Day 16: Japan Album Release Tour JINSEI 2024 – News from KLM and Three Horns of Joy at Studio Wuu

Waking up in the morning, I checked my phone and saw a message from Johan: Did you see the email from KLM? Somehow, the email had landed in my spam folder, but the gist was that our flight back to the Netherlands on Monday had been canceled due to a broken airplane. KLM provided a ‘solution’—flying on Wednesday to Hong Kong, waiting six hours, then continuing to Amsterdam—but that was not a viable option. I agreed to meet Johan at Ueno Park to get online and find an alternative flight closer to our original departure date.

I hopped on the Yamanote Line and soon arrived at Ueno Station, walking toward the park’s main entrance. It was a sunny day, and shortly after, Johan arrived. We explored some better options and soon booked a flight departing early Tuesday morning. Instead of Narita, we’d be flying from Haneda to Paris, then transferring to Amsterdam, arriving only a day later than originally planned.

Around lunchtime, I had an appointment in Akihabara with my friend Yasuaki Suda, whom I met through Yuichiro Tokuda. Yuichiro would be joining us as well. Suda-san is a passionate food lover and an expert at discovering amazing ramen shops throughout Tokyo. Having been invited by him before, I knew this was going to be a special experience.

Johan and I took the Yamanote Line to Akihabara, where we met Yuichiro and Yasuaki.
The ramen shop, Mendokoro Honda Akihabara Honten that Yasuaki had selected was clearly a popular spot, with a long queue outside. We placed our orders using the ticket machine and waited in line. Despite the crowd, we were seated quickly and soon served an incredible bowl of ramen. As my bassist Satoshi would say—supreme ramen! The broth was perfectly balanced, the noodles firm, and the flavor rich and satisfying. It was a fun time hanging out with Yuichiro and Yasuaki. After lunch, I returned to my hotel to rest and prepare for the evening’s gig. I would see Johan at the gig.

At 4 PM, I met up with Yuki Nakae at Otsuka Station to travel together to Studio Wuu in Kashiwa, about 50 minutes away. Traveling with Yuki is always a pleasure. We arrived early, which was great because I had asked him to bring some supplies to fix my saxophone’s sticky pads—Zippo fuel and Yamaha cleaning papers. At the venue, we took the time to clean the pads, and it worked perfectly.

I love Studio Wuu—the crew, the atmosphere, and the wonderful room with its beautifully maintained Steinway piano, tuned before the show by the owner himself.

This night was special, featuring a three-horn lineup: Yuki Hirate on trumpet, Yuki Nakae on tenor saxophone, and me on alto. The lineup was perfect for playing selections from JINSEI. Alongside us, Shunichi Yanagi was on piano, Gaku Hasegawa on drums, and for the last two days of the tour, Kunpei Nakabayashi joined us on bass. I had met Kunpei during a previous tour in China, and it was fantastic to have such a strong player for these final concerts.

After a quick soundcheck, everything was feeling great. Everyone was well-prepared, and Kunpei fit seamlessly into the group’s sound. My friend Kazuhiro was also there, filming and taking photos throughout the night. (After the gig I found out that as an experiment the show was recorded multi track by the audio engineer of Studio Wuu, so the video’s from Kazuhiro have a mix I made). The concert was a huge success, with everyone playing their hearts out, making it a night to remember.

Back in Otsuka, I changed into my “dirty ramen outfit” and returned to the same shop I had visited the night before. As I walked in, the staff greeted me with an enthusiastic shout—something I didn’t fully understand, but it was clearly warm and welcoming. The perfect way to end an unforgettable day.