Kansai Scene #166 March 2014

KANSAI’S ENGLISH MAGAZINE

無料 issue 166 March 2014

www.kansaiscene.com

the skating issue

e g d e e h t n o e f Li Osaka’s skate scene uncovered, The man who skated Japan

Plus+ Sumo’s big boys are back Bucolic bliss in Tamba Listings: Where to go & what to do

Kansai Scene is proudly published and printed by Mojoprint

Events / Art / Film / Live / Club / Maps & Classifieds

KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

© Tim Wilkinson (timwilko.com)

Contents Features Features

Kansai’s skating scene

p08

Touring Japan by skateboard

p10

Travel

Tamba Sasayama special

p12

Amanohashidate by bus

p17

Business Matters

Skateboard biz

p07

COVER PHOTO: Tim Wilkinson Pictured above is local skater Takashi Maekawa. He skated the length of Japan in a crazy adventure that you can read all about in our interview on page 10.

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10

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17

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25

Sport

Osaka Sumo tournament

p05

J.League kick-off

p16

Festival

Sagicho Festival

p25

Listings Film p21 Events p26 Art

p30

Live Music

p32

Club

p36

Classifieds p40 Maps p44

kansaiscene

@kansaiscene

Kansai Scene is published monthly by Mojoprint Publisher/Creative Director...............Daniel Lee Editor.............................................. Carla Avolio Sub-editor................................Donna Sheffield Designer...................Carolina Sandoval Durazo Sales Manager...........................Ryuichi Fukuda Accounts Manager......................... Michiko Lee

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Art....................................................Colin Smith Event & Festival............................ Yuki Uchibori Film................................................. Adam Miller Live music................................. Phillip Jackson Club.................................................Terumi Tsuji

Interested in writing for Kansai Scene? Please contact editor@kansaiscene.com after reviewing our writers guidelines: kansaiscene.com/write-for-us

DISCLAIMER Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily endorsed by the publisher. We take no responsibility for the quality or content of advertisements. Public and private parties appproached by those claiming to work for or on behalf of Kansai Scene should call this office to confirm the truth of any such claim, especially where money may be involved.

Contact Kansai Scene General mailbox@kansaiscene.com Editorial editor@kansaiscene.com Advertising sales@kansaiscene.com Tel. 06-6539-1717 Fax. 06-7635-4791 Address Osaka-shi, Nishi-ku, Shinmachi 3-5-7, Eiko Bldg. 2F Website kansaiscene.com A BIT OF HISTORY Kansai Scene was founded by Peter Horvath and Nishikawa Keiko in 2000 and published by Jatin Banker between 2003 – 2011. Published monthly, KS provides English articles, information and listings for visitors and residents of the Kansai area.

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KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

News & Openings

Got some news? Email your suggestions to editor@kansaiscene.com

Feel the Craic St. Patrick’s Day celebrations this month span a whole week it seems. The Ireland Festival in Osaka 2014 (see events p.27)

Asian Film in Focus Osaka — The 9th Osaka Asian Film Festival - OAFF - will be held from March 7–16 this month. Aimed to promote Osaka as a gateway for Asian cinema, this annual celebration of film-making features a wide selection of independent movies including select titles previously unreleased in Japan.

The festival also features a symposium, poster exhibition, book signings and this year, some glitz and glamour as it unveils a new red-carpet event - the Asian Star Festival. Grab your camera and snap the stars of this year’s opening movie Kano, at JR Osaka Station on March 7. Kano is a Taiwanese film that traces the story of a downand-out high-school baseball team in occupied Taiwan, that miraculously reaches the finals at Koshien stadium in Osaka. Kano and approximately 80% of the other movies will be screened with English subtitles. There’s an almost bewildering array of tickets and screenings available, so check the website for venues and prices. It’s wise to get advance tickets as numbers are limited. Prices range from ¥1,100 per movie, to a one-day ticket.

For more details see: oaff.jp/2014/ja/

features two family-friendly events on Mar 9 and 22, with live music, food and festive costumes. Then, on the weekend of St. Patrick’s Day itself, Mar 14–17, join in the celebrations at one of Kansai’s Irish pubs, as they unite to celebrate in style.

Murphy’s in Shinsaibashi, The Gael in Kyoto, Irish Pub Dublin Bay in Namba and The Blarney Stone in Umeda and Shinsaibashi all have special treats in store for St. Patrick’s Day revellers.

Five of the best...

Ways to kill time before the first train Text: Esperanza Urbaez

Each month, KS brings you five of the hottest tips

1

Cozy up with Mother Nature in an urban sanctuary like Minato No

2

Head to late night establishments where staff on the graveyard

3

While away time singing your favorite tunes. Karaoke is one of Ja-

4

Curl up in a cozy izakaya booth and order a feast to share with your

5

Head to a public bath to clean up and relax after a night of bar hop-

Kano - this year’s opening movie

Mori Park in Kobe. Just a few blocks from Sannomiya Station, this grassy field has a skate park with ramps where there’s bound to be some late-night action to keep you entertained.

shift will be only too happy to welcome you. Some great downtown options are: the trusty Bar Zerro in Osaka, Jam Hostel + Sake Bar in Kyoto and Mickey’s Club in Kobe. pan’s favorite pastimes, so you’re guaranteed to find a bar just around the corner from wherever you wind up. Most karaoke bars sell food, so you can grab a midnight snack along with those epic singalongs. crew. If you are flying solo for the night, hit up a standing ramen shop and get your slurp on with no shame in your game.

ping or dancing. The phenomenal Spa World in Osaka, for example, charges only ¥1300 more to use the facilities from midnight to 5am.

Connect with Kansai Scene…

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Catch up with KS on social media

facebook.com/kansaiscene

@kansaiscene

KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

Sport

The big men are back in town This year’s Kansai tournament reveals the precarious existence of sumo’s elite.

Text and images: Chris Gould

Barely two years have passed since the muscular Mongolian, Kakuryu, stunned the sumo world with his runner-up performance in Osaka 2012.

His surprise feat meant that for the first time in professional sumo’s 250-year history, six men would occupy the second rank of ozeki. And yet, come the end of this year’s Kansai sumo meet, there might scarcely be any ozeki left.

Amid the chaos currently gripping sumo’s elite, Kakuryu remains a reassuring constant. Having stormed to 14 wins and another runner-up finish in January 2014, he is now top contender for elevation to sumo’s highest grade of yokozuna. A first ever championship in this year’s Kansai tourney might even seal his promotion in front of the Osaka faithful.

Japanese favorite Kisenosato may also vacate his ozeki position—but in the opposite direction to Kakuryu.

Primed for yokozuna status in January, he choked spectacularly, posting so many defeats that he’s now in danger of demotion this time round. Mentally scarred and with a toe injury requiring attention, Kisenosato may finally find himself crushed by the weight of a desperate nation’s expectation.

The only ozeki certain to keep his rank this tournament is the roundbellied Kotoshogiku, who survived an almighty injury scare to somehow secure a winning score in January. Of the other three ozeki in 2012, giant Estonian Baruto retired, towering Bulgarian Kotooshu crashed down to the third rung, and athletic Mongolian

Harumafuji became yokozuna 18

months ago.

Harumafuji’s stint at the top has been far from rosy, however.

A worrying tally of losses last year, coupled with an injury ruling him out of January altogether, has left him a sitting target for censure. The first five days in Osaka will be particularly anxious ones for him, and may lead to upsets being caused.

While others toil, though, one man continues his unrelenting pursuit of greatness. This man is Hakuho, sumo’s senior yokozuna and winner of the Osaka tournament on five occasions.

The majestic Mongolian will be aiming for his 29th top-division title this term, just three short of sumo’s all-time record set by the legendary Taiho.

As ever, the excitement will not only be confined to the top ranks, with rising Japanese star Endo and Egyptian powerhouse Oosuna-arashi looking to cause some upsets from lower down.

Local crowd favourite Goeido and Japan’s other hopeful Takayasu will also strive to impress with their vast technical armoury.

Mongolian wrestler Kakuryu

Japanese favorite Kisenosato

2014 Sumo Grand Tournament • When: March 9-23, 8:30am–6pm daily (starting later on the final weekend).

• Where: Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (Bodymaker Colosseum) • Web: sumo.or.jp

Hot ticket tips Tickets can be purchased directly from the Bodymaker Colosseum, from ticket machines in convenience stores such as Lawson, or from the website: sumo.pia.jp/ en/sumo03.jsp. Five hundred cheap tickets (¥2,000) will be on general sale at 8:30am every matchday, and fans should arrive early to avoid disappointment. Queuing is not advisable at weekends when huge early-morning throngs gather. Fans may enter the arena at any time during the day, and—for maximum enjoyment—should arrive before the spectacular ring entrance ceremonies at 3:45pm.

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KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

Business Matters

Making a mint from skateboards Osaka-based skateboarding fanatic, Bug Barnes, took a leap of faith and opened his skateboard shop, The Mint, at the end of last year. KS strapped on its elbow guards and rolled gingerly down to Horie to find out more about the business of skateboarding.

Kansai Scene: Why open a skateboard shop and why in Horie?

Bug Barnes: Because skateboards should be sold in skateshops by people who skate, not in sporting good stores stocked next to rollerblades and swimsuits. There weren’t enough skaterowned and operated shops in Central Osaka… actually there weren’t any. So I opened The Mint to fill the void. The shop has only been open for about 6 months, but it’s a dream come true and I’m excited to have the chance to give back to the local skate community.

KS: How much did the interiors and branding set you back?

BB: The interior design and construction was all done by myself and a few friends. I made the logo and website as well, so that cost nothing but a few sleepless nights and beer I guess. Basically there was very little hired help, so that was key in keeping the start-up cost down. DIY is the way to go!

KS: Who are your customers?

BB: The Mint’s doors are open to everybody! Don’t know anything about skateboarding? Come in and we’ll teach you. Want to crack a beer and talk about skating while watching skate videos? Do it. Just make sure you bring a cold one for me and Leiv.

KS: What kind of marketing are you doing to build your customer base?

BB: Marketing? What’s that?

Really, we just focus on skateboarding and the good that comes along with it through the use of social media platforms and the internet. You can see products anywhere, so I try not to put the focus 100% on products, but rather show something a bit different from the norm. I also shoot skate photos and make videos with my friends.

KS: Where do you source the decks and other gear?

BB: I play the distribution game because I kind of have to. I have my own original deck company, Best Friend Skateboards, so I get those direct from America. But I also try to source independent or up-and-coming brands that haven’t made it to Japan. Cutting out the middleman allows us to have better margins and offer better prices. This is also fun because it allows me to stock products that can’t be found anywhere else and connect with cool brands and the skaters that are affiliated with them.

KS: What percentage of your sales is from the online store?

BB: Not very much, but that’s okay. The webstore is just now getting to a point

to where it’s operating smoothly and getting traffic.

But like I said earlier, it’s all about the experience. I hope that our customers come visit us at the shop and experience The Mint in true form. Of course, I can’t expect everyone in the country who skates to be able to visit the shop so I’m happy to have a web store available. It’d be kind of stupid not to.

KS: Where next for The Mint? Plans for expansion?

BB: Yeah. Actually we have some pretty cool stuff in the works right now, so stay tuned!

The Mint Skateboarding • Website: mintskate.com • Address: Osaka, Nishi-ku, Kitahorie 1-15-10 2F • Tel: 06-6616-9835 • Open: 1pm–8pm daily (closed Tues)

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Underground tsunami While it often goes unnoticed, Osaka’s skate scene is vibrant, close-knit and populated by rising stars who are fast garnering world-wide attention.

And with our guide to the city’s skate shops, skate parks—even bars with mini-ramps—you’ll be doing ollies with the best of them in no time.

Or at least watching while others do.

Text and images: Tim Wilkinson

The Osakan personality, coupled with the city’s tight, crowded spaces creates a unique, creative style of skating that makes a refreshing change from the staircounting so prevalent in California. While “Tokyo = Japan” used to be the way of thinking when it came to Japanese skateboarding, increasingly foreign skate tours are skipping the capital completely and coming to Osaka instead. Here’s the lowdown on the scene.

Skateparks HMC skatepark

Street The whole city is skateable, but a good place to meet other skateboarders is Triangle park in America Mura. Or, drop by the Mint skateshop to ask for advice.

An indoor park near Fukaebashi station with a mini-ramp and small street course.

Osaka-shi, Higashinari-ku, Fukae-kita 1-8-8

Kyoryu Koen A cool outdoor park with blue banks that forms part of a flood defence.

(Read: not great a place to skate after heavy rain.)

Osaka-fu, Daito-shi, Fukuno-kita 4-284

Woods skateshop + park An indoor wooden bowl and miniramp in Ibaraki.

Osaka-fu, Ibaraki-shi, Sawaragi-nishi 4-5-12

Photo © Bug Barnes

Baraike Outdoor concrete bowls and street course. Helmet required.

Osaka-fu, Sakai-shi, Naka-ku, Hanadaiji-cho 320-20

X-tech Indoor mini-ramp and, interestingly, a trampoline.

Osaka-fu, Toyonaka-shi, Hattori-kotobukicho 4-5-23

KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

Photo © Mari

Osaka punches well above its weight when it comes to producing internationally recognized skaters. If you asked a skater in, say, America to name a Japanese skater, they would probably name one of these three guys who call Osaka home.

Chopper

Gou Miyagi

Shinpei Ueno

41 years old,

36 years old,

30 years old,

sponsored by Heroin

sponsored by Heroin

sponsored by Evisen

Skateboards

Skateboards

An Osaka-born rider for British skate company Heroin skateboards. He’s also part of the Osaka Daggers—the skate crew inhabiting Triangle Park who are as far separated from conventional skateboarding as it’s possible to be.

