Ginzaline

February 18, 2016

Return of the Weekend Curry Unit

They’re back. After a long break, Tokyo Masala Boys return to hostel Nui this Sunday Feb 21. You can almost taste it. Shintaro and Ken team up with Mr Negra and his pork vindaloo and potato pepper. It’s going to be irresistible. Words can’t do it justice. So we’ll let Facebook translate. (who is Mr Negra?…

February 16, 2016

Steam Punk Chinese Has Shut Down

When stores end their term around this neighbourhood, phew, they just go. Shouta Ramen, Uogashi Sushi, so many others recently. Whoosh. It used to be a pleasure at Inaricho to sit back in the narrow black room behind the faded sci-fi facade of Fukuraiken, almost salivating in anticipation of the powerful flavours of Mr Yao’s cabbage…

February 15, 2016

Theatre Walk

He is a frequent late night sight, moving at his measured pace up Kokusai Dori. Shohachi Ishikawa always seems the same, always cheerful against his sober kimono and dark hat. Often he is accompanied by two other men, younger, also elderly. They defer to him. Perhaps they all come from one of the theatres. He…

February 8, 2016

Clockwise

My, this is an impressive safe. Yep this is certainly some safe. They don’t make them like this any more. I guess it weighs about two or three tons. It’s been here about a hundred years! So through the earthquake of 1923? Yep. And through the wartime US firebombing? Pretty much right on this spot.…

January 26, 2016

Safari Street

Can I take your photo. No. Yes. If you pay me 500 yen. Where’d you get your clothes. Nakamise [tourist strip in Asakusa]. Good haircut. Yeah.

December 25, 2015

merry christmas

November 30, 2015

Pulling Pork

A Parisian poet early in the 20th century was known to walk a lobster in the park, on a blue ribbon. The surrealist Guillaume Apollinaire wrote that the poet, whose name was Gérard de Nerval, said, I have affection for lobsters. They are tranquil, serious and they know the secrets of the sea. This is…

November 18, 2015

Geranium

Yes, hello, isn’t this a splendid flower? Me, live here? No I don’t live here. I just thought I would stop and count the petals. But there are too many. Well, it is indeed a lovely flower. I must be going. Yes, see you.

November 15, 2015

Last Rushes

Young Morita, the tatami-maker off Kappabashi, doesn’t give the family business much time. He says, In 10 or 20 years there will be no tatami in Japan. This is what people want. He goes to the back and pulls out a synthetic blue carpet tile. Fifty centimetres square, he says, matter-of-factly. He holds it up.…

October 20, 2015

Debts to Pleasure

Mr Minagawa plugs in a guitar, lays it flat on his thighs, Hawaiian-style, and reels off some riffs. He picks up a ukulele. Strums it charmingly. I’m only pissing about, he says. All I really want to do is muck around. He waves his hand about his nicely smoke-yellowed shop. You know, I can listen…