Meeting Brian Wilson in Tokyo

I went to the autograph session of Brian Wilson. It was a very rare chance for us Japanese.

Brian Wilson was an original member of the Beach Boys. Because of his songwriting talent, they released many hit songs in the first half of the 60s. People felt the California sunlight, girls on the beach, hot rods and surfing in their songs.

But Brian's genius wasn't to be contained in this style. His lyrics became reflective, and his melody got more and more complex. Being inspired by the Beatles' Rubber Soul, he became eager to make the album that could would be better the Beatles. Concentration was the most important thing for Brian. He shut himself off to the outside world. and composed songs for months. At last, he quit the Beach Boys' concert tours in 1966.

Brian released Pet Sounds released that same year with Brian's fully confidence. The music was innovative, complex and beautiful. The Beatles, especially Paul McCartney was shocked by the album. But people were bemused. They couldn't find the sunlight, girls and surfing in it. Even members of the Beach Boys didn't realize the true worth of Pet Sounds.

Brian was very disappointed. He began to create the next work, SMiLE. This album, was composed with some unique themes - The four elements (Fire, Air, Water and Earth), a native American girl dancing in the war among natives and whites, etc. - should have been one of the masterpieces of American music. But when making SMiLE, Brian became mentally deranged because of the pressure and a lack of understanding by the record company, fans and the other member of the Beach Boys. Thereafter, he was in a state of a suspended animation for many years.

After struggling, he was back. SMiLE was released after an interval of 37 years with big help from his young supporters. And he came to Japan for his SMiLE live concert. An autograph session was held on the day before of the first day of the concert. A friend of mine who lives in Tokyo got the ticket of this session for me. How can I thank him?

I went to Tower Records Shibuya, the place of the session to meet my friend. It looked as if was going to begin, so a friend of mine was waiting for me, nervously. 200 ticket holders gathered there.After ten minutes, Brian Wilson appeared, and said hello to us. He looked very casual, like he had just walked out of his hotel room. His style didn't radiate with his usual charisma, but we feel soft and gentle atomosphere. As soon as he arrived, the session had began. It had many rules. They said: Things for autograph are only SMiLE's vinyl record sold by Shibuya Tower Records.

Participants could not pass things to Brian directly. Participants were kept away from Brian, etc. What's more, Brian looked tired, so he concentrated to sign autographs with no reaction, no smile. He looked only at his desk. So, the session seemed like a distributing station. But I thought of it as a golden opportunity. I said a message to Brian, keeping in the rules. Then, Brian looked at me, a little surprised, gave me a kind smile, and said "Oh, thank you." Of course I replied.It seemed to be a rare case. When I wrote about it on my weblog in Japanese, some people I didn't know trackbacked with surprising comment like "Here is a miracle man who could communicate with Brian in such situation!"

Despite his nervousness, Brian's concert tour through Japan was a big success and fans were deeply impressed.

Horyuji Temple with moving friends

"Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?" The ancient Chinese wise man Confucius said these words in the beginning of the Analects over 2,500 years ago. The words still hold true today.

K is a friend of mine who lived in Tokyo with his wife. They spent happy days there, but they were determined to move from Tokyo to Chugoku area, Japan Sea side.

They planned their moving journey. They bought a Smart, very small car of Daimler Chrysler.
Then, they made their weblog that was opened only to their intimate friends. The site has pictures and comments of customizing their Smart, preparing for their move, and their journey from Tokyo to Matsue by their Smart. They began to move in late November.

They traced back to their memorable places. They went to see their relatives, friends, their first workplaces, and where they first met. They were working towards Kansai.

On the 4th of December, they reached my hometown, Ikaruga, Nara. They had been looking forward to see Japan's first world heritage, Horyuji temple in town.

Horyuji is the world's oldest wooden architecture in existence, established in A.D.672 by a prince regent (nephew of emperor). To make the nation of ancient Japan and rule it peacefully, he established diplomatic relations with China (He wrote the beginning of the diplomatic letter as "From the emperor of the sunrise place to the emperor of the sunset place, I wish you are safe and sound..." So the emperor of China got very angry, but Japan could make diplomatic dialog on equal terms, not as a subject state.), imported Buddhism from Korea, made the constitution based on Buddhism, and established Horyuji temple.

I guided them to good spots in Horyuji and answered most questions about Horyuji for them. Because I had guided friends at Horyuji several times, I had already learned about the temple.
We appreciated the old architecture and statues of Buddha. When I was a young boy, I didn't realize the reason why mature people loved such old things. Now, I can understand the true value of some things, but still can't understand some other things.

