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The sign on the window says the udon (うどん) is made by hand. If you don’t believe the sign you need only to peer through the glass for proof.
I took this photo in the giant, underground, shopping complex sort of attached to the Kawasaki Station.
When the nights are cold in Japan you can sometimes hear the call “ya ki i mo” (やきいも) after dark. Heading out into the cold darkness you will discover someone like this man selling baked sweet potatoes out of a cart or the back of a mini-truck. I spotted this guy next to the Kanda River.
It appears from his license plate that he came all the way in from Hachioji to sell them two for 500 yen.
Dessert pizza at Shakey’s in Tokyo anyone?
You don’t have to go to Japan to find good ramen anymore. Not that you can find five shops per block like you could in my old Nishi-Waseda neck of the woods, but we discovered Toshi’s Ramen in Eugene, Oregon the day after Thanksgiving. There wasn’t any tonkotsu on the menu, but you could choose from shoyu, miso, or shio broths. Possible toppings included pork (much leaner than any I experienced in Japan), corn, garlic, green beans, butter, bean sprouts, green onions, seaweed, and bamboo shoots. The noodles are hand made at Toshi’s. However, they were thinner than most I had in Japan. I like them a little thicker. I didn’t try the gyoza but will next time.
Here is a photo of the bowl I had, miso with corn, garlic, pork, green beans, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts.
Few things in Japan can be had for under 100 yen. These candy sticks were one of them at just 10 or 15 yen each. The contents of the fancy packages are a flaky, flavored, hallow stick of sorts. Some of these are Chocolate Flavor (チョコレート). I think うまい棒 is the brand name (or maybe the name of the treat) which means something like “delicious stick.” Corn portage (コーンポタージュ) is the flavor on the far left.
This is a picture of Chanko or Sumo Soup. You can actually purchase and consume Chanko at the Sumo arena (Ryogoku Kokugikan) in Tokyo if you know where to look and are there at the right time. I took this picture there last September. The price can’t be beat at just 250 yen a bowl. I went back for seconds.
The November tournament in Kyushu just finished, and it turned out far more exciting than I predicted a couple weeks ago. Toyonoshima lost just one match to become the first Japanese sumo wrestler with a chance to win the tournament in many years. However, he lost a playoff to Hakuho, who also had only one defeat, extending Hakuho’s dominance of the sport.