Oh wow.
The tour is over.
Sadly, it’s ended.
Yeah.
I was really happy to be able to give this tour everything I got.
So why do I feel so empty? It’s lonely. I want to go on tour again!
I want to tour so long that my hands and throat rot.
Well, I don’t really want them to rot, but…I’m lonely.
But these past tour months were so much fun.
That’s why they felt so quick, because they were so much fun. But it was strange, because at the time it felt kind of long.
It was so much fun!
I think there is nothing more amazing than being about to do shows.

But it did make me think again about how shows are built by so many people. It made me think about how important everyone is…the staff at Terry Dollar, and the staff at the venues, the radio and magazine people, the interviewers, all the bands who played with us, and most of all, the audience.
If any one of those people hadn’t been there, we couldn’t have done this tour.
Thank you so much.
I feel like I’ve grown so much.
All I did was think about myself in that situation, and the people around me. And it was those people and things around me that let me grow.
I really am so lucky.
The reason I play music just keeps getting deeper.
I want to continue to take everything I get and turn it into music. Because nothing is useless.

But you know, the energy that people have is so amazing.
I want to continue to make that wide world of a show with so many different kinds of people.
And I want to make sure it’s all engraved in a tangible form.
We won’t have many more chances this year to do shows, but I’d be happy if you know that we’re always doing something to help our shows and our music.
5/27 is not the end.
It’s a beginning.
Thank you so much everyone!

Looking back now, all of the nights on tour were wonderful nights and all the days were amazing days. It was our first tour with 18 shoes and there wasn’t one show I regretted.
Everything that’s happened since the band formed has supported me like this. I’m so happy. I know shows aren’t the place to chat, but yesterday we were the only band playing and it was our last show, so I think I talked a lot. But I don’t remember what I said. I feel like I left all of myself on the stage that day.
We’ll keep doing a lot of tours, and released a lot more CDs, but those days and that music contained everything we’ve done until now and I want to make that my path. Last night during the show I realized that it’s all become a part of me.
So we won’t change. We won’t grow apart. We’re just getting bigger, step by step, spending full days, feeling and living.
It’s hard to believe that tour is over, but thanks so much to everyone who helped me. Thank you all for coming to see us.
We’ll see you again in July!
I’m going to make music for the rest of my life! I swear it! Yahoo!!

The WAO Tour is over. It really was a great show, I don’t have any regrets.
There were a lot of things this tour that made us realize or reconfirm what’s important for us as a band. I don’t want to forget those things.
So to all the people who had anything to do with this tour, I’d like to say this:
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

I was looking at our myspace earlier, and saw that a lot of people from other countries are looking at our homepage. There were some comments I couldn’t understand, but some people wrote in Japanese, or said they had WAO, which made me really happy. The most common comment was people asking us to come play in their town. I’d love to be invited there! We’ll come someday, so please wait for us!

Today was our show in Nagoya. I could really feel each member of the audience enjoying the show. There were a lot of people who had WAO, which made me really happy. Thanks, you guys!

We’ve toured with Jin and Possibility before, and it was really stimulating.

I’m so lucky to be in an environment like this where we can talk together about how much fun music is.
I found out that the vocalist for Cherry Blossom is my age. It’s so rare for us to meet people our own age, and I think it will get more frequent, which makes me happy.
I love meeting people, I really do!

‘I’m leaving myself from today here.’
This was our last time touring in this are for while. We won’t have shows in Nagoya and the other areas for a while now.
I couldn’t wait to do the show, but while I was watching the other bands play, I wished time would stop.
Possibility’s show almost made me cry, and my heart was just really full the whole day. Recently, I’ve been forced to change my environment, and I’ve been trying to move forward. But in the end the only thing that changed was the environment, and my foolish idea that that would change something was quickly crushed.
But that was to be expected.
It’s like…if one pillar is lost, even if there are ten other pillars, things will be shaky until you get used to things.
This tour and the bands and people and music I met on it will always be important, that will never change, no matter how my life changes.
I got so many things from Possibility, Jin and ghostnote, who we played a lot of show with.
Tomorrow is our solo show! I think we left our emotions strongly in Nagoya today, so all we have to do is give it our all tomorrow!
Thank you for all your messages. Just wait, Osaka!
Idiots idiotically becomes idiots!

Have you all listened to WAO?
We made the music and it passed to many other people before it came you all of you.
I’m so thankful to all of the people who touched WAO.

I thought a lot about what I should write here about WAO, but I feel like the other members have really said everything I wanted to say, so there’s not much reason for me to write it all again. I really am so thankful.

