Interests

I have too many interests. Sometimes I wish I could find something to focus on. But I probably never will. Always leaping all over the place.

What are they?

Art, music, fashion, politics, love, sex, revolution, English, Japanese, East Asian languages, Chinese characters, history, beauty, philosophy, time, anthropology, zen, Buddhism, history of religion, dancing, psychedelic trance, progressive house, progressive trance, tai chi, French, cinema, French cinema, Italy, German, medicine, farming, agriculture, nature conservation, ecology, permaculture and all aspects of natural farming and land management, the history of land management, forestry and its history, communication, human relationships, schooling, anti-schooling, popular culture, tv, critical theory, food, cooking, diy, zines, squatting, Venezuela, South America, Spanish, the rennaissance, the occult, alchemy, homoeopathy, Chinese medicine, indigenous cultures, indigenous languages, dialects and language variance, vocabulary, etymology, poetry, fiction, masturbation, relaxing, sleeping, swimming, skiing, soccer, qi gong, zazen, ...

Well that is a few of them. I like drinking and taking drugs too. No wonder I feel a little unfocused a lot of the time.

There is this kind of expectation or culture in our lives that says we should stick to one thing. This is largely bound up with the institution of work and the division of labour which says that we ought to confine ourselves to a role as cogs in a great machine producing capital. I reject this culture.

Yet how to realise a full spectrum of interests in the face of this culture. How to resist not the self but the system. My experience thus far is that it is hard to realise a full life because either work sucks all one's time into a narrowly defined area of labour or lack of work prodcues a lack of structure which sucks all one's motivation, one's connection with other people and hence one's ability to create freely. We definitely need people in our lives who help us to discipline ourselves and help us to reflect on our practice. At the same time we need loving relationships with ourselves which enable us to be strong and to resist. We need self-discipline and self-acceptance.

My interests manifest as behaviours, as thoughts, as choices to read, to think, to engage in dialogue, to visit museums, to lie in bed. There is no reality separate from this continuous flow. So why do I seek to bind it to a grand narrative structure? It is hard to live in the uncertainty of the present. It is hard not to grasp. To try to force each aspect of experience into a grand master narrative that leaps out of the ashes of the eternal and tries to bind the yet unrealised future to the dead weight of the past.

The struggle continues.

Hanami 花見

Spring has arrived in Japan and this past weekend was the peak time to see the cherry blossoms blooming all over Tokyo and Saitama. Last Monday on my way home from the pool I walked along the river under the cherry blossom trees as they were just starting to bloom. I heard great things about the Yanasegawa River not far from my place son on Friday morning I went for a cycle down there. The trees were almost in full bloom and lots of people were out strolling under the trees or lying on blue tarps spread out on the riverbank. Lots of little stalls selling festival food have been set up.

From Hanami Cycling at the Yanasegawa River, Saitama

My true Hanami though was to come on Saturday and Sunday at Yoyogi park in central Tokyo. On Saturday night after week I headed into the park with a picnic, beer and my friends Tim and Fi on their way to Korea after having finished their time in Nozawa Onsen. It started raining slightly as we left and when we arrived at the station streams of people were heading home as light rain pitter-pattered down. Then we ran into Dwight who had come to the station to meet us. We made our way into the park where enormous mounds of rubbish, blue tarps and the detritus of a day's cherry-blossom drinking littered the park.

From Saturday Night Hanami at Yoyogi

Over at party number one we found a not-too-wet tarp and spread out our picnic. After scoffing down some sushi and drinking some beer we went over to the music which was being projected from the footpath just outside the park separated by a little fence. Not long after the cops showed up and some negotiations ensued. The music was switched off and not long after the chant 'Fuck the Police' sprang up for a while and then died off. In the end it appears that the cops ordered the organisers to move the soundsystem inside the park grounds but at this point we went for a walk.

From Saturday Night Hanami at Yoyogi

Then we found party number two where some psytrance beats quickly gave way to cheezy house but there was hula-hooping! Fi showed off her mad hula-hooping skills.

