Japan – Philbert’s Phables

May marks the start of holidays for some, so let’s take a break from pure music with a travel log to go with more J-Pop tapes. The travel log is, of course, about Japan, a trip I took there in 2015.

As always, the full Tape History is available here: https://c.mail.com/@649543521753114149/A7iTxK5eS5ec797K4gH5rQ

The Phables isn’t a travel blog, but it has seen my fair share of overseas experiences, and continues to show exciting times in pre and post-pandemic China. Has the world changed so much since 2015, when I boarded a flight from Singapore to Osaka? Let’s take a stroll down nostalgia lane and get some ideas for another trip to Japan…

The trip really begins in meandering alleys of Osaka, where yakitori places are located.

This was about the smallest yakitori restaurant I could find, but the meal here set the tone for the rest of the trip – friendly locals, some of whom could speak Chinese or English, others who were just outgoing enough in true Osaka style so we could still communicate in limited fashion. The experience here was so welcoming that I put into my first sci-fi novel, and Osaka served as inspiration for the setting.

For obvious reasons, pictures do not show my trip to a hot springs bathhouse near Tsutenkaku, an austere metallic tower that Osakans like to joke is the Tokyo tower of Osaka. This bathhouse had multiple attractions, with different rooms featuring different types of baths and statues of different Western cultures. The first time I went there was nobody there owing to it being a “Silver Week” and people being out of town, and I enjoyed it so much I went again a few days later. Oops – this time since the holiday was over, it was full of people, and I could barely sit in a communal hot spring without getting a stoic glance from one of the locals.

Next day was Osaka Castle and Dotonburi, which is Osaka’s tourist district. Actually they have quite a few tourist spots, and the castle itself is also quite interesting, along with the Osaka Museum (the above photo is just of the castle wall, not the castle itself, which is below).

The Glico Man at Dotonburi

Tsutenkaku tower and a Biliken in the bottom-right foreground.

Tako Tako King, a famous takoyaki (octopus-filled flour ball) place and a play on the name B.B. King, due to the owner’s love of jazz and blues.

You might be wondering where I stayed during my trip to Japan. It was a combination of youth hostels and the cheapest AirBnbs I could find, not necessarily just because I was trying to save money, but because I went to Osaka right during a “Silver Week”, and both hostels and AirBnb locations were mostly booked out. I ended up in an Osaka apartment that was so small and dingy that some of the would-be tenants left a note for the AirBnb proprietor saying they had to leave because the conditions were so bad. I didn’t mind it that much. The bathtub was tiny, that’s all.

Finally some shots of Tsutenkaku, which you can also take an elevator up into. I have additional photos that show Osaka in its greatness, but this one below probably takes the mantle for my trip.

The next day I visited the famous Osaka aquarium and its whale shark, whose design is meant to represent volcanic activity.

Okonomiyaki, another famous Osaka dish that is basically a seafood and pork pancake drenched in brown and white sauce.

I also took long walks from my hostel or place of lodging to the Osaka Art Museum and a park outside there, which featured many crows.

Osaka partly kick-started my writing by providing the setting for my novel, Chronicles of the Tidepool. If you read the novel (someday), there will be an account of the golden columns next to a tall tower shining with alchemical fire…

Until next time, when I show my trip in Kobe and Kyoto in Part II.

Sounds of Japan Volume 13. – https://c.mail.com/@649543521753114149/Hq3RANTXTuCwyx34LcFx5w

Read for more details about the J-Pop tapes: https://philbertsphables.com/2023/03/22/sunny-side-up-1990s-2000s-japanese-pop-compilations-%e6%97%a5%e4%b9%8b%e9%9f%b5/

My friend and colleague Sunny had a listen to the late 1990s to early 2000s-era Japanese Pop compilation tapes in the Tape History. Here’s what he found:

前同事Sunny听了九零年代末两千年代初的日之韵磁带，发现有很多歌曲翻唱的版本在我们的藏品里:

Recently a pile of J-Pop compilation tapes was discovered and sent to me for “analysis”. I finished listening to one of those, Volume 14, from August 1999. It was an interesting head scratcher about this release.

There were many popular tracks from the late 90’s to 2000’s in this compilation. Among them, one of the top selling singles ever, Tsunami by Southern All Stars, played as the first track. Other popular and mildly popular tracks made its way to the compilation, like:

Miki Imai – Goodbye yesterday

Do As Infinity – Yesterday and Today

Shiina Ringo – Gibbs

Luna Sea – Gravity

Gackt – Mirror

Mr. Children – Kuchibiru

Hysteric Blue – Haru

Glay – Beloved

B’z – Konya tsuki no mieru oka ni

and so forth…

I listened to many of these tracks frequently in my youthful, university and highschool days. Nostagic hits, but then I noticed something was odd.

Interestingly, when I looked at the printed tracklist from the cassette insert, none of them matches the printed tracklist.

And then when listening carefully, other than two tracks – Southern All Stars and B’z, all tracks from this release was not with original vocals. It was not that the alternative vocals were bad, but just that the distinct vocal character that are accustomed to the tracks were definitely different. Some of those vocals tried to emulate the original but nowhere to be close – say, for Kuchibiru. And it feels like 1 or 2 tracks’ tempo were much faster as well, like the Luna Sea’s Gravity.

I wonder where these tracks were sourced from. Who were the alternative vocals? And since the original were widely available, why it was produced and sold like this? Was it vocal tracks just overdubbed over the instrumental tracks available on the single releases? Was it difficult for Japanese music finding their way into China in those years? But it has been known many other bootlegged versions were already available by then.

The vocals on the tape were actually quite charismatic in their performances. It is just the logic in making the release is difficult to comprehend. It is not for the real fans, so maybe perhaps for those who has never listened to J-Pop but want to have a taste in the era with slow, or in rural China areas, and/or places with no internet connection.

“Sounds of Japan” Tapes are available at the below address and additional tapes will be added on a rolling basis: https://c.mail.com/@649543521753114149/jMtIk6moSzaOcaIstWAZpQ

Tag: Japan

zusi Additions: J-Plus – Japan Travelog plus Pop Tape, Part I

zusi Plays: Sunny Side Up – 1990s-2000s Japanese Pop Compilations (日之韵)