Japan Matsuri 2015

Very reluctantly Zoe and I got up early and headed into London for an event called Japan Matsuri in Trafalgar Square.

A regular fixture now in the London calendar, this annual festival brings people together to enjoy Japanese food, music, dance, and activities for all the family. And it’s FREE! This year they were celebrating a special anniversary of 150 years of friendship between London and Japan and the story of the Satsuma Students from Kagoshima.

Proceedings kicked off with some drumming by Thames Taiko.

Next up was Naomi Suzuki in the first of many segments involving her Japan Matsuri theme song IBUKI.

Which led us nicely into the opening ceremony.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori took to the podium for an opening speach

Unfortunately we also had to suffer Jeremy Hunt and Victoria Borwick but I guess you can't have everything LOL.

We were then treated to kagami-biraki where the lids of sake barrels are broken open with wooden happens as part of a ceremony to represent harmony and good fortune.

It was then time for a spot of breakfast.

Takoyaki for me (essentially battered octopus balls)

Yakisoba for Zoe (noodles with some beansprouts)

After that there was lots going on throughout the day. There was cosplay:

There were Pikachu fans desperate to have their photo taken with Zoe:

Satsuma Kenshi Hayato, a samuari from Kagoshima, took to the main stage with his fox spirit Yassembo:

What does Pikachu need? A Pikachu balloon of course!

Everyone likes drums right? Izaku Taiko Odori entertained us with their interesting costumes and drumming:

Well I can deny it as much as I want but the truth seems to come back every time, we really do love Domo!

How cute are this little lot? It's great to see kids involved in an event like this and having fun!

 J-Factor karaoke competition came next which was quite entertaining although the piece de resistance was a crowd sing a long of Ode To Joy in a combination of Japanese, English and humming. 

Sadly I was too busy belting our Edelweiss to record that one!

After another round of IBUKI it was time for the graceful moves of the Hiroko Tanaka Japanese Dancers.

We took a mooch on over to the Manga Wall to see what creativity had been going on during the day. I think Zoe should have had a go but she said she didn't know what to draw relating to the theme of travel. Looks like some other people didn't stick to that either LOL.

Kagoshima has it's very own mascot who I think is super kawaii. This is Guribu and his son:

Apologies in advance for the ear worm (I am currently banned from playing this in the house) but here is a snippet the Guribu song...

The Izaku Taiko Odori made a return only this time in the crowd rather than on the stage:

Okinawa Sanshin-kai entertained us with some traditional Japanese music, dance and drumming:

Taking a stroll around Zoe bumped into Guribu:

One hit wonders Frank Chickens were next up with their brand of zany electronic music. We have been called a national disgrace announced singer Kazuko Hohki but now we have a non-Japanese member we have become an international disgrace! They kicked off with their 80s 'smash' We Are Ninja (thanks to BambooTwo on Youtube for capturing this):

Absolutely mental but highly entertaining!

Things were turned down a notch with the Hibiki Ensemble playing some very relaxing and chilled koto and flute music. It was beautiful.

JSD Crew hit the stage next to show us their street dance moves:

Reijiro Tsumara, Noh actor and Japanese intangible cultural asset, was up next with a performance piece including piano and ballet called Journey To The Speed Of Sound.

Guribu hit the stage for one lats song and dance much to our delight!

Here's the full Guribu song (almost, apart from the technical glitch but they didn't stop dancing)

As the say slowly drew to a close the Izaku Taiko Odori hit the main stage once again:

Naomi Suzuki came out for one last round of IBUKI and to plug the associated CD release

Final performance of the day was Joji Hirota and London Taiko Drummers. What a way to finish things! Amazing performance, great rhythms and co-ordination.

Some farewell speeches rounded things off........

............ and then it was time to go home!

Japan Matsuri 2015 was an absolutely brilliant event. Although it was stupidly busy it was far less frantic than your usual Comic Con type events. It was just nice to be able to emerse myself in traditional Japanese culture and soak it all up. Neither of us wanted the day to end and we'll definitely be back again next year!

The Recreated Sinclair ZX Spectrum

Sometimes you back a Kickstarter campaign and the goodies arrive straight away. Sometimes you back a long term development that you almost consider writing off due to production difficulties and a very long wait. I was absolutely delighted today to receive this little gem:

What we have here is a bluetooth keyboard that is compatible with PC kit, my Macbook as well as my iPad that is fully functional and also comes with a compatible iOS app full of delightful old ZX Spectrum games! Anybody remember Chuckie Egg?

It might have a take a long time for this project to finally complete but boy was it worth it!

LADYBABY - Nippon Manju CD arrives

It was with great excitement that I opened a package today to find my LADYBABY Nippon Manju CD had arrived from Japan. It's ever so slightly nuts although only the title track (Nippon Manju) is heavy with the other offering (Ultra Lucky) being more J-Pop with no guitar crunch. I love it although it is an acquired taste and will probably have a limited run before the novelty wears off.

