Artist Statement

Of the many reasons I came to Japan, one was because of Japanese music. A few years back, I recall listening to a modern Japanese rock CD and being quite blown away. Everything seemed much more creative, interesting, and original than anything found in the mainstream American world. Even Japanese pop, while often times generic fluff or outright bad, is generally produced far better than American pop.
Shortly after I came to Tokyo, I became friends with a small-scale local band. Over the last six months, I have been to the majority of their shows and have hung out with them for hours afterwards. Despite the obvious communications problems, as their poor English is much better than my very poor Japanese, we have become friends and always look forward to seeing eachother.
Being in a band before in America and helping friends in other bands extensively, I understand what it's like to play shows, practice, record, and live the life of an independent musician in a country where everyone has their own equipment, a place to practice, and a vehicle to haul gear around with. In Japan, but especially Tokyo, I'm learning that the situation is quite different. It is my intent to follow this band around and create a mini documentary about their lives and how they preform in the city. Hopefully their experiences and music can create a snapshot of a band in the largest metropolis in the world.

Three day project 3

On the third day of my project, it was a weekday afternoon and slightly raining. Unlike the other two times, the park was almost completely deserted. I was hoping to talk to someone, however most people didn't seem interested in talking or didn't know English. There was an old man who was practicing sword-fighting with an umbrella.

I did get a chance to walk around the track a few times It was quiet and relaxing. I took some pictures from inside the loop.


I took a close up of the "Dogs must be kept on leashes" sign. I liked how the leash was looped around the circle and slash, yet everything else was in front of it.


It was almost a different place from the original site I had visited over the weekend, as it was empty and practically deserted. It was interesting how thick the grass was in the center, something I didn't notice from afar.

Three day project 2

On the second day of my three day project, I revisited Inokashira park's running track on a weekday after 5.  Unlike the first day, there were a lot fewer runners, but there were a ton of people with dogs.  The atmosphere was very relaxed and people were just enjoying themselves.

 

Three day project 1.

For my three day project, I decided to go to Inokashira park.  This park is near my house and normally, when I get free time, I go to the lake by Kichijoji station.  There is another part of the park where there is a big track for running that I rarely ever visit.  For this project, I thought I would explore this area.

On my first day, it was a sunny weekend and I saw all sorts of people running around the track and just relaxing in the middle.  There was a large group of high school aged kids playing games and after a while, a baseball team appeared and started just doing stretches and hanging out.

What really struck me was the rage of ages of people running around.  There were old and young people, men and women, some dressed in full running gear and some dressed in just shorts and t-shirts.