Japan Stories: August 1999

1095 tasty dishes

Early on in our stay, we resolved to try lots of different kinds of food while we're here. Tokyo has thousands and thousands of restaurants, so even if you're not into squishy Japanese delicacies, you can find every other kind of cuisine you can think of. When Jan went to Tokyo's Waseda University back in 1988 to begin his junior year abroad, the Dean Hozumi of Waseda gave a speech in which he encouraged everyone to try new things, including lots of "tasty dishes". He calculated that, with something like 303 days between the beginning of the school year and the end, we should have "909 opportunities to eat tasty dishes". He was making the worthwhile point that the students had come all the way to Japan for an experience, and so they should make the most of it by getting away from the familiar and trying new things.

We figure we're here for here for a year or so, giving us (by Dean Hozumi's calculation) at least 1095 opportunities to eat tasty dishes.

Tasty dish #2: Tucking into a lunch of sushi served on conveyor belts

So far, we've been pretty good about living by the tasty dish rule and seeking out new experiences. Tasty dish experience #6 (dinner on the evening of our second full day), for example, is Chinese food in "Hell". Our friends James Gwertzman and Maggie Tucker take us to Seiryumon ("The Blue Dragon Gate") restaurant in Shinjuku, renowned for its unusual decor. There are two levels to the restaurant: the upper one is "Heaven", and the lower one is "Hell". We choose to eat in "Hell", because it's supposed to more interesting (natch). To get into the restaurant, James has a to give a password at a iron-bound wooden door with a small grill in the middle. The door opens, and we're admitted into a dark, narrow cell with iron bars, where we have to wait while they prepare our table. Entering the restaurant proper, we're led through the ribs of a large dragon to a small corner table. Every hour on the hour, the dragon wakes up and breathes some fire while the lights flash. The Chinese food is pretty good, if expensive (like everything else) and small (like everything else). The restaurant is definitely worth the trip. They also have rather interesting bathrooms, but we really can't do spoil the fun surprise—you have to come see them for yourselves.

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