I have been quite remiss with my posts of late...not posting but certainly not missing. Fortune and a heavy workload has meant a long but rewarding foray into the bowels of Tokyo. It only seems like yesterday that I was previously lost in the streets of Tokyo but the time lapse can be translated in years and not I am afraid, days. But here I am once again, but this time, I have arrived during the hottest summer on record...hot enough to fry the proverbial egg on the 'yakitori grill' of a pavement. Nevertheless, I have found the energy and inclination to wander the streets, tempt the tastebuds and appreciate a great deal of what this wonderful city has to offer.
The delicate cuisine of Japan has featured quite prominently on this trip and I was fortunate last evening, to share my table with Japanese colleagues and partake in a rather sumptuous feast comprising among other delicacies; impossibly red octopus, ridiculously fresh sashimi, lovingly prepared anchovies and...hideously slimy calf bowel! Best not to ask really, though unfortunately, I did. It was however, a marvellous experience and one not usually available to the odd, vague westerner with a touch of heat exhaustion!
The beautiful gardens of Tokyo have also played an important role in my attempts to find a shady spot and a cool breeze in the burning midday heat and nowhere in the world does gardens quite like the Japanese. Every glade and rippling pond brings delight as well as a chance to mop the perspiration from the eyes.
It is with the aim of replenishing lost fluids that I have found a comfortable, and air-conditioned table at Goodbeer Faucets, a sleek and modern establishment in the heart of Shibuya. With more than 40 micro beers on offer, one can not complain of being short of choice. It would seem more than a little churlish not to drink beer in such an establishment so, selecting the bar's own Nide Beer, I can start to relax and contemplate just how many 440ml glass of this nectar I will need to down in order to feel human again!
Tokyo is everything you imagine it is...actually, it is everything you ever imagined! Before I arrived, I thought it would be interesting, but I never imagined it would really have everything. Oh! I do go on. Tempering my hand, I imagined the concrete canyons, I imagined the shopping, I imagined the lights, I imagined the food and I expected the orderly nature of things, but I never imagined that I would feel simpatico with it all. I usually have an appreciation for the chaotic, but in Tokyo, I have an appreciation for the chaotic order of what it is. None of it makes sense but it all fells right. I am sorry reader, but that it just what it is! It all just feels right! It is visually loud but aurally quiet...it is atheistically wrong but so stylistically spot on...it is...just is! This will no doubt upset the purists, but Tokyo is Ikebana, that art form in which nature and humanity are brought together. In attempting to bring nature and humanity together in my own very special way, I have settled on a subtle yet delightfully potent homemade Umeshu for my evening tipple; that wonderful Japanese sweet, sour plum liqueur made from steeping ume fruits in the best available sake, well, any alcohol really. I have been truly blessed by being invited to a sublime private, and might I say, incredibly salubrious Shimokitazawa sanctuary to imbibe in the very best. Life is indeed at its best!
Takayama has charm, it has history, it has sumptuous Hida beef and it...produces excellent sake and ji-biru. Heaven in one, no two glasses, and all wrapped up in one compact, friendly town. No need to walk far for the nightly tipple, but it is indeed, a delightful place to walk around if the mood takes. From the ancient merchant houses of San-machi Suji to the surrounding hills, each vista is like the post cards of old...complete with rickshaws and local citizens authentically dressed in traditional garb...because it is part of their lives.
Tradition also seeps into Takayama's very interesting and note worthy restaurants. Hida beef aside (a close rival to the more famous wagyu beef), the numerous dining establishments in the narrow lanes also serve the area's speciality, sansai ryori, concoctions that comprise of local mountain vegetables, ferns and wild plants. Absolutely delicious but one would be totally incapable of producing such dishes anywhere outside of the immediate vicinity of Takayama. Mind you, would one want to? After all, it is best washed down with one of the three locally produced beers from the Kori Kori no Kuni Brewery...a brand with which I was not familiar before I arrived in Takayama. But let me tell you, I am definitely familiar with it's charms now.
I am in Kanazawa and it is stunning. I know you have heard it all before but dear reader, Kanazawa really is! It has an imposing castle, it boasts a ninja temple, it is graced by one of Japan's most renowned and beautiful gardens, and to top it all off, there are samurai houses and a marvellous clutch of elegant geisha teahouses. Enough? Not by a long shot. As remarkable as the traditional arts are in Kanazawa, what is overwhelmingly amazing is that which is new. Modern Japan is well represented here and it has been fully embraced by the local population. Public art abounds and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, like a giant algebraic puzzle in itself, houses an amazing collection of permanent pieces. I know of nowhere else where you can walk into a swimming pool and look up at those from beneath the water...and remain dry! (Leandro Elrich's aptly named, Swimming Pool) Although Kanazawa is a sprawling city, it is paradoxically compact, thank goodness, and is easily accessed by foot. Taking my cue from this remarkable city, I have found a compact but perfect location to sprawl for my evening tipple...the uber special Mizuho "Junmai Daiginjo" sake. This tipple is locally produced at the Fukumitsuya Sake Brewery and has come highly recommended...it certainly lives up to its reputation.
Konnichiwa. Eigo ga dekimasu ka?
The Land of the Rising Sun...but before I deliberate, let me pay homage to the distinctly proud and resilient Japanese people who have suffered so much of recent times. I take my hat off to you.
Kyoto is polite, it is dignified, it is beautiful and...it lurks behind secretive screens. My goodness what a place!! From the Philosophers Walk to the sublime temples of the eastern hills of Higashiyama, I am totally captivated by this city. With traditional wooden houses, the click-clack of gita and the frequent flourish of brightly coloured silk, Kyoto is culture personified. But it is not out in the open. The first glimpse of Kyoto can be somewhat disappointing, but take a look around and it is all here, albeit relatively exclusive. Outsiders like me, can only peek through the cracks of the not so long gone centuries, but you can get a glimpse of the city's secretive soul if you look. Replete with fascinating temples and Zen gardens to the absolute, one really must exercise the muscles yet again and...walk. It is worth taking the time to search behind the new department stores and shopping arcades and just take it all in. Take it all in, as I have, with a side of complete extravagance at a delightful tea house in the Eastern Hills, particularly at one that serves the wonderfully balanced sake that is Urakasumi, from the Miyagi prefecture. One can not say that it is the best, but it is certainly a sake that I can recommend.
