Jake's Blog & Tour Reports
Maui Performance & The MACC
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Tonight is the big performance at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Jake will be joined by Noel Okimoto (drums), Dean Taba (bass) and Michael Grande (keys/piano). The full band is back together again! This time Jake and the guys will take over the Castle Theatre in front of a sold out crowd of 1200! You know they are going to rock the house. This crowd will be extra thrilled when they learn that Jake will be playing a handful of new songs from his upcoming Live album release.
Maui Outreach Program - MACC
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Back on da islands! It's been quite some time since Jake has been able to come home, relax, and re connect with the Hawaii community. This is something he always looks forward to and has a big passion for. Over the next few weeks we will be stopping all over the islands to visit schools and do performances at local venues. It's always a pleasure to accompany Jake and experience the Hawaii people, we love our jobs!
Travel To Okinawa
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It's Okinawan Style! Today we travel to one of the cities where Jake's roots are from. His dad's side is from Okinawa. His moms side is from Fukushima. We are super stoked to head into Okinawa because it's actually a sub tropical island off the coast of the Kyushu province. So it's a lot like Hawaii in terms of the weather...the people...and the Island Style!
We had a short plane ride from Fukuoka that last about 1.5 hours. Today we only have one promotional interview with a magazine (including photo-shoot) and then it's off to explore and eat.
Nagasaki - NCC & Studio
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We had a pretty fun night last night. After Shabu-Shabu we went across the street to a Karaoke bar. This was FUN! Karaoke in Japan is much different than in the U.S. You actually get your own room and everyone piles inside and you do Karaoke together. It's so much fun and so much less stress than the typical U.S style. Everyone passes the mic around and does their own song...or sometimes you do a duet.
Funny thing is, Jake made a BGM CD (Back Ground Music) of all the songs we sang last night. The BGM CD is played when doors open for the shows.
Kagoshima - Caparvo Hall
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It's another Shima-Bukuro performance! Today we travel into Kagoshima which is known for its own active volcano. This is pretty sweet as it reminds us much of Hawaii and how the island chain was formed from volcanoes. Plus we have a few active volcanoes too. Today is a pretty full day as we have a few promotional stops before arriving at the venue.
As we pulled into Kagoshima train depot there was this massive sake and shochu store. I have yet to see one this big and this stocked. If you are into sake and shochu this is the spot for you!
Kumamoto - Kumamoto Kenritsu Gekijyo
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This is Jake's first visit ever to Kumamoto. For all of you oyster lovers out there, you will no doubt recognize Kumamoto for the oysters. However I have learned that most Japanese locals are not aware of the Kumamoto Oyster. So it prompted me to do some research to find out just how it became so popular in the U.S...but not in Japan. I found this good article with a simple google search which pretty much sums it up. Read It Here
We had a few promotional stops before the show tonight. One included a local radio station and the other a tv station. It's always fun to see the behind the scenes promotional stuff. You never realize how the set's of the tv shows are actually realllly small. But on TV they look really big. Such trickery!
Miyazaki - Miyakono-Jyo-Shi Sougou
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Miyazaki, the fun surf town that is so much like Hawaii, has been a really fun stay so far. All of the promotional runs we made yesterday really gave us a better picture of the people and how fun they really are. So I know Jake is really pumped for the show tonight. The venue is a pretty large one and has really great sound and lighting. I believe tonight is close to sold out too, so im sure the local crowd will be excited to hear Jake perform.
Just before the show Jake decides to shave. Unknowingly he soaped up his face then went for the water which was scalding hot. Not being able to see he had to yell for one of us to help him out. Awww...
Travel To Miyazaki
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Today is an off day for travel and promotion. We have five different media appearances set up for radio, television and magazines. To top it off we have a three hour train ride from Oita to Miyazaki. We had a 7:00 am lobby call and expect the interviews to go well into the late evening.So it's going to be a very full day.
These promo days remind of the last Japan trip when Jake was promoting Ichigo Ichie. Those were marathon promo days that started early and ended very late. One interview on top of another, and Jake is just a machine. It makes our job look easy since he is the one that has to focus and be consistent throughout each interview.
Oita - Heiwa Shimin-koen Nogakudo
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Our travels have taken us into the Kyushu Provence, which is really known for it's food. Considering most everything we have eaten thus far has been the best thing I have ever eaten...I am really excited to eat in Kyushu. We had about a two hour train ride into Oita. Much of the ride was surrounded by ocean views which is really nice and reminds me of Hawaii.
In case you didn't know, Jake is really into an organic and healthy diet. He travels around with a tackle box full of organic supplements and vitamins. Each time he opens it, you get a strong gust of the combined odor. If it smells this strong you know it must be good.
Fukuoka - Zepp
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It's band time again! The Fukuoka show will include Jake with the 3 piece band and our favorite vocalist and guitarist...J-Min! This will only be my second show with the band and J-Min, the last was Hiroshima. I must say that Hiroshima was one of my most favorite performances to date. So I assume that tonight will be more of the same.
What else is special about tonight is that Jake's manager is back on tour. Kazusa-San Returns! Now the team is complete. We had a very short train ride from Yamaguchi into Fukuoka...so short that we were all surprised to hear the station announcement over the speakers. I think we had time to eat one banana and then rush off the train.