Chopper says: “The saying ‘A good salesman can sell shaved ice even at the south pole’ motivates me to think of creative ways to skate any spot.”

Originally from Okinawa, Gou tries to showcase skateboarding as an art form, not a sport. He gained international fame when one of his video parts was posted to YouTube, gaining over 1.5 million views.

Gou says: “It’s an art, not a sport: a way of expressing something that I can’t anywhere else…”

Osaka-born Shinpei skates for Evisen skateboards and runs Tightbooth Production (TBPR), who produce skate and music videos. He frequently collaborates with skate videographers from Europe and the US. Shinpei says: “I want to keep spreading the Osaka skating experience across Japan and the world.”

Bars with mini-ramps

Shops

Gum chop

The Mint

They cram a lot into this small room: a bar, a shop and tiny miniramp. Good fun, especially on rainy evenings in Minami.

Osaka’s only skater-owned shop.

Osaka-shi, Nishi-ku, Kita-horie 1-15-10 2F

Osaka-shi, Chuo-ku, Nishi-shinsaibashi,

Whatever

1-8-16 Nakanishi Bldg. 4F

A screen print clothing shop above Triangle park, run by Chopper.

Stash cafe Good sized mini-ramp and bar. Best to try them in that order.

Osaka-shi, Tennoji-ku, Kokubucho 2-5, 3F

Osaka-shi, Chuo-ku, Nishi-shinsaibashi 2-18-6 808

Find out more Check out the Osaka Daggers feature on US skate site the Berrics theberrics.com/gen-ops/ at-triangle-park.html

Soundboarding Video blog from Osaka skate filmer Muraccho soundboarding.net

Tightbooth Shinpei Ueno’s crew and production company tightbooth.com

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KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

START

Feature

Soya Strait

The long way down

Teshio Taboro

Takikawa

Otaru

Sapporo Oshamanbe

Niseko Hakodate

Kikonai Kanita Hachinohe

Morioka Oshu Osaki Sendai Minamisoma Iwaki Ushiku Hachioji Gifu Hiroshima

Takamatsu

Kyoto

Yokohama Nagoya

Toyohashi Naruto Osaka Kadamatsu Kamitakano Wakayama Tokushima Shimonseki Kawanoe Yamaguchi Fukuoka Shikokuchuo Kitakyushu Kurume Takahamamachi Matsuyama Kumamoto Yatsushiro

Tokyo

Misato

Odawara

Fuji Shizuoka

Hamamatsu

Kagoshima

Amami

END

Takashi Maekawa, a.k.a Pushman, is a 31-year-old okonomiyaki cook from Osaka who, in 2010, became the first person to skate the entire length of Japan. He takes KS on his 6-month journey, from surviving without sponsorship to finding his board at the bottom of the Okinawa ocean.

Naha Arasaki

Interview: Leiv Harstad

KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

Kansai Scene: When did you start skating and how were you introduced to it?

Takashi Maekawa: When I was 14, one of my classmates thought it looked like fun, so we just started out pushing around the neighborhood. I grew up in Kagawa where there was nothing but mountains and rice paddies. So in the beginning, I would just sit on the board and go down hills. I didn’t really start learning tricks until I moved to Kansai at 18.

KS: What inspired you to skate the length of Japan?

TM: Well, I guess I wanted to do something on a skateboard that no one else had done. There are a lot of famous professionals who can do tricks that nobody else can do. I wanted to do something different; something that people who don’t skate could relate to.

I wanted to show people what I like about skateboarding. The act of skating the length of Japan is itself no big deal.

People have cycled it, even walked it.

I was making connections with local skaters all across the country and skating all these different spots. It was about the journey.

KS: From where to where and what route did you take?

TM: I skated from the northernmost point of Japan, Soya-misaki in Hokkaido, to the southernmost point, Kiyanmisaki in Okinawa. I traveled along the Sea of Japan side until Sapporo. From there I cut through the middle toward Hakkodate. Then I took the train across the straights to Aomori.

KS: Did you really push the whole time, you didn’t cheat?

TM: No, I really pushed. In Hokkaido, people would offer me rides but I always declined. If I didn’t skate the whole way then there was no point in me doing it.

KS: Did you sleep outside a lot?

TM: Yeah. In places where there were no skaters. Sometimes if I could find an onsen, I’d crash in there for a couple of hours during the day.

KS: Did you skate down the highway or do anything sketchy?

TM: No, I didn’t do anything like that. The only really sketchy things I encountered were around Niseko and Hakone. The mountain roads there were crazy. They were super steep and long, like 5 or 6 kilometers, with lots blind corners. Even if I put my foot down to brake, I couldn’t stop.

KS: How did you celebrate? Did you chug a beer or something?

TM: It was actually kind of uneventful. I didn’t even have a beer on me. I just kind of stood there for a while and then went back to Naha. My friends there congratulated me, but that’s about it. Really though, I wasn’t looking for recognition from anyone else. I was satisfied with myself.

KS: How fast did you go?

TM: If you were actually able to ride it all the way out, I bet you could get up to 100 kph. I had to walk most of the way in Hakone, but I bombed the whole way around Niseko. Plus it was raining to boot. It was nuts.

KS: I heard you lost your board in Okinawa.

TM: Yeah! First, my board got run over by a car, so I had to go to a shop and set up a new one. That night, my friends and I got drunk and went out on the prowl for girls. We were walking along a seawall to get to this hang-out spot. It was dark and I couldn’t see. The locals of course knew there was a hole there and they stepped around it, but I fell right into it. That’s when my new board went flying into the water. I wasn’t hurt or anything so we just carried on. The next day I was going past the same spot so I decided to take a look. I could see my board at the bottom because the water was so clear. I stripped down to my undies, jumped in and grabbed it.

This is a tourist spot so there were a lot of people there looking at me but I didn’t care. That was the only time in the whole trip anything bad happened to me.

KS: Where was the half point?

TM: In my head it was Osaka, because I live here.

KS: Did you take a break once you got home?

TM: No dude, I worked! I needed money, so I stayed in Osaka for about 10 days flipping Okonomiyaki. I saved up about ¥100,000.

KS: It must be hard to do a trip like that without sponsorship. Have you ever considered it?

TM: Not really. I’m not interested in skateboarding for someone else. I skate purely for the fun of it.

KS: So from Osaka, did you skate through Kobe along the inland sea?

TM: No. I skated down to Wakayama, and then took the ferry over to Shikoku. From there I skated along the top through Tokushima and Kagawa to Ehime. From Ehime I took a ferry to Hiroshima and from there I skated to Kyushu. On Kyushu I skated pretty much down the middle from Fukuoka to Kumamoto and then to Kagoshima.

I took the ferry to Okinawa, skated Naha and from there took another ferry down to the very bottom island.

KS: What’s there?

TM: Absolutely nothing, just a rocky coast. It’s a place where a lot people died during the war too.

KS: So you’re currently planning another trip right?

TM: Yeah, this coming August, I’m going to skate from Vancouver to Tijuana. People always tell me that skating across Japan was crazy, but I don’t think so. Like I said people have walked it. So I want to go to North America where I don’t speak the language and I don’t know anybody. If I can survive that, I can survive anything.

KS: You can’t speak English?

TM: Nope. I’ll just read people’s vibes.

Takashi’s trip across Japan is documented on video in a multi part series on the Soundboarding blog.

blog.livedoor.jp/soundboarding/ archives/51681217.html

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Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway Maizuru Nishi IC

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Kayabuki-no-Sato Ashiu Old-growth Forest

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Ayabe Ankokuji IC

Ayabe Sta.

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Tamba IC

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Kaibara Sta.

Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway

Sasayama Castle Oshoin Tannan-

Sasayamaguchi Sta. Sasayamaguchi IC

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Mokujikibutsu of Seigen-ji Kyoto-Jukan Expressway

Ikimi Tenmangu Yagi Nishi IC Yagi NakaIC Yagi Higashi IC Chiyokawa IC

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Travel

A breath of fresh air Just a short detour from the main travel hubs of Kansai awaits the rural haven of Tamba Sasayama. KS discovers that castles, artisan sake, picture-postcard villages and bucketloads of fresh air await the adventurous traveller.

Text & images: KS

Great Tamba, known locally as Tamba no Kuni, spans the area where Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo now converge, yet was historically one of the provinces of ancient Japan. Today its towns and villages, despite their prefectural boundaries, share a cultural heritage that offer travelers a fascinating glimpse into both Kansai’s feudal past and the daily lives of its contemporary rural communities. Here are some of the area’s highlights, perfect for separate excursions or a weekend of exploration.

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Kameoka Sta.

Kameoka IC

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Shino IC

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Getting there

Sasayama Castle Oshoin Old Tamba Pottery Museum Anma Museum

Museum of Noh Artifacts

Sasayama Sasayama is a great strolling city teeming with hole-in-the-wall museums, galleries and funky cafes, so give yourself time to explore. History buffs should head to Sasayama’s very own castle—or the remains of it at least. While the outer walls and moats are relatively intact, as with many Japanese castles today, the remaining central structure—the Oshoin—is actually a very expensive, faithfully reconstructed copy. The castle was hastily constructed in 1609 as a base from which to launch an attack on Osaka by Tokugawa Ieyasu and is notable for its lack of a central tower. Tokugawa was more concerned with function over aesthetics and the tower was never constructed. Today, the Oshoin serves as a museum where you can browse historical artefacts within serene tatami mat rooms.

More history can be found just 15 mins walk away in Sasayama’s delightful old merchant quarter where many traditional thatched buildings have been beautifully preserved. Here, the Anma Museum, a 200-year-old former samurai abode, has a fine collection of Edo-period home furnishings, tools and other vintage knick-knacks.

Back in town, a stroll along the Kawaramachi shopping street will take you past restaurants serving the local delicacy Botan nabe (wild boar hotpot) and jolly vendors hawking roasted chestnuts during the winter months and various kuromame black bean snacks throughout the year. Close by, the Old Tamba Pottery Museum and the Museum of Noh Artifacts are both worth ducking into if you need a bit more culture. Real pottery enthusiasts will not want to miss the Tamba Traditional Art Craft park or Tachikui Sue-no-sato (www.tanbayaki.com), a 20-min taxi ride outside the city. Set in the lush Tamba countryside, the park features a unique Nobori Gama inclined kiln, which attracts artisans the world over, notably the famous British ceramic artist Bernard Leach. For full immersion in the local Tamba-yaki pottery, sign up for a hands-on pottery workshop.

Sake Symphony Located near the end of Sasayama city’s main shopping street is a museum and shop operated by the 200-year-old Homei Shuzo sake brewing company. The Horoyoi Jokagura facility is actually the company’s original Edo-period sake kura, yet now houses a fascinating display of the traditional brewing tools and techniques historically used in the area by its Toji brewmasters. They offer a guided tour for small groups, and free tastings of its variety of craft sakes. Make sure to taste their signature Yume no Tobira infused with classical music (somehow), the bright and zesty Shin Shibori, and a sweet, almost chocolatey sake liqueur produced with local chestnuts. Great for souvenirs.

Tours offered daily from 9:30am–5pm (closed Tuesdays).

Address: 73 Gofukumachi, Sasayama, Hyogo • Tel: 079-552-1133

From JR Sasayamaguchi Sta. (Fukuchiyama Line) take the Shinki bus for 20 mins and get off at the Nikaimachi stop. From there you can enjoy Sasayama on foot, beginning with the castle.

Stop off at the Taisho Romankan tourist information center and pick up a handy guide map or relax with a cup of tea.

Tip: If you want a look at a more picture-postcard style castle, head further up the JR line for 30 mins to Fukuchiyama, where the attractive Fukuchiyama Castle offers great photo opportunities.

Where to stay A 10-min taxi ride from Sasayamaguchi station, Sasayama-sou (sasayamaso. com) offers traditional Japanese onsen lodging from ¥10,000 per person (based on two sharing) with breakfast and dinner. To enjoy traditional lodging with modern comforts, head for the beautiful Maruyama Village (maruyama-v.jp) and stay in your own private renovated cottage.

Dinner is served from the on-site, Michelin-starred Roan Matsuda restaurant. Cost is ¥36,000 per person based on two sharing with breakfast and dinner or ¥30,000 per cottage (sleeps up to 3) for room only. It’s a 20-min taxi ride from Sasayamaguchi station.

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Kaibara Hachiman Shrine

Oda Jinja

Kaibara Town Hall Kaibara-Han Jin’ya Ruins

Kinone Taiko Bridge Yagura

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JR Kaibara Sta.

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uc

Tamba

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aL

ine

A little further up the Fukuchiyama JR line from Sasayama, in the heart of what is now Hyogo prefecture, lies the charming little market town of Kaibara. Alighting at Kaibara station, a 10-min walk takes you to the ruins of the administrative buildings of the Oda clan Kaibara Han Jin’ya who ruled over the Tamba area for centuries, and the adjacent Kaibara History and Culture Museum. Center stage, however, is the ancient Hachiman Shrine, which towers above town from its perch atop a rocky outcrop. It dates back to the 11th century and was constructed as a branch of the Iwashimizu Hachiman-gu shrine in Kyoto. Access is via a flight of several hundred steps, winding a path up the hill and providing a pleasant stroll to the top. Stepping through the torii gate, you may be surprised to discover that it’s one of very few shrines in Japan that also features a bright red buddhist pagoda within the same complex. Chiming the enormous bell at the foot of the pagoda three times will apparently relieve all your worries, regardless of your faith.

