Yume

My moms said to me yesterday "success is measured differently by different people". It was almost like she was telling me, son, it's alright that you haven't made it yet, at least you're healthy & have a roof over your head. hehe. I always look for the negative in shit though.

I prefer to stay paid ya feel me. Stay paid & be self sufficient. Call my own shots, look out for my fam & friends. Make sure we all get fed & are able to pursue our dreams.

I watched Hustle & Flow today. Some shit on there almost made me cry. Fuck what you think man. Why? Cause dreams are a motherfucker man. I feel sorry for everyone that doesn't have a dream & just inhales & exhales everyday waiting for the day that they die.

I look at what I got going on & I'm like shit, I can barely afford to take care of myself but these dreams in my head keep me going. In my mind I am the president of a clothing company, the co-owner of a BBQ restaurant in Tokyo, a radio host, a rap artist & producer. So many hustles in my mind that my mind is moving 100mph trying to figure out all the angles.
That's why I love these ghetto come up movies. I can feel them on some level ya know.

Random thoughts.

Tomadachi Ga Imasu

The past few weeks were a whirlwind. Tokyo back to the Bay. Doing my thug thing in Tokyo then hosting Yumi Chan & Mizuho here in the Bay.
Yumi Chan has quite a few friends out here from when she went to college. Aside from Friday I really didn't get to spend any quality time with her. Yumi Chan was very concerned with Mizuho. Yumi was glad that while she visited her old classmates that David & I were available to hang out with Mizuho.
I am tired so I will have to write in detail about the past few weeks in detail another time. I did realize that I have made some great friends in Tokyo.
I am as close to destitute as a person can get. No money at all to speak of. If it wasn't for the support of my family & a few good friends I would not get to experience alot of the things I have been lucky enough to experience. For that I am very grateful.

Go Yumi Chan!

Hehe...as I type I'm watching Yumi translate for her father the Honorable Mayor Ono from Nirasaki Japan on our local city station. To me it's hilarious because I know Yumi to be a fun loving partier & she looks like she is not having fun at all at the stuffy city council meeting. Hehe now a congresswoman's aide is reading a letter supposedly from the congresswoman & Yumi has to translate again. hehe well, tonite Yumi & Mizuho will be here & I can embarass her by playing this tape recorded council meeting while we drink Sapporos hehe. Yumi chan gombatte!

Oh shit one of the councilmen just said that Japan has given this community so much & that his Kenpo Karate sensei taught him to live with honor hahaha fucking hilarious.

tsumaranai

Yumi Chan & Mizuho are in town this week. Yumi Chan's father is in politics & he is busy doing the whole politicking thing. Yumi came along to act as interpreter for her father & Mizuho to act as driver. Last night the mayor of our fair city hosted a dinner for Yumi's father & mother. This left a few hours of nothing to do for Mizuho. Of course as a good friend & to repay the hospitality they show me when I'm in Tokyo I told Mizuho it would be no problem for me to hang out with her while Yumi attended the dinner with her parents. As it turned out Mizuho went to school for a few years in San Diego. While she was there she acquired a taste for Mexican food, so that was her request for dinner. I took her to a little hole in the wall joint called El Azteca. I dig it & it was pretty funny cause Mizuho ordered a burrito & she forgot that the portions here are huge compared to the portions served in Japan. Poor Mizuho barely ate a quarter of her burrito. Where I live is boring as hell, there's nothing to do here especially on a Sunday. Afterwards we went to Applebee's to have some drinks. While talking she brought up that she has a friend, an expat, that teaches English in Tokyo. He has been living inTokyo for 10 years. Mizuho though it would be a good idea to introduce him to me to maybe help me out in my job search. She started to describe him to me, & she said he was gay & had a nihon jin boyfriend. As she described him he started to sound alot like someone I met blogging on Xanga. I started to leave comments on expat's blogs who were living in Tokyo to try & get some perspective on life in Tokyo for a gaijin. One person I met on Xanga in the Tokyo Metro was a guy named Catch. When Mizuho finished telling me about her friend I asked what his name was....wouldn't you know it, it was Catch. She found this to be really amusing. I'm not sure if it was the drinking but she sure did giggle alot. Then I had to convince her that it wasn't some gay chatroom I met him on but rather xanga. Jesus I loves the ladies, no homo. Not that there's anything wrong with that, hey... different strokes.... er for different folks. Hehe. Yumi chan & Mizuho are staying at Tsuji no uchi for a few days this week & Mizuho insists that we leave a message for Catch when she gets here. Um...ok! Next time I'm in Tokyo she wants to introduce us. Cool with me hell, the more friends I can make in Tokyo the better. It would be cool to have some friends in the city right off the bat. Plus gay guys always have hot chick friends. I'm guessing that is because the hot chicks don't have to worry about the gay dude hitting on them all the time. hehe. I know I'm being an ass right now....then again I guess I'm just being myself =).......Ja!

