Hobbies and interests.
A Trip to Japan
In February of 2000, Lance Weiler and myself were invited to Japanby our distributor, Nippon Herald. Our movie, The Last Broadcast was
going to open nationally and was also premiering at a film festival.The following is a rough and tumble journal I wrote while on the road.
As time goes by, I will improve it grammatically, esthetically, and
hopefully, artfully. I shot many photographs and video, so I will also
put these up to liven up the words.
I'm writing this in a hotel room in. god I don't even know what town this is.Sapparo, I think. We got in about one and a half hours ago and the time is 2:00 am.
Leaving Philadelphia was the kind of North East coast nightmare that can, and does happen in the winter. We parked in long term parking just as it started to snow. And this snow stuck.
By the time we got on the airplane, the feeling of having a punctual take off was lessening very quickly. This added to the uncertainty of the near future, as we had to take a small jumper to LaGuardia and then fly from JFK to Tokyo. Small problem: this means a taxi ride, baggage check, etc. at LaGuardia.
Two hours after we boarded the small plane in Philly, we took off. At this point, making the flight was starting to seem grim. Somehow, though we arrived two hours late, we did indeed get a taxi to JFK and actually make the flight in time.
Once on the JAL airline (executive class) we started to play with the toys of our surroundings. Every amenity you could possibly imagine is provided for.
Of course the plane had to be de-iced, so one hour later, we finally took off. We had left Lance's place at 6:00 am. Now at 2:20 pm, we were finally airborne. Of Additional interest was watching the takeoff from monitors in the airplane attached to a camera in the nose of the plane. Very cool indeed!
Tokyo- Since we took off late from JFK - a time impossible to make up whilst over the North Pole, we didn't make our changeover plane in Tokyo - meaning we had to take a bus to another airport about 90 minutes away - meaning more baggage checking.
A bus to Nareda. rushing in. being late. not getting the first plane.
Finally, we caught another 90 minute plane ride from Nareda to ???
Finally, we arrived somewhere about 10:30 pm. There, a welcome party of four people awaited us. They'd been waiting since 6:30, so we weren't the only ones put out by the inordinate amount of changeover.
Another 90-minute limo/bus ride and we arrived in the ski town of Yubari.
We finally got into our rooms, dropped our bags off and headed back to the small hotel club, where we had a few drinks to unwind and talk to a few people in slow English.
This is a film festival, so of course, things are very film oriented. A couple autograph seekers asked for our autographs in the lobby. They had in fact been waiting for the screenwriter of "scream" Kevin Williamson, but I suppose our western look and horror filmmaking resume were enough to keep them momentarily satisfied.
So far everything, except for the changeovers, seems very very cool. WOW. I'm in Japan!
We are being treated like stars, and the distributor has put a fantastic effort and quite a bit of money into the promotion of the movie. A complete heavy carded booklet will be part of the opening night tickets for attendees. Incredibly cool.
Tomorrow, we're supposed to go to a natural hot spring. Something this town is noted for. Hmm. we'll see. I'm not big on public nudity- especially when it's me, so. I don't know that I'm too excited about this prospect.
The food on the airplane was spectacular. A three course Japanese meal: sushi, etc. A wine list!
In fact, though the flight was over fifteen hours long, it was the first time that I was in no rush to get off the airplane. There were enough toys and amenities to keep us quite comfortable.
How much better do things get? Not much.
I'm getting a big kick out of being able to lay these thoughts to electronic paper. No matter how mundane, at least they've been captured. Ah, the thrill of a new laptop.
Now to sleep.
Day 02
Today is. Saturday.. I think. We lost a day in our travel, so I'm a little hazy on what day it is exactly.
I got up around 9:30, saw my first view of the town by daylight from my window and headed out to a short movie with Machico and Mayumi. It was a very surreal experience - a Japanese parody of an Indian (Bollwood) movie. It made for some very humorous viewing. Afterwards, we headed for the hot springs place, where we first had lunch. Then, it was off to naked land.
I don't care what people say but, I find it bizarre to get naked with a bunch of strangers and hang out in hot water. Call me crazy. It was one of the few times that I was happy to be incredibly near sighted. The springs themselves are same-sex, but as I dried myself off later, I found myself watching a female worker exchanging the wet towels for new, dry ones. Does she somehow not count because she works there? Seemed to negate the same sex thing. The springs were actually quite relaxing for the muscles. Though I felt as if I suffered first degree burns over 99 percent of my body, it did seem to perhaps be worth the experience. All in all, Lance and I did get a laugh out of the whole deal. It was pretty funny being these two hairy monkey men in a room with otherwise smooth, near body hair free, Japanese men.
After the hot springs experience, we went to a coal mine museum. Yubari was once a mining town, so it is their heritage.
It was a typically cheesy local yokel museum made a hundred times more amusing and enjoyable by the fact that it was all done with a Japanese touch. From there, we went to the "robot museum" which was as the name would suggest, a bunch of robot exhibits. The thing that made this terrific fun was that none of the technology was older than anything from the seventies. So. it was a trip to the future from the perspective of the past.
