Waseda University has the largest number of international students in Japan at almost 3,000. Although the vast majority are from Asia, and hence don’t stick out in a crowd, it isn’t as uncommon to see Caucasians walking between Waseda University and Takadanobaba Station as it is in most other parts of Japan. There aren’t nearly as many gaijin faces as you’ll see in Harajuku, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Hiroo, or Roppongi though. That said, shops on Waseda Doori, linking Waseda University and Takadanobaba Station, aren’t very surprised to see us. However, if we stray off the beaten path a bit, things change rather dramatically.

We live on the border of Shinjuku-Ku and Bunkyo-Ku. A three-minute walk to the north puts us in Bunkyo-Ku. Outside of Ikebukuro, there don’t seem to be many Caucasians in Bunkyo-Ku. So when we walked into the above restaurant in Bunkyo-Ku it felt like we were the first foreigners to have ever entered their doors.

The couple that ran the place seemed slightly worried until they realized I could communicate with them just fine. The lady was so sweet. She kept bringing more and more side dishes over even though we hadn’t ordered them. We received the “special” treatment.

I ordered sukiyakidon (thinly-sliced beef with raw egg, onions, and a sweet sauce over rice). Everything else you see in the above photo was a free “gaijin” bonus.

My wife ordered ebitenpura soba (battered and fried shrimp in a soup of thin noodles) and had a few freebies tossed in as well.

Related posts:

1. 早稲田通り Waseda Street This is the view each day as my kids walk home down Waseda Doori toward our apartment halfway between Takadanobaba Station (高田馬場駅 – just behind me when I took...
2. Slight change of plans As previously mentioned, we will be living near Waseda University in Shinjuku-Ku in Tokyo. However our date has changed to probably an August 13 departure and our apartment has...
3. Waseda University – Part 2 My last post on Waseda University was so popular, and one person who responded wanted more, that today I will offer a part two. This first photo, above, is...
4. Shabu Shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ) There are tons of restaurants between Takadanobaba Station and Waseda University. Our apartment is located right in the middle of them all. The restaurants are almost all winter-related menus...
5. Yakiniku restaurant in Shinjuku This yakiniku restaurant can be found on the top floor of the Shinjuku NS Building. ...

Posted on October 15th, 2009 under Japan • Tags: food, nishi-waseda, people. • RSS 2.0 feed • You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed