Week 18: Music Week Vol. 3

July 26th, 2026

School is almost over! This week I had two final exams, and presented my final website in web design. Everything went pretty well, and I should pass all of my classes. Luckily, they all come back as pass/fail instead of letter grades, which gave me a bit of wiggle room so I could care a little less than a usual semester.

I still have two finals to present next week, and then this semester will be over. Crazy how fast it’s gone.

On Wednesday, I saw the cat chilling in its usual spot, so I went to FamilyMart and got an onigiri, ate most of it but took some salmon out of the middle and fed it. It ate out my hand and licked my fingers, and let me pet its head! I can’t believe I didn’t do this earlier. We’re going to become besties just a few days before I leave.

On Saturday, I went over to a club I hadn’t been to before, w.jaz. A band called Crypto Funk was playing, and they were so much fun. It was a 7 piece funk band with a 3 piece horn section, and every musician killed it. Great setlist with some Stevie, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, as well as some great Japanese tunes and originals. They played Takarajima by T-SQUARE, which is a song I’ve been listening to a lot lately, so that was really nice to hear.

This is not Takarajima, but it's a fun funky song they played.

I chatted with the bassist after the show a bit, and even though my Japanese was especially bad that night (it was hot in there and I was very tired), we had a nice chat and exchanged socials. I talked a little bit to some of the other band members, but mostly just the typical “great job lots of fun” kinda thing.

Sunday was mostly a chill day to finish up my last final presentation and then go out in the evening. I went to RPM with my friend Luiza, and we had such a great time! I played two songs, which was nice because I had only ever played one song a night the previous times I’ve been there. First I played Takarajima, which I was happy to play after hearing it last night. Later, I played Superstition, which was a great throwback, as I probably haven’t played that in 8 years, and haven’t played it live in over 10.

This is Takarajima.

Next week, my family finally visits! I’m very excited for that.

Until then. Have a lovely day.
-Dan