At the foot of the hill by the Okumura river, is the original Kaibara Town Hall, a lovely example of Taisho-era architecture. Looming over the river is an enormous 1,000-year-old keyaki zelkova tree. Its giant roots have formed a natural causeway across the river and now provide the foundation for the Kinone bashi bridge (lit. tree-root bridge) that leads into town. Immediately across the road is the small Oda Jinja shrine, further evidence of the Oda clans’ importance in the area. Most notably Oda Nobunaga is the man Japanese history credits with having laid the foundations for the unification of Japan, later completed by his successors Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. As one saying goes, Nobunaga did all the hard work and pounded the rice, Toyotomi formed it into mochi and Tokugawa simply enjoyed the fruits of their labours.

Kaibara History and Culture Museum

To Ta n

ika wa

Getting there JR Kaibara station can be reached by train both from Osaka and Kyoto on the Fukuchiyama line.

Mujika to my ears Foodies rejoice. A real gem to be discovered in Kaibara is Japan’s first venison speciality restaurant. Mujika opened three years ago in a restored 100-year-old machiya townhouse and serves up a delicious marriage of locally sourced venison and organic vegetables. The lunch course (¥1,680) features a beautifully presented bento-box of nine inventive appetisers and a main dish of cooked-to-perfection strips of venison steak, in a sansho-infused miso dressing. Such is the chef’s love affair with deer that even the little square cookies served with coffee contain traces of powdered deer bones (widely used in chinese medicine).

A culinary treat.

Tel. 0795-73-0200 • Lunch 11:30am–3pm (Last order 2:30) • Dinner 6–10pm (Last order 21:30 • Website: hayama.main.jp/musica.html

KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

Nantan Hugging the foothills in the lush countryside just 30 km north of Kyoto city in Miyama-cho is the beautiful Kayabuki no Sato, a working village of thatched cottages that rival those of the UNESCO World Heritage village of Shirakawago in Gifu. Grab your camera and take a stroll around the peaceful rural community, which boasts dozens of houses still featuring the traditional kayabuki thatch. Although most are private residences, one has been turned into a museum (¥300) that’s well worth a visit for a peek at how these traditional wooden homes might have looked in centuries past.

Once inside, you’ll be invited to take some tea at the central irori hearth—the only source of heat throughout what must have been extremely harsh winters. To survive the cold, even the cows were kept inside an internal shed and wore special straw slippers to protect their hooves. The museum also provides an opportunity to climb up to the hayloft and gaze up at the heavy weave of straw that makes up the thatched roof itself.

Wrap up this perfectly bucolic day with lunch at Matabe, one of three minshuku guesthouses in the village. Here, tuck into hearty dishes starring local vegetables and river fish all served with miso soup and rice.

Train up, boat down For a fun day trip, take the Sagano Scenic Railway from Arashiyama station in Kyoto to the end of the line at Kameoka. The 25-min journey takes you through the Hozu river gorge past thousands of cherry and maple trees, which provide glorious views come spring and autumn (read: the scenery at other times of the year is less impressive, so best to time this trip with peak months for blossom and fall foliage). When you’re ready to make the return trip from Kameoka terminal, hop on a boat heading down the river and enjoy two hours of stunning riverbank scenery (hozugawakudari.jp/en).

Getting there While the best way to reach Miyama is by car, public transport is still an option. From Kyoto, take the JR San’in line to Hiyoshi Station (about 45 mins), and take the Nantan bus to Miyama (approx. 1 hour).

There are six connections per day, with the last bus back to Hiyoshi leaving just before 5pm.

Where to stay After your day spent sightseeing it’s time to unwind with a soak in the mineral-rich waters of a hot spring onsen. Tamba is brimming with hot springs that are perfect for day trippers, but for those seeking an overnight stay, the Keburikawa hotel in Kameoka is the place to go. They offer rooms with private rotenburo outdoor baths and serve delicious local organic fare at their on-site restaurant. keburikawa.com

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KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

Sport

The game’s afoot, again!

As the kick-off to J.League 2014 draws nearer we’re proud to report that three of Kansai’s four teams are in J1 where they belong, with just Kyoto Sanga fighting it out in J2 for a promotion.

Text: Alan Gibson

Recent developments in Kansai’s “big” four teams will have you at the edge of your seat. As Champions of J2 in 2013, Gamba Osaka returned to J1 at the first attempt and have bolstered their defense by signing Masaaki Higashiguchi, a fringe national team goalkeeper.

(When Gamba were relegated in 2012 they were J1’s highest scorers, showing just how badly their defense needed bolstering.) With this latest overhaul, which also includes a new Brazilian defender and centre forward, and some bright stars rising through the ranks, the future again looks bright for this aging team whose past glory includes winning the Championship, Asian Champions League and Emperor’s Cup under former manager Akira Nishino.

Vissel Kobe have added a few players, too, as they followed Gamba back up to J1 at the first attempt, after relegation in 2012. Principle among the incoming is 38-year-old Marqunhos

© Gamba Osaka

who could be a goalscoring phenomenon, as he was at the beginning of last season with Yokohama F Marinos, or who could struggle, as he did in the latter half of the 2013 season! It’s a huge investment for Vissel Kobe, and quite a risk. Pedro Junior, ex-Gamba Osaka, also arrives from Jeju United in Korea, while Vissel have kept hold of some promising youngsters as they look to re-consolidate in J1.

Cerezo Osaka have made the biggest splash of the coming season by signing world-class striker Diego Forlan for an astonishing salary package. The club also parted ways with Brazilian manager Levir Culpi and took on Serbian Ranko Popovic. The pink half of Osaka could well find they have a dark horse in the race for the Championship this season, although any team with the talent of Forlan combined with local stars may possibly not qualify as an outsider! Unfortunately many of the

© Vissel Kobe

established youngsters at Cerezo are rumoured to be on the radar of overseas clubs and any could move in the summer when the European transfer window re-opens. It could be a season of two halves for the team!

Kyoto Sanga missed out on promotion last season only in a play-off against Tokushima Vortis and will be looking to grab a J1 spot for 2015. The biggest moves for Kyoto are probably keeping hold of young players like Takumi MIyayoshi, Yoshiaki Komai and Yuta Ito, while sealing a full transfer— after a season on loan from Gamba Osaka—of Shigeru Yokotani. Also of note are incoming veteran Masashi Oguro and the loan signing of Koki Arita from Vissel Kobe.

Alan Gibson is editor of JSoccer Magazine—Japanese Football in English. Get it online at jsoccer.com

KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

KS reader special offer KS readers can get a FREE PDF of an issue of JSoccer Magazine. Check out what’s available at jsoccer.com and mail alan@jsoccer.com with your choice. Just mention KS special offer!

Tickets to the games Tickets are available for all J.League games at convenience stores like Family Mart and Lawson up to the day before the matches. Ticket prices vary depending on where you are in the stadium.

• ¥1,500: seats behind the goals, where the real action is among the fans.

• ¥2,000–3,000: seats in the back stand (the far side from the team benches) or on the sides of the main stand.

• ¥4,000-¥5,000: best seats in the house in the central parts of the main stand.

Gamba Osaka Mar 1: v Urawa Reds 7pm Mar 19: v Vissel Kobe 7pm Mar 23: v Sanfrecce Hiroshima 4pm Apr 6: v Kashima Antlers 4pm Apr 19: v Omiya Ardija 4pm Apr 29: v Kashiwa Reysol 4pm Games played at Banpaku, a special matchday bus ride from JR Ibaraki, or at Koen Higashiguchi Station on the Osaka Monorail.

Travel

One heavenly bus deal Get your butt on the bus for this special deal to see one of Japan’s most famous views.

Text: Sally McLaren • Image: courtesy of Muruka Kabata

As part of a spring campaign to promote international tourism, the Amanohashidate Tourism Association is offering a special discount bus pass from Kyoto to Amanohashidate during March.

One of the region’s highlights is the 3.6 kilometre long sand spit known as the “Bridge to Heaven”, which is one of the top three scenic views in Japan (the other two are Matsushima in Miyagi and Miyajima in Hiroshima). Here, visitors strike a special pose, (bent over with your head between your legs), because when viewed upside down the bridge appears to float towards heaven.

Also of interest is the charming fishing hamlet of Ine, which has rows of traditional funaya wooden boathouses. There are around 230 of these distinctive homes rimming the shores of Ine Bay and creating a unique water landscape. This is a wonderful place to enjoy super-fresh seafood and peaceful village life by the sea.

Kyoto Sanga

Bus Deal

Mar 16: v Tochigi SC 2pm Mar 30: v Consadole Sapporo 4pm Apr 13: v Montedio Yamagata 2pm Apr 26: v Ehime FC 2pm

• Cost: ¥500 one way (to be paid in cash on the bus) • Valid: March 1–31, 2014 • Travel times: Depart Kyoto Station (stop C2) 9am, arrive Amanohashidate Station 11.21am.

Depart Amanohashidate Station 5pm, arrive Kyoto Station 7.27pm • Reservations: Call 052 589 0200 (at least one day in advance, English OK) • amanohashidate.jp

Games played at Nishikyogoku Stadium, at Nishikyogoku Station on the Hankyu Kyoto Line.

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KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

Language

海外生活日記

What’s the craic?

What is it like living in…Hungary?

Koki left his job in Japan to move to Hungary with his wife. Now he enjoys a new life full of surprises. KS asked all about it.

There aren’t many days of the year when one wishes to be Irish, but without a doubt St Patrick’s Day is one of them.

All that singing, dancing, beer guzzling and general craicmaking is enough to make the rest of us want to put on a leprechaun costume and get in on the love-in. Luckily, this celebration has made it all the way to Kansai, with a slew of activities planned in the days surrounding 17th March (see News on page 7). So when you soon find yourself clutching a Guinness, belting out an Irish ditty while armin-arm with a new bestie, these phrases might just come in handy…

Have you ever been to Ireland?

アイルランドに行っ

Today is St. Patrick’s Day!

今日はセント・

たことありますか。

パトリック・デーだ！

Airurando ni itta koto arimasu ka?

Kyo wa sento patorikkusu dei da!

No, I’m not from 僕はアイルランド人 ではないです。 Ireland. I’m from...(add your （国名）人です。 country).

Boku wa Airurandojin de wa nai desu. (kuni mei) jin desu.

Green looks great on you.

グリーンが

Gureen ga niaimasu ne!

Would you like a Guinness?

ギネスは飲みま

Ginesu wa nomimasu ka?

I’ll have a water instead of Guinness.

ギネスよりお水が 良いです。

Ginesu yori omizu ga ii desu.

Are you feeling the craic?

楽しんでる？

Tanoshinderu?

アイリッシュミュー

似合いますね。 すか。

Do you like Irish music?

ジックは好き ですか？

Airurisshu myujikku wa suki desu ka?

Craic

クラック

Kurakku

ハンガリーで何をしていますか 最初は主夫をしていましたが、就活に成功して、 現地企業でITエンジニアとして働いています。 ハンガリーというのは数学とITに非常に強い国 で、ITエンジニアたちのレベルは日本よりも高 く、切磋琢磨しています。 ハンガリーに移り住むきっかけは 商社勤務の奥様がハンガリー駐在になったことです。 ２０代のうちに海外 に住んでみたかったので、ちょうど良かったです。奥様から話を聞いたと きは、何の迷いもなく、退職してハンガリーで仕事を探そうと思いました ね。ちなみに、これは結婚のきっかけでもあります。 （笑）今はもう男女が お互いのキャリアを磨くために力いっぱい働いている時代ですので、僕 のように奥様の仕事に合わせて旦那側がキャリアを譲る、というのもその うち珍しくなくなるのかなと思います。 普段、何語を話していますか 奥様とは日本語、ハンガリー人の同僚とは英語です。奥様がロシア人で、 学生時代から英語オンリーの会話に接する機会が多くありました。おしゃ べりは好きなのに、会話に混ざれないのがすごく悔しくて、 「ネイティブ でもない日本人が必死で単語を並べとるねんから、伝わらんかったらそ れはもうネイティブ側の責任」をモットーに、とにかく伝えたいことが伝 わるまで喋ることを始めました。すると、徐々に笑いを取れるようになっ てきて、これは関西人にとっては重要なことですよね。 （笑）英語が楽しく なり、間違った英語を喋りたくないという心理からは完全に解放されまし た。今はハンガリー語も勉強しています。 驚いたこと 職場文化のゆるさでしょうか。ある日、夕方５時頃上司に「おい、いつまで 働いてるんだ！帰れ！上司命令！」と言われたんです。定時は６時半なのに。 周りを見ると既に誰もいませんでした。一方で日本のようにタイムカード を切って残業するという文化もあります。 すすめ観光スポット 二人ともお酒が好きなので、貴腐ワインが有名なトカイがおすすめです！ 非常に安く上質なワインを飲むことができます。ブダペストからバスで１ 時間半ほどのエゲルもいいですね。 ５０以上のワインセラーが集まる「美 女の谷」という場所では１杯１００円ほどで試飲ができるほか、気に入れ ばボトルで買って帰れます。地名の由来は、飲み過ぎて女の人が全員美 女に見えてしまうから。 （笑） Follow Koki on ブログ「奥様は商社ウーマン」 my-wife-is-a-shosha-woman.doorblog.jp Interview by Sarasa Kitano

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Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do KS

Pick

Film previews

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Robocop Jose Padilha, 108 mins, Sci-fi/Action, Joel Kinnawen, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton

Yet another remake nobody wanted, this family-friendly Robocop keeps a few scraps from the original, but tosses away the ultraviolence and air of parody, in favor of a Happy Meal suitable Robocop.

