ticket purchasing happens in the Lawsons supermarket) but I contacted the venue and they very kindly agreed to keep a ticket back for me; how cool was that?
So with that scheduled in for the evening I needed something to do the rest of the day so I thought it would be good to visit Nagoya Castle, a short walk from my hotel in the city centre. It's a country landmark built originally in the 16th century and the centrepiece of the complex is a large multi-storey structure that is now a museum. It wasn't bad with quite a lot to keep me interested. I also met some ninjas there, although I'm a little disappointed I found them so easily.
The evening gig turned out to be a little different than I envisaged. The venue, under the railway line, was tiny and intimate and not the heaving club like environment I'd envisaged. However having said that the atmosphere was great despite the very low attendance; I'd be surprised if the venue holds more than 50 and we had way less than that. Support came from Gregory Uhlmann, a guitarist from the US and local band Mishca who I really liked even if one of the guitarists did spend the entire set with his back to the crowd. I Wear Experiment played last and they were great, it didn't matter that the venue was small, the performance still kept the crowd entertained. The music is great and the band all came across very well. Between acts and after the show I had the opportunity to chat to the bands and in the case of Gregory and Mishca buy their albums as a thank you for a great night (I already have the I Wear one :D ). So whilst I didn't get the big stage gig I expected what I got was a lot more personal and I think I liked that a lot more.
They have cute mascots for everything.
Today's bento for the train journey. I wasn't sure what everything was but I finished it all.
The bullet trains are too fast for the iphones camera and you can get some weird effects from the scenery as it passes by.
The walk from the hotel to the castle was pleasant and the cloudy grey weather that marred my Kyoto day had been replaced with lovely blue skies. It was a tad too hot for me still though. (here I am talking about the weather, such a cliche)
Making your way through the Nishinomaru-enokida group you're taken into the main grounds which consist of the Nishinomaru palace (the lower of the two buildings) and the castle. One wing of the palace had just completed its renovation and was open to the public.
The castle is incredible and looks really tall despite it only having 7 floors; 2 from a smaller castle type building leading into the 5 main storeys of the castle itself. The entire complex is designed to have 5 gates that would need to be passed through before reaching the castle; 5 different levels of security.
Worst ninjas ever. You're not supposed to be able to see them and here they are doing meet-and-greets.
The museum was making a big deal of these golden carp things, well carp with the head of a tiger. Two of them are on the top of the castle and they're apparently totems to ward off fires.
I ascended to the top of the tower and the views were ok, Nagoya was obviously a much flatter city than Osaka.
The other floors offered some history of the area the goings on of the Edo period. There were also relics on display from that period.There was one section that had a small village set up with night and day lighting which was my favourite bit.
and that was Nagoya Castle. Loved it!
I like the blueprint style entrances to the city metro. Here they have around 10 metro lines so it's a nice one to navigate.
Rubiks cube art
KD Japon, the venue for the night was located under the railway line not far from Tsurumai metro station. It was a straightforward trip from the hotel and a nice walk from the station.
First up, Gregory Uhlmann. A gentle start to the night. Whilst not the sort of stuff I would go for I thought this was alright.
Second up, Mishca who I did like a lot. I'm a sucker for a female drummer and more so for one that does the singing. They have a really good sound and I hope they do well. They were very gracious to me when I bought their cd from them.
and finally I Wear* Experiment, an excellent synth pop three-piece with strong vocals from Johanna which came out really well in our small little cosy setting. As an encore she made us all get up and dance which was a nice way to finish :)
Chatting to the band they're hoping to tour Europe next year, I'll keep my eyes open!
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