The giant sandal at Sensoji Temple, Tokyo

The market at Sensoji

At Ukai Toriyama restaurant near Tokyo

August, 2008

Japan
Japan has come and gone.
Prior to the tour in July my only experience of the entire continent of Asia had been getting off one plane and on another en route to Australia; One day in Kuala Lumpur with a mad driver taking me to all the places he got backhanders from when I wanted to see the Petronas Towers, and one night in Singapore- nowhere near enough.

Japan has been in my sights for several years. Many friends had toured the country and spoken very highly of the experience. So in 2006 I was due to tour with Isato Nakagawa and, for reasons I’ve lost interest in discovering, the tour didn’t happen. I’m so glad now that it didn’t! Stefan Grossman suggested I contact Tokio Uchida in Tokyo who distributes his catalogue in Asia including my DVDs. Tokio responded immediately to an email and the ball was back in the air.

From the very beginning I felt good vibes in dealing with Tokio and the closer the tour got the more excited I became. It’s a long way from Elora, ON to Tokyo but as 12 hour flights go this wasn’t the worst. Almost the first thing Tokio said on greeting me at Narita was- “the second Tokyo concert is sold out”- which is exactly what you want to hear on landing in a strange country on the other side of the planet for the first time. Fortunately the other gigs were really busy too- not huge venues but very well organised.

The tour started and finished in Tokyo and we went to Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka in between. I gave myself the luxury of a day off in Tokyo before the concerts and so had a chance to look around what is the largest metropolitan area I’ve ever been in- the downtown area is about the size of Belgium. It is also arguably the safest megalopolis in the world. I was struck by the fact that while in most countries I’ve been to people tend to regard the inhabitants of the largest city as a bit above themselves- though I doubt it’s true I’ve heard it about Parisians, New Yorkers, folk from Sydney, LA, London etc. - I found the people in Tokyo to be the most polite and friendly I’ve met. It helps when the barman on my first night in the city chased me down the street TO RETURN A TIP!

My hosts for the 9 days, Tokio and Haruko Uchida, were just wonderful- very knowledgeable and informative though I was delighted when they couldn’t immediately remember the name of the emperor! Imagine a Londoner pointing a tourist at Buckingham Palace- “old whassername the second lives there”.

This has to have been the most documented tour I’ve ever done. Tokio had a photographer at every gig. I was snapping at anything that moved- and the bullet trains MOVE- and Haruko was often taking photos of me taking photos.

The last day was spent doing interviews with magazines to promote the tour I’d just finished! The photographer for one magazine had me sign his light case along with all the other guitarists he’d photographed. I managed to find some room in between Pat Matheny and Eric Clapton whose biography I was reading on the tour. Very thorough interviews with two very glossy publications- then the last dinner at Ukai Toriyama, easily the most spectacular restaurant I’ve ever been in. It’s an hour by train from Tokyo Shinjuku station- the busiest in the world apparently- and consists of two dozen traditional Japanese cabins set along a beautiful valley. Even if the food was ordinary (which it wasn’t) the setting would be worth the visit.

In short; Japan was one of the real highlights of my career. Huge thanks go to Tokio and Haruko, to the drivers, sound crews and to all those who came to the gigs.
I hope to return soon.