Mar 19 © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox

Ben Stiller, 114 mins, Comedy Drama Starring: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Sean Penn

Although Ben Stiller’s past directorial works have aired on the side of silly, from the bombastic Tropic Thunder to the cult-classic Zoolander, he has always seemed most comfortable in far more sober comedies like Noah Baumbach’s Greenberg or Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums. So it is no real surprise that with his newest venture, he has tried to mix the slapstick humor that has made him so popular, with the somber and subdued air that helps him stand the test of time. The mix is not always seamless and there are jarring moments in the movie, but for the most part, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a fun, engaging, often emotional and visually stunning experience.

With Mitty, Stiller is able to have his cake and eat it (several times over), as he plays the shy, retiring and introverted Mitty, who pines for true love and adventure.

This allows for some knockout deadpan retorts, which are juxtaposed with Mitty’s flights of fancy; daydreams that see him empowered with superhuman strength, or exploring worlds way beyond his grasp. It is in the claustrophobic cityscape in which these daydreams really shine, showing that every face in the crowd has the potential for excellence. But the reality of adventure seems flat compared to fantasy, and Mitty chasing his dream seems a little like a hollow ploy to drive the plot, rather than a life journey that defines his character.

The supporting cast are fantastic, with Kristen Wiig being more than just a pretty face worth chasing in Cheryl Melhoff, but an anchor in reality that is beautiful enough to keep Mitty from escaping into his imagination permanently. Adam Scott is a convincing adversary as Ted Hendricks, and gives you reason enough to hate him and root for Mitty. Sean Penn basically plays Sean Penn with a camera, but while Mitty’s admiration for Sean’s character (confusingly also called Sean) is the main moot point in the movie, if Sean Penn is your film’s weakest link, you know you are onto a winner.

Don’t forget you can find a list of local cinemas (and what’s playing) online at: www.kansaiscene.com/cinemas/

12 Years a Slave Steve McQueen, 134 mins, Historical Drama, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender

A beautiful film that shows just how ugly human history is. The depths of depravity that the film explores is even more painful when you realise that this is based on a true story and a relatively recent one! Not for the faint of heart.

©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

Frozen Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, 102 mins, Animation, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel

Disney are back on form with this CGI outing that shows that not all Disney Princesses have to be pining for a man, or worrying about looking pretty for the ball.

© 2014 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

The Lego Movie Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, 100 mins, Animation, Will Arnet, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Chris Pratt

Acting as a kids movie, this action adventure/nostalgia trip will attract parents by the truckload; great voice acting bring these Lego blocks to life, with some of the most iconic characters in pop-culture history along for the ride.

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Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do

Cinema listings (selected theaters) Osaka Toho Cinemas Umeda • Tel: 0663161312 • www.tohotheater.jp • Discounts: Weds (women), 1st & 14th of the month: ¥1,000, every day after 8pm: ¥1,200

• Now showing: KickAss 2, The

Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Dallas Buyers Club • From Mar 1: Majyo no Takkyubin • From Mar 7: 12 Years a Slave • From Mar 14: Frozen, Robocop, All is Lost • From Mar 19: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty • From Mar 21: The Lego Movie, Lone Survivor

Umeda Burg7 • Tel: 0647957602 • burg7.com • Discounts: Weds (women) 1st of the month: ¥1,000; every day after 8pm: ¥1,200

• Now showing: The Wolf of Wall

Street, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug • From Mar 1: Machete Kills, Majyo no Takkyubin • From Mar 14: Frozen, Robocop • From Mar 19: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Cine Libre Umeda • Tel: 0664405930 • ttcg.jp/cinelibre_umeda • Discounts: Weds (women, men), 1st and 15th of the month: ¥1,000

• Now showing: Touch of the Light,

The Poker House • From Mar 1: Lovelace • From Mar 8: Gloria • From Mar 21: Fruitvale Station

Theatre Umeda • Tel: 0663591080 • ttcg.jp/theatre_umeda • Discounts: Weds (women, men), 1st of the month: ¥1,000

• Now showing: Dallas

Buyers Club

• From Mar 15: Don Jon • From Mar 22: Grand Piano • From Mar 29: Jackass Presents:

Bad Grandpa

Osaka Station City Cinema • Tel: 0663463215 • osakastationcitycinema.com • Discounts: Weds (women), 1st of the month: ¥1,000

• Now showing: The Hobbit: The

Desolation of Smaug, Nebraska, Kick Ass 2 • From Mar 7: 12 Years a Slave • From Mar 14: Frozen, Robocop, All is Lost

• From Mar 15: Philomena • From Mar 19: The Secret Life of

Walter Mitty

• From Mar 21: The Lego Movie,

Saving Mr. Banks, One Chance

Toho Cinemas Namba • Tel: 0666331040 • www.tohotheater.jp • Discounts: Weds (women), 1st and 14th of the month: ¥1,000; every day after 8pm: ¥1,200

• Now showing: KickAss 2, The

Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Dallas Buyers Club • From Mar 1: Majyo no Takkyubin • From Mar 7: 12 Years a Slave • From Mar 14: Frozen, Robocop, All is Lost • From Mar 19: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty • From Mar 21: The Lego Movie, Lone Survivor

Namba Parks Cinema • Tel: 0666433215 • parkscinema.com • Discounts: Weds (women), 1st of the month: ¥1,000; every day after 8pm: ¥1,200

• Now showing: KickAss 2, The

Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug • From Mar 1: Lovelace • From Mar 14: Frozen, Robocop • From Mar 19: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty • From Mar 21: The Lego Movie, Lone Survivor, One Chance

Cinem@rt • Tel: 0662820815 • cinemart.co.jp/theater/ shinsaibashi • Discounts: Mon (men) Weds (women), 1st and 25th of the month: ¥1,000

• Now showing: Legal Mind, The

Trials of Cate McCall, Planet of Snail, Prince Sign ‘O The Times • From Mar 15: The Motel Life, Don Jon • From Mar 21: Fruitvale Station • From Mar 29: Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Kyoto Movix Kyoto • Tel: 0752543215 • movix.co.jp • Discounts: Weds (women), 1st and 20th of the month: ¥1,000; every day after 8pm: ¥1,200

• Now showing: The Hunger

Games Catching Fire, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Kick Ass 2 • From Mar 1: Lovelace, Majyo no Takkyubin, The Best Offer • From Mar 14: Frozen, Robocop • From Mar 15: Philomena

Kyoto Cinema • Tel: 0753534723 • kyotocinema.jp • Discounts: Weds (women, men), 1st of the month: ¥1,000

• Now showing: Taste the Waste,

Beasts Of The Southern Wild, 3 Idiots • From Mar 1: Viaggio Sola, Heaven’s Gate, Amour, Moonrise Kingdom • From Mar 8: Gloria • From Mar 15: Linhas de Wellington • From Mar 22: The Sapphires, Mud, Liv & Ingmar

Toho Cinemas Nijo • Tel: 0758132410 • www.tohotheater.jp • Discounts: Weds (women), 1st and 14th of the month: ¥1,000; every day after 8pm: ¥1,200

• Now showing: KickAss 2, The

Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug • From Mar 1: Majyo no Takkyubin • From Mar 7: 12 Years a Slave • From Mar 14: Frozen, Robocop, All is Lost • From Mar 19: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty • From Mar 21: The Lego Movie, Lone Survivor

Hyogo Os Cinema Mint Kobe • Tel: 0782915330 • jollios.net • Discounts: Tues (women), 1st and 16th of the month: ¥1,000; every day after 8pm: ¥1,200

• Now showing: KickAss 2, The

Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug • From Mar 1: Majyo no Takkyubin • From Mar 14: Frozen, Robocop • From Mar 19: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty • From Mar 21: Lone Survivor, One Chance

Kobe Kokusai Shochiku • Tel: 0782303580 • shochikueigakan.com • Discounts: Tues (women), 1st of the month: ¥1,000; every day after 8pm: ¥1,200

• Now showing: The Hobbit: The

Desolation of Smaug, The Wolf of Wall Street, Lee Daniels' The Butler • From Mar 14: Robocop • From Mar 15: Philomena

• Discounts: Tues (women), 1st and 16th of the month: ¥1,000; every day after 8pm: ¥1,200

• Now showing: KickAss 2, The

Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug • From Mar 1: Majyo no Takkyubin • From Mar 14: Frozen, Robocop • From Mar 19: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty • From Mar 21: Lone Survivor, One Chance

Cine Libre Kobe • Tel: 0783342126 • ttcg.jp/cinelibre_kobe • Discounts: Weds (women, men), 1st and 15th of the month: ¥1,000

• Now showing: Jeune & Jolie,

Lore, The Immigrant, Touch of the Light, Dallas Buyers Club • From Mar 1: Lovelace • From Mar 7: 12 Years a Slave • From Mar 21: Saving Mr. Banks, Fruitvale Station • From Mar 29: Grand Piano

Toho Cinemas Nishinomiya Os • Tel: 050-6868-5051 • www.tohotheater.jp • Discounts: Weds (women), 1st and 14th of the month: ¥1,000; every day after 8pm: ¥1,200

• Now showing: KickAss 2, The

Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Dallas Buyers Club • From Mar 1: Majyo no Takkyubin • From Mar 7: 12 Years a Slave • From Mar 14: Frozen, Robocop, All is Lostz • From Mar 19: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty • From Mar 21: The Lego Movie, Lone Survivor

Nara Movix Kashihara • Tel: 0744211700 • movix.co.jp • Discounts: Weds (women) Thurs (men), 1st and 20th of the month, 3rd Tue of the month: ¥1,000; every day after 8pm: ¥1,200

• Now showing: The Hobbit: The

Desolation of Smaug • From Mar 1: Lovelace, Majyo no Takkyubin, The Best Offer • From Mar 14: Frozen, Robocop • From Mar 15: Philomena • From Mar 19: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty • From Mar 21: Lone Survivor

Os Cinema Kobe Harborland • Tel: 0783603788 • jollios.net

Note: for show times and ticket information, please contact the cinemas directly

KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

Festival

Battling floats and burning horses

Courtesy of Biwako Visitor's Bureau

One of Japan’s most dangerous festivals is a spectacle of blood, sweat, and no small amount of tears. This is one matsuri you won’t want to miss.

Text and images: Daniel Olsson

The first clue that Omihachiman is in festival mode comes courtesy of the hollers and ululations that are carried across the deserted baseball pitch as we wait to cross the road into the shade of shin-machi. I smile in anticipation. The sky is a deep blue, suggesting summer heat but not quite yet delivering. It’s certainly feeling spring-like, though, and this is reflected in the lifted spirits of the day’s revellers. As we pass a cho (neighbourhood team) dressed in custard-yellow uniforms, the konnichiwas ring out and I’m offered a can of beer.

We’re at the Sagicho Matsuri in Omihachiman, Shiga. Held annually in mid-March, this incredible festival features beautifully decorated floats that compete in violent battles, only to be spectacularly burned at the end.

Local lore has it that Oda Nobunaga dressed as a woman and sneaked over from his neighbouring castle in Azuchi just to see the festivities. Unsurprisingly, this event has been listed as one of the top three most dangerous festivals in Japan.

Eager to get close to this tantalizing action, we approach the torii gate to Hachimangu Shrine. The choral shouts of cho yare, cho yare (let’s do it!) and the shriek of whistles cut the crisp air and the hazy scent of takoyaki permeates the visual spectacle that greets us. Floats depicting the sign of the Chinese year, built of bamboo

and decorated entirely with dried food (including tiny fish heads on one float), are surrounded by a team of devoted constructors and supporters. One team includes a tall American named Eric who tells me, “It’s a day of festive lunacy to most, but to those of us who built these floats it is a deep source of pride. I’ll be crying later.”

A young man stands on a float.

Wearing split-toe shoes, baggy white pants and his team’s blue jacket, he blows a whistle as the float is hoisted onto the men and women’s shoulders and charged forward. They are met by an opposing cho and there is the crunch of smashed beans and the snap of splitting bamboo as the floats battle for the upper hand. Cheers and groans illuminate the scene until one float is forced onto its side. The victorious team climbs up the beams and dances wildly.

When night falls, we find a spot on the wall opposite the shrine building.

The 14 floats parade into the shrine and 2-litre unlabelled bottles of sake are passed between the bearers. An unofficial contest begins as the teams spin round and round and vie to be the final float standing. Finally they settle the floats in a neat line and an official steps up with a torch and lights the cherished mikoshi. The team frantically tries to halt the flames but eventually succumbs to the inevitable outpouring of emotion that each year signifies the

end of sagicho matsuri as the blazing heat warms the grateful spectators.

Sagicho Matsuri • Where: Himure Hachimangu Shrine, Omihachiman, Shiga.

• When: March 15 and 16 (until 10pm on Sunday) • Access: Tokaido line to Omihachiman. Walk for 30 mins or take a 10-min bus ride to Obata shiryokanmae.

Highlights • Saturday: See the mayor leading the mikoshi parade and judging (fairly sober).

• Sunday: Mikoshi fighting and burning (not at all sober).

• Kids floats keep the festival alive year on year.

25

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Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do

Event pickups

Mar 30

Magoichi Festival 孫市まつり FREE

Saginomori Betsuin Temple, Wakayama

A one-day spectacular celebration of Magoichi Saiga, a historic hero of Wakayama. Expect an armoured samurai parade, a matchlock gun demonstration, stage combat and other attractions.

Admission: free • magoichi.fc2web.com

Mar 1–31

Hina Doll Street in Takatori Town 土佐町並み 町家の雛めぐり FREE

Takatori-Cho, Nara

Girls’ Day (also known as Doll Festival) is one of the most important events in the calendar of traditional Japanese cultural activities. Many families celebrate this festival by displaying a special set of dolls called hina-ningyo. In the small historic town of Takatori-cho, over 100 families will showcase their beautiful hina dolls for visitors to enjoy.

