Good morning, akachan!

[imomus]

Kahimi Karie -- musician, singer, blogger, essayist for Mayonaka (she has a text in the current issue), star... and now mother! At the end of last week Kahimi (who earlier this year married tap-dancer Kazunori Kumagai) gave birth to a baby daughter.



On our way to eat with friends (a big group of Malaysians and Japanese, plus one Malaysian-Japanese baby) at an Okinawan restaurant in Osaka last night, we saw copies of the new Crea magazine, hot off the presses, and featuring these photos of Kahimi pregnant. The pictures (by Mika Ninagawa) join images of Nobuko Hori and Isshiki Sae as compelling visions of Japanese fertility at a time when the nation's birth rate is sputtering. They're also deeply beautiful.

Later, when we all got a bit merry at the Okinawan restaurant and started singing karaoke, it seemed completely appropriate for me to pick this hit song I wrote for Kahimi in 1995. Good morning, akachan!

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Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Your best journal ever.

[(Anonymous)]

I’m trying to listen only to Japanese music as part of my effort in learning the language. Does Karie have an album in Japanese for me to try?

[niemandsrose.livejournal.com]

You karaoke-ing your own song is super-cute!

very keene on this

[(Anonymous)]

looks like a jolly good show indeed, old chap. you've got a donald keene/donald richie thing going on that's very hip, i must say...

seriously, more of these uber-whimsical entries as time goes on there...

Re: very keene on this

[(Anonymous)]

Oh come on! The two Donalds spoke the language, and had more than a superficial immersion in the culture.

Momus' perception of Japan seems to be skewed by the fact that his mates are all successful creatives or else trust-fund kids; I mean, how many Japanese does he know who've been hospitalised through overwork, for example? I can count four among my Tokyo friends just off the top of my head, unfortunately.

That's a side of this country subject to wholesale sweeping-under-the-carpet on this blog, unfortunately.

Re: very keene on this

[imomus.livejournal.com]

The fundamental premise of this blog is that you get to the essence of a culture via its talents, not its problems. Ability, as Joseph Beuys put it, is the true human capital. Now, of course there's a place for examinations of the stumbling blocks a culture faces on the way to its achievements. But I think the Dogs and Demons approach -- examinations of Japan through its problems -- does not get to the heart of Japan's amazing achievements, and its massive success. Problems are distractions from the essence of something, someone, or some place, not a key to understanding it.

Re: very keene on this

[(Anonymous)]

i'll grant you the point about the language...but I disagree about the superficial one...

Momus has proved over the years, that he knows plenty more than most about the culture of Japan...people may not always agree (um, me), but he's no dilettante about the place...

And while I'm with you about the unhealthy aspects of the work-a-day lifestyle (I've got friends who give me the unromantic side of things there, but like he said, it's his fucking blog for god's sake...let he write about what he wants...

glad to see you landed safely

[(Anonymous)]

...and dove straight into what looks like five giant beers.

Sx

Ohayo Gozaimasu

[pay-option07.livejournal.com]

Try as a guest interviewer on episodes of "Tokyo EYE" or some other venue for trends in music. Could be a few laughs!

[(Anonymous)]

It's very important not to do anything foolish which you might regret, or which might bring you shame, especially in a bar scenario.

Out of curiosity...

[(Anonymous)]

What did you eat at the Okinawan restaurant? Tell me it was てびち！

[eptified.livejournal.com]

That's your own voice singing backup on that track, isn't it? Surreal karaoke time loop w/ handclaps

[milky-eyes.livejournal.com]

I like the photos.
Really beautiful

[(Anonymous)]

You look very beautiful, healthy and fresh there.

[(Anonymous)]

Although you do seem to be going bald at the back of your head.

[(Anonymous)]

That "although" suggests both statements are at odds with each other, which I cannot agree on. It looks cute, actually.

[outdoorminerbob.livejournal.com]

there's a new (new to me anyway) ethnic instrument store in kyoto. it was a lot of fun. lots of weird cheap things. it was right by all the nice recycle clothing stores too.

http://www.koizumigakki.com/

[dlgladwin.livejournal.com]

So, Nick. You've started finding pregnant women deeply beautiful...is this an early sign of change?

Or is it too soon to be asking you things like this?