Intro Theme//

I wonder how many times I have failed this task, maintaining a blog? Undoubtedly, there are fragments of my self scattered across the internet, probably locked in some archive written with an algorithm so intrusive it could only be conceived in some dystopian novel, or in other words, Google's Cache. I have written opinions, summarized plots, and shared drops of my knowledge. All of these have never been worthwhile enough to me to continue my endeavors, and so I cannot guarantee how much time I will dedicate to this task nor if it will be worth your time to read. I am honestly not a lazy person. Rather, I am quite the opposite and will prioritize tasks in the order of greatest importance in the moment. I think it is with this, most people develop Bucket Lists, filled with the hopes and dreams they pushed aside.

I have carried a dream since I was a little girl, once which, despite holding onto so long, I never conceived as possible. It all started with a show called "Hey!Hey!Hey!". I remember the first time I ever watched it, on my grandmother's television while still an elementary student. I was enraptured and curious; something sparked. Soon I was watching it weekly and distinguishing artists though not words. X Japan, L'Arc~en~Ciel, Utada Hikaru, Hamasaki Ayumi, hitomi,...all became part of my vocabulary. When my family finally got our first computer, I, like every other kid, began illegally downloading every song I could find, which in that era, was quite the limited selection. This definitely painted me as the outsider, even amongst what few friends I had. It would be several years until I could convert anyone into an occasional listener.

At that time is when I bought my first Japanese dictionary, determined to uncover the meanings of the words which so greatly moved me. I would listen. I would study. I bought my first CD, Utada Hikaru's Distance album during my freshman year and although I was not the most diligent student, became a translator at 16. To help study and to express myself, as is so important at that age, I began to write my own lyrics. This was my childhood and everything would continue just the same even after I turned 18. Still, I never thought the dream was possible. That is, until it came true.


I, like many other dreamers, became excited when a mega-festival was announced, one dedicated to my guiltiest pleasure - visual-kei. "Ah, how nice it would be," I thought. "Ah, how nice it would be," I thought as I submitted an entry to musicjapanplus.jp for a chance to win a pass to the festival and the opportunity to report on their behalf. Although I submitted an entry for some J-rock good as a weekly ritual, I had never won anything. I was so accustomed to losing, in fact, that the thought of not receiving this too did not phase me. Unfortunately, that mindset did not prepare me for the moment when I had won.

To my greatest disbelief, every dream I had hidden away, to protect it from the reality I thought would shatter it, came true. I went to Japan. I saw my favorite artists perform. I fell in love with a Japanese rocker. I went back to Japan to discover that those feelings of love were mutual. Now, here I am riding out the rest of my dream like a chord, and trying to convince this new generation of dreamers that anything is possible.