Notes on the Creation of "Rainy Sound": A Single Person's Journey to Osaka

On December 25, 2021, DISH// and Super Limited Express will hold their 10th anniversary LIVE in Osaka. A few days before the LIVE, I finally got a ticket and decided to go to Osaka alone on Christmas. (The Omicron mutation in Japan hadn't spread yet when preparing for the trip. Both Tokyo and Osaka had single-digit infections in a single day. I was lucky to have a trip in that slot.)

It is difficult to book accommodation for Christmas temporarily. I purchased the Tokyo-Osaka shuttle Shinkansen and business hotel package directly from JTB. On Christmas morning, I left home before 6:00 and went to Tokyo Station to change to the Shinkansen. When I arrived at Shin-Osaka Station, it was only around 9:00. I immediately changed to Osaka Station, and then changed to the Osaka Loop Line to Osaka Castle Park. The venue of the day was the Osaka Castle Hall.

Unexpectedly, the market vendors started at 12 o'clock, and when I arrived, the fans in line had already folded from the front row of the Osaka Castle Hall to the river bank and folded twice along the river bank. It looks like a protracted battle! I went to LAWSON to buy a can of hot coffee and stood shivering on the riverbank. In order to kill the boredom of queuing, I played a small reasoning game, took a quick look at a strange fan, and then deduced who the fan was based on the details I observed just now.

When I was in line, I suddenly heard someone shouting: "やばいやばい! It's raining!" (Oops, it's raining.)

Although it was not blue sky and white clouds just now, but the clouds were also very thin? Why is it raining suddenly? It's not even rain!

I hurriedly selected the goods, stuffed the goods into my backpack, and hurried to the business hotel where I stayed that night.

In fact, outside the Osaka Castle, the rain stopped. Check out Twitter, fans in line say it's still raining. Haha, it looks like it's only raining in Osaka Castle!

Check in at the hotel and put down your luggage.

The goods I just bought contained two randomly selected keychains and a random sticker as a gift. I was a little curious about which member I got, and I couldn't wait to open it first.

Hmm... The keychain and stickers were drawn to DISH//'s drummer Daichi Izumi.

Not long ago, at the Fujikyu Taiga concert on October 17, 2021, it rained heavily that day. The members complained that since Quan Dazhi joined DISH//, it must have rained on the day of the outdoor concert, so they roared and called him "Rain Man". Quan Dazhi never fought back and scolded the members for their "bullying". He just smiled and responded with a guilt, and played a nice solo for everyone. The bad boys laughed even more.

The rain in Osaka Castle would probably be blamed on him too.

I am not Izumi Dazhi, but Kitamura Craftsman Haitui, so the stickers I drew are ready to be given to a Dazhi who I know in Japan. The keychain is super cute, hang it on your bag and go out to lunch.

I was going to go to a well-known cafe, but I was attracted by the shop across the road. The cats on the wall and on the signboard are beckoning me over. So I ordered crepes and coffee there, and sat on the side of the road, facing traffic and pedestrians, and ate lunch quietly.

Back at the hotel, took a shower, put on makeup, changed clothes with the members' cartoon images, prepared glow sticks and support towels, and returned to the venue.

The Osaka Castle Hall can accommodate up to nearly 20,000 spectators, and it was full that day. I have always been a little afraid of crowds. In fact, I was too nervous from entering the venue and had difficulty breathing.

Fortunately, the performance was very exciting, and I quickly forgot my physical discomfort and blended into the atmosphere of the scene.

After the performance, I went back to the hotel, and the stamina came... I stayed up all night, my brain was confused, I had a headache, and my chest was tight.

The next morning, I left my luggage early and checked out.

Went to the bagel cafe I wanted to go the day before.

But there was still no peace there. It seems that the soul is a little far away from the body, and I can't keep up with my own rhythm. I lost my gloves when I left the store, and the clerk chased me at an intersection and returned it to me. (grateful!)

There are many cafes nearby, and I couldn't help but go to a few.

Finally came Rainy Coffee.

In the secluded atmosphere of Yuyin Coffee, I calmed down. Everyone relaxes.

"If only I could restore this feeling," I thought.

Hence the novel " Rainy Sound ".

(At the end of the novel there is the address of the above cafe.)

In the first issue of@新 Sexy Magazine, I published a novel " SOLO BASS ", which tells the inner choice of a female SOLO bass player when faced with an invitation from a man she likes to join the band.

I plan to write a series of short stories about music and musical instruments, temporarily called "Love Music Series".

In addition to being related to music, this series also challenges more subtle mood transitions.

In the "New Sexy Novel" I wrote before, the women in the story are faced with a relatively serious emotional distress, such as long-term depression, such as childhood trauma, such as marital crisis... In the "Love Music Series", I want to challenge some of the more subtle state of mind. frustration.

Authors who write novels should understand that this challenge is not easy... When writing a novel, the more ups and downs the plot is, the more bizarre it is, the easier it is to grab the reader's attention. In the novels I wrote before, the plot was already very bland, and the plot of "SOLO BASS" was even more sparse. When it came to "Rainy Sound", it was almost impossible to talk about the so-called plot. For the main part, they just went to a few cafes. The protagonists of " Atami's Heat, Atami's Sea " and " Changgu Short Days " still have a conflict of life and death in their hearts; the women in "SOLO BASS" and "Rainy Sound" can be regarded as very healthy and resilient in spirit, and the resulting psychological Conflict is also very minor. (But for the characters themselves, each choice is very important.)

These are not "earthquake warnings", just dissonances that these women can handle, or accept, or reconcile.

In order to make the process of overcoming small dissonances in this way so that readers are interested and resonated, I have also thought deeply. Maybe it's not perfect for the time being, but it will gradually improve in the future serialization. Thank you all for your tolerance and support.

The experience of writing a novel is to travel to an unfamiliar city with a person. Although I have also collected information, I still feel uneasy and lonely. That is also necessary. Only one person's journey can get close to his inner feelings without distraction, and those clues that are usually ignored will also emerge inadvertently.

For example, I might like DISH//'s drummer Daichi Izumi. If I hadn't gone to Osaka to watch the LIVE alone, I might not have realized it. When I listened to the rain falling in the white noise in "Rainy Coffee", what I remembered was the drum beat of Izumi Taichi, which made me feel calm like the sound of rain. The motive of the novel also comes from the question at that moment: the drum beat is an extremely stable rhythm, but the sound of the rain is unstable, why does it all make me feel relaxed?

I only understood this issue after I finished writing "Rainy Sound".

In the future, the "Love Music Series" will continue to be serialized in@新 Sexy Magazine. If you don't want to miss it, you can pay attention to the magazine's account first.

Because my mental state is not stable, the magazine team kindly does not ask me to write a novel for each issue, and I can post it after I finish it.