On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
All good things must come to an end. Captain C, thanks for taking us along on your trip! ~WaterGirl
Captain C
We come to the end of the journey. The day after the baseball game was my last full day in Japan; I went to the Ota Museum and wandered around Shinjuku and Shibuya for a bit, before spending the evening hanging out with C. The next day, I went to the lovely Shinjuku Gyo-en National Garden in Shinjuku, before departing by train to Narita and leaving Japan at 6:20pm on Friday, arriving back at JFK at 6:15pm that same Friday. All in all, one of the best trips of my life and one I hope to repeat (with different specifics; I’d like to see Hiroshima, Kobe, Nara and/or Hokkaido if possible).
While Tower Records is a late, lamented chain here in the US (and in most of the world), in Japan it survives, as their Japanese unit was sold off a few years before their bankruptcy. This particular one is eight stories high, and as I discovered when C and I visited it earlier in the trip, has an entire floor dedicated to K-Pop, and another to J-Pop. We went to the floor which had various Jazz, Blues, World, and Electronic music and spent some time there. As with Los Apson, I showed great restraint and only purchased 3 CDs (albeit 2 of which were 3-album sets): A 3-disc set by the Sun Ra Arkestra, a 3-disc set by Bill Laswell (including some Material), and a collaboration by Bugge Wesseltoft and Prins Thomas.
The Ota Museum houses the late Ota Seizo 12,000-piece Ukiyo-e (woodblock print and painting, popular from the late 17th to the late 19th centuries) collection, and presents them on a rotating basis. C and I lucked into going on the first day of their Hokusai exhibit (which is often off being shown in various places around the world); in addition to the famous Great Wave off Kanagawa, there were many pieces from his various Mt. Fuji series and other work, and also a little exhibit on how the prints were made. No photos allowed in the museum, which was probably for the best, as we could just enjoy and absorb the art.
This is the NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building as seen from Shinjuku Gyo-en. It’s a nice looking building which appears to have the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building as its parents.
The Shinjuku Gyo-en contains several garden styles in it; Formal French and English, Traditional Japanese. There’s a Cherry Tree grove (it was the tail end of blossom season that day) and a few other things as well. The last five photos after this one are all from this lovely place.
Mary G
I spent many happy hours at the Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. Glad to see a vestige remains, and the garden is beautiful.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Mary G: ironically Tower Records wasn’t in a tower
raven
Wonderful!
raven
@Mary G: Last time I was there I got admonished for using a camera!
Stacib
A wow moment for me – I have never seen or known anyone who is familiar with Sun Ra. My son-in-law plays drums for them.
Baud
I’ve always wanted to go to Japan.
J R in WV
Sun Ra… one of the more esoteric and great band leaders ever, maybe comparable with the Mothers of Invention led by the great Frank Zappa. Why am I not surprised someone here is directly connected to the Sun Ra Arkestra!
A great photo set, thanks for sharing this with us…
prostratedragon
A Sun Ra solo organ suited to a stroll in a beautiful park:
Glad to see Tower, or any record store, still exists somewhere. I remember the dangerous thrill of entering such places.
Princess
I was in Shinjuku gyo-en during plum season, which is just before cherry season, Such a lovely place. One odd thing I remember was the choice of toilets in the ladies’ room. Some were ordinary, but some were holes in the floor, meant, I believe, to accommodate women in kimonos.
randy khan
One of the things we did on our last day in Tokyo was go to a garden – a different one, but the aesthetic was similar. My wife wants to plan an entire trip to Japan around gardens, and I think that would be pretty good.
mad citizen
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Yes I had to laugh when my stepson first pointed out the original Tower Records location to me in Sacramento. The “tower” was just an extra tall facade. Californians!
Beautiful gardens, and I would totally go into this Tower Records and try to keep from spending too much time in it. My wife wants to visit Japan
I know who Bill Laswell is/was–I think he played on something by some indie band I liked back in the day. Haven’t listened to much of Sun-Ra yet but have quite a few live boots hanging around in my files.
Geoduck
There’s a whole bunch more Sun-Ra stuff on YouTube for anyone interested. I’ve been listening to whole albums while working on the computer.
mad citizen
It was playing on my mind and I came up with it–Bill Laswell and Sonic Youth. I recall him from some obscure EPs the band put out, but he apparently had a large part in SY’s Bad Moon Rising album too.
laura
Sun Ra Arkestra was one of the first Afrofuterist ensembles on my radar back when I was a young and listening to San Francisco DJ driven FM radio station KSAN. And years later when I migrated to Sacramento and met spouse, we didn’t have 2 dimes to rub between us, so a typical date was going to Tower Records and just wander the stacks talking about music and books and stopping to do some discreet smooching. We’ve still got Tower bookmarks and bags among the flotsam and jetsam of stuff because memories.
I’ll never visit Japan but the Roadie Brothers love it enough for the three of us.
Poe Larity
… and I’m presuming Hallucination Engine.
When ipod earphone sharing in public was a thing, a younger woman was playing that. I should have proposed but I was too stupified. She did compliment my Osmium track. Alas.
tokyokie
@randy khan: When I lived in Japan, a friend visited me, and we planned to spend a few days in Kyōto. We didn’t have time to see everything in the town, so a Japanese friend suggested we visit gardens. But he told me, Japanese gardens are seasonal: Some are spring gardens, some summer, some fall. So I looked through a book on Kyōto gardens, found several that would be in season, and that’s how we made our way around Kyōto. I would highly recommend you do likewise. (And no, I didn’t take any pictures.)
And the Tower Records in Shibuya was a frequent stop for me, as it was just one stop away on the subway. I stumbled across Christmas Cookin’, the Christmas album by the Incredible Jimmy Smith, and a disc by Los Indios Tabajaras, which contained most of the music Wong Kar-wai used in Days of Being Wild. Wave in Roppongi was good, too, although I understand it’s gone downhill. I never have seen so many Ennio Morricone soundtracks to obscure spaghetti westerns as that place carried.
HinTN
@J R in WV: In all my years of enjoying The Mothers of Invention and the Arkestea, I had never made the connection RE: esoterica that you just made for me. Both can be an acquired taste, both are amazing musical statements.
HinTN
As for the photographs, the two of the pond with cherry blossoms call me to put Japan on my bucket list. Especially the wide shot. Thanks for the stroll.
Sister Golden Bear
@Princess: The holes in the floor are the traditional Japanese toilets. Over time they’ve generally been replaced by Western-style toilets.
But you’ll still see them around, particularly public toilets, like parks and the subway. My guess it’s either for cost-saving reasons, and/or there are older Japanese who prefer them.
Captain C
@Stacib: That’s awesome! I’ve seen the Arkestra many times (though sadly not with Sun Ra himself physically present), including a music festival in California, many times at Nublu in NYC, and once in a catacombs, which is a great story in and of itself. They’re one of my favorite bands, and the marching band I play him takes the Arkestra as one of our main inspirations:
This is one of my favorite moments with the marching band.
And here’s another.
Captain C
@Poe Larity: I have Hallucination Engine separately, but on this set…*checks CD*… it’s Temporary Music and One Down by Material and Into the Outlands by Bill Laswell (SXL).
Captain C
Thanks for all the kind words; I’m glad y’all enjoyed these photos. It was a truly great trip.
And thanks, WaterGirl, for the New Year’s Eve slot; I think it fits well.