Happy discovery on our 20th anniversary!

For those who do not know "yaki tori" is one of my passions. It's basically mini kebabs of various meats, chicken, vegetables. I first experienced it within four hours of arriving in Japan 25 years ago. I was told then to look for the little red lanterns outside of shops to find good, cheap, food and drink.
As fate would have it my first apartment was right next to a yaki tori shop. It became my "kitchen" and hangout for several years; the owners becoming great friends.
In this area, southern Chiba, yaki tori shops are few and far between. Fortunately we discovered a new shop the other day and decided to pay it a visit to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We were very happy with our decision.
"Ippo" or "One Step" has been in business for about 4 years now and is run by a former Ground Self Defense Force soldier, coincidentally my former hangout was also run by a former GSDF soldier and his wife. (Ironic that I always wind up around former soldiers.) The picture above shows the shop's logo on a coaster and some very delicious beef "kushi". The shop's layout is very similar to my old hangout in Kyushu. The draft beer comes from a freshly cleaned server lines, this generally not the case in Chiba prefecture. I would say that 8 out of 10 draft beer servers do not have their lines cleaned on a regular basis.

"Fuku Shogun" Nihon shu

Freshly caught "katsuo".

After a draft beer I moved on to the sake (Nihon Shu) pictured here to the right. A very mellow "Fuku Shogun" which means roughly "vice general". I had it at room temperature and it really complimented the fresh young tuna sashimi you see pictured above (the master gutted and cut it right in front of us).
Needless to say we were just beginning to have a good time when other like minded revelers stumbled in and the basic litany of questions ensued as to age, nationality and length of stay in Japan. I'm sure they will get to blood type the next trip. By the way, sports and politics are banned subjects at "Ippo" so we have to leave our soap boxes and logo ball caps at home.
Back to the subject at hand, food! a special item for my Google+ buddy Steve in San Diego who mentioned "mentaiko" just hours before my wife and I left the house. Below you can see beautiful golden brown chicken wings which are stuffed with the above mentioned spiced fish roe, "mentaiko".

Grilled wings stuffed with spiced fish roe!

I think it goes without saying that we will be a frequent patron at "Ippo" in the coming year. It's located in Tateyama not far from Number 3 Junior High School, across the street from Kiyota cake shop.


Below you can see the generous pour of Jack Daniels on the rocks, which led to more silliness and self portraits of happy campers.

Looks like a triple on the rocks!

3 sheets in the wind

Cafe Del Mar, a video visit.

Recently, we got a new action camera and since the only action we see is going out for a cycle or eating in a nice cafe, we decided to see how it works for food reviews and restaurant recommendations. My previous posts featured the wonderful curry and omelette with rice at Cafe Del Mar in Tateyama. Our charming host, Chika san, prepared the Indonesian fried rice you see in the video. Very delicious and mildly spicy. You really should watch the video in full screen. It's only 11 seconds.
As time goes by we hope to show you more video reports from the field. Is this how Anderson Cooper got his start?

Cafe Ohana, Ginza, Tokyo.

Vegetable Curry (front) and Hash Beef 

You can call it fate, good judgement or an innate sense that someplace could be great that often has led me to wonderful, off the beaten path, restaurants. There can be no better example of this than “Cafe Ohana” in Tokyo’s Ginza. With a hungry 18 year old boy by my side and a safe, comfortable choice of a “Subways” sandwich shop right in front of us, I took a chance to walk down a narrow hallway and take the elevator to what has turned out to be our “place to go” for lunch when we are taking photos for my other blog, “Panache Japan” http://panachejapan.blogspot.com/.  
We dropped in, on a whim, for the first time just 2 days before the terrible earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. I was impressed right away with the friendly greeting in English as we entered and the quick, excellent service. Even more so. I was delighted by the thinly sliced ginger pork lunch I had then, which I believed I only posted on Twitter.

Facing the entrance & bar

Last week, June 1st, we returned to Tokyo for a spring photo shoot and began to look for “Cafe Ohana” again. The streets of Ginza as you approach from Yurakcho Station can get pretty confusing amid all the traffic and distractions, but we did manage to locate our landmark “Subways” sandwich shop and the narrow passageway that leads to “Cafe Ohana”. We purposely went there early to beat the rush and were lucky enough to get the interior shots, you see here, of the charming cafe without any other customers. If you look closely on the tables you can see “reserved” signs, a warning to anyone wanting to go there for lunch without calling first. We were lucky.

I had intended to get the pork again, but decided to try the vegetable curry. You can see my meal in the forefront of the food shot along with the “Hash Beef” that my son ordered.

Heir to the throne

Overlooking Ginza

Both meals were wonderful  and not expensive at all,  only coming to ¥2000. The vegetables were fresh and the salad was very crisp.

So I’m sure that the next time we go to Ginza we will at least stop in for coffee, but most likely call and reserve a table for lunch, charming service, great food and a relaxing atmosphere all in one “off the beaten path” cafe.

Cafe Ohana

Tel: 03-3567-4388

Chuo Ku Ginza 3-3-12

Ginza Building 4F

Cafe Del Mar A Place to Rave About!

