Business Trip to Mitsukaido

I went to a Canon affiliated company in Ibaraki prefecture on business from last Monday to Thursday. I stayed in a small town called Mitsukaido.

I only walked around in the town in the early morning and after work at night.

Strange to say, I rarely met people in the town. The town seemed like a ghost town.

Music Days in Utsunomiya

We’ve had a series of music concerts at the front yard of Futara-yama shine, or Banba-Hiroba, next to my condominium since a month ago.

From the world famous sax player to unknown amateur singers, I often ran into a mini concert when I was walking into or out of my condo.

I enjoy the moments of coming across a concert and listening to the live music with other passers-by.

About Saxophonist Sadao Watanabe

Born on February 1, 1933, in Utsunomiya, Japan; son of an electrician who played and taught the biwa, a four-stringed Japanese lute; married Mitsuko Itoh, 1957; children: Mako.Education: Graduated from the Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA, 1965.

Started playing clarinet in his teens, later picked up alto saxophone; formed a “Jafro” band (jazz and African music), joined pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi’s Cozy Quartet, worked with Big Four Band, c. 1950s; became leader of Cozy Quartet, 1960; performed and recorded with Chico Hamilton and Gary McFarland in New York, 1965-66; returned to Japan, formed a quartet, started a jazz school, 1966; performed at Newport Jazz Festival, 1968; began hosting radio program, 1969; performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1970; organized Bravas Club festival (later known as Kirin the Club), 1985-; toured North and South America, Europe, and Africa, 1990-92; organized charity concert for Great Hanshin earthquake victims, 1995; toured Brazil, 1995; visited Tibet, 1996; toured Southeast Asia, 1996; traveled to Kenya, India, and Tibet to film the documentary, Sadao Watanabe Explores the Last Unknown Regions of the Earth, 1997; published his book of photographs, Vanishing Tibet, 1998; toured Europe, including the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1998; toured with Four Beat Band, 1999; worldwide tour to celebrate 50 years playing jazz, 2001.

Awards: Swing Journal, Best Japanese alto saxophonist, 1959-1987; Sluing Journal, Jazz Man of the Year eleven times, 1968-87; Art Festival Grand Prix Award (Japanese Grammy) for Sadao Watanabe Recital, 1977; Ministry of Education Award, 1986; City of Los Angeles Citizenship Citation for promoting friendship between U.S. and Japan through music, 1988; Honorable Cultural Award, Tokyo, 1995; honorary doctorate degree, Berklee College of Music, 1995; Medal with Purple Ribbon, Emperor of Japan, 1995.
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Utsunomiya Museum of Art

 My wife and I went to Utsunomiya Museum of Art last Sunday.

The museum is located in a forest of northern part of Utsunomiya city. It takes just half an hour by car from my condominium.

The collection of the museum includes world-famous paintings drawn by such as Marc Chagall, Rene Magritte and Vassily Kandinsky. Marc Chagall is one of my most favorite artists.

Needless to say its rich collections, the location of the museum gives a wonderful impression to us.

A Cactus Flower

A cactus flower bloomed several days ago. I don’t know how often a cactus blooms but I’m lucky enough to have been able to see the flower only two weeks after I had bought it.

The first picture was taken the day I bought it. The bud was already slightly colored pink.


 The left picture had been taken one night before it bloomed. The size of a bud became pretty big.

During the flower was blooming, the whole atmosphere of our condominium turned as bright as its color of the flower.

Memory of Matsue Castle

Like every city does so, my hometown Matsue city has changed a lot in several decades. How has it changed? It became easier to drive, having wider streets, tourist friendly signs and information offices, having lots of well-known franchised shops like McDonalds and Starbucks, and newly built attractions for tourists.

I’m happy and proud of seeing those changes but, at the same time, I feel sad that well known narrow streets disappeared, small parks I used to play were replaced with tall buildings’ site and large supermarkets drove away small mama-and-papa shops.

I took the first picture from a Matsue-Ohashi bridge viewing Mt. Daisen to the east. There must not have been such big electricity towers.

Second picture was taken at the front yard of Matsue Castle. There were play fields and tennis courts there thirty-five years ago. I used to play baseball with my classmates after school. That was great fun to me at that time. But now, ball games inside castle site are prohibited.

Castle tower viewing from an opening between cherry blossoms is a few exceptions of unchanged scenes in downtown of Matsue.

I realize that I can go back to my current home town but can NOT go back to the city I lived forty years ago.
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