New Year, New Kind of Geisha?

Visit Sayuki's Website

As I'm sure most geisha enthusiasts already know, Aussie social anthropolgist Fiona Graham made her formal debut as a geisha in Tokyo's Asakusa district on December 19th after a year of training, or "feild work", as she refers to it on her website. Just in time to begin the new year as Japan's first western, professional geisha, she is already planning to release a book entitled "Sayuki: Inside the Flower and Willow World" and a documentary that will be filmed throughout the year.

The maiko of Kyoto endure intensive training for 5-6 years before earning the honor of turning their collars and becoming full-fledged geiko.

Graham's professional name, Sayuki, comes from the Chinese character 紗 sa, meaning gossamer and 幸 yuki, meaning happiness, wish or fortune. This could be translated a number of ways: Delicate Delight, Ethereal Joy, or Sheer Bliss (^_^)v

Graham recieved her MBA in Psychology and teaching from Oxford before beginging her study of social anthropology. She has spent half of her life in Japan, graduating from a Japanese high school long before becoming the first western woman to graduate from Tokyo's Keio University.

Read the Telegraph's article: Westerner inducted into mysteries of geisha

Merry Christmas Maid Cafe

Sneek a peek at this trendy, invite only fashion show cum Christmas party held at a popular maid cafe in Tokyo. Marvel at the sexy sweet servant style. Wince at the high pitched voices and childish cuteness. Behold: Japan at it's weird and wonderful best!

"Tokyo Sanka" English Translation: 東京賛歌 : Bump of Chicken

In celebration of the recent release of Bump of Chicken's newest album, Oribital Period (chock full of good tunes like Namida no Furusato, Planetarium, Supernova, and Hana no Na.), I humbly present my very own translation of the Tokyo Sanka lyrics. If you haven't heard it yet, check out this video (orginally posted by Abbey) with some very Tokyo-core images to set the mood. (Still waiting with bated breath for the new video...)



Bump of Chicken = Best Japanese band. EVER.

*****

Tokyo Hymn (Tokyo Sanka)

It's a town with sky and earth
How is it different from the town where you grew up, I wonder?
Why can you tell the difference, I wonder?
I guess you've been taught since you came here

Things like all the lies, the cold, not being able to see the stars,
A storm of troubles
It's the revenge of things not going well, I guess
You started and quit so many here

What was it that you came here to do?
For whose sake was it?
Roads and railroad tracks are connected but... that's so but...
Jump out as you please, struggle along as you please
This town is all that you know
The drawer of your abandoned dream

Back then they were always nearby
The people you hate and like
Nowadays, do you care?
I guess you realized since you came here

No matter where a person goes
They are same as always

Separated from somebody and separated from yourself
You're alive!

Chosen as you please, hated as you please,
This town is all you have
The place where you, who can't go home, are

There are lots of lies everywhere, don't you think?
After all, when you can see the stars, you lose interest, right?
Among all the people passing one another by,
I think there are more than a few who came here
For similar reasons

What was it that you came here for?
Who was it that decided?
The earth and the sky are connected
The future and the past,too

You jumped out as you pleased, struggle along as you pleased
This town is all you know
The continuation of the dream you got back

Chosen as you please, hated as you please
This town is all you have
The place where you, who can’t go home, are
This town is all you have
The way back home to the place you grew up…

I Went to Tokyo...

And all I have to show for it are these silly pictures (^-^)/Ye Old Coot and I jumpin' around at Sensoji (Temple) in Asakusa.

Holy backpack, Batman! The Old Coot, The World or Bust and Mboogiedown go to Tokyo!


West Side represent! Chillin' with our homie the Emperor at the Imperial Palace.

Aaaand...
Which promptly inspired this puri classic...

Mboogie is Back!

It's been a rough couple of weeks for those of us in the J-blogging community, first with the almost fatal blow dealt to Gaijin for life's Mobile Man, ending the short-run yet incredibly entertaining "Ketai Cinema". Then there was the inexpliable disappearance of my entire blog, which seems to have magically reappeared thanks to the kind folks at Blogger (and the grace of God)! Mboogiedown-Japan has been MIA for some time now, lost in cyberspace, but having been given a second chance, I am determined to take my blog to new heights...to create a new and improved, possibly trilingual Mboogiedown 2000, capable of ruling the world! Same great taste, less filler! Or more filler? I don't know...wakaran! 分からん。Ganbarimasho! 頑張ろ！

View of never-ending skyline of Tokyo from my hotel room at Keio Plaza, Shinjuku.

The Tokyo Recontracting Confrence and the strange sequence of events leading up to it have brought me to ask the question: "What exactly am I doing here, anyways?" This is a question all JET's must ask themselves, sooner or later, even when they don't know the answer. Sometimes it is the asking of the question that makes one realize that they don't know the answer. That would be me right about now, and there's nothing like eating Mexican food and hanging out with a Mariachi band from Cuernavaca to call one back to one's latin roots...

Me and J-Blo, Fiesta style at La Fonda de La Madrugada in Harajuku, Tokyo!

Well, Mexico is slightly out of reach at the moment, and I'm not really sure what God has in store for me, but the great thing about Tokyo was that I was able to fill my yearly quota of 'refried beans and guacamole eaten' in the span of about three days! The actual confrence part of the trip was slightly bunk, as expected, but afterwards, Tono crew trips to Little Mexico and a late night round of Karaoke made up for it! I also finally got to meet Gaijin himself (of Gaijin for life), and made it to Asakusa Shrine to see the famously huge red lantern. Me thinks, however, that I shall have to go back to Tokyo on a non-JET related adventure for furthur exploration...and to find me buried treasure. Arrrgh! (cue best pirate accent).


A mother leads her child through the famous 'Kaminarimon' (Thunder Gate) of Asakusa Shrine on their way to preschool. 雷 is the kaji for thunder (kaminari).　門 is the kanji for gate (mon).


Preschool children in their uniforms. Cho-Kawaii! 超可愛い！