It has been a month. I did a show in Los Angeles on March 7, and the entire time, all I could do then was pray for my friends and family in Japan while performing; I did not think that we would get hit here. A week later, our city was getting shut down. At first I was mad, I was not happy about the orders, but I do believe now that people have been doing what they could do for all to stay well. Yesterday, it became official that one could get fined $1000 from not having a mask on while going out, simply to help stop the spreading of the global pandemic. What could be next?
It was 9am here, and it was 1am there in Japan when I got off the phone with a friend of mine this morning. We talked about music, we talked about life, now, then, and the future. He grew up in Japan going to many ‘Livehouse’ venues to watch and support his father performing. Traditionally, and for the most part, Japanese people are quiet; we do not hug, we do not kiss, and we do not shake hands. For him, as a young man growing up in Japan, seeing the musicians and listeners engaging in these gestures at these venues was something that made him smile; for him, it became a normal thing to look forward to. He is hoping that these gestures would remain worldwide; I think these gestures are one of the reasons we were so fascinated with countries and cultures overseas as we were growing up; gestures to show someone that you care through one's physical touch. In Japan, keeping one's distance, and admiring someone from that distance has been the natural way for centuries perhaps or more. But please do understand, we know you are there, very well. Perhaps we were influenced by the Chinese thousands of years ago. According to my friend from China, she says that the Chinese have always thought about each person as a universe. In order not to disrupt the energy flow, it has become their way not to touch regularly; when they do, very powerful, as the two universes join. This reminded me that in Japan we believe that everything has a god; we believe that there is a god for our desks, for our cars, and even for the bathrooms. For whatever reason, this took me back to music to think of the Japanese music audiences; after one of my performances a while back, the owner of the venue was clarifying for me, "the audience at our space does not reveal their emotions at the show... they go home and cry remembering that it was an event worth crying for."
Today would have been the day of my performance in Osaka with some of my brothers and sisters there as well as enjoying the seasonal cherry blossoms. I am hearing that here in Los Angeles, the virus is going to be peaking possibly tomorrow Sunday when the bunny is hopping into town; hoping that the bunny would help calm down the corona. I do have a three movement suite about a bunny from another galaxy with a tail of an apple, but that is a song and story for another time.
Japan has been on my mind. While exchanging conversations with friends and family here in the US, and getting the word out that I just released my new audio track Lovetap, I’ve been calling and writing to my friends and family in Japan to get a sense of what has been going on there. They have been telling me that for the most part people are still pretty much living the same way, which has been shocking as well as the reason for me to worry... people are working out at gyms, people are eating in restaurants, some are getting ready for medical operations, kids are playing in the playgrounds, people are visiting natural monuments, doing grocery shopping as we usually have been doing with no waiting lines outside, going on a vacation to Okinawa because their work place told them not to come in, and further more, a few weeks ago over 6000 people all over from Japan came to gather in a stadium to watch the K-1 fighting matches live; I was seriously freaking out at that point. However as of today April 11, the amount of deaths so far is under 200 from Covid-19 in Japan.
The new virus has been in Japan for over two months, yet there is not much panicking going on it could seem; a friend was reminding me, that they could be scared to death quietly from watching the rest of the world, so the truth seem to be that people are being much more way alert than ever. On a side note, the word ‘Ninja’ refers to Japanese assassins who accomplish their missions quietly. I did not think about the following until after a long conversation with the same friend who was giving me the reminder about Japanese people, but there may be a chance that one of the reasons the virus is not killing as many in Japan is due to the natural habits and cultural customs we have been developing throughout the ages. Maybe something happened in the Japanese history for us to become this way.
When we arrive home, we take off our shoes at the door, and go wash our hands and mouth first. Habitually in public settings, a good majority of the people have masks on perhaps throughout the entire year to help prevent giving any germs they may carry to others; the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) seems to believe that masks also help the person from accidentally getting the virus into one's mouth and noise by unaware actions made to touch one's face, essentially preventing one from getting sick. Another tendency that the Japanese have is to keep the common things that we use and share clean for the next person who comes along to use it. The food culture and warm tea drinking custom in Japan seems to be another great line of defense.
I am hoping the best for all of us here in the US, the world, and Japan; in terms of peaking, I believe Japan is a few weeks behind where we are now, but currently the news seem to continue to change every day all over the globe. Thinking about Japan, I have been reading further. In 2019, about 3000 people died from the flu in Japan which was a lot compared to previous years for the country; seemed to have become seasonal since 2012 in Japan while there are about 60000 people who die from the flu in the US annually. With the corona virus, some say we could lose more than 100000 in the US alone by the end of 2020, and we are not completely sure if this would become seasonal or not.
I hear in New York City that people are hearing ambulances consistently outside their home windows; however it seems the social distancing, putting on masks, and washing hands as well as other techniques are helping to slow down the spread. It is better to be hopeful. I am staying healthy, and as for where I live in Los Angeles, it feels like we are waiting and preparing for a fresh bright world to come. It has been continuing to rain here, but I have been walking and running in my neighborhood every day. I damaged my wrist from working on one arm pull ups about five months ago, and for me this healing process has become a guide to realize that healing time could take a while especially at a larger scale of things. Some say some times, things need to get broken to be realize of the preciousness. I can be patient, and although I am continuing to practice my music and guitar daily, I can comfortably say, my wrist is getting better. I hope it heals completely and becomes better, I want to believe that it is possible.
Where are we going? It might be too soon to tell at this point. Nevertheless I am making plans based on actual things I can do for the next three months; hoping that ultimately by that time we would have already arrived at a better place for us where we could travel safely.
It feels like we are having a chance to view different countries and cultures all at the same time. We can learn from each other and discover. I think this is a precious time for our own selves. I was chatting about this with a neighbor; and then I told him that I still find myself with lazy moments. In a quick friendly reply he simply said that is a good thing. We both smiled. It is indeed a time for the very things that matter right now.
This morning I heard from a friend in the Pacific Northwest, "Keep clean, keep safe. I've been going out in nature but staying well away from others. I'm hoping for the best for you and everyone you care about, also the world. Let's get through this and come out better."
Please stay well.
photos by Joe Guadagnoli