Jazz at Nardis

Paul, TC, Larry and I crashed Nardis jazz bar near Kashiwa Station one night a few weeks ago and the guys had an impromtu jam session. Komine-san the proprietor, a talented musician himself, has been producing jazz festivals in Matsudo and Kashiwa cities for some time. That’s Komine-san at the piano. The guys noodled with [...]

Hiroshima Memorial in Kashiwa

On August 6th at 5am,　諏訪神社 Suwa Shrine in Kashiwa City will hold a memorial service for the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Here is a video of this peaceful place which can be found on the little hill right in front of Kashiwa City Hall.

柏祭り Kashiwa Matsuri

Kashiwa City held its 32nd annual festival July 25th and 26th. As always, taiko groups were spectacular. I especially liked Kashiwa Taiko, an all-women’s group that were as riveting to watch as they were to listen to.
Shawn and Asami were on the 走り込み hashirikomi team for Kashiwa Shrine, and they got to grunt, sweat and [...]

Salsa in Kashiwa

Since 2004, Jose, a Peruvian living and working in Kashiwa, has been hosting Salsa Kashiwa. What fun! Every Saturday night in April, from 7pm to midnight, at the Yumebutai Dance Studio you can salsa your socks off to Latin music. Don’t know how? Every party begins with a lesson. It was my first time out, [...]

Gyoza Goya vs. Animal Hamaguchi! Live on TV!

Last week, I dropped by Gyoza Goya in Kashiwa for a late dinner. You know what a gyoza is? It’s a dumpling, something like a perogy, filled with just about anything you want, and either boiled or pan fried.  Gyoza Goya has an eclectic (eccentric?!) menu, including chocolate banana gyoza, apple pie gyoza, and The [...]

Akebonoyama Farm Park

Can you guess where I shot this picture? The Netherlands? Nope, right here in Kashiwa City in April.  あけぼの山農業公園 Akebonoyama Farm Park near the Tone River levees has huge fields in which they grow seasonal flowers every year in front of the pond and the windmill. All October, you can see a vast fuzzy pink field [...]

Joban Art Line 2008

This year, once again, the Joban Art Line endeavours to raise the image of arts and culture in the area. Last year brought us painted objects in the front street, and even a shadow image project on the pavement itself. We saw Dairakudakan Dance Company of Tokyo perform in the station front street. This years’ [...]

Otomachi Kashiwa

The Kashiwa Jimoto Project is hosting a free concert this Sunday, October 5th, on the banks of the Oborigawa River. Some of the performers were at The Tone River Jam a few months ago.
Like the Tone Rive Jam, this concert is free and kicks off at midday and runs until 5pm. There is a free bus [...]

Kashiwa Fashion Recycle Project ‘08

At the Kashiwa Information Center (Vat Building, Kashiwa east exit), you’ll find these cute Ecopost-kun, recycling boxes for used clothing. Ecopost-kuns eat your used clothing (wash it before you feed him your old glad rags) and the fabric is reworked into new art through the Kashiwa Fashion Recycle Project. At the moment, the Post-kun boxes are only [...]

布施弁天堂 Fuse Benten Hall

In October, 布施弁財天　Fuse Benzaiten and the 東海寺 Tokaiji in Kashiwa City are celebrating the founding of the temple complex 1200 years ago. The gate is a rebuild, but supposedly the sutra repository in the east corner of the temple complex is original.
The temple claims that Kukai, the great Buddhist scholar-poet founded the temple in the year 807. The [...]