The main action will take place on the picturesque street leading up to Takatori Castle ruins. Here, you’ll see beautiful wooden houses with black tiled roofs displaying loads of exotic Japanese figurines.

Enjoy mingling with the locals who will be delighted to share their fond memories about their beloved hina dolls. Plus, there’ll be tons of other attractions to enjoy throughout the day.

Time: 10am–4pm • Admission: free • Access: Kintetsu Railway Tsubosakayama stn; 5 min walk • Tel: 0744-52-1150 • hinameguri.jp

Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do Mar 9 & 22

Mar 21

Ireland Festival in Osaka 2014

Gathering For Sunset

アイルランドフェスティバルin 大阪

夕日を見る会

Mar 9 at Dotonbori Riverwalk and Mar 22 at Hachikenyahama

Osaka will be packed with celebrations and jolly revelers donning emerald garb during this Irish-themed festival, which is loosely timed to match with Ireland’s national holiday St Patrick’s Day on March 17. Join the crowds on the 9th and enjoy dazzling shows, food and drinks at Dotonbori Riverwalk. Later on the 22nd, Hachikenyahama in Tenmabashi will be the centre of traditional and modern Irish entertainment with a line-up of various performances and a colourful parade. So throw on your best green clothes and join the craic. As the famous Irish saying goes, “On this day, everybody is Irish!”

FREE

Saigasaki Lighthouse & Surroundings, Wakayama

Legend has it that in Saigasaki, blossoms fall from the evening sun at the equinoxes in March and September. It is said that the sunlight looks like confetti. To witness this folkloric celestial event, a gathering takes place in a beautiful setting with a lighthouse. Whether the special phenomena occurs or not, it will be a great family day out with live performances, fun stalls and, fingers crossed, the magnificent scene of the equinox sunset.

Time: 2pm–dusk • Admission: free • Access: JR Wakayama stn/ Nankai Railway Wakayamashi stn bus to Saigasaki Yuen; 20min walk • Tel: 073-447-0844

Mar 9 at Dotonbori Riverwalk and Mar 22 at Hachikenyahama Admission: most events are free • irishnjosaka.web.fc2.com

Hina Nagashi, Farewell to Hina Dolls 雛流し FREE

Awashima Shrine, Wakayama

Another important part of Girls’ Day involves families praying for the happiness of their young daughters. This tradition is traceable back to the Heian period when people believed that small human figures, hina dolls, could take away evil spirits. Awashima-jinja holds its unique Doll Festival ritual annually. Beautiful boats carrying hina dolls are launched into the sea among origami cranes floating on the water’s surface. Hundreds of women visit to say farewell to their dolls carrying their precious memories on this day.

Admission: free • Access: Nankai Railway Kata stn; 15 min walk • Tel: 073-459-0043 • kada.jp/awashima/index.html

Mar 3

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Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do

Event listings March

from Osaka. All performers will speak in English.

Admission: ¥4,500/¥4,000/¥3,500 • Tel: 06-6943-9454 • noh-theater. com

Spring Doll Exhibition 春の人形展

Nara Food Festival 奈良食祭

Hokyouji Temple, Kyoto Mar 1–Apr 3

A display of fantastic antiquities that successive emperors sent their daughters. The glass eyes of life-size figures are a must-see.

Admission: ¥600 adults, concessions • hokyoji.net

FREE Kasihara Koen, Nara March 15 & 16

Provided by Biwako Visitors Bureau.

Lake Biwa Season Opening びわ湖開き FREE

Otsu-Ko Port, Shiga • Mar 8

A special celebration takes place on the first day of water activity at Lake Biwa.

Admission: free • otsu.or.jp

Antique Doll Exhibition 古代雛人形展 Hokkeji Temple, Nara • Mar 1–18

Hokkeji—a Buddhist convent that is thousands of years old—will exhibit its treasures of antique figurines for Girls’ Day. Admission: ¥500 adults, concessions • hokkeji-nara.jp

Otaimats, Heralding of Spring お松明 FREE Nigatsudo in Todaiji Temple, Nara • Mar 1–14

Watch monks carrying giant torches heading up steep stairs and entering the temple hall along the balcony; the longest entrance ceremony with the largest torch is on March 12.

Time: 7pm • Admission: free • todaiji.or.jp/contents/function/0203syunie2.html

Girls Day Ceremony 流し雛 FREE Shimogamo-Jinja Shrine, Kyoto • Mar 3

In this event, straw dishes carrying hina dolls are floated down a stream; visitors can participate, and there will also be many other attractions.

Admission: free • Access: Keihan Railway Demachiyanagi stn; 10 min walk • kyo-ningyo.com/saijiki/ nagashihina.html

Sake Tasting 山田錦まつり

A great family day out with stalls from Nara’s most famous restaurants, stage shows, games and many other attractions.

Admission: free • Access: Kintetsu Railway Unebigoryo-mae stn • Tel: 0742-20-6633

Nipponbashi Street Festa 2014 日本橋ストリートフェスタ2014 FREE

Denden Town, Osaka • Mar 21

A grand sake tasting will take place at the home of Yamada Nishiki, Yoshikawa. Yamadanishiki is one of the best types of rice for making sake.

Admission: free • Access: JR Takarazuka line Shin-Sanda stn bus to Yoshikawachosha-mae • Tel: 0794-72-0180

The region’s cosplayers will come out to play today as Nipponbashi streets are closed to traffic for one of the biggest anime-themed events in Kansai. Choose a character, put on a costume and strut your stuff with the best of them. Or just bring your camera along and ask people to strike a pose. No-one is camera-shy here, so it’s a great day for pictures.

Admission: free, although cosplay changing rooms usually charge • nippombashi.jp/festa/2014

Outdoor Festival 2014 大阪アウトドアフェスティ バル2014

Oji Zoo Opening Anniversary 王子動物園開園記念日

Intex Osaka • Mar 8 & 9

Oji Zoo, Hyogo • Mar 21

A two-day fair showcasing outdoor goods with a variety of items ranging from luxurious caravans to basic camping gear.

Admission: ¥1,000 adults, concessions • tv-osaka.co.jp/ outdoor

For one day only, get free entry to Oji Zoo, which houses around 800 animals and 140 different species.

Time: 9am–5pm • www.city.kobe. lg.jp/culture/leisure/ojizoo

FREE Yamada Nishiki no Yakata, Hyogo • Mar 8 & 9

Tako Kite Competition たこあげ大会 Kobe Shinrin Shokubutsu-En (botanical garden), Hyogo • Mar 23

Take part in a takoage kite competition. Everybody can participate with handmade kites, and tako kite kits will be given to the first 200 people.

Admission: ¥300 adults, concessions (to enter the park) • kobe-park. or.jp/shinrin

Kyoto Antique Fair 京都大アンティークフェア FREE Pulse Plaza, Kyoto Mar 28–30

With 330 dealers and 150,000 items from home and abroad, this is one of the largest antique markets in Japan.

Admission: free • Access: Subway Karasuma line Takeda stn free bus to Pulse Plaza

God of Fight Festival 武神祭 FREE Usuki Hachiman-Jinja Shrine, Hyogo • Mar 29

A dazzling dance performed by five monsters; legend has it that once upon a time these monsters fought off foreign demons.

Admission: free • www. usukihachiman.or.jp/main.htm

Hanezu Dance はねず踊り Zuishinin Temple, Kyoto Mar 30

Hanezu dance will be performed by young girls dressed in pretty pink kimono; the performance tells the story of Ono no Komachi, well known as a great beauty in ancient Japanese history.

Admission: ¥1,000 • zuishinin.or.jp

Higashiyama Luminous Evening 東山花灯路

Ceremony to Drive Away Demons 鬼追い式

FREE Higashiyama Area, Kyoto Mar 14–23

Yakushiji Temple, Nara Mar 31

The heart of Kyoto will come alive as its classical avenues glow with lanterns.

Admission: free • hanatouro.jp/ higashiyama

Evening of Traditional Osaka Performing Arts 上方伝統芸能ナイト Yamamoto Nohgakudo Theater, Osaka • Mar 15

One performance showcasing four types of traditional performing art

Deer Cracker Throwing Competition 鹿せんべい飛ばし大会 Mt. Wakakusayama, Nara Mar 21–23

How far can you throw a frisbeelike deer cracker? The person who throws one the furthest gets a trophy, and of course the glory.

Deer will happily help clear up the losing entries.

Admission: ¥300 (to enter the competition) • geocities.jp/ mikasakkk9999jp

A concluding ceremony for the Buddhist ritual Hana Eshiki, you’ll see five demons perform wildly here with flaming torches.

Admission: ¥800 adults, concessions • nara-yakushiji.com

Find more listings online: www.kansaiscene.com/ listings

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Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do

Art

Until May 11

Kwak KS Pick Duck-Jun: The Paintings of the 1960s Kwak Duck-Jun, Smile at Night A, 1968, Collection of the artist

The National Museum of Art, Osaka

Born in Kyoto in 1937 to Korean parents, Kwak Duck-Jun originally had a Japanese name and citizenship, but had both changed to Korean ones by governmental order in the chaotic aftermath of World War II. He also suffered a protracted bout of illness in his youth, and these early tribulations seem to have influenced his later artistic explorations of the roots of human being and identity. The theme of dual identity is explored to hilarious effect in his long-running President Series, of which one large example is exhibited here. Since 1974 he has taken photographs that combine the lower half of his own face with the upper half of the current President of the United States appearing on the cover of Time magazine, a simple device that creates a simultaneously humorous and disquieting cognitive disconnect.

This exhibition focuses primarily on his early abstract paintings of the 1960s, which also have playful and humor-

ous qualities. Dense, colorful and primal, they are reminiscent of tribal art yet have warped compositions and an air of tension that feel very contemporary. They never feel fully abstract, but leave interpretations open to the viewer.

Documentation of Kwak’s other diverse artistic activities, from performances with a duck to mail art, is also exhibited.

The museum’s headlining exhibition of Andreas Gursky’s breathtaking, heroically scaled photographs of contemporary civilization runs concurrently.

Feb 1–May 11 • Colorful, primal yet complex abstract paintings, as well as various conceptual works, by Korean-Japanese experimental artist. • Open: 10am–5pm (until 7pm on Fri) • Closed Mon • Admission: ¥420 (Feb 1–Mar 30), ¥430 (Apr 1–May 11), ¥1,500 to view all the exhibitions at the museum • Access: Keihan Nakanoshima line Watanabebashi Stn • nmao.go.jp

Art Listings Osaka

archaeological discoveries in Chinese ceramic history, the recent excavation of one of the five great kilns of Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD) China.

Open: 9:30am–5pm • Closed Mon • Admission: ¥800 • Access: Keihan Naniwabashi Stn • moco.or.jp

Ladies First FREE White porcelain / Mid-period, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) / Excavated from Ding kiln site (Jianciling, Section A) / Height: 5.5cm, width: 4.5cm / Cultural Relics Institute Hebei Province

Ding Ware: The World of White Elegance – Recent Archaeological Findings The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka • Until Mar 23, 2014

Works of white porcelain from one of the most significant

Cafe Absinthe • Mar 5–31

Ladies First is a series of portraits and other oil paintings by Craig Mertens in his first exhibition at Cafe Absinthe.

Admission: Free • Time: 11:30am to Late (closed Tuesdays) • Tel: 066534-6635 • absinthe-jp.com

Uematsu Keiji: Invisible Axis – Distance and Angle FREE

Gallery Nomart

Mar 15–Apr 12

Exhibition celebrating awarding of the 38th Nakahara Teijiro Prize to artist known for serene yet precariously balanced sculptural paradoxes, featuring works made with stone and other natural materials.

Open: 1pm–7pm • Closed Sun and hols • Admission: Free • Access: Subway Fukaebashi Stn • nomart. co.jp

Simon Everington exhibition: BEAT Kaede Gallery, Osaka Mar 25–Apr 6 FREE

The title refers to the way clay has been beaten into forms and the pulse of each ceramic sculpture.

Admission: Free • Open: 12–7pm (last day 5pm) • Closed Mon • Tel: 06-6761-0388 • www7a.biglobe. ne.jp/~kaede-g

Hyogo Kenji Inumaki: New Works FREE Gallery 9.5, Hotel Anteroom Gallery Yamaki Fine Art Feb 15–Mar 15

Minimal yet lyrical works by artist associated with the Mono-ha (“School of Things”) movement of the 1970s, which has recently been receiving new critical acclaim.

Open: 11am–1pm and 2pm–7pm • Closed Mon • Admission: Free • Access: JR Motomachi Stn • gyfa. co.jp

Kyoto From Hand to Hand: Picture Book Authors’

Until May 11

Turner from the Tate: The Making of a Master

Jan 11- April 6

Kobe City Museum

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto presents this exhibition based on the highly lauded Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion, which traveled to five cities worldwide. Influential Japanese designers such as Kenzo Takada (founder of Kenzo); Issey Miyake (designer of Steve Jobs’s signature black turtleneck, but better known for innovative, high-tech haute couture); and Rei Kawakubo (creator of Comme des Garçons) departed from the traditional notions of beauty that governed Western fashion, creating designs that were boldly forward-looking yet at the same time reflected traditional Japanese techniques and sensibilities. A love of shadows and ambiguity, and a wabisabi embrace of the distressed and asymmetrical, exemplified by Kawakubo’s shell-shocked monochromatic 1980s collections, seem to bring something both cutting-edge and quintessentially Japanese to the world of international fashion. Younger generations of designers have taken new directions, incorporating subcultures and technology into their works.

In an era of disposable fast fashion, this is an ideal time to stop and look at what clothing can express as an art form.

