Japanese Musicians

There are many GREAT Japanese musicians, who usually do not manage to cross the borders and be successful outside Japan.
It is sometimes puzzling and mostly frustrating to see that.

Sebu Hiroko (Last name, First Name) is such an artist. Received some of her musical education in Paris and can speak French, English and obviously Japanese.

She is good. Sometimes Jazzy, sometimes pop and Alternative.

“Too far” is the first release from her second Album LG/B

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tokyo condo sales plunge to 24-year low

Japan times article discusses Tokyo Condo Sales   , and my only reaction is “Duh”.

What can one expect when there the population is declining?
I keep seeing new Condos and houses built around my station and I don’t understand who buys them.  Most probably people are getting closer to Tokyo, thus leaving empty houses behinds.

I heard from friends they expect prices to go up until Tokyo olympics, but it does not make sense economically. Population decline means prices down. Foreign buyers? a few and not enough.

I do not invest in real estate in Japan. Do not understand it enough and I really believe prices will continue to go down.

 

Professor Ohsumi on being competitive

From the NYTimes article on the Nobel Prize Winner

“I am not very competitive, so I always look for a new subject to study, even if it is not so popular. If you start from some sort of basic, new observation, you will have plenty to work on.”

An interesting statement from a Nobel prize winner. One has more chances getting published if researching a popular field, but he chose a new subject.

I often think about Start-up ideas, improvement or adaption of current ideas or a new field. The ideal is to invent a new field, a new concept. The challenge, the reward, the glory are bigger, but getting there is more difficult (and may fail).

And another observation:

“Unfortunately, these days, at least in Japan, young scientists want to get a stable job, so they are afraid to take risks,”

Not only in the Academy, but also at work.

We need more risk takers.

Uman and estrangement

On Saturday I flew from Israel back to Japan.

While I assumed the Airport will not be busy on Saturday, I was surprised to find large groups flying to Uman, Ukraine. Overloading the security lines and my patience.

All the people who traveled to Uman to celebrate the Jewish New Year are male, of some religious status. From Ultra-Orthodox, to light version.

It was a cultural experience to listen to their phone conversations, to see their behaviour, to smell some of them.
As I was watching them I have realised that although we are both Jewish, I feel very little connection with them. If we start a conversation, I doubt if we will have anything to talk about. Literature, movies- No. Culture, Japan – No.

It felt strange to feel like a stranger in my own country, but actually this feeling grows each and every-time I visit Israel.

Shimon Peres

While watching the Funeral live on TV, wanted to share one quote which was also used in  The Economist’s Obituary 

“There are two things in life that if you really want to achieve, you have to close your eyes a bit, and that is peace and love. With eyes wide open, I’m not sure anybody would fall in love, and I’m not sure anybody would make peace. But when you compare what is better, living in peace and living in love, even if it’s not perfect, is by far the right choice.”  – Shimon Peres 

Starve the Ego, Feed the Soul

Watched on Netflix a documentary about Steve Aoki.

Besides not being a very exciting documentary, it was quite annoying to hear the American pronunciation of “Aoki”.

But what definitely caught my attention was a DJ AM Quote: “Starve the Ego, Feed the Soul”.

Definitely a quote I can relate to (But can I practice?)

New leather project – Long Wallet

While my skills improve, I am a bit frustrated as I do not have all the tools and materials to create a better product.

I am using the wrong sewing material, wrong spacing.
It looks ok, but! I know it can be better.

Maybe in several years I will collect enough tools or I will give up this hobby. Who knows?

 

Leather

Israeli Yad2 is blocking foreign IPs

Was quite surprised to see that Yad2 is blocking IPs outside Israel.

According to the message (in Hebrew), the decision was made due to Cyber attacks.

Now, this is a definitely a reasonable decision for a websites which serves only Israelis in Hebrew, but it also means that people who travel cannot use the website.

 

Yad2