Ending the Year on the Right Note!

Yoshiro Uchida. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier tonight (Tuesday, December 26), I attended the last chanson performance by Yoshiro Uchida to be held this year. As always, I arrived late due to my work schedule (gotta make a living, after all), but I was able to catch more than half the show.

In between sets, after seeing that I had finished my drink, Uchida-san offered to get me another one. He asked what I wanted, so I said ginger ale. Uchida-san was a bit surprised by my response (since it wasn't an alcoholic beverage) and asked, "Plain?" I told him yes. Afterward, he joked to a couple of Japanese ladies sitting near me about his English ability.

Speaking of those young ladies, it was their first time at the venue, and we struck up a conversation. One of the women told me about her trip to New York City a couple of years after 9/11. The other lady told me about her trip through Europe around the same time. We made a bit of small talk, and it was interesting getting to know them.

One of Uchida-san's fans gave him flowers for his recent birthday. After the show, I asked him when his birthday was, to which he replied it was December 14. So I wished him a belated happy birthday, as well as a happy New Year. (It was a milestone birthday, too, as Uchida-san turned 70.)

The evening's other singer snapped the above photos of Uchida-san and me together. He asked what my name was, and, when I told him, he commented that it was difficult to pronounce. (He's not the first Japanese to say so!) 

And that's a wrap! I've had a lot of fun seeing Uchida-san perform chanson throughout the year, and I look forward to seeing more of his shows next year.