Otaku nan desu

I may get some flack for this post, but who gives a shit. As the title states this is Tsuji's house, so I have to speak my mind. I came across this article in Mainichi Shimbun. As I read it I had to agree with it.

Otaku Article

I guess when you look at my lifestyle some would argue that I am an otaku. I love to watch anime & read manga. Occasionally I like to sit down & kill a few hours playing video games. I like jpop & like to view idol videos. I collect action figures etc etc etc.
I am a fan of Japanese pop culture, I find it fun & amusing. 9 times out of ten it is much cooler than western pop culture in my humble opinion. What I do not have is any illusions about what my favorite form of entertainment is.....just plain old stupid fun. I try to spend within my budget & not go crazy in my video game, manga, anime, music purchases. I know that when I watch futarigoto that the super kawaii girls in Morning Musume, really aren't my friends & I know that they couldn't care less about Tsuji Eriku. I also understand that some of the jpop idols I enjoy listening to are underage, some are dangerously underage. I know that it is wrong & unnatural to lust after said idols. I would never EVER intentionally hurt a child in any shape, form or fashion. I do, however, appreciate the kawaii imagery & music they produce, & I see no harm in that what-so-ever.

My first exploration into Akihabara left me a bit stunned. I found alot of the gashopon & figures to be pediphilish. I also was a bit shocked to find stores with huge selections of underage idol dvds, I mean the girls featured in these dvds were practically babies!!! There's no way in hell that shit would fly in the U.S.. I began to wonder...what the hell were these otaku scum doing with these videos? But I knew deep down, even though I wished it weren't true.
Even though I find alot of the same things "otaku" find amusing & fun to be amusing & fun , I know there is a huge difference between what the "otaku scum" are & what I am.
Let's start with the obvious...I have been involved romantically with women in the past & presently still date. I understand the importance of fashion & good personal hygiene. I have a wide range of friends from many different walks of life. I have no problem socializing with new people & occasionally like to get away from my "honeycomb hideout" & go out for drinks or attend a party or concert. FOR THE MOST PART....I would rather be chilling at my crib reading a manga or absorbed by a cool video game, or better yet...watching the latest hit dorama on the televi. This I think has more to do with my age. san ju sai desu. I did my fair share of partying in my younger days & frankly don't have the stamina to party every night of the weekend.
I cringe when I see the otaku scum laid out in the manga aisle of barnes & nobles, or stinking up the anime aisle at suncoast video. The unfashionable, stinky, pediphile geekers that comprise the otaku scum piss me off. It's ok to like this stuff, hell I love it. But you don't have to let yourself go. For god's sake try dating, it may help to quell the urges you have to constantly view images of underage girls & the unnatural urges those images conjure up in some of you otaku scum as well.

Those that know Tsuji Eriku also know that I have a sick sense of humor & can find something funny in something as dark as death or as horrible & terrifying as prison rape. In any of the blogs I contribute to I may joke. BUT I seriously find some of the pediphilish stuff catering to otaku a little alarming. So don't try & call me out if you happen to read a comment I made about Sayumi or Asuka Hinoi. These girls are super kawaii & beautiful to look at, I love their music & kawaii imagery, just remember that they are underage & that it would be wrong to love what they produce in any other fashion than to have simple innocent fun with. That's all I'm saying. You don't have to agree with me but this is MY HOUSE! I'd love to hear opinions, post a comment. Ja.

Tadaima

Well the past few days have been a whirlwind experience. My body aches a little & my internal clock is confused by the time differences. I had a great time though, Tokyo is, afterall, my favorite city in the world.

I got to experience how a real life Tokyoite lives, thanks to Yumi Chan. I stayed at her apartment which is about 5 minutes on foot to the Tokyo Dome. I ate great food & drank lots of beer. Lots of shopping as well.

During a brief quiet moment riding the subway, I did start to rethink moving to Tokyo. I am now seriously considering moving to a city outside of Tokyo. I think I would have more of a novelty outside of the international city of Tokyo, and although the hustle & bustle is part of the reason why I love Tokyo, I also see how it could make me weary. Of course I know it wouldn't be everyday that I would have to endure the dense crowds of Takeshita Doori but I'm sure you all can understand what I mean.

I also came to understand how fortunate I am to have friends in Tokyo. Not everyone has a good friend that would let them stay at their home in Tokyo. I am very grateful to Yumi Chan for her hospitality. I also was looking at my passport & I didn't realize that this marked my fourth trip to Nihon & that I have gone to Japan every year since 2004.

I also am grateful to Mizuho, Michiyo & Kumi for taking time to hang out with me while I was there. I can see how easily a foreigner could be lonely without friends.

Well... if I can discipline myself to get back into shape financially I would like to go back to Japan maybe in November. I have gained great experinece getting around Tokyo & feel really comfortable getting around by train/subway on my own. I had better work hard Gombatte!!! The harder I work the sooner I can get back to Tokyo.

Next trip I really would like to document the sites, sounds & people of Tokyo to share with all of my friends here that have not had the opportunity to visit there.

Ja