Scrumptious "Torotoro omelette"

To say I don't often get to rave about a place without taking a long train or bus ride would be a major understatement. Recently while on a bicycle ride in the Hojo Beach area of Tateyama I noticed a new cafe. The veranda and proximity to Tokyo Bay pulled me back one day to try lunch. The cafe was a little busy, but I really wanted to enjoy the deck and the fresh spring air. I ordered a "green curry", pictured below, hoping that it might be like Thai "gang guy" spicy curry. My expectations were exceeded when I tasted the wonderfully spicy dish which I was presented with white rice and a small carrot salad. Not for those who avoid spicy dishes, I warn you, but absolutely perfect for my overjoyed taste buds! I decided that my curry loving son should try it at the first opportunity which was today.

Spicy Green Curry!

He ordered the curry and I decided to try the "Torotoro" omelette, pictured at the top of the page. I often enjoy 'omurice' which is an omelette wrapped around a mound of rice-a Japanese creation that my son is quite good at making for the family. This, my friends, was no ordinary omelette! As spicy and delicious as the curry was, this dish was rich and flavorful. It is now going to be difficult to decide what to order for lunch. They also have individual size pizzas which I'm looking forward to trying late one Saturday afternoon. They close at 6 PM

Japanese are not like Europeans when it comes to eating outside. Cafes and restaurants with "al fresco" dining are difficult to find. In rural areas it's often difficult to find an eatery with an unobstructed view of street or scenery. It's a "privacy" issue. Just ask Google Earth about that problem.

This is not the case at "Cafe Del Mar",  even though you can't see Tokyo Bay, the veranda is spacious and  provides a view of Tateyama's spanish style train station, just a 3 minute walk away.

Finally, I must not forget the service which is charming and bilingual. The young lady who served us spoke English quite well. This led to my eventual question. "You are not from around here are you?"

By all means, if in the area of Tateyama station, visit Cafe Del Mar for a touch of class and great food.

Life will never be the same.

Imagine you've got it made from birth. Your family owns agriculturally rich land and has for generations. It has provided enough money for you to educate your children who have moved off to urban centers for work that is not dirty or tough. Life isn't bad and your eldest son, now in his 50s, has stayed home to continue the tradition. You've modernized harvesting with the latest equipment to make up for the shortage of labor. Life is good.
Then it happens, before spring planting begins a massive earthquake spews a tsunami across your fields, destroying everything in it's path including your eldest son working there. Fate has spared you and your grandchildren who were safe at a school, but everything you had is gone. For good measure, to complete the destruction, much of the sea water lingers in your fields with no way to pump it back to the ocean.
As you read this, imagining yourself in this man's shoes, picture yourself living in a gymnasium with scores of others, including your grandchildren who cry for their parents and have nightmares.
This is not fiction. This is reality for thousands of victims of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. What are they to do? The hopelessness of their plight has driven several to suicide and more can be expected in a country with a tradition of suicide.
Much of the western media have moved on, covering the nuclear plant disaster in Fukushima, badly, or muckraking elsewhere distorting reality to sell advertising. I don't miss the celebrity journalists at all, but the world has an image of Japan being "rich" and able to spring back as it did after Kobe. This is a different story. An urban center is much more resilient than a rural area populated with senior citizens. They are going to need much more than a fighting spirit to embark on a new way of life.
Don't stop imagining what it would be like if it were you in this man's shoes.

After the deluge.

If you look closely at the date of my last post you will see it was March 10th, the last normal day that Japan will experience for many days to come. We were in Tokyo the day before when the Tohoku area had a strong pre-shock to the massive quake that came on the 11th. We didn't notice it as we were probably on a train or in the metro at the time.
Needless to say, I haven't been in much of a mood to blog for the last 3 weeks. We live at the mouth of Tokyo Bay on the end of the Chiba peninsula and have been spared this time. Except for the major hit this area is suffering due to the loss of domestic tourism, life goes on at it's normal tedious pace.  The frustration  I feel living in such rustic surroundings is compounded by sadness for what happened and the inability to take physical action to contribute to recovery. I also have a nagging sensation that like the upstairs neighbor taking off his shoes, the second one is about to drop.
So, I have found myself getting more into the Japanese things that comfort me and give me assurance that an earthquake and tsunami will not keep my people down. I enjoy listening to traditional Japanese music and reading the haiku of my favorite poet, Santoka Taneda. Since spring and cherry blossoms are upon us now I thought I would share a haiku that seems appropriate for the season and recent events.


weeds that may die
any time
blooming and seeding




Peace be with you.

At theses prices, one is enough!

As some of you may know I have dropped a lot of weight over the last 6 months by adapting my lifestyle to my age. I can no longer pound down the beers like I did at a spry young 45 years of age. So when I do imbibe I go for quality over quantity. No more do I guzzle a gallon of "Lite"; so while in Tokyo yesterday I made a quick stop, before boarding the bus home, at a pub that specializes in Belgium beer and poor service(by Japanese standards). The beer you see pictured here was a cherry flavored brew with a 6% alcohol level. At ¥980 plus service charge that comes to about $12 a glass. It was good and I'll probably never have another, unless of course the "bubble economy" comes back and companies start picking up the bar tabs like they did in the late '80s. I get misty eyed just reflecting on those days.