Michael John Grist

Kentucky- the land of Abraham Lincoln, Bluegrass music, Bourbon whiskey, the Kentucky Derby, some of the biggest losses in the Civil War, and all the family on my mother`s side. I`m British because my Dad is British and my mother ceded American citizenship when I was a kid- but I`ve always felt my soul was American: Kentucky American, and to a very small degree: Native American American.

I`m talking about this because I just got back from a 10-day vacation with my family in Kentucky. I haven`t been back to visit my grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins in Kentucky for around 7 years. The last time I was there I was just 21, just done with University and still pretty raw, passing through on my way to the summer camp I worked in close to Boston. The cousins were all still little kids, and I was still viewing everything through the lens of a kid myself.

Well, not this time. This time, the gloves were off, Kentucky! I was on the cultural and familial Straight Talk Express- getting to the real deal of my family and heritage in Colonel Sanders` Bluegrass State.

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2 weeks ago my good friend Scott and his long-time girlfriend Makiko had a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony, in a hotel up in Niigata. I say ‘had a ceremony’ rather than ‘got married’ because of course- as things are done here in Japan- you get married first in secret at a local ward office, just by signing some papers. Then, when its too late for the parents to protest, you notify them that they’ll need to pay for the ceremony.

Hay-ah! How do you like that, parents?

I went up with some friends on the Shinkansen to attend. I’m on the left in the picture below, alongside Scott and Makiko.

Click ‘Read more…’ below for the full video and details.

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On Saturday June 14th the latest and possibly last subway line through Tokyo, the Fukutoshin F-line, opened up, and I was one of the first people on it.

The line runs from Saitama down through Ikebukuro and on to Shibuya, with extensions into other train lines at both ends. Trains run around every 5 minutes.

I boarded early in the morning, but the whole of Zoshigaya was already a-buzz like I’d never seen before, I suppose chiefly due to F-line tourists checking out the stops along the way. I imagine this new station will inject new capital into the area, perhaps we’ll see more renovations, more classy restaurants and bars and the like.

The line itself is quite deep, not as much as the Oedo line in Roppongi but still a good 4 escalator rides down. The platform has the new motorized railings to stop people from falling off. The walls of the line are curved like the Oedo line, unlike most other Tokyo subway lines, reminding me of London’s Tube.

I only rode one stop, but it was a leisurely and pleasant affair. Full marks, the F-line. 5/5.

Here’s the video of my journey:

On my way the other day to Zoshigaya Cemetary to film my slow-motion The Scientist video, I stumbled across the new exit to the new station at the Zoshigaya mouth of the new F-line, and of course took a few pictures.

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Last month my buddy Canadian Mike had his wedding ceremony. It was held in Meiji Jingu- the huge central shrine in Harajuku right next to Yoyogi Park- and I went along to check it out. Here are some of the highlights:

- Drinking sake during the ceremony.
- Mike telling me they took hours to strap him into his groom-kimono, even longer for his wife Kumi.
- Promenading around the shrine courtyard, a dude with a big red umbrella leading us.
- Getting gawked at by tourists (who scurried after Mike and Kumi like they were paparazzi)
- Being greeted by Mike’s folks: “Are you uk Mike?”

I had a good time, though it puzzled me they held the practise wedding ceremony right before the actual ceremony. I thought it was the real ceremony! But no, the real ceremony had a lot more jangling golden bells and priests with funky hats.

Here’s a few pictures:

Mike’s on the left with his parents, Kumi on the right with her parents. You can see one of Meiji Jingu’s gates in the background.

The happy couple.

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On Monday I got an email from Maiko, one of my students, saying- “Can I call you with my friend tonight?” It seemed a little mysterious- but she’s a friend as well as a student, so of I course I said yes.

That night she called, we had a little chit-chat, then she handed me off to the friend. The friend turned out to be Yaco, a fluent-in-English casting agent who was urgently looking for background extras to take part in an all-night music video shoot on Wednesday with 2 mega famous J-pop starlets.

Well, I was a bit blown away, but figured I could fit it into my schedule.

Yaco told me it was a casino-scene shoot way out in Minami-Machida (South CityField) near where I used to live, from 6pm Wednesday til 4am Thursday morning. The J-pop stars would be Namie Amuro and Double. I’d need to wear a suit and tie, and would be paid.

I confirmed on the spot, she confirmed back, and I got onto Wikipedia immediately to find out who the J-pop girls were.

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So, last Sunday after buying the camera, Jason and I went to Yoyogi Park (generations of trees Park) in Harajuku (longstanding Inn) to check out Earth Day Tokyo.

I wasn’t really sure what Earth Day was all about, other than a chance for a bunch of wild-eyed scraggly-bearded hippies to get together, smoke pot, enjoy free love, and sell products made out of hemp. Imagine my surprise when that’s exactly what it turned out to be. They also banged drums a lot, talked about World Peace, dressed as gnomes, and made us clean our plastic cups and plates ourselves (with rags that we then threw away- saving the environment?).

Anyway- it was the perfect chance for me to road-test my new camera:

That’s a wild-eyed scraggly-bearded hippy. Watch your purses, ladies!

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