SHINJUKU 2X - up and about on yet another hot humid japanese day. we meet up with mitsu outside of shinjuku JR central east gate. this place is densely populated. japan just had their election running and the incumbent, and my personal favourite, kaizumi, won the majority. walking out of JR shinjuku, i was interviewed by one of the news channels, to which i simply replied, "Kaizumi! Number 1! Woo Hoo!" take that japan media and edit it. ha.
first order of business, kaiten sushi! these are relative inexpensive rotating sushi bar frequent the busier places of tokyo. something about eating fish by conveyance seems appealingly surreal. yum.
much later, us three meet up with takashi and begin our bipedal tour. wandering through the west-end, we find a cloistered little korea town, which even has a restaurant called "Daehan Mingook" translated as the republic of korea (south ofcourse). leaving my homeland for some other time, we wander through "golden gai" or golden area, which is a street filled with bars, izakayas, many owned by yakuzas and gaijin unfriendly.
hurrying along we come across the friendlist, generous and gregarious sushi mamas i have ever met. she loves cat, like many of the japanese, but is obsessed with sumo. she has one of the top sumo wrestler's hand print proudly displayed
above the bar. we came during the great sumo tournament season, and so at everywhere, we get to watch some great tv excitement. my personal favourite shinjuku memory. i even tried horse sashimi. i regret that inspite many attempts to retrace my drunken
stumbles, i have been unable to find the place again. perhaps it was some hallucinatory establishment conjured by the alleycats. there are always cats lounging in these streets, hip izakaya cats. is there any other culture as obsessed as japan?
stumbling along, we stop at a reggae bar, order north american style drinks and lose mitsu to the land of nod. one person lighter, we float down the streets and find a cheap little yakitori, after bumping into a drunk business man and his mistress of the night. once inside, we
proceed to drink away and everyone starts to reminisce over past japanese tv dramas. ellen and takashi pick the brains of the barkeep for all the names of the faded tv stars. our beer drank, and with the stars faded, we pour out into the winding
alleys and wind up at a quiet little shrine hidden in the middle of shinjuku's wheeling dealing bustle hustle. such a sharp counter-point to its surroundings, it places us in a tranquil and settled state. quiet reflections blossom in our minds, our souls quieted, we drift on home. ellen and i to takanodai, takashi to ready for a trip to cambodia, philipines with kumiko. we bid farewell as our friend floats away into the night.