Grand⁑Voyage③: Happy new you
Allow us to get ready for the new world.
HNY! May the year 2025 spoils you and your loved ones, and witness the rise of your stronger self.
Since our last post, we have already celebrated 4 months spent in Japan !!! After enjoying a well-deserved and salutary break for the end of 2024, we got strongly back on our feet ready to eat the world, swallowing it with our candy-coated rock music. The last weeks has been all whirlwind and heat, but we held on and stayed still in the storm of deadlines. What seemed once far from our eyesights is now approaching at full-speed, ready to take-off.
Alors, on y va ?
After a few months of daily routine switching between jobs, crowded train stations and a decaying sleep schedule, we thought about spending some time outside the city. Also, as you know, christmas holidays just popped out in no time, and being away from our families, we dreamed about celebrating together and warm our hearts around a kotatsu1 table somewhere nice in the countryside.
Through the many destination possibilities, we quickly settled on an obvious one as we felt the urge to face something greater, bigger, a god-like figure quick to soothe ourselves, the one and only… Fuji-san! To reach closer we went to Fujinomiya, a middle-sized city located on the west side of the volcano, but also home town of the beloved music project 3776(pronounced MiNaNaRo), which just released an amazing new album (see our latest post).
Inherited from western culture, and scraped from its initial religious meaning2, what’s left of christmas as we know it is lights, decorated trees, fried chicken, 8-bit cover of Mariah Carey in supermarket and the unfathomable gift of love. And by love, we mean “LOVE”, as the christmas night is associated with spending a romantic time with your special one. Whoever has already watched some slice of life anime knows that very well, the christmas episodes usually being a turning point in the protagonists romantic relationship.
After a few hours drive - and new white hairs for Margot as she drove a right wheel car/road for the first time - we finally arrived in Fujinomiya. There, we found out with surprise that our stay comes with a pair of free-to-use bikes, on which we jumped as soon as our bags were thrown in a corner. We ran down the small roads along the Urui river, with a big appetite to discover the city and get some chopsticks on a nice, big plate of yakisoba and Oden. From sunrise to sunset we ride across padding fields, went up and down narrows streets, enjoyed the city center as well as dense peripheral areas filled with isolated pachinko buildings, book offs and restaurants chains. Sure, the weather was cold and all, but we enjoyed pure and simple happy moments there, cycling and staring always at beautiful Fuji-san, staying still on the horizon, like to remind us why we came here in the first place.
Being overlooked by Fuji-san for 4 days in a row was a humbling experience. With its old-fashioned shopping streets, faded storefront and teeming rivers, the town exudes a peaceful and soothing atmosphere. But soon, it was time to get back to Tokyo as New Year was coming closer. One of the most important time of the year in Japan, New Year Eve is a family gathering celebration, on which people share refined Osechi3 and other meaningfull dishes, go together to the shrine at midnight, pray for the year to come and get their omikuji4 predictions.
After a quick investigation on nye parties, we went for Clubasia in Shibuya where the Trekkie Trax crew was going to ring the bell of 2025 with their exciting club music. Many acts were playing that night, such as Pa’s Lam System, Pasocon Music Club, Foodman or even a strange fellow in suit and slicked back hair turning out to be the Buddhahouse… Our time there was joyous and benevolent, spending the night dancing, jumping from room to room in the crowded spaces of the venue. And after one last drink and a quick glance to the bar DJ still going strong, we were ready to go.
Taking the first train in the morning, we grabbed a well-deserved coffee and hopped on the station rooftop to catch the first sunrise of 2025. Thinking we would be the only ones here, we discovered that families and individuals were already gathering silently, waiting for the sun to show. As beautiful as that suspended moment was, it was taking its time to get there and the cold was slowly sinking into our bones and to the tips of our fingers. Finally appearing at the top of a distant building, it was burning red and warm. Everyone took a few pics for their family, with their hands covering their eyes from the vibrant light of the day, before heading down to the stairs with a smile. Someone stopped on the steps and pointed at mount Fuji, showing itself on the bright, clear horizon, getting the whole small crowd to “wow” in unison. Our brain was still filled with blinding sun rays and the cold breeze air of January morning when we fall asleep, trying to read what Fuji-san appearence presages for 2025.
Since then, we focused on the band new releases pretty much all the time. The result of all that hard work will soon materialize in front of your very eyes, celebrating Tapeworms new self ! As we are about to enter the first days of February, the announcement of our new single is now public news. Everything is finally happening and we can’t wait for all of you to discover it. In the meantime, stay cool !
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We are witnessing a growing fascist propaganda across all social places, spreading more and more in the last few weeks. Palestinians and other colonized people don’t have any rights to even be considered slightly humans and are still being killed although a so-called ceasefire was decided. Queer and LGBTQIA+ people are deemed mentally ill… We want you all to know that the worms will support you forever, providing you a beacon of funky pop music & fun, while treating you as proper complex individual human beings. The oppression is getting stronger because they are afraid their time might come to an end. So never let go and keep up the fight because we are the important ones, and our time is coming.
A traditional heated table with a blanket to retain heat.
Christian’s represents only 1,1% of the religious population, while 48,6% are shintoists and 46,4% are buddhists. It is commonly said in Japan that “you born shintoist, married catholic and die buddhist”.
Traditional new year food, served in divided wooden boxes. Each dish has a symbolic signification for the year to come.
Strip of paper sacred lot you get at the shrines and temples telling your fortune.