Here I am to meet up with Karen again. I arrive a little early to get a feel for the place and catch a few bands performing on the street. The first one I stumble across seems to be some sort of instrumental jazz-fusion band. Two guitars, double bass and super tiny (but solid sounding) drum kit and the necessary musicians nestled up to them. They are very good indeed, putting all but the best bands I've seen in England to shame. They play their own tunes which are well crafted, dynamic and energetic and they play them solidly and with enthusiasm. AND THEN the cute girl who has been handing out fliers joins them and starts singing. She's not a natural singer, not even remotely. But this being Japan, her cuteness and girlness seem to be more important than ability. I move on to the next band. I can relax, the second band is yer standard blast out chords garage band, no songwriting panach or songsmithery here, just long bleached hair and unpleasant Engrish lyrics squealed out by another female frontwoman. The Japanese aren't as far ahead of us as I'd feared. I go back to the first band and notice they are playing EXACTLY the same tunes with EXACTLY the same 'improvisations'.
I meet with Karen and we eat and chat: The Japanese cuture and people; the food; fitting in (she's from Korea, but lives and works in Shinjuku); children (she teaches on Sundays); relationships and who they work and don't. She has a great sense of humour and we get on better than expected.
Perhaps the ice cream contributed to the social ease...
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