Joseph Mallord William Turner, better known by the initials J.M.W. Turner, lived from 1775 to 1851. A prolific painter, he produced large, boldly colored canvases with a dynamism that sometimes verged on violence—some of his later depictions of storms, shipwrecks or sunsets look like Abstract Expressionist masterpieces at first glance. Recognized in his day as a genius, albeit a controversial and eccentric one, he is today regarded as a truly seminal figure, elevating the status of both British painting (long in the shadow of its counterparts in the Netherlands, Italy, France and elsewhere on the continent) and landscape painting (at the time considered inferior to loftier historical or mythological subject matter).

This major retrospective features over 100 works, including about 30 oil paintings from the collection of Tate Britain.

While Turner is not very well known in Japan, he had a profound influence on others who are, such as Claude Monet and the other Impressionists. The exhibition’s organizers also note his connection to Japanese literary giant Natsume Soseki, who fell in love with his work while studying British literature in London. A world away from the sedate tableaus one associates with early 19th-century painting, Turner’s sublime interpretations of the beauty and savagery of nature look as fresh today as they did 200 years ago.

Mar 21–May 11 • Retrospective of several decades of avant-

Jan 11– Apr 6 • Large-scale retrospective of renowned early

garde Japanese fashion that incorporates tradition, including

19th-century British landscape painter whose dynamism

Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo and many younger

and innovation still resonate today • Open: 9:30am–5:30pm •

designers. • Open: 9:30am–5pm • Closed Mon • Admission: ¥1200

Closed Mon • Admission: ¥1500 • Access: JR Motomachi Stn •

• Access: Keihan Sanjo Stn • momak.go.jp

turner2013-14.jp

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto

Messages for Children – Remembering 3.11 Kyoto International Manga Museum Mar 1–May 18

Illustrations from international project in which Japanese picture book artists commissioned their colleagues in various countries to produce illustrations on the theme of “our future after the Great East Japan Earthquake”.

Open: 10am–6pm (5:30pm last entry) • Closed Wed (except 4/30) • Admission: ¥800 • Access: Subway Karasuma-Oike Stn • kyotomm.jp

Kajii Shoin: NAMI FOIL GALLERY • Feb 21–Mar 15

Photographs by Buddhist monk capturing the turbulent waters of the Sea of Japan like sculptural objects, and conveying both overwhelming power and serenity.

Open: 11:30am–8pm • Closed Wed • Admission: ¥300 • Access: Subway Imadegawa Stn • foilkyoto.com

Baba Rika: Fancy plain FREE

ARTZONE • Mar 15–Apr 6

Phantasmagoric installation of biomorphic objects, made with ordinary consumer materials such as shower curtains, strollers and plastic spoons.

Open: 1pm–8pm • Admission: Free • Access: Keihan Sanjo Stn • artzone.jp

Wakayama

Shiga

Thinking on Hanga: An Assignment on Printmaking in the Year 101

Salvador Dali and Masters of Modern French Painting

The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama • Feb 18–Mar 30

Exploring the history of printmaking in Japan from its origin as a common and often homemade printing technology to diverse contemporary works in the medium.

Open: 9:30am–5pm • Closed Mon • Admission: ¥500 • Access: Nankai Wakayama-shi Stn • momaw.jp

The Museum of Modern Art, Shiga Feb 8–Mar 30

Strictly selected works from the collection of the Morohashi Museum in Fukushima Prefecture, which has one of the world’s top collections of Dali.

Open: 9:30am–5pm • Closed Mon • Admission: ¥950 • Access: Bunka Zone-mae bus stop, bus from JR Seta Stn • shiga-kinbi.jp

Find more listings online: kansaiscene.com/listings © Syoin Kajii

31 Childe Harold’ s Pilgrimage – Italy © Tate 2013-2014

Future Beauty: The Tradition of Reinvention in Japanese Fashion

Oh! Ya?/ Hiroaki Ohya/, Spring/Summer 2000, Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute, photo by Masayuki Hayashi

Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do

32

Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do Apr 9

Live Music

Suzanne Vega

KS

Pick

If anybody mentions the Californian folk rock singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega, chances are you’ll think of the hit 1987 single “Luka”—an outstanding song written through the eyes of an abused child. The song was also covered by The Lemonheads on their independent 1989 album Lick. But “Luka” was 27 years ago and the sign and strength of a truly talented songwriter is to move on.

Though not prolific, Vega has released five studio albums since 1987 with her sixth (first in seven years), Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles, released just this month (her 8th studio album in total). The album was produced by guitarist Gerry Leonard and on the process he says “Suzanne is an artist who is constantly writing, so we knew she had a lot of beginnings and concepts for new songs.”

Popular American singer-songwriter • Club Quattro, Osaka • Singer-songwriter • 7:30pm • ¥7,500 • Tel: 06-6535-5569

Live Music Listings Mar/Apr Rock & Pop Mix Speakers Inc. Japanese visual kei rock genre band formed 2006 Muse, Kyoto

Mar 15 • Rock • 5:30pm • ¥4,650/¥5,190 • Tel: 075-223-0389

Mar 18 • Rock • 7pm • ¥3,500/¥4,000 • Tel: 06-6245-5389

Arrested Development US alternative hip-hop band

Radwimps

Sondre Lerche & Young Dreams

Mar 20 • Indie • 7pm • ¥4,500/¥5,000 • Tel: 06-6343-8601

Shangri-la, Osaka

Shangri-La, Osaka

Union Square Garden Japanese indie-rock band

Dark Tranquility

Japanese visual kei rock band Muse, Osaka

Taku Taku, Kyoto

AIRI & milktub Japanese pop idol vocalist and j-rock duo

Japanese high energy punk trio Mar 26 • Punk • 7pm • ¥3,000 • Tel: 075-351-1321

The Beach Boys Classic ’60s surf pop band

Billboard Live Osaka, Osaka Mar 27 • Pop-rock • 6:30pm/9:30pm • ¥13,500/¥15,000 • Tel: 06-63427722

Japanese female R&B vocalist Dark Tranquility @ Club Quattro

defspiral

Mar 20-21 • Rock • 20th-7pm/21st6pm • ¥6,500 • Tel: 06-6341-3525

AZU

Mar 16 • Rock • 6pm • ¥3,000 • Tel: 06-6882-1224

Mar 24 • New wave rock • Time: TBA • ¥2,000/¥2,500 • Tel: 06-63438601

The 50 Kaintenz

Osaka Jo hall, Osaka

Mar 21 • Pop • 5pm • ¥6,090/¥6,615 • Tel: 06-6245-5389

Japanese rock trio

Shangri-La, Osaka

Japanese 4-piece band from Kanagawa

Muse, Osaka

Sisterjet

Mar 16 • Rock • 5pm • ¥3,800 • Tel: 06-7732-8888

Zepp, Osaka

Mar 19 • Hip-hop • 6:30pm/9:30pm • ¥7,400/¥8,900 • Tel: 06-6342-7722

Mar 15 • Rock • 6:30pm • ¥4,000 • Tel: 077-598-6030

Zepp, Osaka

Album release party gig for psychedelic new wave band from Osaka

Mar 20 • Reggae • 7pm • ¥5,250 • Tel: 06-6341-3525

Japanese visual kei rock band Bari-Hari, Yasu, Shiga

333 (bababa)

Japanese female reggae singersongwriter

Billboard Live Osaka, Osaka

Norwegian singer-songwriter multiinstrumentalist plus Norwegian Indie band

Uchusentai:NOIZ

lecca

Swedish melodic death metal band Club Quattro, Osaka

Mar 20 • Metal • 7pm • ¥7,000 • Tel: 06-6535-5569

Shangri-la, Osaka

Mar 22 • Pop • 6pm • ¥5,000 • Tel: 06-6357-4400

Fumido Japanese pop-rock trio Taku Taku, Kyoto

Mar 22 • Pop-rock • 6pm • ¥4,500 • Tel: 075-351-1321

Travis @ Namba Hatch

Travis Scottish indie-rock band Namba Hatch, Osaka

Apr 2

Apr 11

Thirty Seconds to Mars

The Tin Men

Jared Leto, Shannon Leto and Tomo Milicevic make up the Los Angeles rock trio Thirty Seconds to Mars.

Formed in 1998 by brothers Jared and Shannon, the band released their debut self-titled album in 2002 receiving positive reviews with many comparisons to the likes of Pink Floyd, Tool and Brian Eno. Last year saw the release of the band’s fourth studio album, Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams; a concept album split into four parts around themes of the album’s title. A copy of the single from the album Up in the Air was actually sent to the International Space Station and gained its first airplay aboard before its terrestrial release the next day (March 19, 2013).

Calling themselves America’s premiere sousaphone, washboard and guitar trio The Tin Men have been performing their own brand of swing jazz both at home and abroad since 2002. Comprising of Chaz Washboard (percussion and washboard), Matt Perrine (sousaphone, which is basically a big brass horn) and Alex McMurray (guitar) the trio have been called “One of the most interesting bands to emerge from New Orleans in years” by Offbeat magazine.

The group’s latest album Avocado woo woo (2013), produced by Grammy award-winner John Porter, was a long time coming. The album contains 14 tracks of traditional swing, rock, rock ‘n’ roll and R&B. All three members of the trio are also involved with other projects but together they have a certain magic not to be missed.

American rock trio from California • Big Cat, Osaka • Rock • 7pm • ¥6,500 • Tel:

April 15

Television plus support The 50 Kaitenz

Taku, Kyoto • Swing-pop • 7pm • ¥4,500 •

Formed in New York City in 1973, Television are credited as being one of the most influential and seminal bands of that time. Along with the Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith and Talking Heads, the group were part of the ’70s New York rock scene and their debut album Marquee Moon is still seen as a defining release of that era.

Current band members Tom Verlaine (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Billy Ficca (drums) and Fred Smith (bass, vocals) have been with Television since the ’70s. The only new member is guitarist Jimmy Rip who replaced original member Richard Lloyd in 2007.

Television are supported by the Japanese high energy rock ‘n’ roll punk trio The 50 Kaitenz (Danny, Dory and Bogie). This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the band and to celebrate this they are embarking on a 50 date tour of Japan from Gifu to Okinawa between March and July.

Tel: 075-351-1321

Influential ’70s New York City rock band

06-7732-8888 Rock meets swing jazz US jug band •Taku

• Varit, Kobe • Rock • 7pm • ¥7,300 • Tel: 078-392-6655

Mar 27 • Indie-rock • 7pm •¥8,000 • Tel: 06-6535-5569

Mar 28 • Rock • 7pm • ¥7,000 • Tel: 06-6311-8111

Juliet

a flood of circle

Japanese gyaru models pop trio

Japanese rock trio

Mar 27 • Pop • 6:30pm • ¥4,000/¥4,500 • Tel: 06-7732-8888

Mar 29 • Rock • 7pm • ¥3,150 • Tel: 06-6357-3666

Chicken George, Kobe

Four young Kyoto rock bands in one line-up gig

Royal Hunt Melodic Danish progressive rock band Club Quattro, Osaka

Big Cat, Osaka

Polysics @ Varit

Killswitch Engage @ Club Quattro

Polysics

Killswitch Engage

Japanese new wave rock band ‘technicolor pogo punk’

Five-piece US metalcore band formed 1999

Apr 1 • Rock • 7pm • ¥3,800/¥4,300 • Tel: 06-6357-3666

Apr 3 • Metal • 7pm • ¥6,800 • Tel: 06-6535-5569

Apr 2 • Rock • 7pm • ¥6,500 • Tel: 06-7732-8888

Big Cat, Osaka

H”palty presents H”palty/Molehill/ DUFF/THE Hitch Lowke

Royal Hunt @ Club Quattro

Mar 31 • Punk • Time: TBA • ¥3,000 • Tel: 06-6357-4400

Mojo, Kyoto

Mar 30 • Rock • 6pm • ¥2,300/¥2,800 • Tel: 075-254-7707

The 50 Kaitenz Japanese high energy punk trio Neverland, Nara

Varit, Kobe

Thirty Seconds To Mars American rock trio from California

Club Quattro, Osaka

33 Photo © Naoki Tamura

Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do

34

Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do Mar 24

333 bababa A psychedelic new wave rock band from Osaka made up of Seiya (vocals), Sanae (guitar and synthesizer), Nagura (bass) and Datcho (support drummer).

The band released their first mini-album Restless in February. This gig at Shangri-La, Osaka is part of their release tour of 10 dates between February and May, and is billed as The Restless Release Party.

333 bababa dub themselves as a fast new wave band with their music “characterized by the sounds stuffed in their short songs like a toy box.” Make of that what you will.

Last year the band played a successful three week tour in America. The band’s website also states that they are currently looking for a drummer. Any takers?

Mar 30

H”palty presents H”palty/Molehill/DUFF/ THE Hitch Lowke Four Kyoto young rock bands in one gig headlined by H”palty. H”palty are a five piece band formed in Kyoto in 2010. From their tracks “Paradise Lost” and “MV”, the band have a sound reminiscent of Brit Indie rock, with impressive guitar, a solid rhythm section and strong vocals.

Also on the bill are rock quartet Molehill who release a new CD at the end of next month (there’ll be a release gig at Kyoto Muse on April 30) plus fellow Kyoto-ites DUFF, formed in 2006, and five piece young rockers THE Hitch Lowke.

In a small venue and with reasonable ticket prices, this should be a great gig for anyone that wants to support young, local Kansai musicians.

