“Here’s a video I recently found on my computer: last year’s greek system body building competition. I participated in our teams skit – oddly enough I ended up dancing instead of tricking. A-LA NSync. It’s absurd how drunk everyone else is in this video lol “

“First and foremost, Merry Christmas! Hope everyone has a happy holiday. 2 part update: Christmas in Japan, and my personal experience.

For those of you who don’t already know, Christmas IS celebrated in Japan. However, the way in which it’s observed is different than that of America. In Japan Christmas Eve is in fact the more important day and is often thought of as “”the day for couples.”" Unlike America, where Christmas is a family oriented occasion, in Japan it’s all about your significant other. Anywhere you go it’s literally a sea of couples. To be seen alone would be a bit like an green apple in box of oranges. That being said, of course I spend Christmas Eve with Lisa. Everything was flawless – here’s how it went down.

I threw on a swanky suit complete with violent tie and finished wrapping thing around 10:00. I arrived in Yokohama just before 11:00 and patiently waiting for Lisa, who looked absolutely stunning! We bought bento at the local grocer and had a picnic on the same dock we first held hands. From there we slowly came back through Minato Mirai, reminiscing all the places we’d visited before – the ferris wheel, the base of the Landmark Tower. When dinner rolled around I took her to the surprise location, a cozy restaurant situated on it’s own dock, looking over the water. It was worth every penny. Here’s the slick part: It timed such that as soon as we finished dinner their would be a boat waiting for us on the same dock, which would take us back to Yokohama Station. It turned out perfectly, and we had a romantic walk back to the Tower, which we rode to the top. We chatted for another hour amongst the stars, watching the sea of lights below us. I honestly can’t believe how amazing everything went.

And then there was her amazing presents. She got me a very personal card and a brilliant, limited edition Nike watch. I was stoked, it was exactly the kind of thing I needed! On top of that, she hand knit me a beautiful, warm scarf that I’ve been using proudly for the past two days. All three gifts were extremely touching and thoughtful. My present to her was a box of pet rocks, although she seemed to like it.”

I’m planning on writing a lengthy blog about this, but I’m currently exhausted, so it’ll have to wait until tomorrow. We’ll see you then! Thanks for being patient everyone!

“While we’re at it, here’s the trailer for Toni Takitani: Beautiful.
“

“Before I begin this entry, allow me to preach the glory that is “”Tony Takitani.”" I saw this movie about three weeks ago. My friend, who is a big fan of Japanese cinema and literature lent me the DVD. It was stunning. Nearly every frame throughout the film was shot beautifully. Moreover, the tone of the movie was extremely unique, with a distinct palette and musical score. I’m currently listening to the amazing soundtrack. If you get a chance, find and watch this film.

Time to switch gears. Before coming to Japan I had a set of clothes I believed to express a certain style I hoped others to would see. In general, I wore bright colors such as white, orange, and red, along with a pair of dark jeans and white shoes. The clothes for the torso took shape in hoodies, long sleeves, and t-shirts, usually with some kind of busy, dirty art (take the current banner of my website for example). A couple months prior to Japan I spent precisely $100 dollars on a clean, white north face jacket, which am still in love with. More often than not I’d be keeping my ears warm with a beanie.

This is what I called my style. I’d like to think it’s a mix of breakdancer, snowboarder, and chill. It all adds up to make tricking. In America, I believed people saw me in these clothes, and at least somewhat, understood I was an alternative athlete. I was wary about not buying overly expensive clothes. This, I thought, lead me to me pay more attention to the way I looked instead of how I acted. Generally, my friends back home had styles of their own with a similar mind set: No intricate sweaters, scarfs, or accessories necesssary. A critique I had of Japanese culture since visiting last year was that everyone seemed to wear overly expensive clothes and put perhaps too much time into the way they appeared. However, since being in Japan for 3 months, I’ve changed my mind.

People dress nice here.

I ride the packed train each morning to school, often surrounded by business men and students. For the first few months, I was almost always unknowingly singled out on the train due to my attire. I was wearing the same clothes I’d been used to for so long in America. Yet, this style was unique and yes, very foreign compared to ‘normal Japanese style.’ That being said, the same visual cues I was hoping to share were lost in translation. Wearing white hoodies, dark stained jeans, and gray beanies don’t make you look like a breakdancer in Japan. It just makes you look cheap. I hadn’t noticed this until about a month ago.

