"what would you say is your life motto?"

part of the audition process for disney on classic each year is answering a few questions you probably weren't prepared for. not questions like, "how's your tap?" or "can you do a scottish dialect?" but rather "how would you describe your personality?" or "what is your view of the character of pumba?" or my personal favorite, "what would you say is your life motto?" this sign along the meji-dori in tokyo – somewhere between shibuya and harajuku – provides what i think is a perfectly suitable answer to that last question.

discovering the real tokyo

dinner in a closet, seating for seven, down a tiny, secluded alleyway near the shinjuku station in tokyo. depending on the establishement, and the night – and you, for that matter – you might not be invited in. or you might be cajoled into sitting down before you have a chance to say no.

mccain-san v. obama-san

i will be watching the final presidential debate from a tokyo hotel room this morning (japan is 14 hours ahead of hempstead, n.y.) and then immediately rushing off to a lengthy dress rehearsal (the dresses and the rehearsal will be lengthy) for the 2008 disney on classic tour (eight singers in tuxes and evening gowns, the tokyo philharmonic, and an evening of classic disney music.)

for all of you still dealing with wednesday night, good news: thursday morning is stunning (at least in tokyo.) in fact, if you stick your head tight into the corner of my window, the view includes a sliver of majestic mount fuji. (couldn't get it in the photo though.)

dewa mata tokyo

the view from our window at the tokyo dome hotel this morning was somehow more colorful and vibrant and bittersweet than it has been over the last two months. it also included a stunning view of mt. fuji -- strong, quiet, and enormous -- bidding us farewell.

it was our last morning in tokyo. as i write this we are flying to okinawa for a couple of days off. on saturday we have two concerts. sunday it’s back to the u.s.

i think we were all a little more nervous than usual for last night’s performance at suntory hall. the crowd included not only important execs from disney, but several audience members wiping away tears. that surprised us (the tears, not the disney folk) and it’s easy to be flip about it, but people were clearly moved.

this morning, the weather forecast for okinawa was 68 and sunny, a welcome change from the blizzard we left in aomori on monday.

our time in japan is nearly over.

adding on

for the last eight weeks we've been performing with a fifty piece orchestra -- much of the tokyo philharmonic -- as we traveled from fukuoka to tottori to masuda to kobe to nagoya, singing "someday my prince will come", "a dream is a wish your heart makes", "once upon a dream", "belle", "be our guest" and more.

for tomorrow's performance at tokyo's suntory hall, the orchestra will grow to about eighty pieces. the rehearsal yesterday at tokyo opera city was at times overwhelming and awesome. (how exactly did i get here?)

my ueno has flea

who can beat a good japanese flea market by the light of kerosene lanterns?

i'd heard (or read) there was a flea market near tokyo's ueno park, but i wasn't quite sure how to find it. considering how big ueno park actually is, and how late a start i got today, i was surprised to round a corner and find these sellers still in their booths after dark.
lots and lots of great stuff. i refrained, however, from spending too much.

early fish

the alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. this morning. our friend kimberly irion has come to japan to visit us, so we decided to take her to the tsukiji fish market. it's one of the world's largest, handling over 2,000 tons of fish a day.

after being nearly run over by every possible vehicle just outside the market (it's kinda busy) we found our way inside and wandered the aisles checking out the fish, some if it so fresh it was still swimming. we did our best to stay out of the way of buyers and sellers, but often caught an abrupt "sumi masen!" from someone on a scooter. sushi breakfast at a nearby shop capped the morning. our day had just begun.

blinking red

out my window i see hundreds of blinking red lights. on the tops of tall skyscrapers. the tokyo skyline.

we've been here for a little over a month now. we stay for another month. i thought, seeing as though they are really the reason we're here, that it might be nice for you to meet blake and tobi. if you haven't already. rob and i toured with blake in "mamma mia". then he was our broker when we were looking for an apartment in new york.

several months ago, blake called and said "what are you and rob doing in november and december? wanna go to japan?"
i thought he was kidding.

he wasn't, and we're here. and we love it. i'm seriously having pangs of "i don't wanna go home". reverse homesickness. except that i miss reggie the dog. and friends. not missing new york so much right now.

tokyo again

this photo has already appeared on tony-clements.com, but i think it's beautiful. it's what rob and i found at the end of our hike of mount otake.

a beautiful summit, and someone's bright, clean blankets waving in the light breeze.

and serenity.