Climbing Mount Fuji

Four days into my week-long workshop I was teaching at in Shizuoka Prefecture(which kisses the Southern side of Mount Fuji), I finally had a chance to breathe and reposition my focus on figuring out plans on how to make my way to Gogomae, the fifth station on the Yoshidaguchi Trail at Fujisan where I was to meet Erin, Doc, and his friend Dane, at which point we were to begin our ascent of Japan's most famous mountain, Mt. Fuji. Things before this point has been a whirl, with little time to research let alone plan and prepare for the climb of Fujisan(mountains take the formal ending of "-san", just as you'd use when speaking formally to a person, ie. Yamamoto-san, Munoz-san, Daniel-san, etc.) I had left most of that up to our friend Doc, who took the reigns in organizing this adventure, which served duel duties as his birthday present to himself, and to Erin who had a bit more time to burn this summer, compared to my hectic schedule of teaching engagements.

So, as I sat at my computer that night in my hotel room, I began my research with a train route search to the station which Erin e-mailed to me, which we would meet to catch a bus together to the fifth station. The route comes up, and I'm floored with first, the cost, then second, the time. Here, I thought, I can see Fuji from my hotel window, how can it cost me like 7,000yen(about $70) and take four hours?! This can't be right. I was struck with confusion. I did a bit more researching and learned that I was on the wrong side of the mountain! Well, at least the wrong side to meet at the planned meeting point with Erin and the others. Doh! Hadn't planned for that. That's what you get for growing up in the Midwest with flat lands and hills(and sand dunes in Indiana and Michigan), you don't think of mountains as massive three-dimensional earthen structures that you just can't pop over in a car or bus, or on a day hike with your cub scout troop. Chalk one up to ignorance. So, my mind is flashing options, cost and time-effective solutions, all pulsing with a new fire of stress I've created for myself. I frantically e-mail a flurry of correspondences with Erin, which probably wasn't the best thing to do(since she had her own planning to consider and prepare for), and eventually settle into the task of figuring this out.
With the help of my friend and co-teacher/worker, Nami, I asked her to help me find a more direct route to the station from where we were at. The train route I looked up earlier, because of the railway, had to take me East to Shibuya in Tokyo, then back West to the Northeastern side of Fujisan. We found a bus that was a fraction of the cost and time of the train... hurray! With plans finally set, I finished up the last days of the workshop, had our show, and decided to stay at the hotel one more night to leave in the morning to meet Erin. Poor Erin, she had to take a night bus from Nara to Tokyo(about 6hrs), then a train to the station, Kawaguchiko, where we were to meet at(2hrs), then the bus we would catch to the fifth station on Fujisan(1.5 hrs), then we would start our climb. Upon finally seeing each other after a week of me in Shizuoka, she was bright eyed and pretty cheering(despite the hell ride of night bus she took, broken chair and noisy kids).



We took the bus to the fifth station, a common starting place for climbers(especially amateurs like ourselves). We picked up any last minute supplies, our traditional hexagonal Fujisan walking staffs, and began our hike just before 5pm. The plan was to hike to the past the eighth station, where Doc had booked a place for us at a "hotel", where we would eat and rest for a bit, then wake up early to finish the climb to the top and catch the sunrise. I say "hotel" because, really, it was pretty much a bunk room, with rows of sleeping bags packed like sardines on two levels.
So, off we went. In my pack I had: 1.5 liters of water, cold weather clothes, rain gear, a couple flash lights, some snack foods, a can of oxygen, my camera, an umbrella, my Gerber multi-tool.



The first bit was only a slight incline up a well defined path. We ascended easily and after an hour or so we reached this station hut, where we got our first of several brands on our walking staffs. It's a cool way to adorn your wooden staff, though, at 200yen a pop sure adds up. But, I'm glad I got most of them. Some of the brands indicate the elevation, which I thought was really cool.



We continued our climb and felt the sun set, stopping at each hut to brand our staffs and take a breather. We were above the clouds at this point, and night was falling around us. We put on our headlamps, and
kept on truckin' in the dark. We also met a cool girl from Australia, Lucy, who was climbing by herself and we invited to join us. She's an actress currently living in China(or Korea?) The higher we hiked, the more rocky the terrain became and now we had to, at times, maneuver our way up and between rocks and boulders; in the dark, none the less! The air was definitely thinner up there, and the climate was cold and windy, a far cry from the summer sun and humidity we left at the station we started from. We got the eighth station, but were informed that the place we had booked was still about an hour and half up! Doc and Dane hauled ahead of us, and Erin, Lucy, and I steadily walked in the dark, in mostly silence, passing other climbers, pacing ourselves and our breathing, stopping once and awhile to suck up some pure oxygen and take a drink of water. On our way, we had also met another climber, Johann from France, who joined us. He's a young archaeologist on vacation in Japan with a 1yr daughter and wife who stayed back in the hotel while he was climbing. Randomly, to our surprise in conversation, we learned that he happened to stay with a mutual acquaintance while he and his family stayed around Kansai.

