As y'all know I have been to Japan more than 12 times in the last three years, initially because my son and his mom resided in Yokohama City and I paid the bills so I may as well sleep at the house every now and then :o). This also gave me the opportunity to network and start doing a lotta shows in Japan. I was and still am an advocate of visiting and supporting Japan. The people are nice the culture is rich and enthralling. They embraced reggae music and jamaican culture like no where I have ever seen. So for Jamaicans or reggae lovers in general Japan is an ideal travel destination.
Lets forward to present time April 2010. My relationship with my son's mother Rie Matsuo has gone south. She doesn't let me talk to my son as much and or see him via skype and or other messengers. She moved out of "our" apartment to an undisclosed address. My son's birthday is April 8th and my most recent trip to Japan was supposed to be a special one because:
1. I would get to spend his birthday with him for the first time in Japan
2. I was performing (not DJing) at Emergency a big bi-monthly dance at the Yokohama Bayhall
The trip started off kinda rocky, Rie informed us the day of the trip via email that she would be unable to pick us up (my brother Evan and myself) at the airport because she had to work. No problem since I've been to Japan so many times I new how to get around, so we took the Ycat bus to Yokohama City, then a train to the station closest to our "hotel" that she recommended and we reserved.
When we got to the hotel we found out that it was actually not a hotel but a "hostel". When dude told me that I was like,
"Yow I've seen that movie B!!!"
The rooms were tiny with a lil bed and a TV, the bathrooms were coin operated, 100Yen for 4 minutes and the had a lounge if you wanted internet, you had to change your own sheets, and a whole bunch of other stuff that the proprietor claimed was "European Style".
And to make matters worse when we linked up with our friends Captain C, Bigga C, Barba they informed us that the spot was in the garrison and it wasn't a good idea to stay there. smh Go figure. Thanks Rie !
We obviously had to make new accomodations
The next day we rented a car. Captain C cosigned and they took my drivers license (my PA drivers license) copied it , we purchased the insurance, got the lil Mazda and went on our way. Evan and I then went to the Totsuka area to visit some of Rie's family (she wasnt taking our calls).
That same day we were in a car accident, a collision at an intersection both cars were totalled. The people in the other car were rushed to the hospital and myself and Evan were left by the cars to wait for the police. I was later informed that we werent taking to the hospital because we were standing and the emergency personel didn't speak english. [ I guess they just knew we didn't speak japanese by looking at us, since they said absolutely nothing to us]
[ read the article about the accident here http://pittsburghreggae.blogspot.com/2010/04/fudgie-springer-in-car-accident-in.html ]
But to make a long story short, my left knee was swollen (it still is), Rie was forced to leave her busy job and come talk to the police and the "investigation" started.
Few days went by I limped around to a few parties, Rie was giving us the run around about seeing Jr, and I had to go to the Totsuka Station to make a statement.
I was there for 3 + fucking hours, they asked me about high school, college all my jobs in my life.... At first I was very cooperative until they asked about my international license. When I answered they told me I was lying and started mentioning "GENEVA"
Mi say to mi self "WAIT!!! IF DEM PUSSY YA NO TRUST MI WHY MI FI TRUST DEM?"
So mi tell dem say mi withdraw di whole statement unless someone I knew eg Captain C can read it to me to verify that it represents what I said and they declined.
I went back another day but this time I printed and signed my own statement in english and brought it with me. I was there for another 3 + hours because for them my statement wasn't sufficient and they had to make up their own Japanese statement. I even asked if they could draft an english version of their statement to make me comfortable and they declined. They also informed me that I had to go to court because of my refusal to sign.
DEM NAH WORK WID ME SO WAH MI SUPPOSED TO DO? WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Well after that it seemed like everybody I knew in Japan was upset with me because I wouldn't just sign the paper. After my show in Yokohama
[ the pics can be found here http://pittsburghreggae.net/pics/thumbnails.php?album=6 ]
I went into a room where everyone was hanging out and people I never met b4 were advising me to sign. I thought to myself,
"damn was there a meeting kept and I wasn't invited?"
Since then I decided to fulfill my obligation and do the show in Tokyo and then just take weh mi self from them. This make everybody even more upset. Di man dem unfollow me pon twitter. Write all kinda tings bout me in Japanese. One translator told me that somebody "one of my "friends"" told his twitter followers that I am an idiot and that no one in Japan should book me. One dude said me and him "Cyaa fren again" and the bull shit goes on and on..."
Mek mi tell yu dis:
p.s. nobody cared about my swollen knee but I made it to the doctor results from xrays and mri forthcoming
1. BE YOURSELF, DON'T LET ANYONE OR ANY GROUP OF PEOPLE FORCE YOU TO BE OR DO SOMETHING THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO BE OR DO
2. NEVER SIGN ANY DOCUMENT THAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND OR IF YOU ARE UNCERTAIN THAT YOU SHOULD
3. PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES ARE IN FACT DIFFERENT DON'T TAKE IT PERSONAL
4. BIG UP ALL MY JAPANESE SUPPORTERS AND BIG UP MY NON-SUPPORTERS
5. FRIENDS HAVE DISAGREEMENTS, IT TAKES MORE THAN THAT TO END REAL FRIENDSHIPS
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