On ROCKS ON TV today, Hyogo-san said that with Oreska, he doesn’t feel like we do this because we want to. He said we feel like music is all we can do. I’ve never thougbt about that before, but I think it’s true.

At least, music is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. So I didn’t chose music, I think music chose me. I don’t mean that I’m a chosen one or anything, but that I want to believe that it was inevitable that I do music. I’m happy to be able to think that.

I don’t think we’ll do anything special at our show on the 27th or at the show in Nagoya. Because we want you to see what we’ve been doing up ‘till now. So I just want you to have a good time at the two remaining shows. And all of you who can’t make it, please listen to WAO! No matter what we do, we’ll always be Oreska.

See you at a show!

Hi. It’s Morikoko! (Oreska’s English teacher calls me when I look sleepy)

But leaving that aside, today our first full album WAO was released.
I haven’t gone to the store yet, but I’ve been able to hear the comments of people who listened it already, and I just feel so lucky. Thank you so much everyone!

I think this album of ours is the first step for me.

Listen to it!

Today’s the release of WAO.

Part of me feels like ‘It’s finally out!’ and part of me feels like ‘It’s already out?’.

So many people helped us so that we could get this one album out. I’m so full of gratitude, joy, and accomplishment. I’m so moved.
This CD will pass into your hands, and its meaning will grow.
Making music and doing shows isn’t all fun and games.
It takes time and energy and strength, and sometimes the members of the band butt heads. We get angry and cry. I had a lot of conflicts going on inside myself, and I’m sure the other members did too.
But, you know, it’s because of all of that I love this band ever more, and I think it makes for better music and better shows. And that’s why it’s so moving for this CD to be done.
It makes me want ever more from music.
It’s so real and so raw and I think that’s amazing.
And there’s people who accept the music that we create.
That makes me so happy.
Listening to the CD and watching the DVD, you can see the road that the sic of us in Oreska Band have taken to get here.
It has all the people we’ve met and the people we’ve said goodbye to, all our joy, anger, and sadness, is all there.
If you’ve got 100 people you’ve got 100 different lives, and in the same way, if there are 100 people there will be 100 WAOs.
I hope it becomes an album that permeates into every facet of your life.
Nothing will happen if you don’t listen to it.
Please keep it in your life forever.
And if you always listen to it honestly, I’ll be happy/
If this album can move your heart in a positive direction then that will be my reason for making music.
I’m so thankful that we’re able to leave our music in such a tangible form.
Thanks so much to everyone who had been involved with us.
We’ll keep on moving forward, so please continue to watch over us.
A toast to WAO!

Yay!! It’s out!
Our WAO!! is out in the world.

Reading the messages from everyone that WAO!! has already touched makes me heart swell. Thank you all so much. It’s thanks to everyone who loves Oreska that we’re able to put out a CD like this. Thanks to you that we can keep shining.
I love every single song on this album from the bottom of my heart. We’ve laughed and cried and gotten lazy, and run away, and fought and sulked, but still, the six of us have fumbled our way to the thought that we want to do this. That this is what we want to do.
And now we’re here.
I want to keep on screaming for the moment. The situation can’t always be positive, but I want my feelings to always be positive. I want to keep on making that real moment as Oreska, through our shows, and mix with you who come to listen.
This is my rock. This is my truth. To me, rock is screaming for the moment.
Most importantly, today is the release of WAO!!
Hearing everyone’s comments on the DVD reassures me that we put out a great one, so thanks for that!!
I’m so happy right now.
I love you all so much.

Thank you all for your messages.

As you may know, I haven’t written in a while.
It’s Tomi.
Sorry it took me so long.
I’m doing great!!
‘WAO!!’ was born today! The day has finally come!
Congratulations!!
And I have so many people I want to say thank you to. Thank you so, so much. The music we’ve made reaches people’s ears through the help of so many people. I wonder if anyone’s listening to it now?
It’s a really, really special album. Please listen to it a lot.
I’m also enjoying our tour! It’s so much fun!
I’ll write more about it later.

Thank you so much.
I hope it becomes a special album for you too.

I don’t understand Tokyo trains. They’re really confusing. How many lines to they need?
I don’t really understand geography, but I remember the streets so I don’t get lost. I think you need a sense of streets rather than a sense of direction.