So, we finally made it to our hut-tel by 10pm. We were just about 15mins behind Doc and Dane, who were getting ready to eat our modest dinner of curry, rice, and hamburg. *yes, I meant hamburg, not hamburger. In Japan, a beef patty, usually served on a hot iron skillet is called a hamburg steak or just hamburg, and the latter, hamburger, refers to the thing you get at Micky D's. Though, they'd pronounce it as, "ham-baa-ga" at "mac-u-do-na-ru".... seriously.

After our dinner, we were asked what time we wanted to get up. It was suggested if we wanted to see the sunrise, we should make our way by 1:30am. Not much time to sleep, so we got in our sardine bags and tried to rest for a few hours. It was the most expensive "floor" I slept on, but I did manage to get a bit of sleep. I can't say that was the case with Erin or Doc, but the rest was welcomed.

We got up, geared up, and readied our selves for the final kilometers to the top. As we stepped out of the door, we were greeted by a cavalcade of climbers, all packed and foreheads illuminated by headlamps, crowded front to back like rush hour on the Dan Ryan, focused on seeing the sunrise from the top of Fujisan. We merged into the crowd, and step by step, drudged our way to the top. It was cold and slow, crowded and congested like the morning commuter trains. It took us about three hours to climb those last few kilometers to the top. Thankfully, I was warned that it would be like this, cold and crowded, so it didn't bother me so much. Again, Doc and Dane made it to the top first, and Erin and I stuck together and reached the top together, hand in hand.
Despite the headache I had been nursing for most of the way up(probably mild altitude sickness), I was happy we got to the top, safe and sound, together. We did see the sunrise.



You know all those people we climbed up with, they were all there too... and then some. It was quite cold up there, and Doc and Dane were freezing. I luckily had extra clothes, so we huddled for a few pics, got our staffs stamped, and began our way down the treacherous path. I say treacherous because we had been warned by friends who had climbed and descended Fuji before that the way down is the worst part of the Fuji experience... and they were right.

Imagine sliding down a decent incline with loose rocks and red gravel underfoot tripping and you and providing uncertain ground for your footing. The landscape looked like what you'd see in pictures of Mars. Add to that, groups of other people all negotiating their way down at the same time, the fatigue of the climb you just did up the mountain, and the rapidly changing climate once again. I took a more daring technique and let gravity do most of the work for me, as I skipped and skidded down the path, weaving around people and wearing out the bottoms of my shoes in the process. This was going well for me, expending less energy than trying to fight my way down, but I kept tabs on Erin's slow progress down. She's got pretty bad knees, so she couldn't foot "ski" down the rocky path like me, instead, taking it one step at a time. To lighten her load, I took on her backpack(along with mine) at about a quarter of the way down. This act of kindness did have me alter my descending technique, since my weight distribution was now uneven and top heavy. I continued my way down, a bit slower now and the fatigue was really coming on. I took a few breaks and even managed to take a 15-20min nap, but I tried to stay on course and eventually made it to where we started at the fifth station just before noon. Erin had met up with Lucy, our friend from Australia who we climbed up with, whom she came down with for the last part of the descent. Doc and Dean had already made it down before us, and, tired and exhausted caught a bus and train back.


All in all the climb of Fujisan was a thrilling and great challenge for me. Even before we got to Japan, I had talked to my brother Francis about his climb of Fuji, and also our neighbor, Julius, who climbed the mountain a long, long time ago. It's one thing I really wanted to do in Japan while we were here, and I finally accomplished it. I'm so, so proud of Erin for doing it too. She had reservations about joining the trip, and even the days before the climb I had e-mailed her my concerns if she was up for it. I'm thankful that we reached the top together and came down unscathed other than sore bodies for several days afterwards. Fujisan is the highest and most famous mountain in Japan at 3,776 meters.

