Life In Japan: Lunch Anyone?

A few days ago, my wife Masumi decided we should go to one of her favorite cafés for a special Saturday lunch. She certainly deserved a weekend reward for her hard work — and her job has been especially stressful the last few weeks — teaching music at an elementary school in nearby Inagawa.

This was the lunch set for that particular day at Café Arbour.

Let me be entirely candid. There are many ingredients in this meal I don’t recognize. There are many ingredients you certainly would never find in a typical American lunch: jellyfish, daikon (radish), koyadofu, soumen, sansyo (Japanese pepper), to name a few.

But isn’t that the point? Isn’t that part of the incredible journey of discovery intrinsic to marrying into and living in a completely different culture?

In a way, I end up with the best of two worlds. We still enjoy Western foods — or the best semblance of favorites from the West which are available here — quite regularly, either by my efforts in the kitchen or by going to any number of area restaurants. But I also get to sample, taste, experience and savor a whole new range of cuisine. And trust me, when you get deep into “traditional” Japanese food — as exemplified by our special lunch at Café Arbour — you end up discovering flavors I never could have imagined before. Some take getting some used to, while others are amazing from the get-go.

Let me give a truly unique example of how this cross-cultural pollinization can work.

Anyone remember this Mother Goose poem? . . .

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper;
A peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,
Where’s the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked?

I can’t say this piece of doggerel ever inspired in me anything particular profound. And I frankly assumed that ‘pickled pepper’ was a nonsensical phrase chosen for its alliteration.

But . . . I was SO WRONG!

At our lunch, right there for the taking — and admittedly they were delicious! (in a peppery pickled sort of way) — were . . . [drumroll] . . . are you ready? . . .

And that, folks, is how bridges are built between lands and cultures separated by history and thousands of miles of geography!

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ] 

Life In Japan: Lunch Anyone? | John Rachel

War is over if . . . | John Rachel

John Lennon was idealistic and inspiring. His lovely, if somewhat naive Imagine, embodied the hope and vision most of us share for a better, more peaceful world.

Personally, I appreciate Lennon’s genius even more listening to the background vocals and out-chorus of his phenomenal Christmas ode, Happy Xmas (War Is Over) . . .

The beautifully sung line that really catches my ear and fires my imagination is . . .

John and Yoko certainly had the right idea. It’s an idea most of us want to believe in!

At the same time, despite how good I genuinely feel entertaining such a thought, I see a problem here. That sentiment probably wasn’t true back in 1971 when the song was released, and it certainly is not true in today’s world.

The vast majority of people in the U.S. and across the globe want an end to the wars. But given the current configuration of political power, the realities of who decides where and when the next conflict will take place, what we the people think is completely irrelevant.

We everyday, sane, decent, peace-loving folks CANNOT stop the endless wars for a simple and obvious reason.

We are powerless!

I mean that literally, not figuratively.

WE HAVE NO POWER!

And the people who do have all of the power to make peace or wage war have no desire, have zero motivation to end their aggression, to stop creating more enemies, to reduce tensions, to once and forever retire war as the main mechanism of foreign policy.

In fact, all of the rewards and incentives for those now in power — the ruling elite and their lapdogs in government — are to escalate conflict and confrontation, beat the war drums louder and louder, increase misunderstanding, promote fear and mistrust, and accelerate the march into battle. The threat of war, preparation for war, and starting wars will be endlessly recycled until there is a complete, game-changing, paradigm-shifting challenge to the policies which define the way our government now deals with the rest of the world.

War is among the most profitable investments in play. And the turmoil and chaos resulting from war keeps the current batch of warmongers in power. They make money — enormous sums of money — and lock themselves in a position to make even more money.

Why would they lift a finger to seek peace?

Why would they care whether we want peace or not?

Why would they even pay attention to us when we question them?

Why would those who exclusively benefit and enrich themselves selling war, promoting war, manufacturing and marketing weapons, creating more justifications for more lethal fighting machinery, pushing for endless military expansion, why would these amoral, money-hungry, power-drunk empire builders and imperial plunderers declare ‘war is over’ JUST BECAUSE WE WANT IT?

No, as poignant and beautiful as John Lennon’s inspired and inspiring lyric line is, reality demands we reconfigure it. Maybe it doesn’t sing quite as well or create as warm and fuzzy a feeling in us as his original line. But this is the only way things will change . . .

That is the truth about peace in our time . . . or I should say, perpetual war in our time.

