Hi everyone,

I'll be off the board for a few days, heading to Japan for two concerts and two Stick workshops, with Kevin Ramsey and Toshiaki Kanamaru.

I will still have email access.

Looking forward to meeting all the new Japanese players and seeing more of the country than the last time I was there.

For more on the tourlet please see:

http://ramuji.com/stickjapan/2015/05/31 ... hiroshima/

Good luck, Greg! or "Gambatte kudasai!" which you'll probably hear a lot. Also "Umai!" "Jouzu!" "Stekki na!" and "Sugoi," which mean amazing, wonderful, talented, and awesome!

The Japanese, being respectful and supportive, are the one of the best audiences to have, and you being an amazing player, will no doubt blow them away. I was a teacher in Japan for three years and have been married to a Japanese woman for 15 years now.

It's a long plane ride, though. Safe journeys and Best of luck!

Congratulations Greg...have a nice trip.

(raising a shot of sake) Banzai!

Make sure you play "I want you to want me" by Cheap Trick!

NO Fugu fish- we want you around for many years to come!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVrTepl2hvs[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGWZFcsyMgA[/youtube]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugu
take care, & safe travels,
Dave B "DBro"

Greg, get a window seat on the starboard side of the plane. It's a 14 hour flight, and there is no better confirmation that you've left North America than seeing the Bering Strait recede beneath you.

On the Asia side you'll fly over a part of the Russian Far East that begins with a moonscape of desolation. Later, you'll see the chiseled, treeless Russian Pacific coast, a place utterly indifferent to humans--absolutely terrifying beauty. Getting there is half the fun!

Cheers

Lee

Hi Lee,

I was on the port side, but the view was pretty amazing over north america. Flying out of DC this time, direct flight to Tokyo, which tracked very far to the north, over the Arctic circle I think. The whole flight without a sunset... beautifully bleak landscapes below. First time on a 787. nice plane.

The whole week was amazing. Some great players are emerging in the Japanese Stick scene. special thanks to Stick Japan Importers for their thorough and excellent hosting. This was my first trip to Hiroshima, a wonderful city, which unfortunately Americans only seem to know a a bomb target 70 years ago. I'd encourage anyone visiting the country to go there...

Here are two group photos from the seminars, the larger one in Tokyo, and the smaller in Hiroshima, both very rewarding for me and fun and informative for students. I don't know how Ramuji was able to do such a great job with his rapid-fire translation, but I could not have done this without him.

This reminds me somewhat of a James Bond poster. Perhaps it should be captioned:

A View to a Skill

Nice pics.

Rob, you would be amazed how skillful some of these players are. I was really happy to hear the results of their hard work. You will hear much more out of the Japanese Stick community in the coming years.

The first Stick Night concert was opened by two fantastic young players:

Yoshihiro Yamaji, and Yasuyuki Zavza Kawamura.



There was a video posted recently of their Tokyo Stick Night which Eric Knapp posted in this thread:
viewtopic.php?t=10015

and the second concert in Hiroshima featured Toshiaki Kanamaru and Ramuji Ramsey, both great players. The drummer at this concert was also a fantastic musician named Kiyo. He didn't speak any English as far as I know, but he played with great awareness, killer chops and supreme sensitivity.

I hope to return someday.