Album release party gig for psychedelic new wave band

Four young Kyoto rock bands in one line-up gig

from Osaka • Shangri-La, Osaka • New wave rock • Time-TBA •

Mojo, Kyoto • Rock • 6pm • ¥2,300/¥2,800 • Tel: 075-254-7707

¥2,000/¥2,500 • Tel: 06-6343-8601

Gov’t Mule

CANTA

Southern rock jam band ft. Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers)

Japanese rock trio

Television plus support The 50 Kaitenz

Apr 6 • Rock • 5:30pm • ¥5,500 • Tel: 06-6245-5389

Influential ’70s New York City rock band

Billboard Live Osaka, Osaka

Apr 4 • Rock • 6:30pm/9:30pm • ¥9,500/¥1,500 • Tel: 06-6342-7722

Knockout Monkey

Muse, Osaka

Suzanne Vega

Varit, Kobe

Apr 15 • Rock • 7pm • ¥7,300 • Tel: 078-392-6655

Japanese rock four-piece band

Popular American singersongwriter

Apr 4 • Rock • 7pm • ¥3,000 • Tel: 06-7732-8888

Apr 9 • Singer-songwriter • 7:30pm • ¥7,500 • Tel: 06-6535-5569

Wilko Johnson

Inoran

(champagne)

Japanese ex-Lunasea singersongwriter-guitarist

Japanese rock quartet

Legendary British blues rock guitarist

Chicken George, Kobe

Big Cat, Osaka

Apr 4 • Rock • 7pm • ¥5,500/¥6,000 • Tel: 06-6344-3326

moumoon Japanese male-female pop duo Muse, Kyoto

Apr 4 • Pop-rock • 7pm • ¥5,250 • Tel: 075-223-0389

Club Quattro, Osaka

Zepp, Osaka

Apr 10-11 • Rock • 7:30pm • ¥4,320 • Tel: 06-6882-1224

Sekai No Owari Japanese up and coming rock band Osaka Jo Hall, Osaka

Apr 12 • Rock • 12th-6:30pm/13th5pm/14th-6:30pm • ¥7,900 • Tel: 06-6882-1224

Jazz & Blues

Taku Taku, Kyoto

Mar 15 • Blues • 6:30pm • ¥6,500 • Tel: 075-351-1321

In the Country Norwegian modern jazz trio Rag, Kyoto

Mar 20 • Jazz • 7:30pm • ¥3,500/¥4,500 • Tel: 075-241-0446

Wazuki Katsuta

Lm.c

KT Tunstall

Japanese jazz fusion saxophonist

Electronic rock pop visual kei duo

Scottish singer-songwriter-guitarist

Mar 22 • Jazz • 6:30pm • ¥5,000/¥5,500 • Tel: 06-6342-5821

Apr 5 • Rock-pop • 5pm • ¥4,800/¥5,500 • Tel: 06-7732-8888

Apr 14 • Pop-rock • 6:30pm/9:30pm • ¥7,000/¥8,500 • Tel: 06-63427722

Big Cat, Osaka

Billboard Live Osaka, Osaka

Mister Kelly’s, Osaka

Lars Jansson Trio with

Ove Ingemarsson Jansson’s piano trio with guest saxophonist Marsson Mister Kelly’s, Osaka

Apr 4 • Jazz • 7:30pm/9:15pm • ¥6,000 • Tel: 06-6342-5821

Johnny Winter Legendary blues rock guitarist Namba Hatch, Osaka

Apr 13 • Blues • 5pm • ¥9,000/¥10,000 • Tel: 06-43970572

Swing-pop & Folk The Tin Men Pop meets swing jazz US jug band Taku Taku, Kyoto

Apr 11 • Swing-pop • 7pm • ¥4,500 • Tel: 075-351-1321

L’erable Double bass and accordion duo Rag, Kyoto

Apr 2 • Folk • 7:30pm • ¥2,800/¥3,500 • Tel: 075-241-0446

Find more listings online at: www.kansaiscene. com/listings

36

Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do Mar 22

Club

Onzieme Onzieme welcomes the legendary German producer/composer Atom™, a.k.a Uwe Schmidt, for the first time. Since the early ’90s, Schmidt has been a globally recognized name, known for his vast and varied musical styles produced under dozens of aliases like Senor Coconut, Atom Heart, Geez ’N’ Gosh, Flextone and Odd Machine. But for his Osaka gig, Schmidt is performing as Atom™ to showcase his latest album HD from the German electronic label Raster-Noton. Come and experience what’s sure to be an exciting, super synchronized audio-visual live set from the prolific musician.

Kagura (Techno/House/Electro) • Acts: Atom™, Sou, Fanky Kow + more • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6243-0089 • onzi-eme.com

Club Listings March 1 (Sat) Circus Ourdraw Attack Release Party (Techno) • Live: Yudai Tamura •

DJs: Masanori Mikami & Synya, Nao Nomura, Dimitri, Toru Ikemoto, Mitsuyasu • Open: 10pm • Admission: ¥3,500/1D (ADV: ¥2,000/1D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • circus-osaka. com

Troop Cafe Moonsalon (House/Techno) • DJs:

Kussy, Ryo, Cabaret, Seiji Yamada • Open: 10pm • Admission: ¥1,000 • Where: Kobe • Tel: 078-321-3130 • troopcafe.tumblr.com

2 (Sun) Circus eBridge Japan Tour (Drum’n’Bass ) • DJs: eBridge, Toyo, Rasty, Ryo,

Onzieme

Anode • Open: 6pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D (ADV: ¥2,500/1D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-62413822 • circus-osaka.com

Lime presents Tim Deluxe Japan Tour (Techno/House) • DJs: Tim

7 (Fri)

Deluxe, Yashima, e.you, Freak Menu, Masataka • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6243-0089 • onzi-eme.com

Seven Lounge Mask - Masquerade Lounge (Techno/House/Electro) • Live:

Takehiro Okuyama • DJs: Shine, Kunio Torikai, Milk Bro., Kuwaman • Open: 10pm • Admission: Gentlemen: ¥2,500/1D, Ladies: ¥2,000/1D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6120-2277 • 1-16-20 Shinsaibashi Stagia 1F, Higashi Shinsaibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka City

Circus Zettai-Mu - DJ Madd from Bristol, UK in Osaka (Dub,Reggae) •

Acts: 1945 aka Kuranaka, Madd + more • Open: TBA • Admission: ¥2,900(ADV: ¥2,400) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • circus-osaka.com

Union Trunk Special (Techon/House)

• Live: Yoda Haruka • DJs: Iori Wakasa, Miki Shinichi, Iccii, Masanao Shibata • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥2,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6251-2242 • club-union.jp

8 (Sat) Circus Spectrum (Techno) • Live:

A.Mochi • DJs: Kihira Naoki, Loe + more • Open: 10pm • Admission: ¥2,500/1D (ADV: ¥2,000/1D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-62413822 • circus-osaka.com

Creative Center Osaka Flow Front (Electro/House/ Techno) • DJs: Taku Takahashi,

Jamboride, Wildparty, Seiho, Hyper Juice, Sekitova, Monashee, Sou + more • Open: 2pm–10pm • Admission: ¥4,000 (ADV: ¥3,500) • Where: Kitakagaya • info: iflyer.tv/ event/174669

Joule Yoji in Joule (Tech Dance) • DJs:

Yoji, M.Minami, Monashee, Tommy, Motoshi + more • Open: 9pm • Admission: Gentlemen: ¥2,500/1D, Ladies: ¥1,500/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6214-1223 • club-joule.jp

Grand Cafe Super Rave!! x EDM Anthem (EDM) • DJs: Ken-Bow, Super Rave

DJs • Open: 9pm • Admission: Gentlemen: ¥2,000/1D, Ladies: ¥2,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6213-8637 • www. grandcafeosaka.com

Onzieme Avacult (Electro/House) • DJs:

Alisa Ueno, Kenz1, Taku-Hero, Shinji, Togawa • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D (ADV: ¥2,000) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6243-0089 • onzi-eme.com

Troop Cafe Non/Fiction (Techno) • DJs: Ken

Ishii, Atsuo Morita, Hilock, 2Nyan, Akinari • Open: 10pm• Admission: ¥2,500/1D (WF: ¥2,000/1D) • Where: Kobe • Tel: 078-321-3130 • troopcafe.tumblr.com

13 (Thu) Onzieme Seven - White Party - (House)

• DJs: Nao Nomura, Osakaman, Senda, Asaura, Kojiman, Bancho • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥2,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 066243-0089 • onzi-eme.com

14 (Fri) Circus Circus presents Rhadoo Special Long Set Night (Techno) • DJs:

Rhadoo, Fumi, Mirai • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D (ADV: ¥2,500/1D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • circus-osaka. com

Kansai Scene Listings: Where to go & what to do Metro Zettai-Mu meets Digikal Boom Box (Dub, Reggae) • Acts: Madd,

1945 aka Kuranaka, Digikal Boom Box, Tokyo Ghetto Shamisen aka Jun Sakada • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥2,900/1D (ADV: ¥2,400/1D) • Tel: 075-752-2787 • metro.ne.jp

15 (Sat)

21 (Fri) Circus Factory feat. Kassem Mosse (Techno) • Live: Kassem Mosse •

DJs: Aida, Koji Sawamura, Makoto Murakami, Matsuo Akihide • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D (WF: ¥2,500/1D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • circus-osaka. com

Circus

End.

Qube TV presents Jan Kruger (Techno) • DJs: Jan Kruger,

Ende (Techno/House) • DJs:

Shingo, Ono, Spot • Open: 10pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D (ADV: ¥2,500/1D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • circus-osaka. com

Nofear, Goshin, Testuo, Kaito, Fumi • Open: 10pm • Admission: TBA • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-62268732 • 1-17-15 Marukiyo Building 4F, Higashi Shinsaibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka City

Grand Cafe

Union

Daishi Dance - Midnight! (House/ EDM) • DJs: Daishi Dance + more •

A.N.D. (Techno/House) • DJs:

Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D (Before 10pm: ¥1,500/1D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6213-8637 • www.grandcafeosaka.com

Onzieme Eleven Lights x Pepe Jeans London - 1st Anniversary (EDM) •

DJs: Benkay, Ko-Matsushima, YPY, Mj-Michi, Unbalance • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6243-0089 • onzi-eme.com

16 (Sun) Circus Agile (Techno) • DJs: Tasaka,

Monashee • Open: 8pm • Admission: ¥2,500/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • circus-osaka.com

20 (Thu/Before National Holiday) Circus Newtone Records & Circus presents Lostweekend - Henrik Schuwarz 10 Years Anniversary Tour (Techno) • DJs: Henrik

Schwarz, Sotofett, Masa aka Conomark + more • Open: 10pm • Admission: ¥2,800 (ADV: ¥2,300) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-62413822 • circus-osaka.com

Grand Cafe Cookies vol.5 Bromance Japan Tour 2014 (Electro) • DJs:

Brondinski, Sam Tiba, Jommy, George, Juse, Masataka, Note, Y8 • Open: 8pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D(ADV: ¥2,500/1D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-62138637 • grandcafeosaka.com

Masataka, Kunimitsu, Hirouz • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥2,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 066251-2242 • club-union.jp

22 (Sat) Circus Howie B “Down With The Dawn” Release Tour in Osaka (Techno/ House) • DJs: Howie B, Tomoyuki

Tanaka, Hiroshi Nakamura • Open: 11pm • Admission: ¥2,500/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-62413822 • circus-osaka.com

Joule Yabai Records 9th Anniversary Party (Trance) • Live: Bliss,

Damage, B-55 • DJs: Tazi, 1000Dream, Yuya, Yuji + more • Open: 10pm • Admission: ¥4,000 (ADV: ¥3,500) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6214-1223 • club-joule.jp

Troop Cafe Andy Vas Japan Tour in Kobe (Techno) • Acts: Andy Vaz,

Rondenion, Telly, Jibb • Open: 10pm• Admission: ¥2,500/1D (WF: ¥2,000/1D) • Where: Kobe • Tel: 078-321-3130 • troopcafe.tumblr. com

23 (Sun) Circus Solaris with DJ Pete aka Substance (Techno) • DJs: Pete

aka Substance, Jokei, Sullivan • Open: 7pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 066241-3822 • circus-osaka.com

24 (Mon)

29 (Sat)

Circus

Circus

Ras G Japan Tour 2014 Osaka (Dance) • DJs: Ras G, Kiyo, Rie

Vera Japan Tour 2014 (Techno)

Lambdoll, Kazukiyo, Tell • Open: 7pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D (ADV: ¥2,500/1D) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • circus-osaka.com

28 (Fri) Circus Sound by Sound (Techno/ House) • DJ: Yasuhisa - open to

last - • Open: 10pm • Admission: ¥2,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • circus-osaka. com

Troop Cafe Deep Sessions (House) • DJs:

Mark Farina, Yoku + more• Open: 11pm• Admission: ¥3,000/1D (WF: ¥2,500/1D) • Where: Kobe • Tel: 078-321-3130 • troopcafe.tumblr. com

• DJs: Vera + morel • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥3,000/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • circus-osaka.com

Onzieme Kitsune Club Night (House/ Electro) • DJs: Gildas, Two Door

Cinema Club + more • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥3,500/1D (ADV: ¥2,000) • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6243-0089 • onzi-eme.com

30 (Sun) Circus Shei Shei Night (Techno) • DJs:

Fu-tsuka, Shinya Yoshida, Uelta + more • Open: 9pm • Admission: ¥1,500/1D • Where: Shinsaibashi • Tel: 06-6241-3822 • circus-osaka. com

37

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KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

rent+handling fee(15,750). Mention Classified ad = handling fee is FREE: info@entrance-japan.com Contact: Entrance Japan<info@ entrance-japan.com> Website: www. entrance-japan.com

Shared House NEW! GREEN APARTMENT RETROMODERN SHAREHOUSE OSAKA.

