January 3 - This was my last day in Japan. I started the day by meeting my friends at Buddy’s store at 10:30 am. Our first stop was to do some shopping at Costco which is about an hours drive by car. We took 3 cars, and I got to ride in Enocky’s van with him and Jun. I can’t tell how weird it was listening to Buck Owens “Live in Japan” CD while riding in the car. We all took turns being the DJ in the car. Who would have guessed that Van Halen’s first album would be the hit of the day! Afterwards we went to a record store that was having a half off sale on used CD’s. We all walked out of there with a couple of CD’s each, and didn’t pay more than a 1,000 yen! Now it was time for dinner, and do my friends like to eat. We decided to go out for Korean BBQ were you can cook your food right on the table. While we ate were talking about music, and then we started asking what was the first concert we ever saw. The responses were seeing Miles Davis in a small auditorium, Ted Nugent at Budokan, and the Ramones at a kabuki theatre! Do you see why I keep coming back? It just gets better and better every time I visit.

Here is what an average day is like:

AM - Usually wake up between 5 and 7, depends on the jetlag. I could not get over it the whole time I was there during this visit. I’ll go for a walk around 8am. No stores or shops are open, only convenient stores. There are convenient store like 7-ll, AM-PM, Lawson, and others that are on every block! Around 9am I return home and have breakfast. Usually eat some fruit or bread from one of the local markets. Between 10am and 12pm I’ll either go shopping at the big department store located in the train station that is only a few blocks away or go to one of the local game centers and play video games. I got reacquainted Street Fighter Zero with characters I had never seen before. Once the local kids saw a gaijin (tourist) they would watch me play and give me tips on how to use the special moves. The younger kids know English better than the adults. I wish they had pinball machines in their arcades, but they don’t in the Kokubunji area.

PM - Most shops and small stores are open for business at 12pm. There are 4 small record stores nearby where I am staying. One record store is right next door! Since I can’t read kanji I have to literally go through everything. Most of the stores are categorized by Rock, Jazz, Blues, and Japanese Pops. You won’t find Bob Dylan under “D”, it’s under “B”. After awhile you catch on as to how they alphabetize. I’ll spend 2 or 3 hours easy looking at records and CD’s, afterwards I’ll go home and have lunch or eat out somewhere with the wife and mother-in-law. Maybe I’ll take a nap in the mid afternoon for a couple of hours or go to Rat Motor Beat. Rat Motor Beat is a vintage store my friends Buddy and Misuzu have in Kokubunji; it’s on the other side of the train station where I’m staying. It’s only a 5 minute walk to get there. While I’m there we will listen to music and talk in English and Japanese. Buddy plays in a band called Charlie & the Hot Wheels. They sound like the Ramones meet the Beach Boys. I saw them play last year and they really kick ass! He always takes me to shows and gets us on the guest list. He and his wife are the best tour guides ever! He’ll close his shop around 8pm and we’ll either go out to dinner or I’ll meet up with him later to go to a concert. If I go home for dinner, we’ll usually pick up something from a local shop and eat at home. It can be a lot cheaper this way. Not much to do after dinner except watch t.v.or listen to music. Watching t.v. with the sound off and playing Japanese sixties tunes is one of the things I like to do at home. The weather this trip was perfect, it didn’t rain at all the whole time there. Everyday was sunny and the temperatures were around 60 degrees!