Time flies! My apologies for the late update - it's been almost 3 months this time! Quite a lot has happened, of which here I'll focus on a couple of highlights - I'll make it loosely chronological, too.

My weekly Japanese lessons are ongoing, and so far two of the classes have been replaced with excursions taken with a lot of the people who attend these lessons at the volunteer center. One was at a local disaster prevention and preparedness center: we were instructed on what to do in the event of an earthquake, and entered an earthquake simulator that shook a platform to the tune of a very strong earthquake. For the other we went to a place where they showcase what Edo-period farmlife might have been like, with things like reconstructed old farmhouses. On the day we visisted, hundreds of schoolchildren planted rice in the local rice fields - fun to see!

In mid-April I cooked food at one of the events at SOY-POY (the bar/community which has its home at my coworking space - also how I know most of my Japanese friends). The event was the fifth TSUYA-NII SESSION PARTY - Tsuya-nii is my friend who is also the bassist in our band (more on that later). This particular event was probably the most fun out of the ones I attended so far - two bands and several other artists performed, the atmosphere was great, and everyone liked the food I made! I prepared Cigköfte (a flavourful Turkish vegan meatball) and Hummus, which I served with freshly fried skillet bread.

Here's a little snapshot of that event (we can see Tsuya-nii performing with his previous band, Pocket):

Around that time with some friends I also took a day trip to Okutama. Okutama is a pictoresque mountain town not far from Tokyo, where we hung out next to a river, looking at waterfalls and having a little barbeque. Here's me proudly presenting a little tower built with rocks:

At the end of April was the deadline for us to submit our audition to perform at the FUJI ROCK festival in July. We barely made it, definitely with great thanks to Ben's tenacity and multi-medial skill. I think that given the constraints, we can be quite happy with what we were able to achieve!

This is us, by the way:

We're called AYASHI, and you may follow us on Instagram (where we'll post updates as they come). We haven't heard back yet regarding the auditions, but I think regardless of the outcome, we have some good momentum to build upon.

I've also started writing and recording some of my own music again, to the end of which I've bought an electric guitar as well:

I'll share the band's, as well as my own, music as soon as they're ready!

In the beginning of May, I completed a freelance contract for a Japanese startup. The company is called foriio, and they allow for the easy creation of portfolios for people in mostly creative professions.

On the weekend of my birthday in May, I went to 宴 (Utage) - a festival/camp organized by SOY-POY in the Yamanashi province close to Mt. Fuji. This was the second installment, and on Saturday there were around 60-70 people. I came a day early with around 20 of the core members/staff. We had a great time with lots of (live) music, a big campfire, barbeque and drinks (and I made bread and Hummus again). On both mornings we went to local Onsens (hot spring baths) - needless to say, I had a great birthday!

Here's what the stage looked like (before most people arrived) - in the background you can see the peak of Mt. Fuji through the clouds:

The week after, a friend from University (Edinburgh) visited Tokyo as part of a longer trip. On the weekend we took a trip (again to) Yamanashi, namely to Fuji-Kawaguchiko, a touristic town next to a beautiful lake, close to, and with a beautiful view of, Mt. Fuji. We stayed at a rustic AirBnb, the owner of which let us borrow some bikes:

On Friday there was a Typhoon in Japan, which led to some extremely heavy rain for some hours - here's a shot of some friends weathering the rain (as we walked towards the next place late at night). With the Japanese rainy season at our doorstep, this may be a common occurence soon: