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We went to Japan with every expectation of enjoying the food. We’d had what purported to be authentic sukiyaki in San Francisco in 1970 and had vague memories of having enjoyed at least the experience and probably the food as well. I’d had what purported to be authentic sushi in Seattle in 2003 and had vivid memories of enjoying both the experience and the food (though there was too much of it). Returnees from Japan (my parents among them) had prepared food that was at least Japanese-inspired, and my Japanese sister-in-law had occasionally treated us to Japanese fare. So we were predisposed to welcome the Japanese dining experience. And for the most part we did. The younger members of our party were perhaps more adventurous, sampling such staples of the culture as soba (buckwheat noodle) stands. The rest of us were more conservative in our choices (and somewhat limited by location and mobility). At the outset we embraced all things Japanese. Our first meal in Osaka was a lavish breakfast buffet at Windows on the World at the top of the Hilton. Like most of the breakfast buffets we experienced, it offered a stupefying selection of both Japanese and Western cuisine, and the temptation to mix and match and end up with entirely too much to eat was hard to resist. To be presented with rolls and sweet breads, cereals, fresh fruit (very expensive in Japan) and fruit juices, eggs cooked in a variety of ways, and in addition, the full panoply of a Japanese breakfast: salad, grilled fish, miso soup, noodles, pickles, and a plethora of unidentifiable delicacies (including squares of a strange gelatinous substance that we later learned was jellied fish paste) was overwhelming at first. What a luxury to have smoked salmon every morning! What fun to eat breakfast with chopsticks! The one thing we did find was that the Japanese are more adept at raw meat than cooked: we never got a crisp rasher of bacon in Japan. Scrambled eggs were also very underdone. After a few days this began to pall. We faced the fact that, unless we skipped lunch, there was no way we could get enough exercise to walk off the effects of pigging out on both Japanese and Western cuisine. Knowing, however, that the “free” breakfast included in our tour package would have cost the equivalent of $25 if purchased separately, we felt an obligation to try to get our money’s worth! Once we were on our own, however, we balked at paying this kind of money for this kind of breakfast and were delighted to find that the Japanese version of Denny’s $5 Grand Slam breakfast (two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast or pancakes, salad, juice, and coffee) cost only about $5.75 (¥609) at the Denny’s in Yokohama. For our other meals we depended heavily on “bargain basements.” Real estate in Japanese cities is dear in every sense of the word, very scarce and precious and correspondingly expensive. Consequently, skyscrapers are built not only up but also down, most having several levels underground. These levels are occupied by shops and restaurants (and department stores often have a restaurant floor above ground). The same is true (not surprisingly) of rail and subway stations. Like U.S. airports, these stations provide a variety of shopping opportunities. Like some of their U.S. counterparts, these trackless caverns of subterranean commerce can be very disorienting. We walked many miles in train and subway stations and never ate at the same place twice because we could never find it again. Still, everywhere we ate was good. One Japanese delicacy that we became quite fond of was green tea ice cream. We sampled this first as we were leaving Tōdai-ji and thereafter sought it out wherever ice cream was available. Ice cream in general was very popular, as the weather was quite warm. Whenever we headed back to our tour buses, it seemed the women were aiming for one last trip to the restrooms, and the men were heading for the ice cream stall. We saw many convenience stores (“kombini”) in Japan. Ironically, 7-Eleven currently has the most stores, but Lawson Station (where we shopped in Kyoto) and FamilyMart locations are also numerous. In Yokohama, we frequently had the opportunity to shop in a FamilyMart that was near the hotel. Although our purchases were limited mostly to ice cream bars, we couldn’t help being fascinated by the assortment of edibles on offer. There were many sorts of prepared dishes (which could be warmed up in the microwave on the premises), mixed in with obvious souvenir items, such as cookies with the design of the Yokohama Marine Tower printed on them (these were similar to packages we’d seen—with other designs—at the Fifth Station shop on Mount Fuji and at the rest stops on the expressway). The uniquely Japanese sweets were intriguing (and attractively packaged), but we knew from experience they would not be to our taste. Barney did succumb to one disaster—something he took to be cheese sticks. The word “cheese” was clearly part of the limited English on the package, but it became clear when we opened them that the cheese was just a thread of filling running through wiener-like tubes of something that was obviously made from soybeans! Those, along with the remains of our Pocky and the Quaker oatmeal squares we’d brought from home, were left with Glenn when we departed (and quickly disposed of, he says). Another source of food and drink that is ubiquitous in Japan is vending machines or Jidoohanbaiki, which, in addition to a myriad of nonfood items (especially cigarettes), purvey a variety of both hot and cold items, including canned coffee and tea (hot and cold) as well as a plethora of mysterious Japanese pop and fruit drinks. We heard reports of beer vending machines, but I’m not sure I ever actually saw one; what we did see was soft-drink vending machines branded by Suntory and other beer brewers (I’ve since learned that “About 70% of Japan's beer vending machines were reportedly shut down voluntarily in 2000.”) A word about our meals at Wendy’s, KFC, Denny’s, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and the like. They were