--- title: "Gonna Go to Japan" meaning: "Pre-flight Japan fantasy on Moonlight Beach: Shinkansen ramen, capybara onsen, Mount Fuji: 日本に行きたい until けど今できない." year: 2023 release: "Moonlight Beach" releaseType: "album" artist: "Scoobert Doobert" artistId: "#scoobert" credits: "Written, performed, and mixed by Luke Francis Walton. Mastered by Riley Knapp. Album art by Gentle Giant Illustrations." apple: "https://music.apple.com/us/album/gonna-go-to-japan/1675559395?i=1675559406" spotify: "https://open.spotify.com/album/2l5r7AyE9hDNI7VUH6FLlA" themes: ["Japan", "travel", "anticipation", "Moonlight Beach"] isrc: QZTB62253074 isrcSource: soundexchange lyrics: | I'm gonna go to Japan Been a minute Watching the pre-flight safety video Like I don't know how to buckle my seat belt Been a minute Since I felt the turbulence Shake shake shake Got a pit in my stomach But my butterflies are overwhelming it Too stoked to feel fear Gonna ride the Shinkansen While I eat seven-eleven ramen Capybara onsen Gonna hike a mountain To the very very top like a Miyazaki film Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Yeah, I'm gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Yeah, I'm gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Yeah, I'm gonna go to Japan Oh yeah yeah yeah Oh yeah yeah yeah Can you believe it? Seeing Mount Fuji out the window Put down my Nintendo switch Touch down in Narita in a little bit Yeah, can you believe it? Like a time traveler On a setting sun Yeah, I'm almost done Hope that I get through immigration Gonna ride the Shinkansen Under the ocean Heading to Sapporo Gonna drink beer out in the snow お祭り, we got to go Bundle up Wanna ride the shinkansen 国立公園 日本に行きたい 行きたい 日本に行きたい 行きたいな けど今できない Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Yeah, I'm gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Yeah, I'm gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Gonna go to Japan Yeah, I'm gonna go to Japan Oh yeah yeah yeah Oh yeah yeah yeah Oh yeah yeah yeah Oh yeah yeah yeah draft: false press: - outlet: "Indie Shuffle — Gonna Go to Japan" url: "https://www.indieshuffle.com/scoobert-doobert-gonna-go-to-japan" - outlet: "GRRIF — Recherche de titres" url: "https://www.grrif.ch/recherche-de-titres/?date=2023-09-25" date: "2023-09-25" desc: "Radio playlist log: \"gonna go to japan\" listed twice on 25 septembre 2023 (12:28, 17:25). Petite trace radio — not a campaign." - outlet: "Radio Nova — catalogue des titres" url: "https://www.nova.fr/" desc: "Catalog record: GONNA GO TO JAPAN · Scoobert Doobert · title ID #38775 · 03:05. Broadcast date unconfirmed from the accessible search result." --- Track eight on [*Moonlight Beach*](/albums/moonlight-beach/): the Japan song on a California place-record. After [*KŌAN*](/albums/koan/) opened the Japan thread (Japanese lyrics, Zen paradox, spatial sound), this keeps the longing alive while Encinitas is still home base. It's a whole trip taken entirely in the imagination: pre-flight jitters that lose to butterflies, a maximalist tourist itinerary of Shinkansen and 7-Eleven ramen, capybara onsen, a Miyazaki mountain hike, beer in the Sapporo snow. The chorus stacks *gonna go to Japan* until belief almost feels like booking. Then the brake: after the Japanese builds (*日本に行きたい*, I want to go to Japan), the last line lands, *けど今できない*, **but I can't right now**. The whole song is future tense, and that's the honest crack in it. The gap closes on [*I*](/albums/i/), recorded partly on the Tōkaidō, San'yō, and Tōhoku Shinkansen. On *Moonlight Beach* Japan is still the horizon. Points forward to [*MÖB*](/albums/mob/) and the Möbius tag on the closer too. **Before the Shinkansen sessions:** Luke's first night in Japan — landing on his birthday — ended in a four-hour Kanda jam (20+ songs with local musicians). [Instagram TV archive](https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDZttU3lGrU/). **Europe-facing radio traces (modest, verified):** [GRRIF](https://www.grrif.ch/recherche-de-titres/?date=2023-09-25)'s public title-search log for **25 septembre 2023** lists *gonna go to japan* twice (12:28, 17:25): a petite trace radio in French-language Switzerland, not a hit narrative. [Radio Nova](https://www.nova.fr/)'s **catalogue des titres** lists **GONNA GO TO JAPAN** by Scoobert Doobert as title ID **#38775** (03:05); the accessible search result does not confirm a dated broadcast, so treat it as a catalog / editorial-system artifact unless a dated Nova playlist log surfaces. Un petit fossile public — another public trace on the road, not a Paris radio campaign. ---