Here's the video:

Ai Weiwei "opens" his Forever Bicycle art piece

Today saw the official "opening" of the forever bicycles art piece with Chinese artist Ai Weiwei putting in an appearance outside The Gherkin. I managed to dodge around all the press pack and get some reasonable pictures of things as they happened.

At some point during the day Ai Weiwei visited Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy and tomorrow will be taking part in a Refugee Walk that starts at the Royal Academy Of Arts at 10am.

Ministry of Justice intervention in Transgender inquiry

Secretary of State for Justice, Michael Gove, was today called out for a clumsy attempt to sabotage a parliamentary inquiry into transgender issues.

Last week, the Women and Equalities Select Committee, chaired by Maria Miller, MP, started taking evidence on issues affecting trans people in the UK. This is part of a lengthy process and will involve reviewing evidence from several hundred people, including dedicated experts and individuals personally affected by the issues.

At the weekend, however, in response to another matter, the Ministry of Justice published a letter arguing that the current system is working well, and they are unaware of any problems encountered by key segments of the trans population.

In an open letter to Committee Chair, Maria Miller, MP, co-ordinated by gender activist, Jane Fae, many of the UK’s leading  trans activists and experts have expresssed dismay at this untimely intervention by the Ministry of Justice, concluding that this “looks like a deliberate attempt to sabotage [the] inquiry”.

According to Jane Fae: “It is beyond belief that the Minister would respond in such dismissive terms at the very start of a parliamentary inquiry. There was no need to make any statement on these issues until January 2016 and given that an independent inquiry is underway, the trans community would perfectly understand such a delay.

“What they will not understand is why this response now and why the claim that trans people encounter no detriment as a result of some of the issues raised. This government has made much of policy being led by evidence. Whereas in this instance, it seems clear that it is prejudice that is leading, and evidence is nowhere to be seen.”

Jennie Kermode, who chairs the charity Trans Media Watch, said: "I am disappointed by this attempt to derail an important evidence-gathering process. The Ministry of Justice's pronouncements on non-binary people, in particular, contradict the existing evidence, and they do not appear to have consulted any researcher in the field. This approach to decision making should worry everybody, regardless of gender."

Footnote: the statement that has caused such concern was posted by the Ministry of Justice in response to a petition on transgender issues: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104639

At time of writing, it has not been possible to obtain clarity from the MoJ as to who signed this statement off. However, it is unlikely in the extreme that such a statement could have been published without endorsement from a Minister: and in the end, the buck stops with the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, MP.

*** a copy of the letter can be found here: Open letter to Maria Miller redacted.pdf

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

It was off to Cineworld in Bexleyheath tonight to see Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.

It's a good sequel but avoid if you haven't seen the first one as it will make no sense at all! There's less action than the first one so it runs at a slower pace, at least until the end but it bridges the gap very nicely between the first film and ends on a wonderful cliffhanger leading up to the third instalment!

Bed building

Tonight was mostly spent building a bed. We have just bought Zoe a lovely new cabin bed with wardrobe and desk built in. It's a bit of a beast and took many hours to get it all constructed (caused in part by the fact that there wasn't a lot of room to do it.). There was a steak break and then it was back to it again. With sheer determination we pushed on until the whole structure was finally in place. There are a couple of cosmetic things to do later but at least can be used as a functional unit now.

Moving furniture around

Today was not a day of rest although it did start with a nice breakfast. There was then a fair bit of moving around of furniture. First it was bringing a massive chest of drawers downstairs to make room for a new bed that we've bought for Zoe. Next it was taking a different chest of drawers and two bedside drawer sets out of  Pam's room so that we could out the massive chest of drawers in their instead.

A meal with good friends

Today we broke free from the ties of home and went out for the evening to meet up with friends and have a meal. Things kicked off with everyone meeting up at Daraline Towers for a quick coffee and chat. Caz & Daz, Sara & Elmo plus Darren & Traci had the gang back together for the first time in AGES.

We then walked round the corner to try out Turku Art Cafe (a deviation from Kirvans,our usual restaurant of choice). The starters were really nice and their cherry juice was amazing! The main meals were lovely too although not everyone in our party agreed! Turned out that the two people least tolerant of spicy food were surprised to find that a dish that was not spicy in Kirvan's was actually very spicy in Turku Art Cafe. I shouldn't mock the afflicted but it was a tad amusing:

The really disappointing part was finding out there was no dessert when we all wanted some! That was just not! We then wandered back to Daraline Towers to spend a lovely time chatting and generally larking about. 

We had a brilliant time and it was great to all be together again. We've made a vow not to leave it so long until we do it all again!