From Saturday Night Hanami at Yoyogi

I tried, managed to keep the hoop going longer than I ever had before but gave up quickly and went for a dance - just as the music finished! So then it was time for party number 3 - the party I think I had thought I was going to in the first place. Ran into some friends there and danced to some suitably phat psytrance beats. It was beautifully set up under a blossoming tree with about a hundred revelers gathered around dancing and chatting in the warm night. Twas not long before we had to go for last train - just missing my friend Ian's set which was about to start!

From Saturday Night Hanami at Yoyogi

Then the next day I had a plan to meet some friends from the Rage and Football Collective for a bit of social soccer but slept late, fucked around and got there in time for the end. Luckily though, we went for lunch and beer at a nearby chain restaurant getting thoroughly drunk and full in preparation for hanami back at Yoyogi, or in other words, more drinking and eating. I was able to catch-up with some of the lovely people I met at the first Rage and Football event I attended in Shinjuku in January. One of whom, Tomoko, maintains a blog (in Japanese) here.

We decided to walk to Yoyogi park from Yotsuya (where we were) - which took about an hour and a half. It was a pleasant walk in the warm spring day and took us past Shinjuku Gyoen Park which had a huge queue of people waiting for admission (not free). They were lined up along the path so deep that we had to squeeze past them. I love walking through Tokyo like this because I start to feel like I know my way around the city a little and see how things are connected. Tokyo is so overwhelming in so many ways but it helps to get into the feeling when the mass of disconnected suburbs are found to occupy real geographical space. The final part of the walk was through the grounds of Meiji shrine which led to a number of discussions of the history of state Shinto. As we entered the grounds we were stopped by guards who ordered us to roll-up the Rage and Football Collective Flag, alleging that it might be mistaken for a right-wing flag. Our members were deeply offended! Ito-san said plainly to the guard: We are lefties!

From Sunday Hanami at Yoyogi

From Sunday Hanami at Yoyogi

We joined the Enoaru Hanami party. Enoaru has featured in this blog before. It is a cafe operated by some artists who live in the homeless community in Yoyogi park. As such it was attended by many residents of various tent-cities and other homeless people as well as activists I have run into in my journey so far. More drinking and chatting and then some of us went to the Harukaze free party on the other side of the road from the park. There we saw a number of great DJs and bands including Sayako Meets Planets and the Tokyo Revolutionaries. There I ran into Ian again and enjoyed chatting with him about life in Japan. The Tokyo Revolutionaries are a kind of reggae outfit and led the crowd in songs celebrating smoking marijuana, sex, love and freedom. The lead singer is quite famous in the legalize marijuana movement in Japan and although I have to say his singing voice was not what you would call lyrical he was a great entertainer.

From Sunday Hanami at Yoyogi

Well headed back to the picnic, drank more and then went to find some other more underground park parties. We passed through two parties on our way to the party we were actually looking for. Clearly Hanami brings everyone to Yoyogi! I think the music at this last gig was the best I heard during the weekend. Groovy kind of dub feeling. I was so drunk by that stage that I could really get into the spirit.

I think the true Hanami spirit is exemplified by collapsing drunk in a pool of your own vomit after having consumed ridiculous quantities of alcohol and food. Having satisfied the conditions for a good heave I managed to keep it together as far as Asaka-dai station where the action of getting up off the floor of the train and stepping out the door was too much for me. Sorry fellow commuters who had to use that platform following my outstanding performance. I managed to stumble to the bathroom of the next train station before loosing the contents of my stomach again and having done so I staggered up to the platform, called Tim and Fi (who were at a different Hanami party) and asked them to make sure I got on the train. Not long after they arrived and I managed to make it home, put my vomit stained clothing in the washing machine, turn it on (even managed to put the powder in) and then drop into bed.

The Spirit of Hanami will not be quickly forgotten!

Hanami Cycling at the Yanasegawa River, Saitama

Saturday Night Hanami at Yoyogi

Sunday Hanami at Yoyogi