Culture shock 101: I was getting on the train home one day after school and immediately spotted a hakujin similar to myself across the car. He wasn’t standing out because of his ethnicity, it was his clothes. To his left was a sharp, clean cut young businessman in a jet back suit and tie – to his right, a well polished young woman with a brilliant coat, an exotic pair of shoes, and a stylish scarf to tie things together. The foreigner stood in the middle with a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and baseball cap.

“”Wow,”" I laughed to myself. “”That guy looks SO bad in between those two.”" My laughter was cut short after noticing my identical predicament.

Maybe it’s a way to stand out in the homogeneous culture. Maybe it’s because they’d rather spend their money here than there. Either way, the fact is Japanese people do dress nicer than their American counterparts, regardless of the style their trying to follow. And yes, it works. It requires a control variable to fully grasp how much difference a couple simple style changes can make. When I first came here, all the girls seemed so much more attractive than what I was used to back home. I couldn’t figure out. “”There are tons of Asians, Japanese included, at UW. Why are these girls so much more appealing?”" Yes, it was the way the presented themselves. It might take a bit more time each morning, but it makes a huge difference. Lisa has a unique natural beauty to begin with but takes that allure one step further with the way she prepares herself. It’s something that I’ve come to appreciate.

Thus, a few weeks ago I decided I needed to clean up my style. Yesterday we went to the outlet malls and I found a slick, stylish dress shirt and a sophisticated coat, on sale for 9500 YEN (exactly $83.86). I wore the coat to school today and immediately noticed a positive change in the way people were looking and talking to me. It was conclusive evidence to the hypothesis I had developed.

Here’s the interesting part. In the past, I saw it as “”if you dress nice, you care too much about your appearance and not enough about your actions,”" or “”you’re spending money on something you don’t need.”" I still believe this holds true to some degree in America. I came to Japan with that mindset and was initially surprised at what I saw. But, as proved by my experience yesterday and today, you can in fact dress nicely in Japan without burning Benjamins, or should I say Yukichis? Not only that, but the Japanese standard of beauty is simply different, no less or no better, than it’s American complement. However, the extra preparation people take before going out is an priceless element absent in American culture. And no, it has nothing to do with vanity. This is yet another cross cultural revelation I’ve had after being for a mere 3 months.”

“Here’s the PV for Ringo’s New Single, ”Senkou Shoujo.”" It fulfills all my expectations of her as a brilliant composer. Enjoy! “

“I had an intoxicating talk last night with Risa about the nature of relationships as viewed by Japanese and Americans. By the end I felt as if my brain had been taken apart and reassembled in a completely different way.

As young American man, I have the following view of relationships: Until high school, it is difficult to develop a deep relationship with those from the opposite sex due to the pressure of physical attraction. In no way do I believe it to be impossible, simply difficult. Once you’re mature enough to talk with members with the opposite sex, you’ll typically go through one or two small flings before finding someone you’re close with. In America, developing this relationship is a very coveted process and something that is, in my opinion, not looked down upon. Occasionally you’ll hear guys say, “”bros over hoes”" or young women saying, “”girls’ night out,”" but, as a whole, your piers will respect your relationship and acknowledge when you’ve made previous plans with your significant other. These relationships typically continue in college, where you begin to meet those, ‘life changing people.’ When you’re living alone for the first time your mind searches for a parent figure, something to respect and guide your growth. In my eyes, these are the closest same-sex friends you’ll ever develop. Not only is there an element of friendship, but a new level of respect which was non-existant in high school that typically comes into play. Finally, after graduating from college marriage become a possibility. I imagine marriage to be a mirror image of “”the respect based friendship”" you build in college, but with someone from the opposite sex – The person you spend the rest of your life with should be your best friend, someone you respect, and someone you’re deeply attracted to. Keeping that in mind, once your married, your wife becomes the most important person of your life. Coming home from work to see her is a necessity – she is your best friend, your lover, and the person you’ve centered your life around.

When I was taking Japanese Society last year, the line that stuck with me most was: “”Japanese men marry twice, once to their wife and once to their company.”" A typical Japanese ‘salary man’ will work from 7:00-8:00 in the morning until 10:00-12:00 at night. He may or may not see his kids when he comes home and he may or may not sleep in the same room with his wife. I thought to myself, “”The Japanese have the roughest relationships! How can a marriage work like that?”"