I’m heading off on the train alone now.
But who cares about that!? Today is the Japanese release of our album ‘WAO!!’.
It’s finally out!! All the songs we have are on it.
There’s a deep meaning to WAO. I want you all to think about what that meaning might be.
It took about four months for us to release this album.
It felt like a really long time and at the same time, a really short time.
Really, all of us, the members of Oreska, and the staff have been saying that it’s a great album and waiting for today to come.
And it finally has!
It wasn’t all fun and games. We’re human so of course we went through some bad times and some hard times.
But there were more fun times than bad ones.
I realized something in the time it took for WAO to come out…
All of the members and the staff all the people who support us, my mother and the other girl’s mothers…everyone loves Oreska so much.
And I hope you do too.
I really felt the presence of all those important people.
I don’t really know what I’m trying to say, but thank you so much for liking Oreska Band!!!
I love Oreska too.
I love Oreska the most.
It’s embarrassing, but I really believe that.
Everyone who gets angry at me and scolds me, and laughs with me.
Those people must like me.
Especially the people who get angry! I mean, people hate getting angry right? I know I do. But why do they do something they hate? Because they want to fix that person’s mistakes. So, getting angry at someone, in the end, isn’t it because they like them?
Is it?
It is!! (LOL)
I don’t know if I’m really making sense.
But we put all our emotion into WAO!!
And even more in our shows. (LOL)
So thanks to everyone who bought it or tried to buy it.
You gotta listen to it!!!!!

After the show, Tomi-san, and Leader and I went to see the show of some friends of ours in Shimokitazwa.

I’d never been there before, but I loved Shimokitazawa, felt familiar and new at the same time.

Apparently the concept of the show was to wear animal suits, and the vocalists of all the bands wore them.

So if we were participating, I’d have to wear one too. No way!

But anyway, the event was really interesting and all the bands were really cool.

Shimokitazawa us a great place. Shimokita rock sure is amazing!

Our show on the roof of Tower Records!

I want to send out a special thank you to the staff that built it into a stage, the staff that made the handmade balloons, the people who organized the event, and most of all, all of you lucky people that go tickets and came to see our show regardless of the heat!
And all of you who watched it on TV! Next time come to hear us live!

I had a bare-handed fight (martial arts style) with Ichiro and I won. You can’t beat my defense.

That’s what I dreamt the other night.

Hey guys, it’s Leader. We had a show at Osaka-jo Yaone today. The weather was so great! The band who played before us was a band called Rocka Trench. They had a great sound.
The Keyboard & Trombone player, and the vocalist used to be in SKA SKA CLUB. It was a big surprise, but it made me so happy!
And now, now, we’re going to be in Tokyo for seven days. We were just there for eleven days, but we’re going back again! I don’t even know where home is anymore. But I’m pretty used to it, so it’s no big deal.
Today is our show on the roof of Tower Records! It looks like it’s going to be pretty crazy!
So I want all of you that were able to get tickets to go wild and enjoy yourselves for everyone who couldn’t get them!
And those of you who couldn’t get tickets, just come down to Shibuya!
It’ll be a party!

Hey.

Asparagus isn’t my middle name or anything. I’m in Osaka eating the asparagus I bought in Hokkaido.

The bounty of the Earth.

It’s so delicious and sweet.
What is this a cooking show?

It’s Saki! I’m doing great! Don’t worry about me.

It was freezing in Sapporo so Osaka feels super hot to me. Osaka has the best weather now.

Now that we’re back in Osaka, I get to see all my friends, which makes me so happy.

Night walks are really refreshing but sometimes you end up stepping on something not very nice!
(LOL)
Yeah.
We’ve only got two more shows on this tour. We really went all over the place, and each place taught us something new.
Thank you so much!
Still to come is Nagoya and our hometown of Osaka.
Then we’ve got a festival in the summer and some shows in the US.
I can’t wait!
From Saki

Hey, it’s Ikasu.
I’m at home for the first time in a long time, taking a bath and sleeping in my bed. There really is no place like home. And there are certain ways I act only in my house. But enough about my house.
I think that it’s really tough to continue something. You have to get over things and leave things behind, and sometimes break things and fix them. You always have to be thinking about what’s important to you.
There’s this band that I’ve been listening to since I was in elementary school. If you think about it, they’ve been a part of me for over half my life, which is really amazing.
The band is HANSON.
About 10 years ago, when the members were around 14, they had a big hit with the song ‘MmmBop’.
At the time they were young and cute and treated like a boy-band. I was only in elementary school, so I didn’t know the difference between boy-bands and rock bands, but I loved them, and I’ve been listening to them ever since.
They write their own music, but no one would believe them, because they could never lose their boy-band image.
I don’t really know if they did the arrangements or anything themselves, but 10 years later they’ve come out with a new album, and the members are still saying that they’ve always made the music that they want to make.
And I think that’s so cool.
If HANSON hadn’t continued making music all this time, I might not think of them as creators.

