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Odd Encounters of the Japan Kind

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:27 pm
by heartofdavid
Have you ever met someone or experienced something that turned out to have an unexpected Japan connection?

I had one yesterday. I went to the local used cd shop and bought a few things. Stepping outside, I decided to sit on a bench and have a smoke while I waited for the person I was with to come out of another shop. I'd been there a short time when I noticed a young man (I'm guessing he was in his late 20s) walking towards me and looking at me. I assumed he was going to bum a cigarette. He sat next to me and said hello, and started talking. I could tell he was mentally handicapped in some way by the way he spoke - sort of child-like - but he seemed harmless enough, nicely dressed, etc.

He told me he was new to the area and wanted to shake my hand. I refused, not being mean, told him that my hands were a bit dirty after digging through stacks of old cds. He said he liked music, especially classical, and did I like it. I said, "Some, I don't know that much about classical music." He asked me what artists I liked (pointing to my bag containing the cds) and I told him my favorite band is Japan. He smiled and said he thought they were great, he liked David Sylvian, and what other new wave bands did I like? This surprised me, that he knew who Japan and David were. We chatted for a few more minutes and then my friend appeared so we said goodbye.

A little odd but sort of nice, thought I'd share my tiny 'adventure', lol.

!

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:13 am
by Sylvian's Beard
No never. I wish things like that happened to me though. I am always up for discussing music. Most can't hang, cause I'll bore them to death!

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:19 am
by VaporTrail
Haven't had any encounters like that, but when I first was getting into Japan/Sylvian, I loved looking back at all the collaborations the various members had done and seeing them work with some of my favorite artists and musicians, and realizing that they were right under my nose for so long yet I hadn't heard any of their stuff.

Well, not entirely true, about a year and a half ago I picked up a copy of The Tooth Mother that was sitting all by it's lonely self in the record shop, and I remember looking at the Mick Karn label and thinking "that name sounds familiar..." Then I looked at the back and saw that Richard, Steven Wilson, and Gavin Harrison all played on it and so I HAD to get that! :-D.

Then when I started getting into Japan I realized who Mick was. d'oh! :oops:

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:27 pm
by Cheery Cherry
Nope, I have never had anything that even come close to that. I have never met another Japan/Sylvian fan in person.

That's awesome though!

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:14 pm
by heartofdavid
It was a nice surprise. Usually if I mention to someone that I like Japan and Sylvian, I get a blank look in return.

Seems that David has a similar problem, in a way. Back in Sept. 2003 I heard an interview David did on talksport (I think that's a UK radio show?). He was talking about how in his personal life, he'll be talking with people and the subject of jobs/careers comes up. He used to say he was a mucisian, and then he'd watch people struggle trying to place his name in a musical context. He then laughed and said that now he lies and tells people he's in publishing, lol. Which isn't really a lie, but it makes things easier.

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 4:10 pm
by japanfan
I met a fellow Japan fan when in a mercedes dealership, he was very knowledgable on Japan and Sylvian solo. We got talking when he said to me "your hairstyle and colour is identical to my favourite singer David Sylvian im having flashbacks to my younger days". He said he was in a new romantic band playing bass and indulged in the flamboyant dress and make up.