Indoor fishing

All I know is that I think this concept would be a huge hit in the States and I probably shouldn't publicize it here lest someone steal my vision for the greatest restaurant ever, but here goes. So there's a restaurant, right, and in the middle of the restaurant is a boat shaped seating area. There are also bridges throughout the eatery. Why? Because the boat and the restaurant is surrounded by water; in essence, a giant fish tank with at least a hundred fish living mildly content lives for about a few hours. Because then, the diners will hook a bit of shrimp on a simple bamboo pole and catch them. In theory you place the flapping fish in a net and a waiter takes it away. When it returns, it is prepared as you like it: as sashimi, grilled, fried, broiled. You name it.

So it was an awesome way to spend my last night in Tokyo. I caught a fish, attempted to hold it up in order to get a photo with the fish; it escaped much to the chagrin of the waitstaff. And then Jeremy caught it again and we were able to catch the same fish anew. It was exceedingly delicious, broiled in a casing of rock salt, served alongside other izakaya type specialties. Can you beat that idea? Nah, didn't think so.

It was Mother's Day when we went, so many families were treating their moms to a night of no cooking. The atmosphere was jovial and festive, full of bottles of sake and pints of Kirin. Let me just say for the record, that I did not participate in a "catch and release program," despite the libelous statements of certain others.




Those wanting to experience the fishing restaurant themselves (Zauo, several locations) feel free to do so, but do not import this idea to the States on penalty of my fury. Thank you.

Adventures in Shibuya

Well, the nicest thing about being back in the States is that I can meander down the sidewalks without a worry of being mauled by a salaryman hopped up on Boss coffee either on a bicycle or armed with a suitcase and a pair of short (but fast) legs. (See Tokyo annoyance #1). I realized I never wrote much about Shibuya, with its famous intersection, Shibuya Crossing. There it is to the left. To be honest, I never could stay more than a couple of hours on the streets of Shibuya before the claustrophobia set in. Most of the time, Shibuya meant window shopping (Oh, how I wish I could have bought those cheaply-made but unique shoes in Shibuya! Curse my size 9.5 feet!) and heading off to Shibuya Kaikan for Dance Dance Revolution, though I did partake in the izakaya and club scene there as well.

DDR is not as huge in Japan as it once was, (other Bemani games like Taiko no Tatsujin, Pop 'n Music, and Beatmania are more popular) while it continues to be a huge hit in the U.S. It was recently announced that DDR is going to be the subject of a Saturday morning cartoon show on CBS next fall and a new version of DDR was released first in Europe and North America before making its way to Japan. Kind of sad.


While Harajuku is home to the Gothiloli girls, Shibuya is home to the kogals, or kyogaru, who in my opinion, are much much scarier than any goth could ever be. Kogals are known for wearing ludicrous amounts of bronzer, crazy-ass eye makeup and short, short, SHORT skirts and fishnet stockings. They basically just hang out and shop and text message at Mos Burger and do purikura and flaunt their disposable income (which comes from living with their parents, thus only having to pay for transportation and keitai denwa bills). Apparently Gothiloli was a counterculture reaction to the kogals, which now makes perfect sense.

I mean, c'mon! How scary is that? And how does she dial the numbers on her phone! I guess hers is probably voice activated or something. Anyways, I find this infinitely freakier than any of the multiple piercings of the Harajuku goths, don't you? It creeps me out something fierce. OK, now you've seen it. You can scroll down now. Thanks for humoring my taste for the absurd. Yowza.

In any case, Shibuya is a pretty great time, and there's more to do in that one precinct of Tokyo than in most big cities alone. Here are some photos from one of my last nights in Tokyo when we went to an izakaya in Shibuya. Hopefully we're easier on the eyes than the kogal, but I won't take that for granted.



The scariest photo in the world can be found here. Rachel took the second photo of Shibuya Crossing.

Top Ten: Favorite Days in Japan

Aww, since I'm back in Philly, I'm getting nostalgic over here... But I have to proceed...

10. Ikebukuro wackiness: The wackiness was interminable at Ikebukuro on a really rainy day. First we headed out the exit and saw a Cafe Du Monde, the famous beignet and chicory coffee shop from New Orleans, went to one of my favorite stores in Tokyo for more wonderful Japanese pens, and of course, at Namco Namja Town, we saw the scariest toilet in the world, ate ice cream at Ice Cream City (complete with the insane array of flavors in the museum!) and free dumplings at Gyoza Stadium. The craziness refused to stop. You know I love that.

9. Anime festival: This would be higher if there were more freaky otaku and costumed manga crazies, but alas, no. But the sheer magnitude of this ode to anime was worth it, along with the cheap cels, the free useless swag, the awesome mini-concerts and readings, and the costumed babes that looked like they'd rather be working at Lawson's. The night was topped out with some conveyor belt sushi, and who can argue with that?