But they were able to keep making music this whole time, because they love music, and they have made some amazing music and I think that’s how they’ve been able to stay true to what they believe this whole time.
No matter what anyone says, they’ve never stopped saying ‘This is our music’, and that makes them real rock stars, real artists, I think.
And I respect them from the bottom of my heart for continuing to make their music regardless of the image the world has of them.
No matter what anyone says, I love HANSON.
And HANSON’s music is engraved deep in my heart.
They’ll be one of my favorite bands for my whole life, I think.
Oh, when I can speak English, I want to meet HANSON and talk to them.
That’s a little dream of mine.
The end.

Tsumasaki is out now! There are so many people I need to say thank you to.

In Biology in Middle School, we learned that gold fish change their body temperature to match the water temperature. I remember thinking that people are the same. At the time, I took that in a bad way, but now I don’t think it’s either good or bad. Actually, I think it might be both.
Because the gold fish’s body temperature is affected by the water temperature, but it’s the gold fish that keeps that water clean. They both need each other, so they can communicate about all kinds of things. I think that trust, that connection is amazing.

It’s the relationship between fish and water.

I’m back in Osaka. I wonder how many days it’s been?

Yesterday we had our show in Sapporo. I got to talk with PA about the saxophone, which was nice.

I’m really into people who talk about their instruments. I think it’s so cool when people talk really passionately about their instrument and what they love about it. I ask people about the saxophone a lot since I play it, but I think it’s so wonderful to listen to someone talk about any instrument.

I’m going Starbucks to chill now. Later!

Today was our show in Sapporo.

The show was amazing. It was like a labor of love.
Like a labor of love for all the people who love music and Oreska Band.

We’ve got nothing to lose. Things will work out, and I want to keep on going, going forward is the only way to say good bye to the things we lose along the way.

I really love all of the other members of this band. I’m so glad to have you guys. And I love everyone at Terry Dollar. You’re all so special. Thank you.
So what Ikasu said today, about being given the chance to sing, that felt so real to me. And I talked about something completely different from what I’d had planned. But I think in the end it was a key to really giving 100% of myself.
I didn’t want to just babble about something. I really wanted to just let go. And that’s what helped me be both calm, and emotional. I knew what parts were wrong.
Thank you so much to all of you who listened to Oreska Band today. It was thanks to all of you that I was able to get so much across at the show, that I was able to sing like that.
There’s only one of you in the world, and I feel so grateful to you.
I love you!

It’s Ikasu. Lately at shows, people call me Yoshioka. That’s right, I’m Yoshioka. It’s a good last name, don’t you think? Don’t you think it’s catchy? So I don’t care if people call me it, but it makes me kind of embaressed, because it reminds me of this boy friend I had in middle school.
And ultimately, I think that Ikasu is the coolest name, so I think that’s what I’d like to be called.
So anyway, today was our second day in Sendai Sapporo. Tomorrow we go back to Osaka, but I don’t really want to go home yet. I want to do shows every day!
Today we had to go right back to the hotel after the show, so I’m still pumped, and can’t fall asleep.
I’m still all worked up.
And these two days were our last shows with Wagero and Muramasa. I wish we could tour with them longer.
But we can some day. We will!
Oh yeah, and today we had Kegani, the famous Hokkaido crab, for dinner.

And my mouth hurt and there was something red on my napkin, so I was like ‘What the heck?’ but it turned out I cut myself on the crab somehow!
Good night! (≧ε≦)/〜☆
Isn’t that face so cute!?

Hey.
Today we had our show at the Makana.

I played the trombone in the park for the first time on tour. I love playing outside because I can just play without worrying about anything, but today there was some kind of festival, so I couldn’t be too loud.

Then the show started. When I’m watching the show, I have so much fun, I can’t wait for our turn. It really warms my heart to think there’s people waiting for us.

This was our second time playing with Wagero. They put on such a cool show. They’re really good. They’re the perfect live band! But I get their songs stuck in my head. It feels great! And they’re such nice people, it was so much fun!

Oh, I had so much fun tonight!

We gave it all we’ve got on stage. I don’t want to just drop these feelings, I want to throw them. So I want to feel the music more, to really treasure it.

Oreska rocks!
We’ll take this as far as it’ll go!

Get ready, Sapporo!

All I did was sleep yesterday! I slept from 9 to 2 am, then I woke up for a little bit, and then I slept until 8!