Check this link for complete album of pics on Facebook, http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28696&l=f5db3&id=507939118

Music in Japan

Okay, you know that my life is pretty much dedicated to these main things, Erin, my family, and friends, and of course MUSIC; listening, playing, making, talking about, etc., so it's about time that I share my musical insights and experiences since I arrived here in Japan. First off, it's not as weird as you might image... okay, yes, there are some weird things and this first picture seems to trump that statement, but seriously, it's not that weird... This guy here in the pic, dressed up like some sorta hula power ranger is one of the guitarists for the band, Zubrowka, a local J-rock band that my friend Kati introduced me to. Actually, the bass player is a student at Kashiba HS(Nao, she rocks btw), and their music is a tight brand of punk/rock/pop/dance. It was cool to finally see a Japanese group that wasn't on tv, and wasn't all image-driven and talentless. These kids were doin' it right, costumes and all, and I had a great time at their show and they seemed to have a blast sharing playin' their music. There were several other acts throughout the evening at this little live house venue in Ikoma, a city directly north of where we live.
Here's Nao, the bad ass bass player. Don't let her cute cuteness catch you off guard, she wails on the bass. That's one thing I'm learning about Japanese people, often times when you first meet someone, they may seem one way initially, but once you get to know them, you'll learn more about them and perhaps they'll show you a different side about them. Japanese people tend to "hide" their skills or interests, unlike Americans who usually just put it all out there in plain view, as loud and as obnoxious as that can tend to be, hahaha. It's very interesting in the sense that you can be constantly learning about a Japanese friend you're whole life, with the many layers to peel back.

Another instance of this aspect of Japanese culture was recently observed when I was invited to a jam session by one of my friends from aikido. He dropped me a mail on my keitai about a monthly Dub/Noise jam goin' on in the near by town of Mamigaoko, and invited me to join since he knew that I played music(as a loud American, I let it be known to everyone that I meet here that I love music). Anyways, I was psyched to partake in a good ol' noise freak out jam, but how would it be in Japan my mind wandered. I met Tsuyoshi by bike, I packed with my arsenal of instruments as effects(at least those that I could carry with me on my bike) and we headed to this Thai curry house where the jam would take place, after hours when the place was closed. Tsuyoshi had with him his didgeridoo, and traditional Australian instrument that comes from the Aboriginal tribes of Australia. When played correctly, it gives a droning, low hum that can be altered in slight pitches and overtones. Very cool. I also learned that he plays guitar and ukulele, which never once came up in previous conversations... hence, the Japanese aspect of hidden talents or skills. Anyways, the jam was awesome and such a wonderful experience to share this type of free expression and improvisation with other people here in Japan. Even though I couldn't verbally communicate with them, since my Japanese is still elementary and their English skills were like my Japanese, but we were still able to make some real cool grooves and share our musical ideas. Music is truly a language of it's own.

To go back to the show in Ikoma, here are acouple more acts that performed that evening. The all girl band also had members who were also schoolgirls from Kashiba HS. And the guy on the right was very good too, only 18 or 19, and he played an Oasis song. Which brings me to the subject of Western influence on Japanese popular culture, namely music for this blog. It is all around, and unfortunate that the mass pop Japanese media has taken to such American devices as Japanese version of "Dancing with the Stars" or J-pop boy bands like Smap, or the countless other image driven musical acts permeate Japanese mass media. I guess the machine of the music industry is the same anywhere in the world, but that will never discourage me to stand even taller against this kind of bastardization of the art form of music, as a music artist myself and an appreciator of said art. But, lately, it has been a breath of fresh air to meet other like minded artists, both Japanese and foreigners alike, as well as attending shows like the one in Ikoma, where there's a definitely DYI sorta attitude, a grassroots way of getting your music out there. I'm having as much fun discovering the ins and outs of the Japanese music scene as I am trying to find MY way into it. I came here with a mountain of obstacles to overcome as far as finding my musical place here, but it's coming along slowly but surely, and with many surprises along the way.

First of all, if you would've told me a year ago I'd have a jazz band in Japan I would've asked you what you've been smokin' and pass it along, but it is funny how life can bring such happy unexpected opportunities. To play with Chiaki and Kazuki Kataokasan has been a great experience. I've been learning so much from them, both outstanding musicians and fantastic friends, as well as experiencing some great live moments as The Ah-Un Trio. I always tickled the thought of playing jazz(preferably a pianist or a drummer, but I'm not nearly skilled for those roles), but now I'm getting a chance to infuse this style with my own. I won't ever fancy myself a jazz musician, but rather a person that can interpret something with a jazz attitude, if that makes any sense. I've played in more jazz clubs here in Japan than I've ever even attempted to play in the States, seriously. I think there's something about the fact that I'm in Japan and a foreigner that gives me the confidence to put it all out there and just do it. I figure my time here is limited, thus my time to experience Japan and to do the things I want to accomplish is limited. If I don't take chances, then I would surely regret those missed opportunities. It is a very special situation I am privileged to here in Japan, since I don't have to work, I have much time to explore not only this land and culture, but to also do what I do, which is music ultimately and test my art in an environment and to an audience that usually only comes to artists who have the money and resources and fame to play in Japan. I'm just some guy from Calumet City with boxes of instruments and crazy ideas, so what do I have to lose, right? Hahaha! It's brilliant! Japan will never know what hit them once my time is up here.

