Category: Japan

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Hello everyone, it’s been half a year. How have you been? I’ve been so busy practicing the piano that I haven’t had time to write this blog. Practicing the piano at my age won’t really lead to anything, but my body and mind crave it. As a result of following this feeling, I hardly had any time to write this blog. Haha.

Today is Sunday, and perhaps because I practiced in the community center’s piano room yesterday, I unusually felt like writing this blog from the morning. It’s currently the rainy season in Japan, but it’s already as hot as summer. The unique humidity in Japan makes it incredibly hot during this time of year. Despite this heat, today was the voting day for the Tokyo gubernatorial election, and I went to the polling station. Haha.

With the pandemic now over, the streets of Tokyo are overflowing with foreigners. There are Chinese, Koreans, people from Southeast Asia, white people, black people—travelers from all over the world. Sometimes, with all the different languages mixed together, I find myself wondering if this is really Japan. Recently, I’ve seen many people who seem to be living in Japan rather than just visiting as tourists.

In the park, there was a noisy parent and child playing with a remote-controlled car. When I listened closely, they were speaking Chinese, and I was surprised to realize they were Chinese. Japanese people don’t usually play with remote-controlled cars in the park, I thought. But why would a Chinese parent and child be playing in a Japanese park? People who are just visiting Japan wouldn’t leisurely play in a park, so I speculated that they might be staying in Japan for a longer period.

One night, when I went to a convenience store to buy alcohol, I saw a white man at the register paying for electricity and gas. A tourist wouldn’t be paying utility bills at a convenience store! So, I concluded that this white man probably lives nearby. During the pandemic, I hardly saw any foreigners, but in the past year or so, the number of foreigners living in Japan, or at least in Tokyo, has significantly increased.

I don’t agree with the recent news and online information calling for the expulsion of foreigners. However, for those who are going to live in a place for an extended period rather than just travel, I think they should live according to the local customs and rules. There’s a Japanese proverb that says, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” I would like to advise foreigners who have started living in Japan to follow Japanese living rules. If they do, I’m sure they’ll find Japan to be a wonderful country.

I want a friend

Original song available for download. Ample preview options! Why not give it a listen? If you enjoy it, you can purchase it via PayPal.

  • YUKIO　Fifteen songs with guitar accompaniment and vocals
  • YUKIO PIANO　Thirteen piano accompaniment with vocals songs
  • COCOLO　Thirteen band-formatted songs
  • SUN　Thirteen band-formatted songs　
  • MOON　Ten band-formatted songs
  • AOMORI　Mini album of 5 songs
  • STORY　Thirteen band-formatted songs

I’m distributing my music on various platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Line Music, and Amazon Music. I recommend listening to my work through these platforms. CDs are also available for purchase

typical Japanese

Hello, this is Hisashibiri. Today is December 31st, which is New Year’s Eve 2023. I’m Japanese, but there are some Japanese customs that I just can’t get used to. One of them was that at the end of the year, all Japanese people do a lot of cleaning. They cleaned the inside of their house to make it shine without a single speck of dust. lol

When I was a child, my parents used to clean the house from top to bottom in preparation for the New Year, even though they had a lot of fights. Even though it’s this cold winter season, they don’t even turn on the stove and are raging the hallways and rooms. As a child, I had no choice but to do what they told me. LOL There is no such absurdity in the world! That’s what I thought as a child.

I wish we could stop this custom! I still think about this even now as an adult. So I asked Chat GPT if the custom of year-end cleaning exists in other countries and regions other than Japan, and I was told that it seems to be the case in China, South Korea, and Iran, and that it also exists in Jewish tradition. I was somewhat convinced that it wasn’t something only found in Japan.

However, year-end cleaning is still a pain for me and I don’t want to do it. It’s just that my family looks at me with disdain. LOL When I went out without cleaning or wrote a pointless blog like this, I would get some snarky comments like, “It’s the end of the year, so make sure to clean your room!” I won’t give in to this kind of peer pressure unique to Japan! I find myself rebelling against my family every year.

Just because it’s the end of the year, why do I have to do a big cleaning? Where did the individual freedom of not having to clean go? Is there any point in cleaning even if you fight and ruin your mood? I’ll do as much cleaning as I want after New Year’s! I always make a promise in my heart every year, but in the end, on New Year’s Eve, I will take the initiative to grab a vacuum cleaner and clean every corner of the house.

I am a typical Japanese person. very loud laugh

Happy New Year everyone!
​

You can download YUKIO original Japanese songs! Would you like to listen? You can also listen to it. 