We took lunch at the riverside of Tastuta-gawa. It is famous for tinted autumnal leaves and is described in two poems of the Ogura Anthology of One Hundred Tanka-poems by One Hundred Poets, complied in the 13th Century. The anthology is the basic classical refinement for Japanese people (Even nowadays, high school teachers recommend students to learn poems by heart). We enjoyed beautiful red leaves and appreciated the old poem as follows:

No.17: Water of Tatsuta River was tie-dyed scarlet by
maple leaves...? I would never hear such a thing even in the era of God when strange things often happened.

No. 69: The maple leaves on Mt. Mimuro with a storm raging fall and float on Tatsuta River one after another and make a gorgeous brocade.

After appreciating ancient Japanese culture, they left my hometown and went to their future hometown.

My desire is always to be here, Mull of Kintyre

(The original article was published on my former website in 1997)

My Wanderlust for the Mull of Kintyre

Paul McCartney / Mull of Kintyre
When I heard this song's title, I presumed it referred to a place in Africa or somewhere because it didn't sound like English. However, the sound of bagpipes made me realize the song was about Scotland. The strange songtitle and sweet, peaceful melody tempted me to travel to Scotland without me noticing.

When I came to love the song and decided I wanted to go on a trip to Scotland someday, I gradually founded out how to get there. At first, I checked the location of the place on a map. I had thought Mull of Kintyre was a very famous tourist resort, but few Japanese articles dealt with the place. According to "Blue Guide:Scotland" published in the U.K., the place is at the top of the Kintyre peninsula of Scotland. The aritcle told me that there is the lighthouse. (At first, I had thought that the Mull of Kintyre was on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, but it wasn't.) I decided the destination of my journey, it was the lighthouse.

Consulting books and websites about Scotland so like that, and with help from members of the PC communications forum for U.K. lovers in Japan, I rearized that the cape Paul had sang about was very far away. I heard that there was no railway station near the place, so it would take at least one way to get to. I checked railway and coaches timetable, began to prepare for travel, felt a touch of anxiety, and left Japan.



On the way

The places I travelled to Mull of Kintyre are as follows:

-Japan(Kansai airport) to London Heathrow(about 16 hours)
Heathrow - London King's X - Glasgow (four and half hours by a limited express"Flying Scotsman")
I was so tired that I stayed for one night at Glasgow.

-Glasgow to Campbeltown (took 4 and half hours by coach)
There are no railways between the two points. When I got in the Kintyre peninsula, I found the sightseeing guide board that said"... one of the most exciting roads to the Mull of Kintyre, immortalised in song by Paul McCartney". I fell his lyrics "I'm Getting Closer!".



the sightseeing guide board


-Campbeltown to "End of The Public Road" (20 minutes by taxi)
Campbeltown is small town, however, I didn't got the impression that the town was inconvenient for daily life, because there is no large city near the town. I checked in a B&B and took a rest.




Campbeltown


A few hours later, I took a taxi in mainstreet of Campbeltown. The taxi went through the green grasslands. There is no car coming from the opposite direction.


on the way...


-End of the Public Road to Mull of Kintyre(20 minutes on foot)
The end of the road was a small park.I had to get off the taxi.
There was a board for sightseeing, it had the sentences as follows;




"Made famous by Paul McCartney's hit single in 1977,the Mull of Kintyre is strictly speaking,the rounded headland making up the south west corner of the Kintyre peninsula."
At last, I could see the sea and the lighthouse here. I went down to the lighthouse, on the winding road for a mile.



The Mull of Kintyre

Soon I saw beautiful and wide landscape; deep blue sea, brilliant green plains. The landscape had a splendid view, because there is no tree. Rabbits sometimes ran across walking path. The fine weather made the place surrounded by gentle light.

There is no people, like the Mull of Kintyre was reserved for me. So I sang "Mull of Kintyre" sitting on a small bench near the Mull lighthouse. I could hear Paul's song with My MD player and a ripple without the player. I could see the land of Ireland dimly over the calm sea.













Back to the town

At 8 p.m., The taxi I had took on the way to there came to pick me up. We went back to Campbeltown behind strong west sunlight. When I told her to take thirty pictures for the Mull of Kintyre, she smiled.



Souvenirs

The Campbeltown's only one tourist information centre had these souvenirs;



The postcard



The sticker



6years later

In 2003, a reporter of The Independent (UK newspaper) asked me to quote this article. He said that he would like to take it for his page "The End of The Earth" travel guide including the Mull of Kintyre.

I was happy to comply with his request! What's more, The Independent is Paul's favorite paper (He said so on his concert brochure in 1990)!

Then, fortunately, I could get the paper quoting this article, including my name in the UK because I was happen to travel the UK at that time. Thanks for lucky streak!






(now the URL on above was changed)


Actually, this article brought me not only this fortune but also friendship with some fans of Paul who read my article. I have good friends through this article about Paul's song.
Paul McCartney change his fans' life better worldwide, but not only by his great music. The real case is here. Thank you, Paul.