Here's me at the piano at le club Jazz in Kyoto, a club my friend Jack informed me about that I should check out. These guys were cool, and cool enough to let me jam with them. There was a drummer, guitarist, and organ player, and I played guitar for one tune and piano on another. There are certain rules to jammin' jazz, but I always forget them when I play at these sessions, but I really don't care since I'm not a jazz musician you see. So, I just do my thing. This, of course, is not particularly the normal Japanese way, but someone's gotta keep them on their toes. Anyways, I figure, even friends back home have trouble keeping up with me, unless they've played with me before, so why change my ways now... hahaha. Playing music with me is kinda like riding a rollercoaster, first you either like it or you don't, and the first time is usually bumpy and scarey, but by the end of it you wanna go again and again... hahaha. You just gotta hold on, keep your eyes open, scream and yell, and let go of or face any fears.

So, alongside of playing with Ah-Un and jammin' with local cats and other foreigner friends, I'm still chuggin' away at this solo thing. Always have and always will. I figure I started my love of music by myself, just me and a piano then a guitar, then everything else, living here in Japan is no different and just as good an environment to continue my own music. Here I am in our little aparto, see that ladder, go up there and that's where we sleep. And that tiny hallway through the door is our bathroom, kitchen, and front door. Just cozy enough to make some music, albeit not so loud, since the walls are paper thin. Lately, I've been recording videos in our little nest, of ideas of songs and just improvisations I'd come up with and capture with my handheld camera. Check them out on my profile (www.myspace.com/stephenmunoz) Utilizing technology has been a recent practice of mine to promote and just get my music out there, especially to folks back home whom I used to play for on a weekly basis. With a computer and the internet, the world is a lot smaller and more connected than once imaginable. I think this medium of communication is important not only for businesses, but must be used by the artists as well, to reach new audiences, to keep in contact with everyone, and use as a viable forum for expression. Of course there's crap on the internet as well, but as time rolls on and the internet becomes more of an everyday habit, the public learns how to navigate around the crap and wastes of time on here, to find the things they are really looking for, or learn about things and expand their spectrum of information. That's another paradox here in Japan, though they have the technology with computers and cheap highspeed internet, it's still in the minority that Japanese society are savvy to surf the web and live on the internet. It's not nearly as commonplace as it is in the States, where my 10year old niece knows how to navigate the internet, and a lot of young people here only have keitai(cell phone) e-mail addresses. I think moving here has made me more aware of the power of the internet than ever back home, since I'm constantly keeping touch with folks back home or looking up things about Japan, or promoting my music.
Speaking of promoting, check this pic of my friends Keiko and Mika and me. I recently played a gig in Shinsaibashi, Osaka at a posh cafe called Espoir, and my friend Shiraisan made this sweet poster for the show. It's the pic I recently use for my Myspace profile. The owner of the cafe had me sign it for him... rock star, right? I also got my pictures taken for a popular Japanese magazine, Hot Pepper, that night. We'll see if I'll get to be in it. My friend Shiraisan founded the cable station, MJTV(Music Japan Television) and is also a DJ for 765 FM Cocolo, a world music and news radio station that broadcasts around this Kansai region. I've been super fortunate to meet these great people in the music business, and hope to meet more and keep up relations while I continue to pursue my music here in Japan. I'm working hard to do all I can to make my dreams come true, as cheezy as that may sound.


Here's some various shots from a few performances here in Japan and just randomness. The first two are from an open mic hosted by WhyNotJapan a website that promotes international parties, and yes, that is a belly dancing Elvis, just wait for the vids... seriously, belly dancing Elvis. The other two are one shot from my gig at Tin's Hall, me with my fox mask(I plan to wear that to a gig sometime, and playing with Ah-Un at the Sancheri Hotel in Sakurai, Nara.

It's been a lot of work to relearn the business here, as well as making new connections and finding venues and a new audience, and I often think of the folks back home, like Finnegan's and the crew, Midstates, my musical comrades P. Schmitz and S. Larson, our new Door County family especially the Nicks and my boy Fatty, as well as the host of fine musicians I've had the privilege to play and share music with, and all those regulars and audience members who would come out to my gigs and support what I was doing. It's impossible to replace that kinda love that only time and experience has created, but I'm hoping to create at least a little bit of that out here. Though it's still too soon to tell, but I hope as time goes on my experiences here in Japan will prove to be as fruitful and lasting as my experiences and relationships back home.



(Sorry Paul Schmitz, this is the best picture of you I could find)