I was so awake, I got to where we were all meeting 10 minutes early.

Sendai is still a little chilly, but the weather is pretty nice. Except for Ikasu, all the members of Oreska always bring beautiful weather with them! (LOL)
See you all in Sendai at the venue!

Right now we’re on the bullet train from Akita to Sendai. I just realized, Tomi and Tae and Saki have been together since Elementary school.
The thing that bothers me is that the train is going one way and the seats are facing the opposite direction, which feels so weird.
I’m eating a Pure GUMMY now. Do you know what it is? I really recommend it!
Tae-san is eating something called ‘Komachi Yogurt’ which has ‘Akita Komachi Rice’ in it, and is really famous! She really liked it! That’s great, Tae-san!
We have two and a half hours to go.
I’m going to listen to music and go to sleep.

So we went to see Tsumasaki yesterday. We went all on our own.
We went into a store, and asked ‘Do you have Oreska Band’s CD?’
And then we found it ourselves while the employee was looking for it.
And then at night we watched some live footage of Oreska. And…my hair…before we started playing, my bangs were normal. But when the song was over they were parted in the middle. Every song.
It’s a mysterious.
My mysterious hair.
Anyway. Wait for us, Sendai!

This is our 8th night in Tokyo.
Lately the staff comes into the studio a lot, in consideration for how lacking we members are. And it’s so much fun.

We split into horns and strings and haven’t really finished much in the way of song-writing, and then we practice the song (maybe) and then we record it and listen to it, and re-record. People have ideas about how they want to play different parts, and then we go with those.

All of the members are great. Everyone has so many different ideas, which makes it so much fun.
We had three days of English lessons. Our classes are so much fun. They’re very original. They try to give us lessons suited for Oreska, so we do things like practice being interviewed. I’m sure it’s all simple words, but I’m gradually getting to understand English, which really surprised me, but it made me so happy!
And there’s a lot of things that I realize doing these interviews. Like when Saki answered the question ‘What are the differences between American and Japanese audiences?’ by saying, ‘There are some differences. I think Americans are more direct about how they express themselves. But both love music.” I thought that was so cool.
Because I didn’t think that Saki would ever say something like that. It’s like Leader said, we can’t say anything by simple concepts, but no matter where we are, the things we want to get across end up being really simple things like that.
Good night!

The day is finally here! Every time someone congratulates me on the release of Tsumasaki I just feel more thankful.

Have you all listened to it yet?
I think it really gives you a good feel for all six of us. Compared with our other singles this one became a single pretty soon after we wrote it.
I think this song has our strongest message yet, because when we made it we had people we wanted to listen to it and things we wanted to tell them. We really had the goal of connecting with people.
And this song will only grow the more we play it for people.
It’s thanks to all of you that we and our songs get this chance to grow. Thank you so much for that.
This really is a great CD.
We’ll be putting out an album out soon, so look forward to it!

It’s Moriko!
‘Tsumasaki’ comes out today!
I’m so happy!
There are so many people on the Board writing about ‘Tsumasaki’ already, which is awesome! I’m so thankful to everyone!

The weather was so nice today!

I’ve been neglecting my eyebrows, and now they look like a forest! I’ve got a unibrow!
I wish they had a scale in our hotel. Lately I catch my reflection in the mirror, and I think I’ve lost weight. I always try to be positive. You can see my bone structure better!
I try exercises to make my face look smaller.
I’m in the middle of a campaign to lose weight.
I was doing sit ups, and somehow I stubbed my toe. I don’t even pay attention to my toes.
But once I stubbed my toe during a show. And once I got a bloody nose.
Lately my nose runs a lot during shows. I think I have big nostrils. I just figured that out.
Well, I’m off to bed!
‘Night!