Lots of great stuff including some local anime.
Then, a dinner. Now I'm getting ready to do two one-hour interviews. Then the movie will premiere. We will give a short introduction for which we have learned how to say a few things in Japanese. Hello= konnichiwa thank you= domo arigato
Then we will eat again.
Wow. Lots of eating. I gotta go to the bathroom.
Somehow, I will have to rewrite so much of this. The mundane, which I'm writing about, is not what this trip is really about. It has been tremendously enjoyable thus far, and really feels like another world.
Evening-
Just got back from interviews, the screening, dinner.
There are evenings that are worth a lifetime. This was one of them. I can only say wow.
When situations go from good to better to better yet, I get scared. It's not that I'm a pessimist, it's just that. I get nervous. What can I say? In any case I should be very nervous now. Things are going so well. I luckily have caught some of it on videotape however, it can never fully capture what the experience is really like.
I can't take too much time to write now because a busy day is ahead. We have an early morning interview, hotel checkout, and a flight to Tokyo. Somehow, I would also like to get a few hours of skiing in. How many Americans can say that they've skied Yubari, Japan?
The snow is beautiful, the mountains gorgeous, and the people so cordial that I doubt that they would say more than "thank you very much" were I to accidentally plow into one of them.
Just like America.
Ha
Oh, if only it were possible to translate emotions to the screen more easily. I must write this into something more eloquent.
Early on, one of the first questions was "Do you like Japanese food?"
Thank god that Lance does, because I love it and it has been one of the things I've been looking forward to on this trip. In following our decided affirmations to the question, our hosts have been treating us to Japanese food non stop Every meal has been a traditional Japanese culinary delight. I had some things today that I've never eaten before: all of them good, many worth repeating. Pork intestines in miso soup was a worthy experience.
Day three
We are now on a bus heading out of Yubari, on our way to an airport. We had a chance to hang out a little after an interview and lunch. Snow is falling rather heavily at this moment, as it has for most of the morning. I wonder if we'll be delayed in getting to Tokyo. It wouldn't surprise me too much as all our flights have been delayed thus far.
This city and the people we've dealt with thus far have truly been beautiful. It is absolutely amazing to deal with the Japanese culture.
Last night was a fabulous one as detailed very slightly above. Hopefully on the flight back to the states I will be able to fill in all the blanks.
One thing is for sure, I am getting my sushi fix here. So far every meal has been a traditional Japanese one, with lots of raw fish.
Just now, the guys behind me saw me writing on the laptop that this is coming from. It's a Sony Vaio, which is pretty cool. These are three fellows that I've been hanging out with for the last two days. All of us are admitted geeks. I stopped to show them a full screen avi that had shot on the airplane straight to the computer. Yup.there are a few things that are truly universal languages.
1. music
2. mathematics
3. farts
4. high tech
Yup, these are the universal languages.
Lance and I have gone nuts with these systems. I have been shooting stills and then transferring them to the computer. It's like having unlimited amounts of film.
It's great.
Okay, I'm rambling and playing with the laptop for the sake of doing so. I will probably be back soon.
Missed several days of journal entries. As a matter of fact, I'm in the last half hour of this flight, landing soon in L.A.
Lance and I are filling out our immigration cards. This was actually a bit different than any other time we've come back into the country as we have quite a bit of stuff to declare. That's a first, and definitely a sign that our financial situation has changed.
Japan was a beautiful, amazing experience. Our hosts were like no others. We have been showered with gifts. The departure at the airport yesterday was quite touching as gift after gift was presented to us.
Japan is a wonderful, foreign place. I am really going to attempt to learn the language a bit. I could somehow imagine myself being an expatriate in Japan. The culture is really a sophisticated one. If only it weren't so crowded and so expensive.
Lance and I also were amazed by the technological wonders that abounded in stores. Anything video related was cheaper by far in Tokyo than in the states. As a result, we do have quite the list of things returning with us.
Last night (crossing the timeline confuses things, technically it's two nights ago) we ate at an incredible restaurant. Fortunately I shot much video detailing the experience. With a table full of people in the business of television, the talk was. not about television of movies by and large. I did talk to Akiko briefly about Diamond Road. We shall see.
Always, we shall see.
Now. L.A.
We shall see.
I'm writing this in LA. I haven't had a chance to write much at all. a smattering of what really is going on. Things are good.. The clothes ran out so I sit here watching it spin at a laundromat.
What to do now. I am in a bit of a quandary. just a small one, as I try to maximize my time here. I find myself actually procrastinating more than anything else. Hopefully this laundry thing will ease that. It has been the thing that has to be done for quite some time, and seems to have mentally slowed me down.
I want to meet people that I have spoken with on the phone. I want to meet people that could be interested in what I want to do next.
Now, I will create a list of things to do. lists that I am so famous for making. This one, I must keep,.