Fujichia

Ichi-go Ichi-e

2020/12/01
PREAMBLE / STRAWBERRY BAND / PERMISSION TO BAIL / PATCHES / ONE TIME ONE MEETING / AUDIO / BEAUTIFUL AS A RAT / LINKS
Before the pandemic hit the US, I had the good fortune of starting a band, practicing for a month, and then playing exactly 2 shows. The first show was recorded by Dirty Doug, and he was nice enough to email me the recordings of our set. That's what this post is, that recording, but I also want to say some things, so I'm going to put the link to the recording at the end, as is my fashion. The band is called "Strawberry Band" and the recording we'll call "Ichi-go Ichi-e".


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Underground music shows have been so important to me for basically my entire life-- as both the social event of attending shows and the spiritual exercise of playing shows, and its been hard not to have either of those things for the past couple months. Hopefully this recording doesn't cause any true believers out there to spin out, but if you think it might, it's ok to just tap out, or save this post for some other day. We're dealing with a lot of fucked up shit right now and while sometimes it helps to have a taste of the way we were, sometimes getting just a taste will drive you nutso. Personally I find that there's a thin and constantly moving line between a smiling warming memory and a laughing taunting memory. It's totally ok to just be like "not now" and save the recording for later. Come back when the line moves again, or forget about this for a while then suddenly remember.

Oh! But if you want one of these patches you gotta act now, link is below. Sorry. OK.

UPDATE: 2021/01/06 these patches are sold out! image

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I had my friend Emma Hendry design a logo for the band, so I could make a sticker to hand out. I asked her just before lockdown, and then she sent me her design after the calendar had been cleared of all events. If it wasn't such a cute drawing I probably would've held off on making stickers but it was so good that I decided I want an embroidered patch too. I just got those back from the embroidery place, they came out great.

I was going to save these for "Bandcamp Friday", which is this Friday, the 4th, but I thought I'd better offer these to the castle creeps before anyone else has the chance. I'll put the link below if you want to buy one. Since the show on the recording was a fundraiser for Students For A Free Tibet, the band decided to donate the profits from this to that same organization.



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I mention this on the recording but "Ichi-go ichi-e" is a famous Japanese phrase that means "one time, one meeting". Here's Ii Naosuke, writing in Chanoyu Ichie Shū, 1858:
Great attention should be given to a tea gathering, which we can speak of as "one time, one meeting" (ichigo, ichie). Even though the host and guests may see each other often socially, one day's gathering can never be repeated exactly. Viewed this way, the meeting is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. The host, accordingly, must in true sincerity take the greatest care with every aspect of the gathering and devote himself entirely to ensuring that nothing is rough. The guests, for their part, must understand that the gathering cannot occur again and, appreciating how the host has flawlessly planned it, must also participate with true sincerity. This is what is meant by "one time, one meeting."
also (via wikipedia) :

The term... is sometimes used to admonish students [of martial arts] who become careless or frequently stop techniques midway to "try again," rather than moving on with the technique despite the mistake. In a life-or-death struggle, there is no chance to "try again." Even though techniques may be attempted many times in the dojo, each should be seen as a singular and decisive event. Similarly, in noh theater, performances are only rehearsed together once, a few days before the show, rather than the many times that are typical in the West, this corresponding to the transience of a given show.
Both of these are pretty apt for a punk band! And especially so for a band that only gets to play 2 shows before being sidelined by a worldwide medical crisis. "Ichigo" in Japanese also means "strawberry".



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Thank you to the band: MZ, Cory, and Uncontrollable Frank; to Dirty Doug DeMay for recording us; to the News Cafe for hosting us; to Funeral Cone, Alpha Error, and RONG for playing with us; to everyone at the gig for pogo dancing and singing along!

image download: [49.1mb mp3, 25min]

If you are returning to this page to listen again, please download the file and save it to your device, or listen on our Bandcamp page: [bandcamp]



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The patches are $7 postpaid, international orders add $.50.*I just sent one to Sammy in Australia and it was just $1.20 to ship and the stamp had a chrysanthemum on it. Not bad!! Profits on these are going to Students For A Free Tibet. To order leave a $7 donation in the temple and leave your address in the payment comments. If you are a paid subscriber to the Fujichia substack, or if you made a donation recently on here and want a patch, just send me a note with your mailing address. Each patch comes with a couple stickers, which are the same except the green part is black, not green. If you're not a patch person and you just want some stickers then donate any amount and write your address and "just stickers" in the comment. :) [temple]

UPDATE: 2021/01/06 the patches are sold out!

Sorry, we sold all the pencils at the gig!
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Thank you Lois for the pencils :)




links / misc


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