Hiratsuka in the snow and the first live house...
January 17, 2004

Eleanor: We arrived early enough to allow for some exploration even before we began looking for L-Words. We hung around a small shopping bazaar type thingy. It was warmer inside the buildings so we did most of our exploring inside. There were some interesting clothing shops, and a very cute ice-cream parlor.
If it hadn't been so cold, and the ice-cream had been a little cheaper, we would have considered trying some of the intricate ice-cream sundaes.  

After arriving in Hiratsuka, we set out trying to find the live house, L-Words, so we could get there in time for the concert to start. It's a good thing we allowed the time for getting lost, because it took us a couple hours to find the place. We followed the map, but all we could find at the location was a small warehouse building and an Italian restaurant called "DoReMi".  Maybe we were in the wrong place? We backtracked and asked directions several times and always ended up in the same place. After one gentleman was nice enough to walk there with us, and we still ended up in the same place, we went inside the restaurant to get warm a moment. While there, we asked the restaurant's Master if he knew where L-Words was. He said it was right next door, so we looked again. There on the mail slot of the small warehouse building written in half-inch letters was a sticker marked "L-Words". We'd passed it every time...

It was in interesting shock when we saw the small sticker label.

So, satisfied that we'd found the place, and very cold, we went back to the restaurant and ordered a pizza.  It was delicious! 

The pizza was good, though I'd never had a pizza with such interesting ingredients before... 

After we'd eaten and warmed up a bit, we still has three hours before the concert, so we went back to the shopping area near the eki (train station) and browsed around a bit. Eleanor, of course, was immediately drawn into the book stores. She found a manga she wanted and went to the counter to buy it. That's when I learned that she had forgotten to exchange her money. All she had were American dollars! It was after 3pm when all the banks close, so I had to loan her a bit until she could change hers. Then we headed back to L-Words...

I didn't think about it, and she never brought it up.

Eleanor and DoReMi's master

Japanese pizza

Japanese pizza is totally different from what most American's think of as pizza. Starting with the crust- the crust is flaky, more like a pie crust than the bread crusts we are accustomed to. There is no "small, medium, large" there. All the pizza's are about dinner plate size, perfect for two moderate eaters. They have cheese, what looks likes a cheddar/mozzarella blend, but I didn't see much pepperoni. Common toppings included peppers, onions, mushrooms, corn, potatoes and fish. It may sound a bit odd, but it was really very delicious! We ordered pizza three times during the trip and loved it every time. ^-^

left to right
TAN-san, Eleanor, Hatto-san, and SWAMPS' panda

SWAMPS' panda was introduced to Eleanor's PanTan during the performance. Cute!

SWAMPS' official home page (Japanese and English)
TAN's official home page (Japanese only)
L-Words home page (Japanese only) ^Update

Actually there were two big signs. One on the window, one above the door. I couldn't believe that it was the same place we had kept walking past. It looked so different! 

I was surprised at how small it was. The building was divided into two rooms, fore and aft, that were barely larger than my living room and dining room. The fore room had a coffee table and two couches, a refrigerator, and various band paraphernalia strewn about the room and the walls. The larger aft room had an area for the performers, three couches, and a small bathroom in the back.  

There were drawings and various pictures pinned all over the walls. Among them was a wooden sign that spelt out the meaning of the name 'L-Words.'

Love Life Live   L-Words. 

The whole place had a very comfortable bohemian look that gave a "private concert" sort of feel. That feeling was accentuated by the fact that the falling snow deterred some people from coming. However, the dozen or so of us that were there had a lot of fun! ^-^

We talked to the performers (TAN and Hatto-san) while we were waiting for the concert time to roll around. They asked if we wanted anything to drink, and listed them. One of the ones they listed was Na-chan Orange. I was amused by this and decided to give it a whirl. The can was so cute! It had a smiley face on it, looking too cute to drink. ( I drank it anyway...)
After I had started drinking it, everyone else seemed to be drinking it as well, so I claimed it to be the drink of the day.
The 'Na-chan Special!' 

The actual 'concert' area was very comfortable. They had some long couch thingies that were very cushy. The area was cramped though... Both TAN and Hatto-san kept commenting on how close all the people were. Mom and I were sitting only like, 20 inches away from the area where they played. 

TAN-san was first. He sang several songs, a couple of which I had heard on his website, but my favorite was "My Car". It was a cute song about his car, named Patricia?!? (heehee) We did get to see a pic of his car later, but I forgot to ask him if it was really named Patricia.

TAN had a very soft and soothing voice. It was very calming and nice to listen to after all the walking we had done that day. 

Next was Hatto-san. I had already known a lot more about Hatto-san and his band, SWAMPS, and his solo performance did not disappoint. During the first song, he stopped suddenly and the audience shouted something I couldn't understand. Hatto-san explained that it was some kind of Japanese snack food, but I'm still not sure what the word was. Afterwards he sang several other songs, including my personal favorite, "rakugaki" (scribblings).

I think they shouted Bumeidou. 
Unless I heard wrong... I'm not sure if I spelled it right either...

Hatto-san's voice had a lot more impact. And stood out a lot more.
While he was singing, it didn't take long for the other people in the room to start singing and bobbing along.

After Hatto-san finished, TAN-san came back in and they did a joint performance. They really sounded good together. One song they did was a song made popular by the band, SMAP. I heard the SMAP version, but TAN-san and Hatto-san's version was better. ^-^

I'd been holding the SWAMPS Panda through most of the concert and making it dance on my lap, or sway with PanTan.
(PanTan = My Panda Backpack)

I think we heard the SMAP version while we were eating at McDonalds, though I don't remember very well... 
Either way, as my Mom says, TAN and Hatto-san were  better than the original version.

It was cold outside, but the performance and the people were very warm. It was worth the search!
peace

It definitely left some unforgettable memories. 
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.