8. Clubbing, bar-hopping haze: I know there was one particular day when we went to no fewer than six bars in a haze of Japanese debauchery, but don't ask me to give you the details both for my own honor's sake and for my bedraggled memory's sake. I will say that I sang the Celine Dion song from Titanic karaoke-style for a round of drinks and waited in the freezing cold and snow for the best sushi on earth. The rest of the blanks have to remain blank.

7. Kanamara matsuri: Rum and cokes at 10 a.m. in front of guys carving penises out of daikon radish, sausage vendors, and the lollipops. Seriously, this fertility festival was a serious affair for some, but for most it was an excuse to bring out your inner phalliciousness. Afterwards we wandered around Yokohama's Chinatown and while the Chinese food was nothing to write to China about, it was still a fun way to cap off the day. Oh wait, I basically capped it off by incessant giggling . . . "I just went to A PENIS FESTIVAL." Good times.

6. Meeting with Justice Hamada: Second Supreme Court justice I have met, after Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Brown '02 Commencement. It was wonderful to tour the Supreme Court of Japan and meet an amazingly humble man like Justice Hamada.

5. Harajuku, Shibuya, & Meiji jingu (first week in Tokyo): Jet-lagged and bereft of any knowledge of Japanese (but having memorized the subway system already), it was a beyond gorgeous day in January (maybe about 58 degrees) and I headed off to Harajuku on a Sunday. I remember walking, walking, and walking, armed with my Time Out guide and my Tokyo City Atlas and still incredulous that I was in Japan. I befriended some students from Waseda University, and they took me to a little underground café after I agreed to speak with them about America so they could practice their English. We ate the sickly sweet crepes that they sell along Takeshita Dori, the shopping street for Gothloli gear and then we bid farewell, leaving me to peruse Kiddyland, Snoopyland, LaForet, and to trek over to Meiji jingu, where I sat on a bench and people watched for awhile until I walked over to Shibuya just in time to watch the neon illuminate Hachiko at the JR Station. One of my first days, but still goes down in my memory as one of my favorites.

4. Nikko (Day One): Strolling around the UNESCO temples, meeting the friendliest Japanese boy imaginable (who drew my portrait) at a lunchtime restaurant, gorging ourselves on shabu shabu for dinner and drinking Belgian beer after Belgian beer. (No offense to Asahi Super Dry, but you just cannot beat a Belgian white beer after a long day of walking!) Follow that with a comfy ryokan and drunken Scrabble, and you have the perfect weekend getaway.

3. Setsubun: I would guess that I was one of the few non-Japanese people at TUJ who actually knew what the heck Setsubun was, but having celebrated Setsubun every single year at college (Emi brought mame and the essential oni mask home from Japan every year after winter break), I needed to have the real Setsubun experience. I was a bit obsessive about this, as Jeremy might tell you, but it all worked out for the best as it was amazing! We wrestled our way through the crowd to grab crappy free stuff, I almost got maimed by a mochi flying at extremely high velocity, and I learned that Japanese senior citizens are just as passionate about their free swag as American seniors are. Ah, gotta love that WWII generation! Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi! After some tasty CoCo curry, the cute guy at the Peacock Daimaru florist stand gave me my own oni mask. Nice!

2. Hanami day: Jeremy and I caught the train to Kamakura, saw a not-so-large bell but made up for it with delicious amazake, hiked a trail over to Zeniarai Benten, the money washing shrine, got kicked out of a curry place (prompting me to yell like an idiot telling customers not to go in there in my broken Japanese) but made up for it with sweet potato ice cream. After which I met Rachel, Joe, and other classmates at Ueno Park for a hanami; I sat under the sakura, drank a lot of wine and Sapporo and liqueur (but not enough to incur a hangover), met some interestingly smashed Japanese women with a penchant for Jim Beam and some American, Canadian, and British English teachers. A quick trip over to Akihabara afterwards was worth it if only to see this guy and get the full-on otaku experience. I think if there is a quintessential day in Tokyo, this is it.

1. Kyoto: I guess this isn't just one day, but it feels like one long dreamy day and it's hard to pick one of the three days that Yvonne and I were there. Some examples: seeing geisha dashing to their appointments in Gion and a huge lit sakura ki in the park, the gorgeous Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji, walking the back trails to temples and practicing my Japanese, matcha ice cream floats and grilled dango and anmitsu and takoyaki, and finding cute little trinkets that I thought I would find in Tokyo, but could not. I'll go on: the spectacular view at Kiyomizu-dera and drinking the water that will hopefully help me to live to be 100, drifting down the sakura-laden Philosopher's Path in awe, the friendliness of the Kyoto people, bamboo forests and lush countryside, and Japanese brides and beautiful old women in heirloom kimono, and... Yes, I need to go back to Kyoto before I turn 30.

[Namjatown, Shibuya, and Roppongi trees taken by Rachel!]