I also distribute music on other sites.

sweltering night

Hello everybody. It has been a while. I wonder if there are people reading this blog, but I will proceed without worrying about it. smile

As if the corona turmoil is coming to an end, a large number of foreign tourists have been pouring into Japan recently. I’ve covered this topic many times, but sometimes foreigners who come to Japan, especially those who come to Tokyo this summer, are very surprised.

It means that the weather in Tokyo is unreasonably hot. Not only is the temperature high, but the humidity is also high, and the stagnant air between Tokyo’s buildings is hell on earth. Lol In Japan, these hot and humid nights are called sweltering nights. And my original song also has the same song, “Nettaiya”.

This time, I started streaming distribution of the album “MOON” containing this “sweltering night”. I think you can feel how hot and uncomfortable the tropical nights in Japan are. And to commemorate the streaming distribution, I also made a video of “Nettaiya”. I’m wearing a Japanese fox mask and playing the guitar. lol　Instead of using a pick to play the guitar, I tried using a rice scoop that Japanese people use when serving rice. LOL Like in this video, would you like to sit on your knees with me and sing “Nettaiya”?

A fox ghost may appear in your hotel room in Japan! No, you may have just seen an apparition when you were sleep deprived due to the excessive heat of summer nights in Japan.

For the time being, all 10 songs of the album “MOON” have started streaming! Please listen to it!

You can download YUKIO original Japanese songs! Would you like to listen? You can also listen to it. 

I also distribute music on other sites.

Why don’t you come for a walk in Inokashira Park?

In my previous article, I wrote that the number of foreign tourists has been increasing in Nakano Broadway, a shopping district near where I live, and I would like to introduce another place where such foreign tourists are increasing. It is a park called Inokashira Park in Kichijoji.

In fact, I am singing a song in this park. (Laughs) I am singing an original song that I wrote myself. (Laughs) Singing in the park was suspended during the Corona disaster, but recently the ban was lifted, so I have been singing there again.

Inokashira Park is a large park in the suburbs of Tokyo, and before Corona, foreign tourists used to come to the park to take a walk. I sang to these foreign tourists, and a Chinese tourist even bought one of my CDs.

Since I started singing in Inokashira Park again, I decided to make a prominent “Original Song” banner and put it up in the place where I sing. So when you come for a walk in Inokashira Park, you will know immediately where I am singing.

It is no fun to come to Japan and enjoy only the famous things! Traveling is fun because you experience a world you don’t know. When you come to Japan, why don’t you stop by Inokashira Park and listen to my original Japanese songs? It may seem strange at first because it is not a famous Japanese song that only imitates Western songs, but once you get used to it, you will be fine. It’s a good song! The marker is a banner that says “Original Songs”. I am supposed to be humming along with the birds of the forest.

I am poor, so if you like the song, please go and give some money! (Laughs)

You can download YUKIO original Japanese songs! Would you like to listen? You can also listen to it. 

I also distribute music on other sites.

Why don’t we take a walk together at Nakano Broadway?

Today is Sunday in Japan. Now that the corona wreck is coming to an end, the city is finally becoming lively with people. The city is especially full of foreign tourists, and I always go to a facility called Nakano Broadway for a walk on Sundays, and the building is full of foreigners.

This time I would like to talk about Nakano Broadway. Of course, Nakano Broadway does not do musicals like the original Broadway in New York. A long time ago, the Japanese must have stolen only the name. smile

Nakano Broadway is a commercial facility with many shops as tenants. Mandarake is a famous manga buying shop, but recently there are many luxury watch buying shops. The number of figure shops is increasing, and I went there again today, and there were many foreigners shopping there.

As someone who lives in the neighborhood of Nakano Broadway, Nakano Broadway is a pretty interesting building, but let me introduce you to a shop that is not well known to foreigners.

The store is a record store dedicated to Japanese Enka. Enka is a popular song from 50 years ago that is still loved by the elderly in Japan, and the enka singers come to the store for live performances and campaigns. It’s a small shop, so when the singer starts singing, the shop closes the shutter so that the sound doesn’t leak. It is located on the second floor of Nakano Broadway.

There was a time when I thought about negotiating whether I could perform at this enka record store as a singer, but I gave up because I couldn’t invite fans. So, if you are reading this blog, would you like to become a fan of my song? Then I can go to this enka record store with you. I think it would be a good idea to buy your favorite figure at the figure shop on your way home.

But to tell the truth, my original song is not enka. smile

You can download YUKIO original Japanese songs! Would you like to listen? You can also listen to it. 

I also distribute music on other sites.