It didn’t occur to me until after I came to Japan, “”It’s not a problem for a Japanese man to not see his wife.”" For a Japanese ‘salary man,’ his relationships at work are, in fact, typically more important than that with his wife. Moreover, this isn’t a problem for him. Not being able to come home early isn’t a bad thing, because you’re spending more time with the people closest to you, co-workers. As an American riding the claustrophobic morning train, I assumed, “”all these businessmen must be so depressed, working all day without ever seeing their wives.”" In my ignorance, I neglected to consider the fact, “”work, is simply more important to them than their wife.”" That being said, there’s nothing to be depressed over. When I talked to Risa about this last night, it made things even more interesting.

“”Japanese typically value same sex relationships over man-woman relationships,”" she said. “”For example, something we often say is, “”my friend’s are forever, I’ll break up with my boyfriend someday.”"”" This didn’t surprise me at first, as it’s fairly similar to “”bros over hoes”". But, she elaborated. It doesn’t apply to only simple high school relationships; the Japanese typically hold strong to this principle through life, hence the salarymen spending literally all day at work instead of time with their wives. This was a mindset until coming to Japan I had never realized. But, the more we talked, the more exciting things became. Due to the cultural and linguistic knowledge we posses for each other’s culture, I believe my relationship with Risa has even more potential than an “”American American”" or “”Japanese Japanese”" relationship. There are fascinating elements of each culture absent from the other – it’s incredible being able to chose your words from two languages instead of one. The degree of expression is taken to a whole new level.

So here’s the question: Which culture is correct? Is it better to have a strong relationship with your wife, or a strong relationship with your workers? Before you answer, take a chance to consider your own cultural upbringing and how it will affect your response. As Risa told me last night, “”If man had a choice be in any culture, 99% of the time they chose their own.”"

Personally, I chose the girl ; )”

“This is absolutely fascinating: “

“Hello friends. It’s been a few days since I’ve had a serious blog, so let’s get down to business. Today’s topic: Perfect Pitch.

For those of you who don’t know, perfect pitch is, as written in wikipedia: the ability of a person to identify or sing a musical note without the benefit of a known reference. All you musicians out there, you know what an incredible capacity this is. Until recently, I had only met one person that had perfect pitch, and he played chopin blindfolded. Rob could listen to your standard pop song a few times, and then pick out the melody and play it on a piano. If I were to do this, it would take weeks, at best. Well, it just so happens that Lisa also has perfect pitch. But the way she showed me her talent last night was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before; it was positively baffling.

“”Pick any song, but something that I would know,”" she said to me with a smile. “”hmm, how about Tentai Kansoku by Bump of Chicken?”" I replied. Now, my friend in the past, he would need to have heard the song recently and listen to it quite intently before he could pick out the melody. Not only did Lisa play the melody flawlessly from memory, but she did so with chords and a bass line in the left hand. It was like something you watch in sci fi movies, “”the computer that can mimic any sound!!”" only in this case, the computer was my beautiful girlfriend. I was literally shocked out of my pajamas. She proceeded to do it several more times, with any song I could think of.

I’m not sure how hard it would be for someone who hasn’t played an instrument to appreciate this, but as someone who jammed on the piano for 6 years and has spent hundreds of dollars on headphones, it’s the coolest thing in the world. “”If you could have any super power, what would it be?”" Perfect pitch. That’s how insane it is to me. I’ve been getting growing closer and more attached to Lisa everyday, but yesterday really accelerated the process. She is truly an amazing young woman.

This all happened at her house, by the by. Her mom made a fantastic meal and some cake that I am eating as you’re reading this. Ok I just finished it. Her dog is probably the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. All in all, it was another perfect day with my great girlfriend (alliteration). “

“So here go:

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Two of Japan’s top tumblers showed up today and absolutely destroyed everyone with their skill. The intro footage is from the day I tricked in Shinjuku with Lisa. Thanks sweetie I spent a long time creating the first half of this sampler, and kind of threw the second part together because I ran out of time. Either way I hope you guys enjoy it!

In other news I got the phone number of a guy who is working with MTV Japan right now and might be able to hook me up with some kind of tricking documentary. Yay for that! Gotta eat, gotta study, gotta sleep, repeat. peace, train hard.”