55-Year-Old Japanese Musician Heads to London to Play Open Mics This August

Music, Friendship, and a Journey That Has Already Begun

Hello, I’m Ricky, a 55-year-old Japanese musician based in Tokyo.

This August, I’m heading to London to perform my original songs at open mic nights in Camden and Soho.

Inspired by British rock since my teenage years, I’m documenting this journey through a crowdfunding project and a future documentary film.

What I didn’t expect was that the journey would begin long before I boarded the plane.

⸻

I’ve loved British rock since I was a teenager.

Oddly enough, though, I didn’t visit London until I was 53.

And when I finally did, something unexpected happened.

This may sound strange, but London didn’t feel like a foreign city.

It felt like home.

I was born and raised in Kushiro, a coastal city in Hokkaido, northern Japan. Somehow, walking around London gave me the same feeling I get when returning there.

Different language. Different culture.

Yet it felt familiar.

Comfortable.

As if I already belonged.

Even stranger, my skin seemed happier there too.

By the end of the trip, I was joking that perhaps London water suited me better than Tokyo’s.

I still can’t explain it.

But one thought stayed with me:

“One day, I’d like to play music here.”

⸻

Recently, something happened that made that dream feel a little more real.

The story actually began with one of my housemates.

While visiting London, she wandered into an open mic night at a pub and met a guitarist named Steve.

Steve is in his seventies and still performs regularly around London.

According to my housemate, there was something about his passion and energy on stage that reminded her of me.

Both of us sing our own songs with a guitar in hand.

And since Steve was about to visit Japan, she had a feeling we might get along.

So she introduced us through Instagram.

At the time, neither of us imagined that a simple introduction would turn into an ongoing friendship.

Although we exchanged messages during his trip to Japan, we never managed to meet in person.

Still, we stayed in touch.

Recently, I sent him part of the English lyrics from one of my original songs.

His reply was simple:

“Beautiful lyrics.”

I won’t pretend that didn’t make me smile.

After all, these were words written by a Japanese musician sitting at home in Tokyo, now being read by a guitarist from London.

Then things became even more unexpected.

Steve shared my crowdfunding campaign on both Instagram and Facebook.

He also told me:

“When you come to London, I’ll introduce you to some of the open mics I know.”

When I suggested we have a pint together, he replied:

“Blackcurrant and soda for me — I don’t drink.”

A few messages later, he added:

“Actually, come to my house and I’ll make you lunch.”

Not bad for someone I’ve never even met.

Music has a funny way of bringing people together.

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If you're curious about the song Steve called “Beautiful lyrics,” here it is.

English section:

Before I knew it, I’d wander to the sea,
as if into a quiet siesta—out of time, I feel.

Words just spill out, breaking apart, drifting away, with the tide, soft and slow

I don’t know why—
I wonder why—
this miraculous journey—so far

Look at that—
just the ebb and flow of time
The glittering pieces fade into the waves
Sweet things and dirty things, memories all around.
with the memories…
…to the other side, through the memories.

Before I knew it, I’d wander to the sea,
as if into a quiet siesta—out of time, I feel.

Words just spill out, breaking apart, drifting away, with the tide, soft and slow

I don’t know why—
I wonder why—
this miraculous journey—so far

Look at that—
just the ebb and flow of time
The glittering pieces fade into the waves
Sweet things and dirty things, memories all around.
with the memories…
…to the other side, through the memories.

Two Little Travelling Companions

There’s one more thing you should know about this journey.

For years, I had been sketching a character called mneme.

She existed as rough drawings and fragments of ideas long before this project began.

Then, while preparing for this London adventure, I found myself thinking she might need a travelling companion.

Almost immediately, Spin appeared.

Unlike mneme, who slowly emerged over many years, Spin arrived surprisingly quickly — as if he had been waiting just offstage for his cue.

Since then, they’ve become part of the journey.

In some ways they’re travelling companions.

In other ways, they’re little reflections of myself.

They’ll appear throughout the documentary, the artwork, and many of the rewards for supporters of this crowdfunding campaign.

So if I do make it to a London pub this August, I won’t be travelling alone.

There will be a guitarist from Tokyo, a dream that’s taken years to grow, and two small companions coming along for the ride.

⸻

I haven’t boarded the plane yet.

I haven’t played a single song in a London pub.

But somehow, it feels as though the journey has already begun.

This August, I’ll be travelling to London to perform at open mics and document the experience.

If this story resonates with you, I’d be truly grateful if you took a look at the project.

And if you feel like sharing it with someone else, that support would mean more than you know.

🎸 [Crowdfunding URL]

Thank you for reading.

— Ricky