Today I talked to a radio personality named Ayumi Nimiya. She qas a really honest, really nice woman. She said ‘I don’t really know much about music….’ But she still gave me her opinion of our show on the 5th.
That’s right. She went to see our show.
I thought, ‘It’s okay if you don’t know anything about it! Let’s talk more about our show!’, but somehow she got really interested in our games of high level Shiritori and I couldn’t really bring the conversation back to shows. (I should have just asked.)
But she did say ‘Invite me to another show sometime!’
I really think that even if you don’t know anything about Oreska Band, if you’ve met us at a show, then you know everything about us. Even if you don’t know the names of the instruments or it’s your first show and anything like that. Music enters your ears regardless of any of that, so as long as you want to enjoy the music, shows are full of possibilities. That’s the kind of thing I wished we could have talked about.
Hmm.
Oh! About the show at Tower Records on the 20th! The tickets are going to be decided in a drawing now, instead of first come first serve. Which is kind of a good thing but also kind of sad.
Anyway, send away to get tickets! It’s going to be amazing! It’s a show on the roof, how could it not be!? Haha!
The staff are really giving everything they’ve got too, putting all their energy and time and strength into this. There’s not way we could do all this without everyone’s help.
If my old self could see myself now, I think she’d say this:
‘You have all these people working for you! I’m so jealous! But what the heck are YOU doing!?’
I think she’d be strict like that. LOL
And it’s the same with with our upcoming show at Sendai! We can have that show because of all the people helping us! This is something really important that I didn’t realize until I made a mistake recently. So I have to do my best to thank them all.
Oh yeah.
I saw a show on TV the other day.

Apparently horses can sense if their riders are nervous or uneasy or scared, and that scares the horse and they won’t move.
People are amazing. They just think that in their head and that effects their whole body, and that ends up effecting other people.
There are always people around who are just as sensitive as those horses. Really.
And the thing you can’t forget with those kind of people is who they are to you.
Sometimes you effect them so that they get irritated or sad, and that effects you and then things go from bad to worse. Sometimes that happens to me, but just thing how much that person goes through with you.
I think that really knowing how special and important those people are to you is a big first step to becoming a better person.
I feel like today I found those feelings of thanks that I tend to forget.
Yeah. So thank you so much.
It’s embarrassing to say it in person. It makes me laugh.
But I’m going to do my best!

My lips were chapped so I put on chapstick and now they look white!
We’re going to the radio station now! The three of us in the horn section are making a radio appearance!

I’m going pick up Moriko now, since she’s at solo practice.

It’s Leader!

Our Japanese single ‘Tsumasaki’ has been released! Hurray! Hurray!
Thanks to everyone who posted to tell us they bought it! (T_T)
Everyone has someone special, so I think that the song will feel very real to all of you.
I know I say this every time, but I hope you all listen to it until you wear the CD out! It’s such a cool song!

We’ll be having a free show at the Tower Records! And so many people are entering to see us!

I feel fantastic! I’m so excited! Thank you to everyone who entered to get into the show, and those of you who wanted to but couldn’t do it that day! Listen to both Tsumasaki and the live version of Pinocchio non-stop! (^^)

My eyes just snapped open. I can’t sleep.
So I decided to take a bubble bath. Isn’t that glamorous?
When I got out I listened to Shiina Ring’s CD. I always try to memorize the lyrics and end up giving up.
Oh, I have a T.M Revolution DVD that Terry gave to me, so I watch that. I’m singing and dancing. Dancing at 4 am.
I try to think of some interesting Japanese, and can’t.
I read some ONEPIECE.
I do all of this to try and tire myself out and make myself sleepy. But it doesn’t work, so now I’m writing in the blog.
It’s Saki!
The kanji you use to write Tsumasaki is written like ‘Tsumesaki’, but it’s pronounced ‘Tsumasaki’! Don’t forget!
It’s so good! Seriously! You have to listen to it!
I’m finally feeling tired again, so I’m going back to sleep.
Good Night!

You don’t run out of tears.
Or maybe I just haven’t cried enough that I’ve cried out all my tears.
I saw a really strong person today.
They were telling me not cry when they were the one who must have felt like crying the most.
They grin and bore it, even though they must have been in so much pain.
They think of others before themselves.
I’m sure they’ve been through so many hard times and so many bad things, and today, they confided in me for the first time.
They told me it was ‘Hard’.
All I could do was listen to them.
I wanted to be there for them, but I couldn’t really do anything. It made me think about just how small my hands are, and how worthless.
That person forces themselves to drink dirty water. I can’t even tell them a place where they can get clean water. Because I don’t know where they can get clean water.
I do know one thing though.
People should laugh, not cry.
A happy face is so much better than a sad one.
Random subjects are better than gloomy ones.
This is just how I feel.
Because I think sometimes we need those kinds of subjects.
But I love people who laugh spontaneously.
I love people who cry spontaneously.
I don’t want anyone to just grin and bear it.
I don’t want anyone to force themselves.
Please just be yourself, however you feel.
Because I know you have to fit with your situation, but I think it’s so much better.

Apparently there were people at the Tokyo show that had a bad experience because of people moshing and crowd-surfing. I think that’s really too bad, for a lot of reasons.

