Ohisashiburidesu

Let your fellow fans know who you are, where you're from, why you love DCT, etc...
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buraian
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Ohisashiburidesu

Post by buraian » Fri Jun 17, 2005 1:19 pm

I'm happy to have found this site. Several years ago, I toyed with the idea of making an English language DCT site, but found myself to be too lazy. :wink:

Anyway, back in '98, I went to Japan on the JET Program(me). One evening after work, I was shopping at the local "supermarket" when "Asa ga mata kuru" came on the radio. I actually made one more round of the store to hear the rest of it. People there probably thought me very indecisive.

It took me a while to learn who sang that song, but once I did, (thanks to Japan's cheap used CD market) I quickly amassed a large collection of DCT albums.

With my minidisc player at my side, DCT (along with a few other favorites) formed much of the "soundtrack" of my life in Japan.

A little over three years later, and contrary to my plans, circumstances brought me back to the 'States. I had grown to think of my little town in Japan as home, but having made the choice not to go back, I began trying to put that old life behind me. To that end, I left my CDs on the shelf.

A couple of weeks ago, while moving into a new apartment, I needed some music to unpack by. Thinking that I was "safe" after almost four years, I pulled out "Delicious."

That was a big mistake, because I've been suffering a terrible bout of natsukashii ever since. For me, music has always been strongly tied to memories. So I've been reliving all kinds of old sights, sounds, tastes and smells that I didn't know I remembered.

But now the genie's out of the bottle, so maybe it's time for me to finally reintegrate my old life and my new one and find peace with the transition.

Anyway, I'm just here to say hi to everyone and thanks to Jei for all the 411.

Cheers,
-Brian*
_____________________________________________________________
About me:

-born 1972
-currently living in Texas (but itching to get somewhere with mountains)
-full-time student, doing wedding photography on the side with my wife and business partner < http://www.bluevolcanoarts.com >
-interests include hiking, buddhism, landscape photography, and coffee (that's really more of an addiction)
-other favorite bands:
~Southern All Stars
~The Boom
~Chage and Aska (who, surprisingly, I haven't seen mentioned here)
~Misia
~Mr. Children
-(and non-Japanese)
~Basia
~Lisa Loeb
~Cake
~Sugar Ray

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tachikaze
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Post by tachikaze » Fri Jun 17, 2005 10:14 pm

I went to Japan on the JET Program

Sigh. I thought my grades were too crappy to get into that, and since I stayed too long in Japan I'll turn 40 before the 8 years pass before I'd be eligible to apply. Oh well. Where were you placed?

thanks to Japan's cheap used CD market

I got my DCT thanks to Tsutaya's CD rental floor... Rented their entire back catalogue as of 1999 for a week. I decided to protect my IP (intellectual property) karma by limiting myself to the most killer 'best of' CDR I could make (but I cheated a little by saving the songs as mp3...) instead of just ripping the entire albums, so there are a couple of unfortunate gaps in my collection.

Asa-ga mata kuru is one of my favorite DCT songs, too, and seeing that video on CDTV did pique my interest a bit more in the group.

I've been suffering a terrible bout of natsukashii

Yeah, me too. We forget all the bad things about the place and only remember the good. Pushing 40 now, I doubt I could reestablish myself there as an employee, it'd have to be a freelance or self-employed thing.

interests include hiking, buddhism, landscape photography, and coffee (that's really more of an addiction)

Convenient cluster of interests... Did you ever try Koiwai Milk Coffee? A liter of that, and batard from Pompadour and I was set. Man I miss am/pm!

Chage and Aska

Never got into them. They kinda peaked before my time, not my kind of music, AFAIK, at least from the brief snippets I got from CDTV every Saturday night.

Mr. Children

major natsukashii for me since they peaked in 1992-1993, my first year there.

Southern All Stars are of course great.

If you want to wallow in the late 90s, here's the place to go:

http://www.tbs.co.jp/cdtv/cddb/countdown19990515-j.html

Hopefully Apple will start up their J-pop music store this year so we'll be able to hear these songs again...

buraian
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Re: Ohisashiburidesu

Post by buraian » Mon Jun 20, 2005 4:07 pm

tachikaze wrote: Sigh. I thought my grades were too crappy to get into that, and since I stayed too long in Japan I'll turn 40 before the 8 years pass before I'd be eligible to apply.
Try anyway. From what I've seen, they seem to be making it easier to get on JET. They're even taking former JET participants. Guess now that the exchange rate is so poor, they're not getting enough applicants to fill the slots.
Oh well. Where were you placed?
Miyazaki-ken, Takaharu-cho. Famed birthplace of Jimmu, Japan's first emperor. Also encompassing half of Takachiho-no-mine, proclaimed by the locals to be the place where the gods descended to Earth. (The residents of Takachiho-cho in northern Miyazaki take issue with that.)
Did you ever try Koiwai Milk Coffee? A liter of that, and batard from Pompadour and I was set. Man I miss am/pm!
Yeah, I miss the Japanese combini. I used to drink several brands of coffee milk. I had a favorite, but I forget which one. When my mom came to visit, I think she was impressed more than just about anything by the array of canned coffee.
Chage and Aska

Never got into them. They kinda peaked before my time, not my kind of music, AFAIK, at least from the brief snippets I got from CDTV every Saturday night.
I was introduced to them by the music video for "On Your Mark" which was directed by Miyazaki Hayao, the great animator. Still one of my favorite songs of theirs.

Cheers,
-Brian*

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tachikaze
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Post by tachikaze » Wed Jun 22, 2005 4:34 am

From what I've seen, they seem to be making it easier to get on JET

Guess I could give them a choice. Only 6 years since coming back from Japan (not the necessary 8 ) or being 40 yo geezer.

