Sound Horizon Concert and Strolling through Nakazakicho

After spending the holidays in America, I started to look into my next quick weekend trop. On the weekend of January 16th I noticed that my favorite Japanese band, Sound Horizon, was doing limited encore showings of their most recent concert in movie theaters around Japan. To give a little background on why this was a big deal to me, this band does not do tours in a traditional sense, but rather a few bombastic performances upon release of a new album. The band's performances are a combination of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, the Blue Man Group, and musical theater all blended together. This movie theater showing would likely be my only real chance to see them in action while in Japan.

So I set off for Osaka, the closest theater showing the screening to me. I arrived in town early, and had the afternoon to wander Umeda, the central transportation and main shopping district of Osaka. The commercialism centers in Japan are one of a kind spectacles in their own right. The massive mall-like complexes are crammed to the brim with mostly smaller shops, feeling more like a modernized bazaar than the dedicated western storefronts I am accustomed to seeing within malls. Within these massive shopping complexes some companies put up specialized show floors. Panasonic has a particularly large, 3 story one featuring not only their latest technology, but also conceptual ideas. Many of these areas understandably restricted photography. Some things I saw included a specialized listening room for their highest quality surround sound system, a Bed Bath and Beyond style section featuring entire rooms furnished with their household amenities, and a sensor laden "Smart House" which reacted to people dynamically by turning on and off light, AC, and even household electronics. A particular highlight was a 3D Photo Lab which took pictures of me from every angle, in the hopes I would buy a printed figurine of myself. The price point held back any narcissistic tendency that experience might have awakened, but they did graciously send me the files.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I traversed the bustling area of Umeda to the cinema for the main event of the weekend. On my way I passed an interesting art peace in the station, a clock which displays the time and other imagery using falling water.

Sound Horizon's showing was impressive to say the least. The theatrical release was a condensed, visually augmented version of the theater performance. The edit skipped the many acting parts, instead displaying quick clips and a synopsis, before transitioning to the musical performance. The songs themselves were still quite theatrical, with the singers in full costume acting out the lyrics with a myriad of supporting cast dancing or bringing props on stage.

Possibly the most Japanese thing I've witnessed.

Personally I feel this performance encapsulated many aspects of modern Japanese media culture. The attention to detail, incredible thoroughness, and liberal appropriation of western tropes blended together with uniquely Japanese trends were perfectly encapsulated throughout the entirely of this concert. The English narrator, symphonic elements, and Eurocentric costume designs take an exaggerated, romanticized pieces of western culture to weave a fantastic "foreign" setting. Yet the high fashion of the protagonist, wild hairstyles, and a particular performance with Tron-esque neon cat people were distinctly characteristic Japanese pop culture. These elements did not clash, but rather support each other in an extravagant, entertaining performance, in my opinion Quintessential modern Japan entertainment. My description might still be lacking, or even confusing, so below is one of the musical performances, which will either make everything I wrote much more clear, and simultaneously much more confusing.




PS. They sold postcards with screenshots of the concert, which I have posted in the galley and throughout the blog.

The next day I joined up with Mandy and Valerie, the friends who toured Tottori with me in December. We set out to explore Nakazakicho, an older section of Osaka with houses retrofitted into a variety of small shops and cafes. We spent the day browsing these shops and cafes. They all had unique atmospheres and quality stuff. Some of the places we wandered into were a store which sold only buttons, a cafe with an small art gallery in the back, and a quirky hat store. These stores and more focused on selling locally produced crafts and trinkets. It was nice to see a vibrant local shopping scene so close to the monolithic commercial center of Umeda.

One of the shops had very cool, Japanese branded watches. The owner was fun to chat with, and a pretty shrewd salesman. He had me try on multiple watches before I finally left the establishment.  We had also stumbled upon a very presentable granola shop which had some delicious flavors to try. We found a shop specializing in fabric dye, and above it were a few studio spaces with local artists displaying their work. And of course, there were a few "vintage" shops selling American clothing from the 80s, which seems to be a popular niche market in Japan.

Right before catching my bus, we ate our fill at Heizo-Chicken, a fried chicken restaurant near the bus station which has always caught my eye with their stark simple aesthetic. I was glad the food matched the impressive storefront.