Afrirampo in Kobe

Went to Kobe to see and interview Afrirampo for The Fader (the article should be out soon?).



It was amazing. One of the best live shows ever. Oni and Pika are way cooler than you, and definitely cooler than me, but still were gracious interview subjects before and after the show, and even took me out for okonomiyake and beer. After seeing off the band (in their dusty black and white vans) and the drunken owner of Live Spot Big Apple (staggering down the street with his arms around some woman), I took a cab to Qua House, another capsule hotel, and one that I had no reservations at-- I had failed to secure another capsule hotel upon arrival earlier that afternoon because they only allowed men (contrary to what the tourist office had said), but uncharacteristically decided (I guess in anticipation of communing with the true spirit of rock'n'roll at the Afri show that night), to just be a punk about it and have faith that I would find accommodation somehow.

This little exercise in bohemianism/zen/manifestingdestinywhatever actually paid off, and I found myself checking in to the Ritz Carlton of capsule hotels at 1am. Surreally comfortable lobby with the perfect lighting for this side of midnight, impeccable low-key service (gratefully no shrieking "Irrashaimase"s at this hour), cushy, brand new carpeting, and subtly-glowing wooden corridors leading to a woman's-only sento floor... why not have a hot soak in the middle of the night, alongside other mysterious women young and old? I felt like I had chanced upon the bath-house in Spirited Away, and all these kind odd fellow travelers apeared to be human, but were in fact benevolent Kansai spirits. This feeling intensified when I was changing in a hallway bathroom and glimpsed out of the corner of my eye an enormous naked woman silently gliding down a flight of cedar stairs. After turning into a plume of steam, I dried and snuggled down in my own little capsule, and slept my second-to-last night in magical Japanland...