I like people to crowd-surfing and dancing and doing all kinds of things. The same way that there are all kinds of people your school or at your work, there are all kinds of people, doing all kinds of things at shows, and that’s natural.

Apparently in the past it used to be crazier, like with people throwing bottles, but no one wants to get hurt, and there are a lot of people who have never gone to a live house before coming to see Oreska.
So there are going to be people that insist on doing things like that, and people who don’t like that. But rather than ignoring it, I think we don’t need to set rules as long as we all think about each other’s feelings.
I want the people who crowd-surf to know that there are some people who have a bad experience because they crowd-surf, and for those people to know that there are people who want to crowd-surf.
We want to have good, open-minded music as our goal, and better music, so we want people to feel whatever they want whether it’s ‘I want to crowd-surf!’ or ‘I want to hear more!’
But when all is said and done, I’m just glad all our fans are nice! Thank you!
Let’s have a great time!

I’ve got nothing to do.
There’s nothing to do in the hotel.
Or at home, which is why I go out at night, since there’s nothing to do then.
I really have nothing to do.
The only things I have that are interesting are my Maximum DVD and talking on the phone.
I’ve watched that DVD ten times.
I’ve memorized what they say during the MC.
Nao-san is just so cool…
Oh yeah, when I went to karaoke the other day I sang one of SPEED’s songs,
so I’ve been thinking about them for the first time since elementary school.
Man, old school J-pop is so good.
I think I’ll buy their album.
Today I bought the One-Piece movie log box at Tsutaya in Shibuya. Apparently there’s going to be a lot of romance!
I can’t wait to see it!

We’re in Tokyo a lot, so I hadn’t realized, but today was the first show we’ve done in Tokyo for a long time.
At shows, you can meet so many people.
When we make a CD, we think that someone will be there to listen to our music, but while you’re actually making it, there isn’t anyone there.
So shows are the one place that we can play music in front of people.
I’m kind of simplifying it but it’s a really amazing thing.
Whether it’s 1 person or 10,000 people, we’re playing music just for them.
As I’m drumming, I’m hoping it will touch them.
Thank you so much for always giving us a great time!
I’m sure we cause all kinds of inconviences, but shows are more fun than I can say, so I want to turn everything into a positive.
Good night!

Today we had a show in Shibuya.

Oh man, it was so much fun!
We really are a live band.

Yeah.
We are a live band.

I don’t know if I should say this, but…

I hate places that say ‘No stage diving’☆
Heh heh.
But like…I love people who do it anyway!
I don’t want anyone to get hurt of course.
But it’s okay to dive.
It’s like, ‘You can fly!’
To anyone who’s reading this blog right now:
I want you all to be crazy about music.
Just ignore people who call you crazy or stupid.
Nothing should get in the way of your music.
Because it’s so much cooler to see people who are dancing on their own.
It’s cool to just be free.
There are no rules in music. I want you all do whatever the music makes you feel.
I want you all to have your own music.

So like…
If you’re rocking out like crazy, and everyone’s staring at you like you’re a freak, if you’re rocking out the way you want to, I want you to keep doing it.
Because you always have freedom in music☆
Today was our first time playing with Muramasa in forever!
I was kind of shy about talking to them.
I kind of clammed up.
Yeah.
Muramasa’s sax player Ma-kun and their drummer Hanayan-san are huge fans of ONEPIECE…
So we talked about that the whole time!
It was so much fun!
The show today was so much fun!
You guys all gotta come to a show!!! (LOL)
CDs and music videos aren’t the same!
Shows! It has to be a show!
I really want you all to know Oreska!
So I want you to come to a show!
I’m going to watch my Maximum DVD again before I go to bed.
Night☆

I’m spending my morning with Moriko right now.
We have a show today.
Apparently it’s SOLD OUT!
That’s amazing!

About three years ago, when the band had just started out, we played out first ska event with a band called Muramasa, who we’re playing with today.
It really brings back memories!
I can’t wait for our show tonight!

Oh, we’ll be on the radio first, so tune in!

We’re in Tokyo now.
I don’t know why I’m updating now!
I’m watching ‘Maximum the Hormone’.
I just watched a movie called ‘Hula Girl’ with Tae-san in her room.
It was so good!
If you get the chance, you should all see it!
Right.
So anyway, I’m watching the Maximum the Hormone’s concert DVD.
I think I’ll learn a lot from it,
I just really love this band.
Yeah.
Watching their drummer Nao just makes me want to be free.
I play the trumpet right? So I really look up to other trumpet players.
But I’ve realized that I don’t just look up to them.
I’m open to other things.
Like…
Hi-tan, the vocalist of Jin.
Nao-san, the drummer for Maximum.
And others.
I really respect their musicianship, and their staging,
But I don’t want to copy anyone.
I mean, I can’t become Hi-tan or Nao-san, you know?
So I want to show off my own music as best I can.
That’s all.
Good night!

