Belle and Sebastian

On Thursday we slept in (making the most of the double bed, sprawling like starfish) and refuelled on coffee and warm chocolate croissants in the middle of Kobe before heading off to Osaka. I like Kobe, I'd love to spend more time there. We got to Osaka and carefully began planning our route back through the city for after the gig, then headed off for the Human Rights museum. I'd hoped this would give a bit more insight into why Japan is the way it is (with women occupying a very low position, and relations with China and South Korea still poor after failing to apologise for wartime misbehaviour) but this museum was designed for the hard of thinking. Maybe the extra material that hadn't been translated into English would've explained things. Maybe it was just the annoying audioguide. What I do know for certain is that if I hear the phrase "The [insert oppressed minority group here] have endured many hardships. Let's think about the [insert oppressed minority here]" one more time, I will scream just to break the tedium.
We went to check out where the gig was and how close it was to the station since we were a tad worried about making the last train back to Nagoya. We found an ace cafe and sat around drinking coffee and beer and arguing about books for a while, then wandered off to find a bank. UFJ, my bank (they have an English option on their ATMs), the biggest bank in Japan, has clearly had some kind of fight with the people of Osaka. It took forever to find one and we definitely needed a beer after the hike. We sat on the edge of the river and watched birds diving into the murky water. A woman went past with a daschund in a pink dress. I think that no matter how long I live here, I won't get used to dogs as surrogate children. Though given the shade of pink the dog was wearing and its humiliated expression, maybe it's for the best that it won't grow up to be an adult human with severe psychological issues.
At six we trotted up to the doors to get in first, but we hadn't accounted for Japanese beaurocracy. The tickets are numbered, therefore the audience will be admitted in order of ticket number. We were 622 and 623 and slunk off to a corner to mutter with an Australian couple who had also been caught out. It was so not rock and roll. Eventually wev got in. Namba Hatch is a great venue for bands (should you ever find yourself in Osaka) because it has a very wide stage and isn't too big. It's easy to maneuver youself into a spot where you can get a great view. Plus, Japanese crowds are short and incredibly well behaved. No crowd surfing, no-one throwing bottles, and very little heckling apart from a gaggle of Auzzies who yelled incoherently. They asked for requests for an encore and I jumped up and down like a mad thing thing until Stuart Murdoch took pity on me, but decided Wrapped Up In Books was too hard. It's weird how Belle and Sebastian have grown on me. Last year they were that band who Lisa, Iain and Bob are obsessed with, and they wrote that one from Teachers, but after getting a couple of their albums and seeing them live, I'm tempted to say they're my favourite band. I bought the t-shirt and everything.
After the gig, a mad rush back to Shin-Osaka station (three trains away) on the other side of town. We made it just in time for the last Shinkansen back to Nagoya. After a sleepy journey back we went to Sarah's leaving party and had a quick goodbye beer before heading home.