Accommodation For Rent APARTMENTS IN KOBE WITH NO KEY MONEY. 1 room apartments

from 40,000 yen per month. 2 and 3 bedroom apartments also available from JR Kobe to Rokko Michi.

Call 090 6777 9864 or email for a viewing or visit the webiste or find us on Facebook. Contact: Kevin Elliott <kevin@elliottventures.com> Website: www.elliotventures.com 35000YEN A MONTH 1K APT IN KAMISHINJO! 2 AVAIL NOW.

Hankyu line, fully priv. 1K with kitchen, bathroom n bedroom.

Balcony n place for wash. machine.

Unfurnish. Large clean building w/ 84 apts n elevator, close to everything. Park in front of bldg.

35,000yen/mth incl. water. 1 month refundable deposit . No key/no guar. req. 09049036249 (10-11am only) Contact: Mama Rina<info@ mamarina.net>

Room/flat Share SHARED ACCOMMODATION FOR RENT IN OSAKA. Wagokoro: Rent

¥39,000~, 9.72m2~, 8min walk from JR Senrioka st. / Marche Awaza: Rent ¥46,000~, 7.29m2~, 7min walk from Awaza st. No key money, deposit/ guarantor.

Furnished. Initial cost: 1st month’s

newly open January. 40 yrs old fish sausage factory is fully renovated into retro-modern shared house at OSAKA Bentencho st. 90m2 of large common space for movie or private event. rent ¥36,000~46,000 + expenses. for detail to j.kumakiri@ gmail.com or www.facebook.com/ GreenApartmentOsak Contact: Jiro Kumakiri<j.kumakiri@me.com> Website: www.facebook.com/ GreenApartmentOsaka SHARE HOUSE SUPPORTER.

Share-college KOBE. JR Nada station Room charge 43000(included utilities) about 17000en lower than the normal charge!! 2 person, English speaker or teacher. Task is petit support 2 hour per week. Contact: DREAMERS INC<info@dreamersjp.com> Website: dreamers-jp.com

Jobs Education NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHERS WANTED. A growing school with

friendly atmosphere in Settsu-city (Osaka) is looking for PT native English teachers for kids and adults. Tue-Fri afternoon – evening.

Experience preferred but not required. Please send your CV and recent photo via email to abies_ kids@yahoo.co.jp Contact: abies taro<abies_kids@yahoo.co.jp> NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHER FOR FRIDAYS. A small, recently,

refurbished school requires a native English teacher for Fridays afternoons/evenings. Place: near JR Koshienguchi, Students: mainly adults and a few kids. 2200-

2500 yen per hour of teaching plus transport. Contact: Kite English<kiteenglishschool@gmail. com> Website: www.kiteenglish. com PT ENG CONV TEACHER AT MINAMI MORIMACHI. Looking

for a responsible, enthusiastic and interesting PT English conversation teacher, 1-2 classes a week. The candidates‘ English must be native tongue. No teaching experience necessary. If you‘re interested in, send us your CV with your picture.

Contact: Jack<teachers-ka@hafadailanguage.com> Website: www. hafadai-language.com NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHER; AT MIYAKOJIMA,TANIMACHI LINE. Looking for English teacher.

Bright person a must! Tuesday 3:30pm~6:10pm [30min class: 5 year olds x 4], [40min x 2 classes: 9 year olds x 7 and 11 year olds x 7] 2,500yen/class. 1,000/transportation fee. Interested applicants please send recent pic and resume to contact: Yoshiko Takikita<yuzutakikita@ yahoo.co.jp> ALT IN WAKAYAMA NEEDED ASAP!. ALT in Wakayama wanted!

We’re interviewing for several ALT positions in Wakayama and its surroundings. Need to be experienced with proper visa. We offer great pay, transportation allowance, stability and much more.

To apply send your resume to: steve.p@e-howdy.net or dial free 0120-895-988 now! Contact: Steve P <steve.p@e-howdy.net> Website: www.e-howdy.net SEMI-FT NATIVE EXPERIENCED ENGLISH TEACHER NEEDED. A

small friendly English school in Kawanishi (30min. from Osaka) seeks EXPERIENCED native/ cheerful teacher who likes kids 2~8 year old students. 4days/w, ¥180000/m, w/ 30days paid holiday, VISA sponsorship available from April. Please send your resume w/ photo. 072-755-0035 info@ maple-english.com Contact: Maple English<info@maple-english.com> Website: www.maple-english.com

PT NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHER FOR KIDS . Looking for teachers to

work in very cozy school near JR SettsuMotoyama. Must be energetic and bright native speaker with valid visa and University diploma.

2:30or3:00-8:00pm(Tue-Fri), 10am-2pm(Sat) 2000yen/per hour and transportation Please send your resume with reccent photo.

Contact: LANGUAGE CLUB HANAKotoba<hanakotoba8758@ ybb.ne.jp> TEACHERS WANTED. School

in Ashiya/Okamoto is looking for FT/PT English and French teachers ASAP. University diploma is preferable. Must be native speaker with valid visa Payment: 2700-3000yen per hour and transportation. Contact us by email. ashiyaplus@hotmail.co.jp Contact: Ashiya Plus<ashiyaplus@ hotmail.co.jp> Website: www. comlanguageschool.com/ PT ENGLISH TEACHER FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KIDS.

TKC provides after school care for elementary school kids. We need energetic native English speakers who can give fun English time at Ibarakishi in Osaka. Mon-Fri 2:30 ~7:30pm ¥180,000/month.

Japanese skills preferred. Experience with kids & proper working visa required. Contact: Misa Kitayama<nishinomiya@t-kidsclub. com> NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHER NEEDED IN NISHINOMIYA!. A very

cozy school is looking for part-time instructors to join our team.We are looking for reliable and friendly teachers to work in very relaxed atmosphere.We prefered candidates who are living in Nishinomiya/ near or not too far,and with some teaching experience.Please send your resume with photo.

Contact: marvinschool<contact@ marvinschool.com> FT KIDS TEACHER IN NISHINOMIYA. Full time positions

available at an international kindergarten in Nishinomiya.

Experience with kids is preferred.

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KANSAI SCENE MAGAZINE | ISSUE #166 MARCH 2014 | kansaiscene.com

Valid VISA required. Wages start at ¥200,000/Month. Hours vary but range from 9am start and 6:30pm finish, weekdays. Come and join a warm and happy work environment! Contact: Rika Takahashi <bearsacademy@ gmail.com> Website: www.bearinternational-academy.com PART-TIME NATIVE ENGLISH INSTRUCTOR FOR KIDS. DoEng!

School in Nishinomiya, 3min walk from Hanshin Koroen St. ¥2000/hr (¥1600/hr during training period) Working hours negotiable from 2-9pm (Tue-Wed) and 10am2pm (Sat). Transport expenses reimbursed. Send applications via e-mail. Please attach resume, photo and brief intro: sato@ibsolution. co. Contact: Sato <sato@ibsolution. co.jp> Website: www.doeng.jp/ KANSAI CORPORATE CLASSES.

CES is seeking professional, English/Chinese/Korean/ Indonesian corporate instructors for p/t corporate classes (2-7 Hours a day) in Himeji, Akashi, Osaka, Shiga, Nara and Kyoto. P/t hourly rates 3,500-4,500 yen per hour. For more info, please forward C/V with availability to mark@cesjapan.co.jp Contact: Manager <mark@cesjapan. co.jp> *P/T RELIABLE, ENERGETIC, NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHERS.

We have one-on-one lessons with adults for teachers living or working in/near Sannomiya. Enjoy working in a friendly, professional environment on Saturdays and/or weekday afternoons or evenings.

When sending an email, please type "application" in the subject field. Call 078-331-3035 Contact: Sun MIhall <info@sunmihall.com> Website: www.sunmihall.com PT NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHER IN ASHIYA CITY. Imagine

Language Studio is looking for an experienced, part-time native English teacher who is enthusiastic about teaching. Schedule and wage: weekday evenings and weekends, ¥2000~¥2500 per 50 minute lesson, starting ASAP. Send

CV to Brandon Hirano at info@ justimagine.jp Contact: imagine <info@justimagine.jp> Website: justimagine.jp/ ENG TEACHER & PT JPN ENG TEACHER / STAFF WANTED.

English teacher position for classes from Monday to Saturday required.

Prefer teacher who lives close to Ibaraki and Suita. Positions available ASAP. Please email us at royalenglish725@gmail.com 日 本人の英語講師、スタッフ募集中! royalenglish725@gmail.com 又 は、072-637-9899 Contact: Royal English School <royalenglish725@ gmail.com> NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHER WANTED. English School in

Takatsuki & Ibaraki (near JR and Hankyu) requires full & part time experienced teachers for kids and adult. Group and private classes.

Friendly atmosphere. ¥250,000/mth or 2500/50min. Email: resume w/ photo to <coconut-e@nifty.com> Website: www.coconut-english.com

General PART-TIME: HOSTESS. WANTED

スタッフ募集. Foreign, female hostess

wanted for Fri-Sat, 20:30-01:00 Located in Fuse kintetsu line,¥1500/ hr~ Conversational Japanese and proper visa required. will provide transportation after shift, please call 080-6188-3645 or e-mail kikaku111@hotmail.co.jp. Contact: Higuchi<kikaku111@hotmail. co.jp> Website: www.facebook.com/ SWING.Fuse BAR STAFF WANTED! OSAKA'S FAMOUS AND FUN BAR ZERRO.

International, friendly and fun bar Zerro seeks PT, bartenders and kitchen staff. Hours 7pm - 5am, Sun. to Sat., negotiable. No experience is welcome but need big smiles:) Further details at interview. Contact barzerro@gmail.com or call us 06-6211-0439 after 6pm. 5min from Namba stn. FB: Bar Zerro Contact: Bar Zerro<barzerro@gmail.com> ENGLISH SPEAKING BAR STAFF WANTED FOR NEWLY OPENED.

bar in Umeda. Beer & Pizza Gosuke.

Conversational level Japanese required. All nationalities welcome.

3hrs a night, 6pm-5am. ¥900/ hr (first month ¥850/hr). Please contact the manager, Mr. Asada at 06-6312-3387 (4pm - midnight).

Contact: Mr. Asada <gogosuke@ hotmail.com> DANCE INSTRUCTORS WANTED.

Looking for international dance instructors (any dance form) to teach at a new studio opening April 2014 in Nishinomiya, Hyogo. For more information, please send email to: info@daas-art.com Contact: Abbie Daas <info@daas-art.com> Website: www.daas-art.com

Classes & Events 2 KYU BOAT EXAM - IN ENGLISH.

The first English exam for your 2kyu Boat License is April 18. Start your computer based home study course today with the least expensive, most extensive juku in Japan. Check the web site... Contact: boatjuku <wr. payne@yahoo.com> Website: www. japansmallboatlicense.com FREE ABACUS CLASS FOR FOREIGNERS. FREE ABACUS

CLASS for FOREIGNERS offered

by O.C.C.I. and Osaka Abacus Assoc. to promote int'l goodwill.

Individualized lessons taught in Japanese or English. Saturdays 10-12 am. Course material provided for free. Near Sakaisuji-Hommachi and Kitahama. Call: Moritomo Ken 06-6572-6877 <moritomo@osakaabacus.or.jp> Website: sites.google. com/site/osakasoroban/

Events FRENCH CARNIVAL FUNNY CLOTHES PARTY !!. French

Carnival on Sat. the 22nd March @ Ands Tartine near Shinsaibashi sta.

7-11pm, fee: 2000yen with 1 drink.

Costume contest with prizes, Great DJ Live, and Karaoke later. Special menu with Crêpes, Donuts, Cidre, and cheap drinks and food. Great fun every year! Tel. 06-6534-1002 Contact: espacefrance <bonjour@

espacefrance.jp> Website: www. espacefrance.jp

Health & Beauty ENGLISH SPEAKING DENTIST IN KOBE. Kitano Dental Clinic is

located near Hankyu Sannomiya Station West Exit. Easy access from JR Sannomiya Station. Drop-in consultations welcome. English spoken. NHI accepted. Appts required. Open Mon-Sat 9:30am7:00pm (Th&Sat 9:30am-1pm) All your general needs, cleaning, etc.

Call 078-331-3512 Contact: Kitano Dental Clinic<kitano@kitanosika. com> Website: www.kitanoshika. com

Community Community Services FREE JAPANESE LESSONS IN KOBE. KICC volunteers offer one-to

one free Japanese lessons once a week for six months for foreign residents of Kobe. 12 min. from Sannomiya st. Mon-Fri 9:00-17:00 Tel: 078-291-8441 Contact: Kobe International Community Center (KICC) <m-yano@kicc.jp> Website: www.kicc.jp/kicc/index_eng.html INFORMATION IN ENGLISH. Osaka

Information Service for Foreign Residents offers information in English. Serivce is free of charge.

Please feel free to contact us at 066941-2297 or jouhou-c@ofix.or.jp.

Open Monday to Friday. Contact: Osaka Information Service for Foreign Residents<jouhou-c@ofix. or.jp> Website: www.ofix.or.jp/life/ index_e.html

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Grand Front Osaka

Umeda Sky Building

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Nagahori dori Shinsaibashi

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6F

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Hotel T’point

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Dublin Bay / Dublin Garden

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El Pancho

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Kitahorie Hospital

Minamisenba

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Church

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Gion Gion Kaikan Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art Gion Hotel

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Junkudo 7F Bal

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Kobe Kokusai Shochiku

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Gokomachi-dori

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Movie Theatre

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Kyoto Royal Hotel Kyoto Asahi Kaikan Starbucks

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Kyoto City Hall

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Kitanozaka

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Hunterzak

Kitano-cho Tor Road

Sannomiya

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