Day 25, Thursday, April 9 – Shinjuku "Nagashi"

I met Kudo in Shinjuku at 9pm and went over to Golden Gai, an area of back alleys lined with bars – tiny bars – bar after bar after bar! We hit about 15 places where I performed for 5 minutes on the Birdmachine and then left. About two hours in total. The responses varied, mostly enthusiastic, but I actually only hit my peak once. Wow, what a process... and what a deeply Japanese form of social, creative outreach. It's called Nagashi – "flow" – and used to be quite popular. Hijikata, the father of Butoh, got his start this way in the 50s, and so did Kudo in the 90s. At one place, a guy gave me 1000 yen! Of course, I politely protested... and then demurred. Sweet. I hadn't expected that. Unfortunately, I have no video of any of this, just photos of the locales and some people, but that's ok. It's a project, like all the other projects here, to be continued on the next jaunt.

Day 25, Thursday, April 9 – Noko's Edo House in Izu

Here, in the land of the rising Birdmachine, it's my last morning in Tokyo.

Up and atom. Packing and last minute scurrying. Kudo will help me get my stuff to the airport. Big help. Yesterday, despite the rain and cold, was a perfect way of rounding out the three weeks. After a day trip to the Izu Peninsula (four hour round trip with Chris and Mika) and a visit to Noko's 200 year old Edo house with a thick bamboo forest, I met Kudo in Shinjuku at 9pm and went on a "nagashi" spree through Golden Gai. 

Day 13, Sunday, March 29 – Evening Cherry Blossoms

After lugging the Birdmachine around kingdom come yesterday, I took a breather today and rebuilt the instrument with an eye towards more portability and ease of assembly. What would have taken an hour in my shop at home, took all afternoon here. First of all, I needed rudimentary tools. That sent me to the hardware department of Tokyu Hands in Shinjuku. I bought wood, a Japanese razor saw, tubing, screws, pipe clamps, sliding clamps, micro c-clamps, and god knows what else. It wasn't difficult to spend a hundred dollars. On the way back, I encountered a Shiba Inu, the foxiest dog on the planet. Will definitely look into finding a breeder in New England. I also stopped at a flea market near Nakano-Sakaue Station and bought an old SONY cassette tape recorder (great for recording and slowing down bird song on the fly circa twenty years ago), and some 200 year old coins from the Edo period. 

Day 12, Saturday, March 28 – Motomachi Park

Today was Birdmachine's first outing. Yuki and I went up to Motomachi Park near Sudabashi Station and Tokyo Dome City amusement park, the home of the Yomiuri Giants and the Nippon Ham, two professional baseball teams. It was in the low 70s, perfect weather, and everybody was out for cherry blossom celebrations. Beer, sake, and wine were flowing freely, along with elaborate picnics. Many people were totally sloshed. I assume that few are writing haiku or waka. But this is a botanical event of great national importance, along with plum blossoms, going back at least to the Heian court described in Genji Monogatari. It's my first time here during cherry blossom season. What a revelation! Temperature wise, it's the best time to be here. Summer, by contrast, is holy hell, a brew of heat and humidity that only shakuhachis can tolerate.

Day 11, Friday, March 27

Yesterday was the day to rebuild the Birdmachine for portability. It's not perfect, but serviceable and took me the whole day. In the evening went over to Sachiko and Jonathan's. Sachiko is an Orissi dancer. They also invited an American scientist named Dan Sythe who develops high end geiger counters. When he got there, a bit after me, he said "You look familiar." Turned out he'd been watching David Rothenberg's BBC documentary in which I appear a la Birdmachine. Furthermore, David is on Dan's board of trustees for his geiger counter company. Small world. Here's Dan getting "sounded" with Sachiko's magical bowl. And check out my duet with Sachiko after dinner. It's on you tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgcv2RG1eQs&sns=em

Day 4 – Thursday, March 19 – Art Fair Tokyo

The crows are a constant sonic companion. Once away from the traffic a bit, they are the loudest sound element in the city. What a strange counterpoint they provide the jet-lagged traveler vulnerable to macabre associations with other places and times. In the past few days, my being here has consisted mostly in fits and starts of sleeping and writing at odd hours, entirely in the confines of R’s house in Nakano. But yesterday afternoon, a different relationship to Tokyo unfolded. B, one of several great expatriate shakuhachi players in and around Tokyo, came up from Yokohama to retrieve a 1.8 尺八 that RS was returning to him via my formidable courier services. B, in turn, handed me another shakuhachi for RS to try out. This one got National Treasure, Goro Yamaguchi’s approval, before his unexpected death in 1999. B and I chatted for a while about shakuhachis. I demonstrated the Birdmachine, which I'd set up in my room earlier.