It’s up to us to change the disastrous trajectory that we’re on. It won’t be easy. “They” have the money, control of Congress, the federal bureaucracy, the media, most of academia and the think tanks. “They” have been building a permanent war economy from the 1950s, which even President Dwight Eisenhower tried to warn us about way back when.

On the other hand, we have the numbers. In fact, we vastly outnumber the warrior-class empire builders, and if we are unified, determined, focused, and have a solid plan, we can turn the country around and create the conditions for a world at peace.

It’s entirely up to us. Please get involved!

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

War is over if . . . | John Rachel

Life In Japan: Our New Garden

Yep! It’s that time of year again. Actually, it was that time of year again well over a month ago when we started with the plot of plowed earth pictured above.

Time to plant a new garden!

If anyone doubts just how incredibly hard we had to work to get things in shape, these should dispel any skepticism. (Ignore the smile on our faces . . . admittedly it is fun!)

Cutting to the chase, here is how things are developing.

We’ve had a couple set-backs. My high-tech rain and bird shielding construct made of the finest netting and plastic didn’t do well during the first serious rain. I had to do it all over.

Then there was some low-tech but highly effective pilfering of our first two cucumbers by a Japanese raccoon dog. Yes, it’s a hybrid of a dog and a raccoon. Not quite sure how how that came about. This particular one is about 50 cm long, new to the neighborhood, and apparently loves cucumbers — not the skin, just the juicy insides. I always thought they were nocturnal but I spotted this fellow strolling by our back window in the bright sunshine of late morning, acting quite casual — FOR A THIEF! Masumi was understandable upset. Cucumbers are an important component of our sense of self-worth.

Anyway, here’s what our little garden looks like right now.

I know I know. This whole gardening escapade can’t compete with all that’s going on in the world . . . Ukraine, Biden’s latest gaffes, the Amber Heard/Johnny Depp trial, the shortage of baby formula, gasoline prices. But it’s not supposed to. Maybe that’s the whole idea, eh?

I’ve mentioned a number of times that we live in the middle of rice and bean fields. Good farming methodology dictates rotation of crops, to keep down soil depletion. Looks like the field in front of our house will be growing rice this year. Here’s our neighbor playing in the mud with his tractor.

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

Life In Japan: Our New Garden | John Rachel

World War III is coming . . . LET’S DANCE!

We are sleepwalking into the greatest catastrophe in human history.

More accurately, we may be sleepwalking into the end of human history. The end of everything. Period!

Leaders in the US, NATO and the EU have openly stated they intend the Ukraine conflict to go on for a very long time. And remember, this is not about Ukraine. Zelensky is a joke, which makes sense, because he used to be a comedian. He’s perfectly qualified to be a joke. But these days he’s not funny. At all!

Russia does not want war. Russia does not want any of the animosity coming from the West. I can give hundreds of examples of Russia trying to cooperate with us. Now they’re simply fed up. They’re not going to tolerate the lies and broken promises anymore.

US and its NATO allies want to destroy Russia. That’s it in a nutshell. They have all along. Russia did not start this war. US and NATO gave Russia no alternative but to invade.

And the lunatics who are pushing for this will risk everything. They are even talking about nuclear war becoming more inevitable.

Are you getting this? Do you see where we’re headed?

We have one option: Removing these crazies from power. Appealing to them is ridiculous. They’re not listening. They don’t care what we sane and sensible people think. Period! They only know war and conquest. Now it’s destroy Russia and steal everything. Next it’s destroy China and steal everything. If we don’t all die in a nuclear holocaust, we will be in the middle of permanent war and slaughter for the next 20 years.

If there are any serious plans for stopping these maniacs, I’m not aware of them. The Peace Dividend strategy is a long shot. But as far as I can see, it’s all we have. You’ve heard the pleas emanating from the current peace movement . . . “Oh pretty please! Stop the wars. No more bombing Yemen. Bring the troops home. Let’s all be nice to one another!”

You want to see how well this will work? Try telling an anteater to stop eating ants. Next time there’s a thunderstorm, stand on your porch and yell at the clouds. 

So what’s with the title? Well, I have been known to venture into sarcasm . . . at least a few times.

Truth is, I’m completely overwhelmed, underwhelmed, shocked, numb, and baffled. Thus, if everyone now being subjected to the 24/7 barrage of war propaganda, runaway inflation, food shortages, elementary school shootings, a crumbling economy, a totally inept and corrupt governing class, Covid-19 fear porn, monkeypox fear porn, now even casual talk about throwing nukes into the equation . . . yes, if everyone one night just went out into the streets, all 330 million of us, and started dancing, honestly? . . . IT WOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE!

Because THAT’S how nuts everything is these days!

