boy have we got a day ahead of us today and like an hour and a half I've
gotta go meet a TV crewman yep it's the whole thing I have a little
bit of a morning routine but I've got a small problem it's a two-part problem so
I think we can kill two birds with one stone today part a I've been feeling a
little bit claustrophobic in the vlog because I'm always right here
Part B my workout room is the disaster lately I've cleared it out somewhat so
that I can actually show it to you guys but before I can even leave today I'm
not gonna be able to feel good unless I get some of it cleaned up it's it's it's
right over here you see this room here doubles as my workout room and my
shamisen practice room half problem half confession you see I haven't done a
proper cleaning of this room in like two months
so before we can go anywhere today I've got a clean
I mean anything that you
that's the easy part the hard part is pulling up all the tiles and cleaning
under them you see this floor has seen months of workouts since the last time
that I uprooted it and properly cleaned it I don't even want to show you guys
how it looks under there not as bad as I thought
still gross stuff still gross so here we go
also I feel like this has potential to get really messy so let's do this
all right let's clean
that's what happens when you don't put the weights down properly who so the
floor is done the tiles are cleaned and now it's time to get changed out of this
dude I already got changed let's just lay these tiles and go we're gonna be
late all right so some good news and some bad news good news room is done bad
news in the process I knocked over the camera and snap to my microphone in half
it might be able to fix it but I'm gonna need some epoxy and anyways we gotta get
going and did I mention that today's a (Tsugaru) Shamisen day
so it is 9:00 10:00 in the morning now I'm off to meet the TV crew and then we
are going to be meeting one of the Yoshida brothers after doing that for
those of you struggling video a lot of people asked well how do you actually
get the energy to get up and get things started in the day and it's exactly what
I did this morning I like to start every single day with some form of
accomplishment whether it be minor or major find that the days where I just
start my day by sitting on the sofa scrolling through my phone don't
typically go as well as the days where I start by taking some form of action in
the morning and seeing if today's a pretty big day I wanted to get it
started the right way
thank you alright guys so the TV crew has
requested that I don't post any spoilers in case we do end up moving forward with
this it's fair enough so while I do this let me take a few
seconds to show you guys what I did yesterday I'm out here in Asakusa at
Sensoji for just a moment to check out this Hozuki or ground cherry
festival vendors from over a hundred Stalls selling their own ground cherries
in the hopes of giving people a thousand days of blessings this festival takes
place here in Asakusa every single year for two days listen to the sound sounds
so beautiful also the views check out the views
it's quite the fair and a sight to be seen but we have a day to get to so
let's get to that for now I'll share a little bit of what I can which is we
were preparing for something called Mitama Matsuri one of my favorite
festivals here in Japan and we were shooting for that today I want to keep
talking to you guys about it I want to tell you all about it the week we got to
get going for the next meeting I have to do is related to that concert gig that I
landed that I'll be recording I've got to go check out that space today this
job involves not only one but several major artists here in Japan also it's
worth mentioning you see that case right there
that's a famous case that's the case of the shamisen one of the Yoshida
brothers this this is the older Yoshida brother right here, Ryoichiro
come out to this place right now to kind of scout out the location so I can
figure out where I'm gonna put my cameras for the shoot the shoot is for
Ryoichiro's other band called wasabi it's a four member group
Shamisen, shakuhachi, taiko, and koto and in case you don't already know wasabi
they're amazing one of the coolest things though is that each one of the
individual members of wasabi is top-level professional in their
respective fields which is what makes it such a great band you know what I could
go on about it forever but it's gonna be linked below so so we're gonna add some
of the equipment that we
For any of you wondering how I got those rooftop shots of Shibuya it's all on the
level in fact there's a little area out here and the music is a little loud so
give me a second to relocate on top of 109 men's right here in Shibuya they've
opened up this like rooftop space and you can come up and get those iconic
Shibuya Crossing pictures and videos at the moment it looks like it's free so
yay and they've got this whole system that'll let you get pictures of yourself
so cool and there's a cafe in here
and now that we have a spare minute I want to share a little bit with you guys
about this Mitama Matsuri that I'm getting to play by playing on
Saturday and I think 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. so if you're in Tokyo and you want to
come check it out I will be there the festival itself takes place in Tokyo's
Yasukuni shrine and the opportunity to play there is a rare one a very rare one
and quite the honor I'm I'm very very excited about this I've been attending
this festival almost every single year for the better part of about 10 years
now it's I'd say in my top three favorite festivals in all of Tokyo and
it's one that I do my best to never ever miss but I think you guys get the point
I'm pretty excited about
not to mention the fact that I get to record that concert next week which is
exciting all in its own but with all of that said and done and out of the way
tonight I'm doing something that I never do just going out for some nice relaxed
drinks with a Friday and honestly I think that's just as important as the
rest of it reminding myself every now and then just to take time to connect
with the people around me and actually enjoy in my life it's an important thing
it is incredibly easy to get wrapped up in my work and just like days and weeks
pass we've all heard the super cliche phrase variety is the spice of life but
I think variety is also the spice of time it helps you feel the passage of
time much more if you're just doing the same thing every single day all the
day's can bleed into feeling like it's just one day and you can lose the
ability to feel that passage of time and then BOOM before you know it life is
over I'd say that's definitely a fear of life
so the other day in the vlog everybody thought that shoulder man that I was
hanging out with was Chris it wasn't Chris okay no if it was I would
definitely definitely let you know yeah who would hang out with that dude anyway
who indeed let's go get some drinks
I feel like I almost definitely didn't film enough b-roll to transition to this
scene right here transition
right Chris is impressed with my lighting skills I'm literally just using
this sign right here but you do what have to work you know works funny so
I enjoy it I always feel like this - real time for how much work I want to do
in the case is that sound weird - something I've got all except you you
and me both you and me both