Guess now that the exchange rate is so poor

? Exchange rate is good, Y110-120 was about the average in the 90s. You missed it when it was ~90 for a brief time in 1995, but it was Y122 when I got there and I saw it up to Y130-140 a lot too.

(I don't think too many people are planning to bring USD /into/ the country...)

Miyazaki-ken

Kyushu! I'd ask for 'dekiru-dake minami', and that pretty much qualifies! I'd love to check out Yaku Shima for a year or three.

The south is tropical muggy, but not freezing one's ass off in the winter is a pretty good payback. I'd kinda like Tokyo to be so far away that I wouldn't be tempted to blow my money on visits... I haven't been west of Kyoto, and I would like to check out the more scenic parts.


I had a favorite, but I forget which one

there's always delice.ampm.co.jp to relive the memories... too bad they don't deliver to California (and that am/pm here sucks like all the others); suppose jlist.com would be a substitute... here's the koiwai coffee:

Image

Interestingly, prices haven't changed for 13 years. 500ml of coffee drink has been 103-105 yen since I first got there in 1992.

buraian
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Re: Ohisashiburidesu

Post by buraian » Wed Jun 22, 2005 5:50 pm

? Exchange rate is good, Y110-120 was about the average in the 90s. You missed it when it was ~90 for a brief time in 1995, but it was Y122 when I got there and I saw it up to Y130-140 a lot too.
I haven't kept up with it, lately. It never really got below 125 while I was there.
Kyushu! I'd ask for 'dekiru-dake minami', and that pretty much qualifies! I'd love to check out Yaku Shima for a year or three.
Been there! Yaku-shima is amazing. There's a tree there that's something like 7000 years old. The island is so lush and beautiful, and the mountain was great fun to climb. Nothing compares to my beloved Kirishima, though.
The south is tropical muggy, but not freezing one's ass off in the winter is a pretty good payback.
Seemed pretty cold to me, but then altitude was a factor, too.
I haven't been west of Kyoto, and I would like to check out the more scenic parts.
Fukushima-ken (Bandai-san specifically) is beautiful. I was there for Golden Week my first year, and just happened to summit the mountain the moment the clouds started to blow off after several days of rain. Absolute magic.

Cheers,
-Brian*

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Jei
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Re: Ohisashiburidesu

Post by Jei » Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:33 am

Welcome to the group Buraian!
(Gomen...I'm so late in responding ^^)
buraian wrote: That was a big mistake, because I've been suffering a terrible bout of natsukashii ever since. For me, music has always been strongly tied to memories. So I've been reliving all kinds of old sights, sounds, tastes and smells that I didn't know I remembered.
Can very much relate to that...'Asa ga mata kuru' sends me back to my first ever trip to Japan in '99 when "Monster" had just came out. Kept getting this flashback of walking out of a "Bar Isn't It" in Osaka and seeing a giant sized Miwa roll by on the side of the bus. ^^
But now the genie's out of the bottle, so maybe it's time for me to finally reintegrate my old life and my new one and find peace with the transition.

Anyway, I'm just here to say hi to everyone and thanks to Jei for all the 411.
Welcome back to the fold... :)
~Southern All Stars
The longetivity of that band is simply stunning. Especially such a fickle music market as Japan. Are a general SAS fan or do you prefer a specific time frame?
~Chage and Aska (who, surprisingly, I haven't seen mentioned here)
Out of curiousity, why surprisingly? Because they were contemporaries?
I dug their "On Your Mark" single...
~Basia
*grin* I *finally* got to see her (and Matt Bianco) live a couple of months ago...she's still got it. Just blew everyone away...10 years didn't do any damage to that wonderful voice. :)
(Side Note: I have my personal "Three Voice of God"...Miwa, Basia & Ella ^^)

Welcome again!
-Jay
DCTJoy.Com - The Joy that is Dreams Come True
http://www.dctjoy.com/

buraian
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Re: Ohisashiburidesu

Post by buraian » Mon Jul 04, 2005 5:17 pm

Jei wrote:Welcome to the group Buraian!
(Gomen...I'm so late in responding ^^)
No worries.
Are a general SAS fan or do you prefer a specific time frame?

"Sakura" came out shortly after I arrived, and I was hooked by their haunting "Rashamen no monogatari." (A song that is, to me, one of the most evocative of old Japan--or at least as I imagine it.) I only have three other albums: "Umi no yeah!," "Ninkimono de ikou," and "Imamura Jane." "Kamakura Monogatari" and "Umi" are among my favorite songs, but I'm not sure where they fall on the SAS timeline. But, yeah, their longevity is amazing. The market may be fickle, but that just makes the success of the few survivors (like DCT) all the more impressive.
~Chage and Aska (who, surprisingly, I haven't seen mentioned here)

Out of curiousity, why surprisingly? Because they were contemporaries?
I dug their "On Your Mark" single...
Oh, I just said that because C&A is one of a relatively small number of acts that I'd actually heard of before going to Japan, they've been around a long time, and they're still relatively popular. I just figured that, considering those factors, someone would have mentioned them.
~Basia

*grin* I *finally* got to see her (and Matt Bianco) live a couple of months ago...she's still got it. Just blew everyone away...10 years didn't do any damage to that wonderful voice. :)
Amen! I also got to see them live a couple months ago. It was actually my third Basia concert. She's still got the pipes for sure. My wife and I stuck around after the show to see if she'd come out for autographs. She did, and I was really impressed by how humble and open she seemed to be. Danny even hung around to chat with us for a while.

I'd really like to be able to see DCT live one of these days, but I'm afraid that would probably involve some major travel.
(Side Note: I have my personal "Three Voice of God"...Miwa, Basia & Ella ^^)
2/3 agreement here. :wink:


Cheers,
-Brian*

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