This time, it's a special David Bowie edition. Since I've only been covering official details about the reunion collaboration, I'll take a break. Since this is a blog, I'll write from memory. I'm digging through vague memories from over 30 years ago. Around 1980, David Bowie lived in Kyoto. Rumors circulated that he stayed in Kujoyama, a mountain east of where the Westin Miyako Hotel is now. He would occasionally appear in Gion or Kawaramachi, sparking conversations like, "He must have been at this restaurant in this place." Stories like this are commonplace in Kyoto. A classmate who claimed, "John Lennon came to my house yesterday," was called a liar, but the next day, he brought to school a chopstick wrapper from his family's udon restaurant, bearing the real Lennon's signature, and became an instant star. David Bowie had a connection with Minoru Yoshida, a contemporary artist from the Gutai Art Association who lived in Kujoyama, and would occasionally appear at live music venues with him. Minoru was also known for being friendly with the Kyoto rock band Murahachibu. The band that Bowie performed at the Takutaku live house was "No Comments," and I was a college student playing bass in that band. Unusually for the time, one of the band's members was a stylist who didn't even appear onstage. I believe it was before their major label debut (which would have been 1979). Bowie seemed to like the band, playing two-tone SKA and James Chance songs with punk hair and B52s-esque fashion, and apparently he came to see them a couple of times after that. The record company frequently used this as a promotional slogan. I say "apparently" because I didn't actually meet Bowie himself, and it's possible that a foreigner with a similar appearance was just in the audience. I'm still skeptical. However, the Bowie incident has had a major influence on my current involvement in fashion and media. When I first interviewed Paul Smith and Alexander McQueen, this story lightened the mood. Around 1980, Club Modern was one of Bowie's favorite hangout spots in Kyoto. Its owner, Kaoru Sato, held comeback shows with his band EP-4 on May 21st (5.21) last year and this year, generating buzz among his core fans. The vague connection to 1980 is what makes the topic of Bowie's comeback so strangely poignant. Yoshida Shonen, a fellow Kyoto-born band member who joined Quruli last year and released the excellent album "Voltage in the Crucible," announced his departure on Twitter less than a year later, on May 21st (5.21), is the son of the aforementioned Yoshida Minoru. Learning from the conversation that he was born in 1980, I was surprised at my own inaction as I read articles about the resurgence of punk fashion and Bowie's comeback.