You know, I've made like a dozen of these boxes so far so you think I'd be used to this but

Yeah

There we go, and

no, it's not a joke. I am moving and

it's a good thing

Good morning guys

We have a lot to talk about today. So this is gonna be an update and

announcements video

so

Regular viewers will know that I'm Norm and I have lived in the area of Asakusa in Tokyo for the better part of almost 10

years. In fact I've been in this very house for almost the last

Seven of it and the time has come

For me to leave but we'll cover that in more detail because there's a lot of stuff to talk about today.

So one the first announcements that I want to make that I promised to share with you guys if it ever came up is

I actually have a shamisen performance coming up that if you're in Tokyo.

Regular viewers will know that I just got a new shamisen and it has become both my joy

and the bane of my existence because I cannot stop playing it

I actually spend all day and all night hanging out in that room right there like this

(Shamisen music)

Playing and playing and playing. I can't stop .. Let me...

I seriously cannot stop and actually one of the really common questions that I get is doesn't it bother your neighbors and

This particular house is actually soundproof. It's one of the reasons that I chose

to live here. Unfortunately

The new place isn't but I'm working on that will. We'll get that all sorted.

Now as for the shamisen performance itself, it's going to be on Saturday April 6th.

It'll be a really brief performance and it's not just gonna be me. I'm gonna be one of many performers.

It's gonna be in the evening.

Not all the details are finalized yet

So what I'm going to do is, I'm going to keep the description box of this video

Updated with the information that you need in case you want to come out and watch and say hello

Also, it's completely free. So feel free to come out. I might even be there.

All right, we are just getting started but if I don't leave soon I'm gonna be late for a pretty important appointment.

So I'm just gonna bring you guys along for the whole day.

Also before I forget since I got into like must share information mode if you're able to come out to that shamisen

performance and you want to come out I would absolutely love to have you there.

All right, so just a little bit of an update as to what's going on right now,

I'm actually going in to visit a furniture maker who might be making me a new desk for my office

when I get into the new place, I'm

kind of excited about it. But as I do this, I'm gonna try and share one or two other updates with you

That's a nice little cafe space there. Earlier this year, I did a video where I went up to Asahikawa

and Sapporo and all that and while I was up there I had the chance to meet some amazing

Furniture designers and makers and one of them is the gentleman I'm gonna go see today.

And before I head into the shop, there's one more update I wanted to share with you guys and it's about the Tokyo lens

podcast. it's recently come to my attention that a lot of people don't even know that it exists.

I don't I don't really advertise it. I do update it about two to three times a week

Sometimes it's behind-the-scenes content on videos

But more often than not it's actually completely unique podcast content.

So if you're interested in that that is also linked in the description box below or you can just search for tokyo lens

podcasts on pretty much any platform. I think it's available everywhere.

And the shop is right here.

I ...kind of want a desk that's something like

this.

Let me change how I'm sitting.

But in the same way that I

documented the process of my shamisen being made if I'm gonna have like a desk made for me

It's the type of thing that I'd actually like to document the process and share with you guys

So if you're interested in seeing how that's made

Let me know in the comments down below and I'll see what I can swing with them and I just realized these table centerpieces

Actually come out. Look at this

arigatou gozaimasu

Whoo, that's bright and

They were really really nice.

I really enjoyed that time. While I was having that meeting

I got a message from Tokyo creative who was like hey

Somebody sent you a package if you want to come and pick it up, so

We're gonna head there and pick up the package and I'll keep sharing updates along the way I guess

Finally made it to Tokyo creative pick up my package

Yo, is that my package yeah, alright, let me

Check out this package

It just says

See package, then it says camera gear so I'm pretty excited about that

It's from Craig. Craig Stewart. Thank You Man

Hey guys, See you later (See ya)

Cheers man (Bye bye) See you guys later!

