afrirampage, sakura envy
Japan, Japan, Japan.
Just yesterday I was hanging out with a Japanese friend, walking through Causeway Bay, HK's own equivalent to Shibuya (and often called "Little Japan", both because of the concentration of Japanese chain stores and because it was an occupation site during WWII), after seeing a Japanese experimental bassist guest with HK musicians in a strange children's music school, and we glanced up to the huge TV screen at Times Square (yes, Hong Kong has its own, a huge posh shopping mall) to see footage of the anti-Japan protests in Beijing. I had been following the news for days, but had yet to see any actual video, and it was pretty scary. Some other friends in China (both Japanese, Japanese-American, and everything else) have unsettling reports of the general anti-Japanese sentiment in various cities, especially recently, and it's so odd to watch it play out from Hong Kong. In some ways, Hong Kong is so Japanese, compared to the Mainland (although Taiwan is too-- but that's a whole other story), and I doubt that there would ever be such violent protests here. Even though older folks have their bitter memories of the occupation here (or the atrocities they fled in China), young people just worship everything Yahtbunyahn.
Looking on the brighter side (of rising sun):
- My first report as "Hong Kong borderground source" (kind of like "cultural correspondent", I think) for the Japanese bilingual webzine Shift is now online. Click on the picture below to see my thoughts about the recent public consultation exhibition for the ultra-controversial West Kowloon Project.
- I finally got the first album by Afrirampo, an Osaka two-girl noise-rock-extravaganza that is currently taking the world (and now my bedroom) by storm
- It's cherry-blossom time in JP, so all the Japan bloggers have beautiful pix that I am jealous of (though hopefully when I get there in May there will still be some in bloom)
(this one is from Chipple's blog)
- In the meantime, I have the surreal symmetry of HK, its still-hazy mornings and twilights, museums, good friends, and schnauser-themed cafes.
Just yesterday I was hanging out with a Japanese friend, walking through Causeway Bay, HK's own equivalent to Shibuya (and often called "Little Japan", both because of the concentration of Japanese chain stores and because it was an occupation site during WWII), after seeing a Japanese experimental bassist guest with HK musicians in a strange children's music school, and we glanced up to the huge TV screen at Times Square (yes, Hong Kong has its own, a huge posh shopping mall) to see footage of the anti-Japan protests in Beijing. I had been following the news for days, but had yet to see any actual video, and it was pretty scary. Some other friends in China (both Japanese, Japanese-American, and everything else) have unsettling reports of the general anti-Japanese sentiment in various cities, especially recently, and it's so odd to watch it play out from Hong Kong. In some ways, Hong Kong is so Japanese, compared to the Mainland (although Taiwan is too-- but that's a whole other story), and I doubt that there would ever be such violent protests here. Even though older folks have their bitter memories of the occupation here (or the atrocities they fled in China), young people just worship everything Yahtbunyahn.
Looking on the brighter side (of rising sun):
- My first report as "Hong Kong borderground source" (kind of like "cultural correspondent", I think) for the Japanese bilingual webzine Shift is now online. Click on the picture below to see my thoughts about the recent public consultation exhibition for the ultra-controversial West Kowloon Project.
- I finally got the first album by Afrirampo, an Osaka two-girl noise-rock-extravaganza that is currently taking the world (and now my bedroom) by storm
- It's cherry-blossom time in JP, so all the Japan bloggers have beautiful pix that I am jealous of (though hopefully when I get there in May there will still be some in bloom)
(this one is from Chipple's blog)
- In the meantime, I have the surreal symmetry of HK, its still-hazy mornings and twilights, museums, good friends, and schnauser-themed cafes.
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