I'd ask my friends to come and see

An octopus's garden, so to speak.

Oh what joy, for every girl and boy, knowing they're happy and they're safe.

If I had to tell you the exact number of times being a Beatles fan in Japan has come in handy for me, I simply couldn't do it. Perhaps it's my ability to find Beatles elements in the things all around me whether intended or not; I have quite a profound sense of cognition and perception when there are even slightly Beatlesesque things about, and it's proved to be very helpful in a place like Japan.

I should note some obvious discoveries that I have encountered:

• The closest hair salon to my home (about 45 seconds from me on foot) is named, simply and without explanation, Beatles. There are models of the four boys circa 1964 in the front window beside their fish tank. While I've never actually been to the place for a two-bit shave and a haircut, I get the sense they could give me a mean bowl cut if I went in there with a serious look and asked in a really, really intense tone.

• The closest pachinko parlour (Japan's quasi-gambling venue of choice, not that I play) to my home is called The Pachinko Apple (or Apple Pachinko, depending on how you read it) and used to have the lyrics to Let it Be and Imagine painted in stencil on the walls. Given that I'm not even inclined to gamble, despite the somehow-sickening allure of the lyrics, I found it a brash and sacrimonious juxtaposition against a backdrop of smoke and sin and stink. Pachinko parlours are often where dreams go to die, though from what I understand,there are ways to make some cash off of them. Recently, The Pachinko Apple underwent some exterior renovations to what I thought I would be my relief. Instead, the Beatles motif is larger and louder. The building is now pink with a pixelated representation of John at the keys and the words "Tomorrow Never Knows" splayed across the front. That misappropriation is also used in all of the advertising for the parlour that I see around Himeji. Either Yoko Ono is raking it in from the suffering of gambling addicts or she's not aware. I bet that's some fan mail the Beatles would still be interested in. I'll post some pictures, I promise.

• A café near my home is full of John Lennon paraphernalia, and I only somehow discovered it last week.

• One of the first and best bars I visited outside of Himeji is a music bar in Nishi-Akashi, adorned wall-to-wall with everything Beatles, including a huge music notation book on their piano filled with - you guessed it - Beatles songs. And only Beatles songs.

• I have eaten at a Beatles-themed okonomiyaki restaurant in Kakogawa.

• I have impressed German people with my renditions of "Sie Liebt Dich" and "Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand" because they also like the Beatles. It should be noted, however, that they did not like my German.

• Jacob found me a Beatles paraphernalia shop in Shibuya, Tokyo within a 5 minute walk from the capsule hotel where we were staying. The capsule hotel itself, unfortunately, was a void for Beatlemaniacs.

• I have made friends with people with three words: Let It Be.

• While I have yet to visit the John Lennon Museum in Saitama that Yoko opened, I have managed to meet a few Yokos while visiting a small city called Ono.

• A fantastic guitar player I know offered to give me discounted lessons because I promised to learn the complementary vocal harmonies in many songs that we could jam together. Neither of us has had time to indulge.

• I have been referred to as being "gay for The Beatles" by Jacob Goldfarb, and I'll have you know that I personally find the expression both endearing and somewhat accurate. In fairness, I was gay for The Beatles long before I set foot here.

• In attempting to explain and translate the lyrics and concepts of "Across the Universe," I have brought a young woman to tears (in a good way).

• Nearly the entire scope of my relationship with my friend Ai Yamamoto stems from the fact that she first saw me wearing a Let It Be t-shirt and then later heard me talking Beatles with a bartender.

• There is a fantastic shot bar in Himeji where they serve absinthe and play super-convoluted Beatles elements with an Korg Kaoss Pad, but only on Sundays.

• Fujifilm Japan currently is running an ad campaign that simply states, in English, "Photo is Love." The graphic is a famous picture of John and Yoko sharing a kiss.

The references don't end here. Some of the first Japanese friends I made were a small group of young people in Nagoya who we approached on the street when looking for a nice place to drink and they took us to karaoke for the first time. I had been in Japan for only a week, but I could safely say that I had sang the Beatles with people who didn't even speak English and it was fantastic. The ¥600 Hard Day's Night t-shirt I bought last summer is still a popular accessory for my wardrobe that always draws intriguing comments from the Japanese and Westerners alike.

It's really important to remember the things that you loved back in your home country when moving somewhere new. Having my guitar here and an inextinguishable obsession with the music kept me sane when home felt really far away. I will refrain from mentioning any names here, but there are people I've met here where the only thing we have in common is a particular opinion about the Beatles, though otherwise we little to do with each other.
have changed.

The Beatles were really there for me for the first time, in 2002, when I lost the woman I was absolutely sure I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Granted access through her eyes I learned some amazing things about myself and the world I occupied, a love for jazz music and romantic stillness. I was really messed up when we broke up and for whatever reason The Beatles worked their way into the music I was listening to until they were all I listened to. And it got me through it. It's still getting me through it, though the circumstances of personal strife have changed. I feel really bad for giving my brother Darby such a hard time about listening to them ad nauseam when we were younger, but I think he understands.

December is update-a-day month! To read all the posts this month, click on December 2006 on the right-hand side of the screen!