All right, that was a pretty productive 30 minutes Craig, thank you again for the package

I can't wait to get home and open it up

Additionally Tokyo creative has just launched something called TC learn and they've got like Sharla & Chris & a bunch of people teaching

Really awesome skills on there. They've asked me to be a part of it

So I guess that's also something to toss in to the updates and something to look forward to

Now I got to get home and officially give you guys an update on this move

Also, I feel like there are a lot more updates crammed into this video than I was originally

anticipating. So if it's information overload, I am sorry,

but this is what happens when I fall behind on videos. On the plus side, though

I am enjoying spending the day with you guys. So it's gotta count for something, right?

either way, the key information is gonna be in the description box below so

Also, Meguro river,

this is one of the most beautiful places to see the cherry blossoms, but it also gets

insanely crowded before drone laws were as strict as they were there was a guy who like flew his drone

up above here you would get in so much trouble for doing that now (whistles)

The air of anticipation that surrounds this area right now is probably my favorite part.

Mind you that's just one of my favorite things about this season in Japan in general like the atmosphere of excitement.

It's a good time for change.

All right, first things first, I want to open up this package. All right, here we go

There's a note

It's got a drawing

Items that have suggested themselves to me while watching your videos. That's awesome. Each item has a story

Okay, first off popcorn seasoning because popcorn seasoning second a

Little stand for my handheld gimbal so I can actually stand it without falling over. Thank you.

I know what it says in the note, but

but really? really?!

You sent me a lens?!

Like seriously, (laughs) I'm, I'm in disbelief

Wow and this lens goes up to 300 millimeters as well, which means I'll be able to get in real tight

Wow

Just I don't even have words for the level of kindness and generosity that it takes to give to creator with something like a lens

Thank you

All right, I'm gonna tidy up for a second and then we're gonna talk about the move

All right, so getting into the move

I've been working on it for a while now and it kind of finally just all

came together and I'm pretty excited about it

You see before I left my job back in July in order to focus on creation and supporting artists and musicians

and everything that I'm doing now I said that this year was gonna be filled with change.

And I think it's pretty fair to say that

this is the next big step in that. it's not what I would sacrifice though because I am gonna have to leave Asakusa

and the life in the community that I've built here

Bbut I'll still be in Tokyo just a little more central and hopefully still spending a lot of time in the Asakusa area

So probably not that big of a change in terms of lifestyle.

But on the topic of Asakusa

I feel like I'm gonna have to do an entirely different piece talking about my life and history here in Asakusa.

They're just way too many memories to fit into this video

Like nearly a decade spent building a life and integrating into the community joining festivals

Making friends in the area of business relationships. You name it?

It's it's all right here

So if I don't know if learning about that side of life in Japan is something that you're interested in

Let me know down below and I'll probably get to work on a piece about it.

So I guess without dragging it on too much. Those are the basics. It's a really really

Exciting time and it's always cool to be able to move on to a new chapter

Especially when it happens right in the season of spring like the season of change

So, but before I wrap things up before I forget

entirely

There is one more thing that I wanted to give you guys a heads up on and see the video that I'm gonna be putting

Out on Tuesday. It's gonna have a giveaway embedded in it

But I wanted to give you guys a heads up in advance that that way nobody misses the opportunity

To be a part of it if that's something that you're interested in being

Part of make sure that if you don't have the notifications on that you've got them on

Thank you guys always for being a part of this journey

I'm just so excited that I can bring you guys along for this and for the next stage and just everything to come for now

It's just a lot of fun

It's just a lot of fun to be able to document the stages of life and the change in everything more

So for myself than anything else

I look forward to being able to look back in five years

Maybe ten years and see how my life progressed throughout this period and the interaction that we had

Alright quick summary just to make sure I got everything so I announced the shamisen performance,

Podcast is also linked below. There's like 60 of those or something by the way, so go nuts

giveaways coming, I'm moving

Did you know what that there was a lot of stuff in this video again if it was information overload

I am sorry either way, you know, I'm definitely gonna be hanging out with you guys in the comments section on this one

So I will see you down there if you haven't already

Don't forget to give this video some love if you're new to the channel

And for some reason you have watched this video and follow through all the way to the end all the better to you

Nice to meet you, maybe check out one or two other videos consider hitting that subscribe button or something

And that's totally up to you

But for now, I've got to do a little more shamisen practice and then get to editing this because I'm releasing this one today

So, alright guys, I'll see you again

real soon

Actually Tuesday, I'll see you Tuesday