JaPains on Film, Round 1

Aaaaahhh, so I'm about to go completely cross-eyed from using the spot healing tool on Photoshop (you get what you pay for when you trust York Photo Labs with your biz...), but nonetheless, here's the first round of my photos from my time in Japan with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart! Many more to come!

You can click them to make 'em larger, and/or view them on my flickr as well. I'll add captions along the way :n )



Waking up in our hotel the first morning in Tokyo. The best feeling ever!



A store full of cat stuff that I still regret not going in to, near Gotanda Station in Tokyo.



The view from Gotanda Station. This was right after me and Alex's first trip to a real grocery store (i.e. not a 7-11) in Japan and we were so proud that we'd figured out how to buy breakfast! Actually, I never stopped being proud after managing to feed myself in Japan. Small victories.



The Pains' first show at Fever in Tokyo. They played there again on the last night of our stay in Japan.



Bicycles in Osaka. A few blocks away, we found a pet store that sold tiny monkeys in the back, and later we accidentally ate at a Chinese restaurant, because they were the only place with pictures on the menu!



Watching the Superbowl...live...but the next morning...in a hotel room in Osaka???



On our way to the top of the train station in Kyoto, where we ate in a restaurant that was decorated with slug-like plastic icebergs lit from within.



Part of Kiyomizu Temple, which is in the hills above Kyoto.



The view from Kiyomizu Temple. You can't really tell, but there were some pretty sweet Jesus rays goin' on.



A wall of cats in another cat-ephemera store. Now I know that when I get old, all I have to do is move to Japan and open up one of these babies. Neko seiko!!



Those Hope and Peace cigarettes again, never gets old!



We started up a tally of all the cities that had some sort of "fake Space Needle" going on downtown. This is Kyoto's bid. Also on the list: Sydney and Auckland.



Pretty flowers for sale on the walk to the train station in Kakogawa. It was so warm and sunny that morning, and we ate hotdogs baked into tiny baguettes for breakfast.



"Portrait of the Artist as an Old Naked Saxophone Player"



Dusk in Kobe, on our way to eat Kobe burgers!



Alex and Kip onstage at the show that night at Kobe Blueport.



Sweet, Japan-exclusive Pains shirts! I made Alex nab me a blue and white one, now I wish I'd gotten lavender...



Naoki!!! Oh Naoki. The owner of Fastcut Records, who put out the Pains record in Japan. Also: our babysitter for ten days, he went everywhere we went, even the world's saddest zoo. Bless. This. Man.



The walls of the greenroom at Kobe Blueport were covered in some serious wtf band name graffitti. Some of my favorites included Mislead Balds, Fuck You Heroes and Sweef. I thought we should join the party, I mean honestly, does "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart" not kinda sound like the best wtf Japanese band name ever??

More soooooooon!