Tokyo Day Trip” is an EP collection of music that was originally intended as online bonus material to go with the recent release from my trio with Christian McBride and Antonio Sanchez entitled “Day Trip”.There was such an outpouring of demand from listeners that we decided to compile the recordings all in one place and release them together as a set. The recordings came from a recent run of performances that the three of us played in Tokyo. All of the tunes are new original compositions and have never been recorded or released before. One thing that has been great about this band for me is the incredible range that Antonio and Christian bring to the music. I have the feeling with them that we could do almost anything, and that freedom is inspiring, not only as a player but as a composer. These extra tracks show aspects of our trio that represent a range of other areas that we have explored over the years.

Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949 but spent most of his youth in Kobe. His father was the son of a Buddhist priest; his mother was the daughter of an Osaka merchant. Both taught Japanese literature.

Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by American writers such as Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and he is often distinguished from other Japanese writers for his Western influences.

Murakami studied theater arts at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he met his wife, Yoko. His first job was in a record store, which is where one of his main characters, Toru Watanabe from Norwegian Wood, works. Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami opened the jazz bar “Peter Cat” in Kokubunji, Tokyo,which he ran from 1974 until 1982. Many of his novels have musical themes and titles referring to classical music for example, the three books consisting The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: The Thieving Magpie (after Rossini’s orchestral overture), Bird as Prophet (after a piano piece by Robert Schumann), and The Bird-Catcher (a protagonist in Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute). Some of his novels are named after songs: Dance, Dance, Dance (from The Steve Miller Band), Norwegian Wood (after the Beatles’ song) and South of the Border, West of the Sun (the first part being the title of a song by Nat King Cole).

By Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo
Published: March 9 2009 02:07 | Last updated: March 9 2009 19:06
Japan’s stock market tumbled to a 26-year low on Monday as official figures showing a record current account deficit stoked fears of a deepening recession in the world’s second-biggest economy.

The sharp deterioration in Japan’s current account in January reflected the dire impact of plunging global demand and a stronger yen on its export-dependent economy. Lower interest payments hit the country’s overseas income too.

The country’s first deficit since 1996, at Y172.8bn ($1.75bn), was much larger than the Y15.3bn forecast by economists and the biggest since the government started compiling comparable data in 1985.

Shrinking demand in all of Japan’s leading export markets pushed its trade deficit to a record Y952.6bn in January. As recently as 2007, Japan posted a record annual current account surplus of Y24,800bn.

Net overseas investment income declined 31 per cent, highlighting the damage from lower interest rates, the strong yen and slower markets overseas.
A country’s current account position reflects the gap between exports and imports, the difference between income earned on foreign assets and that paid to the foreign owners of domestic assets and the balance of cross-border transfers of money such as remittances. The trade position usually dominates current account movements for most advanced economies.
The mounting economic gloom sent Japanese share prices tumbling on Monday and the benchmark Nikkei average closed at a 26-year low of 7,086.03.

“Japan is over-dependent on exports and as a result, even though it was not at the epicentre of the subprime problem, it has been reeling from the impact [of the global crisis], and its growth is the weakest among developed nations,” said Hiroshi Watanabe, economist at Daiwa Research Institute in Tokyo.

Japan is not alone in seeing its exports suffer as a result of the global economic downturn. Beijing announced on Monday that it would reduce all export taxes to zero and provide more financial support for ailing exporters in an effort to increase its share of global trade during the crisis.

Chinese exports suffered a 17.5 per cent drop in January.
The deep downturn in US demand in particular has led to a rash of job cuts and factory closures in Japan as many of the country’s largest employers have seen their revenues cut. Toyota expects its first loss in 59 years while Panasonic, Japan’s largest consumer electronics group, is closing domestic factories.

Corporate bankruptcies in February rose 10.4 per cent year-on-year, in the ninth straight month of increases, Tokyo Shoko Research, an independent group, said on Monday.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

1. Who is ur fav idol winner?
2. Disregarding the winners, who was your favourite contestant who did not win?

My favorite winner definitely has to be Kelly Clarkson. Her cd’s have been awesome and she can really perform.

My favorite non-winner definitely has to be Chris Daughtry. He was sooooo good. He totally deserved to win. I hate the way AI works. Every year someone gets screwed because of the system. If someone is really good not as many people vote for them because they don’t feel they need the votes as much and therefore that person ends up having to leave. I hate it! But it doesn’t matter because Chris Daughtry’s album is AWESOME, and it went platinum! Woo hoo!!!

Dear Fans

It is my pleasure to inform you that my schedule for 2009 has been finalised and I am glad to share it with you. You can find it under ’schedule’ or just follow the link below. I am really pleased with the season the way we have planned it and I am looking forward to an exciting year!

I am still enjoying a few more days on holiday. It is such a treat to just enjoy the sun and the sea together with Mirka. After that we’ll start the preparations for 2009 with a training camp in Dubai. That is always very intense, but it’s a vital part to a successful start of the new year - which begins very soon!
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