Hello Marty, first of all I would like to say that you are a great inspiration to me, not just in music, but in managing to break the cultural barrier between Japan and the West. Now I have always had a great admiration for Japan, and it's culture, and my question might strike you as rather odd, but whenever I watch a live show of my favourite Japanese bands, they all play very, very accurately, despite how technically difficult it may be. It's rare (I find) in Western bands, to see this sort of accuracy, however in my experience of Japanese bands it seems to be almost commonplace. My question is this, in your experience over in Japan, is there a difference in mentality than over in the West? Do you find musicians there practice more diligently, more disciplined? I'm sorry if my question seems rather ignorant, and thank you in advance for answering my question. Regards from Scotland, Gage Clawson.

is there a difference in mentality than over in the West? Do you find musicians there practice more diligently, more disciplined? I can`t really speak about practice, but overall in the making of music, there is a lot more focused work being done here in Japan, I think. There is almost never any mindless noodling or jamming. That is not neccesarily always a good thing; but it is that way here. Also in Japan, melody is a bigger part of the music making experience than in the US, this is a fact.