Wrapped Up.

We wake up somewhat late, and get moving a little behind schedule.

The gang moves without too much haste, seeing as how it's only eight in the morning, but we get on the road quick enough to give Mike, Kevin, and Shiho more time to practice when we get there.

Once we arrive at the elementary school temporarily serving as the tournament staging grounds, we pile out and get inside to check in.

Well, it just so happens that Mike is due to go on in about ten minutes. Doesn't that beat all?

So, without warming up, save for in the hallway waiting his turn to play, Mike wings it. And by golly, he rocks some mean shamisen.

Mike gets interviewed after his performance by the emcee, and she asks him if he knows any "Tsugaru Ben", which is a dialect of Japanese spoken up here in the north. Mike says "kepare" which is pretty much "go for it!" and something that people always say in reference to Tsugaru 

Shamisen.

I meet him after he walks off stage and inform him of how bad ass he is.  Mike denies any such thing out of modesty, of course, but I think he knows the truth.

Soon afterwards, Shiho is up on stage, and I would have missed her too, but Masahiro was paying more attention than I was.

She played super well. All the notes she hit were always with perfect intonation and her phrasing was spot on.

Kevin didn't have to go on for quite awhile; his number was a high one, and he could be found outside going over his tune. It was my job to warn him when he needed to get in line, so I would periodically check what numbers were waiting in line until finally it was time for him to queue up.

I wade out into the crowd and ready my camera as I have two timers already today. I should words of encouragement, and he begins to play.

I must admit, although less enthusiastic with western influence in his piece relative to the last few years, it was very solid.

As soon as Kevin is off stage and everyone tells him how great he did, we take the opportunity to get out there and feed ourselves.

We assemble a fat crew of homies from the tournament and roll down the street to the first place that catches Masahiro's eye.

The food was good, but what really caught my interest was the melon soda that came with it! Alright!

Once complete in the act of stuffing ourselves, we naturally headed back. We went to our van first to make sure everything was packed up for later when we headed out, and it was then that we were approached. Not by angel. nor by demon, but by stranger. A man heralding embarassing news; we missed the award ceremony. Not only that, but Kevin won! (unfortunately, only Kevin)

Slightly shameful that we weren't present for the awards, we rush back into the building. Some of the tournament staff recognize Kevin, congratulate him, and hand him his trophy which is has been placed off to the side. 

Normally this would be our cue to leave, but it feels necessary to stick around and apologize to the judges for our absence. So we wait.

About thirty minutes (and a nap for Mike and I) later, we are good to go.

As the Monster-Mobile rolls out of the parking lot, we rest easily with Kevin's victory upon our mantle.

Our next destination was a small fishing town called Noheji, where Kevin's grandmother owns a property that we are planning to stay for a couple days.

The drive ahead of us was a long one, but we kept our spirits high by singing and playing games.

The sun is still shining as we make our way through the town, and a good thing too, because the property is nowhere nearby. We stay along the 

coastal road for awhile, and eventually start cutting into the farming territory; a right here, a left there, and Kevin spots the place from a mile away.

The house is an A frame, which I have never been in before. The fact that it's Japanese becomes very obvious once you step inside. There three floors. The bottom is the living area and kitchen. The 2nd floor is two bedrooms plus a bathroom, and then the very top is a high class attic.

Before we get settled in, we head back into town for some groceries (Masahiro is planning a BBQ the next night) and to settle our stomachs.

Along the journey we also decide to hit the onsen afterward.

The rest of the night was rounded out with lounging and  improvisation (including hop hop free-styling) with piano and Shamisen.