But you know what? Quite honestly, it would be phenomenal to see such a show of unity — as surreal a show as it might be. Because for a few happy moments at least, or however long our little street party lasted, we wouldn’t be at each other’s throats, we’d stop the yelling and blaming and hating, and instead be showing off our best dance moves, shaking our booties, and just having a darn good time. I think it’s a great idea!

Which is my way of saying that more than ever before, we need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back, belly-to-belly, embrace and celebrate what we have in common, and put aside all differences that ultimately aren’t that important. We need to feel human again. We need to fully appreciate one another and understand that unified we are strong, divided we are weak and just pawns in someone else’s game, and that someone else sees us as “expendables”, just cannon fodder in wars to protect their wealth and power. We need to see who the real enemies are. Don’t be fooled by the lies. It’s not you and I that are the problem. We don’t start wars, we don’t crash the economy, we don’t loot the Treasury, we don’t jack up the contagiousness of viruses and inflict them on the rest of humankind, we don’t deprive one another of our share of the vast wealth of this country.

So getting together, whether it’s to dance, or to protest the abuses and humiliations we all endure just trying to survive, or to show up en masse at the polls and vote the pay-for-play lapdogs of the rich and powerful out of office, or to just talk to one another and try to sort out the mess our country is in — yes, getting together — is exactly what we must be doing!

It’s not just a pretty thought. Frankly it’s a matter of survival!

These wars will never end until we the people end them. Or the wars end us.

Yes, it’s that bad. And getting worse by the day.

You think I’m exaggerating? When is the last time you heard any of these blabbermouths on TV, in the media, or in government talk about … wait for it … (drumroll) … PEACE?

I rest my case.

Not long ago I came across a video that turns me into a crying old fool every time I watch it. And I won’t tell you how many times that is. It’s embarrassing and I’m surprised I’m not a dehydrated pile of talcum powder. Check it out!

First off, some things are SO BEAUTIFUL, only tears can express the total profound joy I’m feeling. Such a magnificent song, with such a powerful message! Seeing every size and shape musician, from across the globe, every color and religion and culture, come together just to make great music, to make Cat Stevens’ work of genius come alive again. Whew!

But there’s a darker side to my tears. Cat Stevens performed this the last time in America at the height of his popularity, near the end of his legendary North America tour. That was 1976. Meaning this amazing call for peace has been around for close to a half century. And look at the state the world is in. As inspiring as this masterpiece was back then, we never got on the “peace train”. Now forty-five years later. No peace train. No peace.

And that’s also something to cry about.

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

World War III is coming . . . LET’S DANCE! | John Rachel

Make Beautiful Music, Earn Big Bucks!

There’s so much negativity out there these days. Pessimism is a poison pill.

So I’m here to offer some positivity! Here is the heartwarming and entirely true story of my launch into the stratospheric heights of fame and fortune.

Hot and sexy, oh yeah!

For sure, there are a lot of naysayers who think that success in the music business is impossible now, except for a handful of well-connected — usually hot and sexy — young artists. Granted, 70,000 new tunes are uploaded at Spotify every day. It’s reasonable to expect that in this tsunami of songs, a guy like me would get lost, made invisible by the blinding glare of millions of other songwriters, some using all sorts of fancy AI computer programs to write sixteen songs a day. These keyboard commandoes have been accused of riding roughshod over the creative playing field like a stampeding herd of buffaloes in a ballet class. Whatever.

The competition is stiff!

I refuse to buy into to such cynicism. Surrender is a sure guarantee of failure. I know in my heart that the world is just and kind and fair and takes care of all God’s children — as long as you have faith and brush your teeth three times a day. And lo! My faith has paid off in spades!

The big break just came this past week with a song I wrote way back in 2006, called Give Me Your Love.

There’s quite a story behind this particular tune.

“I wrote 26 songs today on my iPhone!”

I was living in Uganda at the time, becoming increasingly enamored with the pop music there. Yes, there’s a thriving pop scene in Africa. Very catchy, danceable songs, the kind you want to sing along with after hearing them a couple times. Most have reggae or reggaeton rhythms, great singers, excellent musicianship, highly-polished music tracks, incredible productions.

I was inspired! I started to get some fresh song ideas.

“I dedicated my last 406 albums to Paris Hilton. She’s so hot and sexy!”

One slight problem. I didn’t have access to any music instruments. None! All I had was a small laptop, a Macbook. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me, and I went to work.

This means, everything you hear (except for the singing) in this song was literally typed in. None of it was played. Note by note, I inserted the instruments, the entire musical track done with a computer keyboard and mouse, entered into a music program called Logic Express. I listened on earbuds.

