It's time to let the
neko out of the bag. I am a fan Japanese culture. I love Japanese food, Japanese anime and manga, Japanese cars, Japanese women—well, you get the picture. One of the many products of "The Land of the Rising Sun" that I enjoy is their music, mostly J-Pop and themes from anime series. From naturally peaceful to notoriously peppy, there is something about this genre that puts me on a natural high. Being a deejay for Fig Media has created a passageway for me to share my collection and knowledge with others. It has been a dream of mine to play anime and J-pop for the public, and to get people dancing to the music that I enjoy. When I was chosen to handle the wedding for Lisa Ogawa and Satoru Iwasaki, I knew that God was going to put my geekness to good use.
I enjoyed Lisa and Satoru from the start. Each of them had their own special qualities and they appeared to compliment each other well. Lisa has a more outgoing, open personality; Satoru is a reserved, quiet, and very relaxed person. There was a well-concealed nervousness from them both, but I could tell that they were excited and I did my best to keep them coo I believe we had a symbiosis in our business relationship, as I felt very comfortable around them. Even when I laid a few Japanese words here and there in our conversations, they were met with respect and an exchange of bows and proper responses (not to mention a few pleasant giggles). When it came to music, Lisa wanted mostly hip-hop and modern stuff, which I could totally handle. When I asked Lisa if she wanted any popular Japanese music and she answered me with, "Are you familiar with Koda Kumi?", that is when I knew this was going to be one fun pairing.
My partner Brian and I provided the backbeat for the entire night, starting with the ceremony. Right off the bat, I played songs from the soundtrack to the Miyazaki film,
Howl's Moving Castle. If there was anything I knew about Asian culture, it was that classical music was always appreciated. The lightness of these scores set the mood well. Judge Laurie, the priest, agreed to that as well. Progressing into dinner, I then turned to the multi-faceted composer Yoko Kanno and chose various jazzy pieces from the
Cowboy Bebop songbook. The fun thing about playing unfamiliar music is that people enjoy it, regardless of whether or not they know who it is.
Twenty minutes after dinner began is when the Grand Salon was treated to an partially unexpected surprise (partially, because Lisa and Satoru already knew about the act). Imagine this if you will: Four members of the wedding party—best man Hitoshi, groomsman Yoshi, and two other gentlemen—were clad in authentic Japanese school uniforms. (They consist of long coats with priest-like collars and long, wide-leg pants. Very chic in a juvenile delinquent sort of way.) The boys went into a fully-choreographed, three-song set of Japanese tunes. Quite frankly, they could not have made me happier. My enjoyment was ensured for the fact that I was familiar with such performances, and because the guys really got into their act. For me, it was as if I was watching some sort of Japanese variety show I had seen before, minus the zany light fixtures and commercials for tofu. Whatever they were singing, it sure lit up the entire room. Little did I know that this group would breathe life back into the room again.
It was darn near 10pm. To be truthful, I was not sure when dancing was going to begin, or for how long it was going to be, due to the number of speeches and activities—including the rearranged bouquet and garter toss—that had gone on before. The schedule had been pushed back multiple times, but thankfully, everyone seemed to go with the flow. Aside from jamming with us, the guests had a number of choices for what they wanted to do: eat dessert, chat, take pictures and recordings, or, I say with a clean, yet heavy heart, smoke. One adjective that could describe the beginning of dancing would be: "lethargic." Brian and I started off with some Frank Sinatra; no response. We then moved into Stevie Wonder; some random Japanese guy jokingly shook his fist at me. Jackson 5's "ABC" got a few people moving to the floor. It appeared that we were playing some great cuts and getting noticed, but no one wanted to take their appreciation further. Suddenly, Yoshi, still dressed in his Japanese school costume, came up to me and asked me to throw on the second track from their post-dinner performance. The "bad-boy boy band" did an encore of the aforementioned track, and,
ya're ya're (Japanese for "Oh my goodness!")! The whole dance floor was packed with people synchronizing to the choreography and music. Right after that, I went into one of my favorite genres, J-Pop. I played L'arc~En~Ciel's "Ready, Steady, Go!" (opening theme from
Fullmetal Alchemist), the opening theme from the anime series
Cutey Honey (Koda Kumi), and Flow's "Days," the opening theme from
Eureka 7. The joy in playing these tunes was not just hearing or playing them, but actually witnessing people dancing to them. Can someone say "reality in motion?" Afterwards, Brian and I spun everything from "Stayin' Alive" to "Jump Around." And jump around we did. I felt totally connected to the crowd, as they moved and danced and jumped with us. Even that guy who playfully shook his fist at me earlier was smiling and having a very good time. After we plum-tuckered out the guests, we then invited people back to the floor for Lisa and Satoru's final dance, which was a slow, beautiful Japanese song. We all applauded each other, and I exchanged a huge
arigatou gozaimasu (thank you) with the crowd. Such closure never felt so satisfying.
This night was a combination of sorts. Primarily, this was a delicious taste of Japanese culture. It's not everyday that a deejay walks into a venue and sees the people, hears the native language and experiences other related things of a single ethnic society. It's also more indulgent when one is actually knowledgeable of the surrounding culture, and can communicate in various ways. I honestly thought that playing Japanese music and catering to a Japanese crowd was an absolute rarity and right near impossible. From the moment that Lisa's and Satoru's name were announced, that was positive proof that anything is possible. As a deejay and an artist, this is the high point of my ever-blooming career. I could not have asked for a more gracious or appreciative couple than Lisa and Satoru. If I was ever asked to do this again, my answer would be simple:
Hai! (Yes!)
– Brent Rolland, deejay
