Starting this month, a series of weekly series by non-standard world members will be sent in September for the first time in Sato's travel series "Iceland".

We take a lot of photos at work and travel destinations, so we will deliver full of pictures.

I went to Iceland a long time ago, and it was late in the summer of 2004. Recently there have been more media coverage in Japan, but at that time we had little information about it, so when I told everyone, "I'm here." Le Land?"

So, I went to Lonely Planet's English guidebook and the brochure that was given at Iceland Embassy.

Iceland, by the way, is an island country bordering the Arctic Circle in the upper left of England on a map. It's about the size of Hokkaido and Shikoku combined.

Since there is no regular direct flight from Japan, this time I entered via Helsinki in Finland.

I was about to fly over Iceland, and there is a wonderful view under my eyes.

And the desolate earth.

The capital, Reykjavik, is in Icelandic and seems to mean "smoky bay".

It's almost time to land. A human house is pooping.

A colorful and toy-like townscape.

And the city of Reykjavik was so relaxed that I could not think it would be a place where more than 90 percent of people lived in this country.

※I used this Christmas-colored shop as a motif to release songs like these on the band’s website where I play bass.

There are no tall buildings in the city, mostly three stories high.

The only tall building is the Hattlegrimus Church.
That’s why I climbed the tower of a 70-meter tall church and looked at it.

Even though it is in the center of town, there are colorful streets.
In the winter, Lake Choltonin will become a skating ground for citizens.

The eyes are also colorful.
The flowers were planted in front of the church.

By the way, one of the reasons I was interested in Iceland is music. Björk and Sigur Rós are world-renowned but many others make interesting music that feels different from other countries’ music.

Because of the small population, there may be exchanges between musicians beyond the genre of music and free music is born from it.

That's why I went to a CD shop called 12?Tónar in downtown Reykjavik.

It was just the day that Björk's album "Medulla" appeared, but there is also a classical CD next to it which seems like an Icelandic music scene.

When you ask a clerk for advice, he will bring some CDs and explain them carefully: While listening on the sofa, it has a service to serve coffee.

The album "Dis" by Jóhann Jóhannsson, bought here was a hebilote on the drive later in the journey (the orange jacket shown at the bottom of the picture).

• Bangkok Norðursins

  Jóhann JóhannssonDis

• Þynnkudagur

  Jóhann JóhannssonDis

*You can listen to it by clicking on the jacket (*Only HTML5 compatible browsers).

As you walk, there’s a live poster of an Icelandic band called Múm and Slowblow.

So, of course I went.

It's like a community center.

There are about 200 seats to sit.

It was a very good live performance with both bands playing and supporting each other as well as the relaxing atmosphere of the venue, it is also exceptional to listen to music where that sound was born.

• Green Grass of Tunnel

  MúmFinally We Are No One

• Very Slow Bossanova

  SlowblowSlowblow

By the way, after this live performance I met Björk in front of a toilet at the venue. I couldn't help but think that there was a local girl with a supermarket bag around me like it would be natural to have her.

Iceland is the capital with a wide sky, and in winter you can see Aurora even in town.

The next update (September 12, Wednesday) will start in the suburbs, which is Iceland’s biggest attraction.
Stay tuned!

All Photos Copyright?©Shota Sato. All Rights Reserved.