Since the 80’s, I’ve had a thing for Japan.  Kind of started with James Clavell’s Shogun and the mini-series with Richard Chamberlain.  I was hooked.  I revived it again in college by taking Japanese. I thought for a while I would get my degree in international finance and take Japan by storm, but I never did quite make that trip.  Briefly, after college, I went back again by reading Clavell’s trilogy (Shogun, Noble House, and Tai-Pei), but again never made it over (t)here. Going to Japan now has been a bit of fulfillment, but it wasn’t quite enough.  Something tells me I’m not done with JP (how the local Microsoft folks abbreviate their country) and Asia in general.  Time will tell and it’s why I don’t say “Sayonara.”

Anyway – the Japanese I took in college is pretty much gone.  It’s so different from English and Romance languages in general that without using it regularly, it goes away.  Particularly writing.  In college, I knew the Katakana and Hiragana phonetic alphabets and about 500 Kanji (the single symbol for a word, just like Prince).  I could still recognize the difference between the alphabet styles, but their meaning isn’t there anymore.  I also couldn’t understand most everything being spoken, but I could hear the individual words.  I did recognize some words as ones that I used to know, but it’s also different hearing a language spoken natively than in a classroom.  Case in point:  I kept hearing people say “ohayou goziamasu,” or “good morning” when I would leave a restaurant after dinner.  Confused me quite a bit until I really listened closely and realized that much like you’ll never hear a native of Louisiana say “new” when speaking of New Orleans, they were swallowing the middle part of “arigatou” when saying “arigatou goziamasu” or “thank you very much”.

Tokyo is massive in a different way than Shanghai.  While Shanghai boasts the largest population by city limit, Tokyo has the largest by metropolitan area at close to 40 million people.  The buildings in Shanghai are also generally taller, which means Tokyo spreads out more – enough so that it is also one of the world’s largest cities by land area.

I am now officially a sushi snob.  I made it to the Tsukiji fish market early in the morning and had a sushi breakfast.  The plate I ordered is in the carousel and I also put it on FB.  I do have to admit, I ordered that tray just so I could take that picture.  It may not seem like a lot, but it was difficult to eat that much.  The last few pieces, I had to abandon the rice and just do sashimi so I could finish it.  We also went to a conveyor-belt sushi place not too far from the office where after I had already eaten it, I was informed I had just eaten fugu.  I was sorely disappointed because the thrill of eating it was missed. Wordth, however, were a wittle difficult aftah – mouth was a little numb like leaving the dentist…

The Japanese are also very conservative when it comes to their business approach, including dress.  While I didn’t take the train to work, I had to walk through a train station to get there.  Suits, suits, suits.  Everywhere I looked, suits.  80% black, 15% Navy, 5% other and by other I mean charcoal gray.  And all the men were wearing white shirts.  There were a few oddball stripes here and there, but they were far between and even those were a white base.  Kind of made me think of Homer Simpson going to work in his pink shirt.  “Smithers!  Who is that rabble-rouser?  Judging by his outlandish attire he’s some sort of free-thinking anarchist!”  I digress…  There are people working the subway who have the sole job of pushing as many people onto the train as possible.  Since I walked to work while there, I didn’t get to experience that, but it might be a job I would have success with:  Mongo fill train!

Great seafood, great people, great time.  More stories with the pictures below.

Trip got started off poorly due to translation issues. This isn’t the same train, but it still demonstrates the point. The sign says “may” exit the train. I had a choice. So I stayed because I didn’t want to haul my luggage around any more than I had to. Well, “may” should have read “must” because the train went back the direction it came from. Got that straightened out and then went to take the MagLev train, but apparently I was too early to ride it, so it was back to the subway. Wasted just enough time that my flight was pretty much beginning boarding when I got through security…
Warning! TMI! This is one of the infamous Japanese toilets. The seat is heated. There’s a small fan in the bowl to take care of embarrassing odors. And the control panel on the side is a personal washing system for when you’re done. Everything in Japan is automated. So, it wasn’t a leap for me to assume there was a timer on the washing system. It would be an uncomfortable moment, but over quickly. There was no automatic shut-off. And I couldn’t immediately figure out how to turn the damn thing off. And it wasn’t like I could get up to take a closer look, either… Oy.
I can get plenty of Salmon in Washington, but there was also plenty here in Tokyo. This was a cold smoked salmon that was very tasty. Those shoots were ginger shoots and were quite tasty.
oh-ko-no-me-ya-ki. I have never had this savory “pancake” thing before – it’s a Japanese favorite. And. It. Is. Awesome.
They grill up the various parts and mix it with a batter to make the pancake. There was a long line to get in, so we sat at the bar where we had ours prepared for us, but the booths each have their own hot plate so you can cook it yourself. Awesome stuff and I’ve already looked for places to get this in Seattle now and there are a few. St. Louis – you have two places that I can tell. Just search okomoiyaki and your city on Yelp! and you’ll find some. Sorry, CoMo, nothing there…
These offerings obviously will be taken up by the locals.
And this was my other point in coming down here… About the freshest sushi you can get…
I put this one up on Facebook, so most have already seen it. But, it is worth a second look. And it was fabulous.
Love, love, love this thing. The placement of Cupid peeking around the corner is perfect. I came from down that street first, so all I saw at first was his head peering at me. He was in the Ginza area, famous for its over-the-top shopping and real estate prices. There are other iconic pictures of the area, but this one will be mine.
Yeah, I got nothing to finish that with… This is part of Asukusa area and Sensoji Temple.
The Chinese had the animals and people on their roofs – the Japanese also had their own finishing touches.
For some reason, none of my pictures inside the temple came out except this one. I think I accidentally bumped the control to manual because everything was over-exposed. There wasn’t any incense here for the general masses like there is at the temples I’ve been to in Shanghai… So I lit this candle, said a short prayer, and tried my luck at making a wish. There was a metal cylinder filled with sticks. You shake it, pull one out and match the symbols on the stick to a drawer that has your fortune in it. Mine was pretty much the cosmic 8 ball version of “All signs point to yes”… And no, I’m NOT telling you what my wish was.
Later that evening toured a bit more of Tokyo, including going by the Emperor’s palace, which is closed to tourists except during certain times.
And back to the salmon again. We do this a lot at home… Smoked salmon with cream cheese on crackers for dinner. No crackers this night and it was a bit more challenging to schmear with chopsticks, but I managed. Yum!
This is actually an over-pour on purpose. Note the small dish on the bottom. It’s a custom with this particular kind of liquor to flow it over the sides as a demonstration that the guest is to be completely taken care of and that the host has so much to give that it’s OK if some spills. You sip down from the top, then pour in from the tray…. From this point, the pictures are unfit for public consumption, so I’ll close with my open: Matane, JP!