I’m really into the actress Yuu Aoi now.
I just watched her movie ‘Hula Girl’.
It was so good!

Moriko likes her too, so we went to TSUTAYA to search the photo book section.
They didn’t have her photo book, but we saw a little bit of the sample book. But then the store closer, so we had to leave.

I really want her photo book!

OBANDOSUE!

Howdy.
I think Obandosue means ‘Good Evening’, but I’m not sure. Does it?
So anyway…
I’ve been talking about musical genres lately with some of the other bands on tour,
so I’ve been doing some thinking.
ORESKABAND isn’t a ska band, we’re ORESKABAND.

I love ska because ska makes me feel so happy.
But we’re ORESKABAND. Nothing more and nothing less than that.
People tend to divide music into genres because it’s easier, but there’s no reason for the people who listen or the people who make the music to divide it like that.
I mean, it doesn’t really matter.
I just want you to get ORESKABAND’s music.
It doesn’t matter how much or less ska ORESKABAND is.
It’s not important.
We’ve still got a lot to learn, but this music we do now is ORESKABAND, and I guess it’s ska.
I really think that.

Where’s Leader?
We’re in the hotel now.
Leader and I are going to watch a movie called ‘School of Rock’ in a little…oh, here’s Leader now.

Yeah. So I was watching TV earlier, and my friend’s band was on TV. I got me really pumped.

It made me realize that while we’re doing our thing, everyone else is working hard too.

We’re going to go watch our DVD now.

Good night!

Oh, this’ Ikasu.
Apparently planet Corin is going to blow up. I hope we’ll be okay.
I’m really worried about it. My hair is falling out from the stress.
Just kidding.

We’re on the bullet train to Tokyo now, talking about the band. We’re having a blast!
Oh, but Saki is doing an impression of Satoshi from Pokemon.
She’s making this face, which means I’ll finish this entry now.
Adeiu!

I think it’s been a while since I posted.
It’s Moriko☆
I’ve decided to do a headstand every day. I have to rest my feet against the wall, but it shocks my brain and cools my head because my head is below my feet.

I feel like lately I take the time to reflect on my day. I don’t think it’s just because of the headstands. I think it’s just something that’s happening naturally now that I’m being more aware of certain things in my daily life.

I’m still waking up at 8am, even though I’m not in school anymore. I get up, even though I do think it’s kind of early.
Yesterday the moon was full, and was so beautiful. It was so beautiful that I sat out on the porch drinking my coffee and gazing at the moon. Aren’t I elegant? (LOL)
We’ve past the turning point in the tour, but it’s really been so fulfilling.
I wish I knew how to express it better. I think what makes me realize it is seeing how many people come to our shows. It’s so much fun for us because there are so many people who want to hear us. And it will be a comfort to us later on. I’m so thankful!
I’m gonna give everything I’ve got every single day!

Thank you all so much for the soundtrack recommendations.
I’ll check them out!

We’re going to be staying in hotels for 11 days.
It’s been like this since last month.
I haven’t been home for so long that I don’t know where I am.
But we don’t have time to get all emotional over that!

Let’s have a blast at the show!!

The other day I went to the gym with Moriko.
It had been way too long since I exercised and I was shocked at how weak I’ve gotten.
My stomach muscles still hurt!
Oww!
Oh yeah.
I asked the staff to recommend some CDs to me, and they gave me about 20 different CDs!
They gave me so many CDs, but I only knew a handful of the artists. There’s so much music I don’t know!
I got so excited to think that there all this music I can get into! I can’t wait to put the CDs on my ipod!
Let me know what CDs you guys would recommend!

It’s the best time to harvest vegetables now.
It really makes me give thanks for the bounty of the Earth!
Here’s something I noticed when we went to the US:
I don’t think they care about age over there. Every time we play a show people ask, “How old are you?” But no one asked me that once in the US.
We Japanese judge people by their age. Like, ‘he’s only 10, so of course he wouldn’t know...’ Or ‘She still does that? At 30?’
And I’m no different.
Part of me is really relieved to be able to say, ‘Well I’m 18, so…’
But I think that kind of thinking really shrinks our possibilities.
And that’s not good.
There are so many things I can’t do, even though I know intellectually I should.
But let’s just have a good time!