“I am music and I write the songs … eat your heart out, Barry Manilow.”

Once the music track was done, I wrote the lyrics, came up with the melodies, the harmonies and background vocals, as I continued my travels to Kenya, South Africa, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, China and Japan.

Eventually, after a year of backpacking and working on organic farms, I returned to the U.S. with Give Me Your Love and several other songs complete.

“I write Christian rock anthems. All 24,837 of my songs are in the key of C and at 82 BPM.
Praise the Lord!“

Back in Portland, Oregon, I started looking around and found a studio singer with the right attitude and voice, hired her, and recorded the song into my MacBook using a single mic and pre-amp. I told her exactly what to sing, how I wanted it sung, gave her each and every part, then blended it all together in a final audio mix. I still genuinely love this young lady’s performance.

So now let’s get to my newfound success, directly related to this particular song! Hang onto your hats … or wigs … or hair weaves!

“Music is like life. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

About a year ago, I joined a indie musician site called Reverbnation. Then just recently, I signed up for DistroKid, a music distribution site which thousands of musicians have been flocking to the past couple years.

What this means for me as an artist is that my music is now available at Spotify, Apple, Shazam, Boomplay, Deezer, Pandora, Yandex, YouTube, iHeartRadio, Joox, and every other digital music distribution site across the planet!

Now get this! Three days ago, I got notified of my first earnings. If you dare, take a look at this, and if you’re an aspiring musician/singer/songwriter, burn with envy and awe.

(Click to enlarge)

Mind you, this money is available anytime I want it. I just hit the ‘Withdraw Money’ button and it’ll pop right into my PayPal account!

“John Rachel, you are so hot and sexy! Your nipples are pierced, right?”

I know as sure as my name is Heironymous Merkin that this is just the beginning. That the floodgates are now open. The sky is the limit! I’m even thinking I might offer an online series — like those Masterclass courses — on how to achieve success in the music business.

For sure, this has been a very exciting week!

Finally … because I consider everyone reading this a dear personal friend and honorary sister or brother, I would never expect anyone to have to spring the $.99 to listen to this song. Therefore, good people, here it is for you to listen to, download, pirate, or sync up with a video of you doing skateboard tricks dressed as an Oscar Meyer’s veggie dog, taking your toy Rottweiler to meet the macaque living next door, or leading a flash mob performing the macarena at the funeral of a skydiving champion whose chute didn’t open during the graduation ceremonies of your local high school. It’s a very versatile song!

Give Me Your Love – Written and produced by John Rachel

That’s the MacBook I traveled with, and this is where I recorded the vocal for “Give Me Your Love”.
Believe it or not, I still have that Roland keyboard and acoustic. Some things don’t change.

[This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

Make Beautiful Music, Earn Big Bucks! | John Rachel

The future is so bright . . .

Idiots in power! (I try not to judge people by their looks
but I have to be honest. These people are scary!)

Above are just some of the people in positions of enormous influence and power who are promoting the war in the Ukraine. Make no mistake about it. They couldn’t care less about Ukraine or the Ukrainian people. What they truly care about is destroying Russia.

Contrary to what 111.99% of what is reported in the Western MSM, Russia did not want this conflict. Putin did not want to “invade” Ukraine. Putin and the Kremlin do not want to kill innocent Ukrainian citizens. Russia does not want to take over and occupy Ukraine.

Russia was FORCED intentionally into this military action. This nightmare is the product of US/NATO provocation, intimidation, aggression, all engineered at minimum to give Russia a bloody nose, at maximum to liquidate Russia as an independent country.

So where is this heading?

Everyone in the idiot gallery above is for sending more arms to Ukraine. Of course, arming Ukraine with lethal weaponry, the threat of Ukraine arming itself with nuclear weapons, is what made it necessary for Russia to destroy the Ukrainian military — which is what it is now doing — because it had become an existential threat. So what’s the solution proposed by the above brain trust for addressing the crisis? How do they propose fixing this mess?

More arms . . . more weapons . . . more threats to Russia!

“Gee, what started that apartment building on fire, chief?”

“Apparently, open cans of gasoline and kerosene in the basement.”

“Well, gosh darn, there’s only one option. Let’s pour more gasoline and kerosene into the building and see what happens.”

Several of the idiots in the scary collage above have moreover suggested that NATO and the US establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Which will mean — please give this your full attention — US/NATO planes and missiles deployed to shoot down Russian aircraft. Translation: Direct engagement, military conflict — yes, war! — with Russia.

