In this post, I'm going to cover a few odds and ends from my time around Tokyo. Next time, I'll leave the Kanto region and start delving into Nara and Kyoto.
This run down apartment building was just across the street from the
first Ryokan where I stayed, in
Hongou. It looks like classic Bohemian student housing. The architecture in residential areas in Japan seems to be much more heterogeneous on average than it is in the US; neighboring houses frequently vary widely in vintage, materials and style.
Here's me at a
kaiten-zushi (rotating sushi) joint near the University of Tokyo in Hongou. I wasn't bold enough to place special orders, and just sampled what was going by on the conveyor belt. The plates are color-coded by price, and tea is self service via hot water taps and a tin of powered
ocha with a measuring scoop. The other important culinary establishment in Hongou was
Hotto Motto, a fast food chain where the
bentou (lunch box) style food was hot, cheap, and surprisingly tasty.
I didn't spend as much time in
Ikebukuro as I might have, just a quick visit near the beginning of the trip. I made a quick dash through the
Tora no Ana branch there, then headed to
Cinema Sunshine to watch the
Gurren Lagann: Guren-hen movie, which was fantastic, though it was pretty much just a straightforward compilation of the first half of the TV series, except for its final 15 minutes. Fellow traveler Sujith went to see
Hokuto no Ken: Zero, which was playing at the same theater, while Ray continued
doujinshi shopping at Tora no Ana.
The most convenient way to get into the JR train system when I was staying in Hongou was to head to
Ochanomizu, which is between Hongou and
Akihabara. Here is one of a pair of picturesque bridges over the Kanda River, viewed from the Ochanomizu JR station.
Here's the view of the river and JR station from the western bridge, looking east. The brightly lit buildings on the horizon are in Akihabara, I believe. I saw this scene many times, transferring between trains after late nights in Akiba.
One of the best meals I had in Japan was in Ochanomizu, at an
izakaya (traditional eatery and drinking establishment) called
Kanda Wadatsumi. The sashimi was excellent, and we tried out some other odds and ends, too, like
oden. A few items were above my Japanese cuisine rating, such as a grayish paste--I can't recall the name--apparently crab-based and meant to accompany drinks, but overall the American contingent made a good showing at the table. R-
san gets the credit for recommending Kanda, and also kindly pointing us in the direction of one of her favorite brands of
sake,
Hakkaisan, which it turns out is available in the US. I recently picked up a bottle at the
Mitsuwa shopping center in Jersey.
While waiting for the
Shinkansen (Bullet Train) to Kyoto, I picked up a Tokyo Station
bentou.
Shinkansen stations each offer their own lunch boxes, made with local, seasonal foods. As prepackaged chow goes, it was awfully good.
I got down to the big city this past Sunday to catch the New York premiere of the first two chapters of a planned trilogy of live-action 20th Century Boys films. The movies were shown as part of the New York Asian Film Festival, at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village. It's an involved process for me to get to lower Manhattan, but 20th Century Boys was well worth the trip: the movies were fantastic. The first chapter, especially, was riveting; the 2.5 hour run time flew by. The second film was a bit slower, and rapidly multiplying plot threads came dangerously close to causing the whole thing to come apart at the seams, but it still managed to entertain while setting up a third chapter that is going to be epic. Part 3 comes out in Japan in August, and the IFC people promised to try to bring it over as quickly as possible.
New York area fans who missed the first showing of the 20th Century Boys double feature will have another chance next month. There will be a repeat performance at the Japan Society on July 4, with complimentary food and beer during the intermission. The films are eminently worthwhile: Naoki Urasawa's sprawling tale of reluctant heroes, evils cults bent on world domination, pop nostalgia, and persistent childhood traumas has received an adaptation that does the original justice. You simply will not see better summer movies than these this year.
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