not due to any homesickness or cravings for “American” food (certainly not fried chicken or hamburgers). Rather, these were the only restaurants we found where food was not outrageously expensive. Glenn had warned us very candidly what to expect, but it was still a shock. By the time we left we had become somewhat inured to the prices and considered any meal that cost less than ¥2,000 apiece “reasonable,” but we were still glad we don’t have to pay such prices all the time. (Ironically, though, the most expensive meal of the trip was the one we enjoyed in San Francisco before leaving for Japan!) What we found most interesting, however, was the syncretism everywhere in evidence. Western influences on Japanese cuisine were abundant, but of more interest were the Japanese adaptations of Western cuisine. The distinguishing feature of all Japanese meals was presentation. I wish that I had taken a picture of every meal we ate, every buffet we chose from, as nothing could better illustrate the Japanese attention to detail. The photos below, however, will give an idea of what we experienced (click on the thumbnails to see larger photos). Madonna Okonomiyake
As noted on the Day 4 page, the primary ingredient of okonomiyaki is shredded cabbage. When we learned this, we felt it justified our description of it as “fried coleslaw.” Traditionally, it has been described in English as “Osaka pancake” (there is also a distinctive Hiroshima version), and I’ve also seen it described as an “omelet,” but many modern Japanese and Westerners feel that “pizza” better describes both the way it is eaten (in wedge-shaped slices), its composition (a standard base to which toppings selected by the customer are added), and the cultural niche it fills in the Japanese cuisine. Café Cube
551 Horai
Barney and I were so proud of ourselves for having gone to an authentic Japanese restaurant and ordered, received, and consumed a meal without benefit of more than the tiniest smattering of Japanese. To my chagrin, I later learned that 551 Horai is a Chinese restaurant chain! It is also, however, credited with the invention, in 1952, of “butaman,” a Chinese steamed bread (dumpling) filled with minced pork and onion, which can be seen on the 551 Horai home page. Louie’s N.Y. Pizza Parlor
Billed as “A Slice of Italy,” the restaurant promises: “Enjoy authentic Italian cuisine in the relaxed atmosphere of Louie’s dining room, modeled after sets appearing in several famous movies. Try one of our large 45cm pizzas, with a crisp base and our own special sauce for a deliciousness you won’t find anywhere else. There is also a large range of pastas, cakes, gelato and other rich Italian desserts to choose from.” Café de CleverDebby needed to replace her lipstick, which we figured she could do in the huge Daimaru department store in front of the JR Osaka station. We had heard there was a restaurant floor in the Daimaru, but a little research suggested that the restaurants would be pricey, so we decided to explore the subway station mall instead. After rejecting several restaurants as not offering enough seating for our entire party, we settled on this small restaurant, though we still had to wait for several patrons to leave in order to get seats more or less together and as close as possible to the entrance, since there was no nonsmoking area, and the restaurant (like so many other spaces in Japan) was filled with smoke. The shrimp and avocado sandwich (¥370) and iced caffè lattè (¥320) were excellent, and for dessert we couldn’t resist the “pain au chocolat banana” (¥420). Bananas are evidently as much a delicacy in Japan as they are ordinary in the United States. We noticed that bananas vanished from the breakfast buffet as fast as they were put out, and we often took a banana with us when we left the restaurant in the morning. As best I can tell from looking at Web sites entirely in Japanese, Café de Clever is a chain, founded in 1954 and headquartered in Osaka; I saw photos of at least two stores in Osaka that did not look like the one where we ate. Toh-Sai 1
Toh-Sai 2
Café de Anri
Caffè Veloce
Bento en Route to Hakone
Kowakien Hotel
Wendy’sAs can be seen from this map, Wendy's is a very popular franchise in the Tokyo area. We ate at the Shinjuku location twice. Barney had a hamburger both times, but the second time I had a Grilled Chicken Caesar salad. Nikko Kanaya Hotel
Starbucks
Glass Court
Miyako KoshikiAlthough I had Kyoko write down the name of this restaurant, which was on one of the upper floors of the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building, I cannot find out anything about it. It was described to us, however, as a “Japanese-style” restaurant, and we were served (by women in kimono) a “traditional” Japanese meal. The menu, which our guides had written out by hand, was (literatim) as follows:
Café Saisons
Denny’s/McDonald’s
Restaurant Paradiso
Glenn added: “I'll trust [Chef Sakata’s] memory over my own, but I thought there was one more course. Nothing shows up in any of my photos, though.” In addition to the listed items, we consumed several bottles of wine, which made it even more difficult for anyone to remember the menu—not to mention that we were engaged in lively conversation throughout, which probably distracted us from the food. Chef Sakata introduced the first course by saying that he figured we had probably been in Japan long enough to become homesick; the barbecued ribs were intended to provide a taste of home. He also gave a spirited description of the snapper, which is evidently a very nimble fish (or something—it seems no one remembers that, either). Web searches return the information that “itoyori” is not a snapper at all but a name given to various types of “threadfin bream.” Hmm. One of them, however (Nemipterus japonicus, Japanese threadfin bream), does at least seem to be red like a snapper (another common name is “pink perch”). Another variety, the golden threadfin bream, is commonly used to make surimi (minced fish used to make such products as imitation crabmeat and scallops). Bar Mermaid
Café Croissant
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