Gee . . . how will this turn out?

After decade after decade of bombing; after twenty years of the War on Terror; a meltdown of the economy in 2008-2009; two years and counting of Covid-19 technocratic terrorism still hovering over us like a sledgehammer; with a coming economic meltdown which will make 2008 look like a rounding error; with the raucous, maniacal, increasingly fever-pitch pounding of war drums and shrill harangues against Russia and China; with a Congress and White House apparently inhabited by the certifiably insane (again just look at the above collection of whackos) . . . hmm. Whaddya think?

What will the future look like?

My prediction is that if we keep going the way we are, the future will indeed be . . . bright!

Very bright! And hot! Here’s how I imagine it’ll turn out . . .

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

The future is so bright . . . | John Rachel

Life In Japan: Good Hamburger Hunting

I’ve made it abundantly clear that I LOVE JAPANESE FOOD!

Having said that does not exclude the possibility of occasional cravings for the tastes and textures of cuisine from the homeland.

I’ve already praised R-H Bagels, an excellent LOCAL restaurant, a leisurely bike ride from our house, for its New York-style bagels.

And I’m sure I’ve mentioned that Masumi and I make a pretty darn good pizza right here at home. We even bought a pizza oven, so we can get those required high temperatures!

What I haven’t mentioned are my shameful failures at recreating a truly genuine, mouth-watering hamburger experience, despite more tries than I want to confess to. The problem mainly seems to be the bun. I’ve even resorted to croissant burgers, since I simply cannot find a decent hamburger bun or good approximation of one. I’m over-simplifying, of course, maybe to let myself off light. Okay . . . it’s more than just the bun. It’s getting the hamburger itself right as well. Apparently, I’ve lost my touch! Boo hoo!

This has driven us over the 14 years we’ve been together, in a desperate search for a truly great American-style hamburger. One that oozes bloody juices, clogs the arteries just sitting on the plate, and creates visions of one of the few things the U.S. actually still gets right these days.

Our first breakthrough arrived somewhat unexpectedly, though the only reason I didn’t expect it is because I didn’t stop to think about it. Actually, it should have been obvious. This was during a summer holiday in 2016.

Because the main island of Okinawa, in particular the major city there of Naha, is overrun by Americans — the whole island, much to the outrage of the locals, hosts numerous U.S. military bases — we found a spectacular hamburger joint called Gordie’s. Gordie? Actually, in all my years in the U.S. I can honestly say I never met someone who called himself ‘Gordie’. There was a legendary hockey player when I was growing up named Gordie Howe. But he was Canadian. Whatever.

Gordie’s in Okinawa is pretty cool! I highly recommend it.

But let’s face it. Okinawa is not exactly convenient.

A little more convenient, but still not that convenient, is a hamburger restaurant we found in Himeji, a place called Lamp’s Bakery. This was late 2018 when our friend Alex Malherbe came back for his second visit to Japan.

Certainly, Himeji is a great place to visit and we’ve been there together at least three times. BUT it’s over two hours away. This has made it incumbent on us to find something a little closer to home.

There are two hamburger cafés right in town. We won’t talk about them. You know why.

But hope springs eternal! (Or is that infernal?) Because . . .

In nearby Sanda — about a 30 minute drive — right downtown near the main JR train station, is Alto Hamburgers. Don’t have a photo right now. It’s a tiny restaurant, seats maybe 16 people. Interesting story behind it. The place is owned by college students, who crowdfunded the whole project, and obviously did their homework. They have a number of very good deluxe hamburgers — bacon, avocado, mushroom, of course cheese, teriyaki, etc. — but in my book, the real draw is their onion rings, which are to die for!

Having lavished all this praise on Alto, I now confess that while it puts up some serious competition, the real #1 hamburger slinger is a restaurant/antique shop/farm way out in the country — which says a lot considering how far out in the country Tambasasayama is — in Kasuga, a forty-minute drive from our house, but one well worth every second of it.

Ladies, gentlemen, gays, lez, bi, trans, double-transitioned, pan, non-binary, non-indexed, no-preference, self-cancelers, and protoplasmic virtue signalers from every whispered and howling corner of the human genome, let me introduce you to Locasse Farm Lab!

And there you have it! Driven by my desire to recapture the joy of devouring an American hamburger, our search is a success. Let’s hope that Alto and Locasse remain in business for the foreseeable and my arteries don’t gunge up with saturated the meat-based calking compound delivered by their HMDs — hamburgers of mass destruction.

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

Life In Japan: Good Hamburger Hunting | John Rachel