Canada in Japan

Friday Nov 16

I head back to Ikebukuro at around 1PM to meet up with the group so that we can all head over for our reception at the Canadian Embassy.

The Embassy is hosting a little meet and greet for the Canadian artists in attendance and some people from the local Canadian cultural community.

I'm expecting the embassy to be a relatively functional office building but it turns out to be much nicer than that.

Located facing a large park with a clear line of sight to the kitschy Tokyo Tower, the Canadian Embassy is a well designed (Japanese architect no doubt) stone building with numerous interesting Canadian touches. A rock garden on an upper level outdoor terrace features symbolic representations of the many different regions of Canada. The inside of the building is just as impressive with large atria and cathedral like spaces done with what looks like granite. It's probably the coolest building belonging to the Canadian government except perhaps the National Gallery in Ottawa which this building definitely reminds me of.

There are many reception spaces including a large theatre which has been made to resemble a traditional Japanese Noh theater with lights on the ceiling to give the out of doors effect.

Our reception takes place in the Library which is a warm and well lit space containing an extensive collection of Canadian books and periodicals. Displays of the works of our guest artists are laid out on several tables and the artists mill about talking with some of the guests as well as Embassy Staff.

It's not a large crowd but that suits our group nicely. The cultural attaché gives a short speech and then Chris Butcher, TCAF Festival Director and leader of this trip speaks about the group of artists and the goals of our trip to Japan.

Seeing as I'm tagging along for the ride I decide to appoint myself as the photographer for the group and snap some candid party shots with my new camera.

At the end of the reception (which included some maple cookies from Canada and coffee) the artists announced that they would be donating their books on display to the library thereby populating the graphic novel section for the first time.

Following the reception the embassy staff invited us to their lounge for their weekly Friday afternoon happy hour. The lounge was a glass walled room with a stunning view of the Tokyo skyline just now beginning to light up for the evening. The bar served Canadian beer (although I stuck to Japanese). An automatic vending machine dispensed snack foods that were reheated from frozen. I'm told that the Takoyaki (Octopus Balls) were awful. Still a great time was had by all.

At one point our hosts indicated to us that an earthquake had just taken place but it was a small one that most of us hadn't even noticed.

Urban Garden

After Tsukiji I headed to the nearby Koishikawa Korakuen Garden (I'm only saying that once). Tokyo is a very overbuilt city but it does have a few
green spaces and like much of Japan, an effort is made to make things look beautiful.

The gardens are a nice quiet oasis within the concrete and steel jungle of the city but even here you can't completely escape civilization as one whole side of the garden lies innthe shadow of the towering Tokyo Dome Sports Complex and Baseball Stadium.

On my way back from the garden I finally get to try The Pungency. A cold milk tea beverage from the omnipresent vending machines. It's sweet and strong for tea but nowhere near a level of odor and taste to deserve the moniker of The Pungency.

This word, I do not think it means what you think it means

Sushi Breakfast

I was so tired last night after wandering around Harajuku in search of pork dinner that I crashed at around 1030. This meant that I would probably wake up really early the next day.

Sure enough I found myself wide awake at 530. Fortunately I was able to put this to good use since I had been thinking about going to Tsukiji Market at some point for a fresh-off-the-boat Sushi breakfast.

Tsukiji is famous for its 5AM Tuna Auction where freshly caught tuna are auctioned off to the best restaurants in Tokyo (and the world). I've seen the auction in film and on TV and it's pretty amazing to watch. The tuna are much bigger than you expect at hundreds of pounds a head (or is that fin).

I'm not going to be early enough for the auction but I will get there early enough to get into the 2 hour line at Sushi Dai, considered Tsukiji's best fish restaurant.

In the early morning the Subway isn't too crowded. There are a few salarymen heading into work and you can actually get a seat on the train. There are also some schoolchildren in their weird uniforms. Girls in sailor suits and boys in double breasted jackets and short shorts (yes, the boys are the ones in short shorts). I presume that wearing these embarrassing outfits helps instill a sense of inferiority in the children that helps ease them into a life in the extremely hierarchical and authoritative Japanese society.

I get to the market at around 710 and join the already fairly lengthy line. Sushi Dai can only seat 12 people at one time (it's just a sushi counter) and it takes about 30 minutes to be served. There are around 40 people ahead of me so it looks as if I'm in for a long wait.

There are lots of Sushi counters jn Tsukiji, most of which have no line ups and most of which will charge less than 4000Y for 12 pieces if Sushi. Why then am I waiting in line? Well Sushi Dai is still considered the best restaurant in Tsukiji (it's not just coasting on its reputation and review in the Lonely Planet). Plus when I was here last time my brother and I opted for one if the anonymous places and it was just OK. Besides, what else was I going to do between 7 and 9 AM.

I end up passing the time talking to two girls from Malaysia, Aneesa and Eddie. Aneesa is an inhouse lawyer for Tesco (the UK based supermarket chain). We compared notes on our trips to the Fuji region. They went to Fuji Five Lakes which is even closer to the mountain than Hakone.

At around 910 we were let in to the extremely cramped restaurant. Pretty much everyone orders the chef's choice. 10 pieces of sushi plus 4 pieces of maki (sushi roll) plus one more piece of the customer's choice. This costs around 50$ Canadian.

The meal is paced out very leisurely. You are never given more than two pieces of sushi at a time (and usually only one). The pieces include semi fatty tuna, sea urchin, sea eel, mackerel, salmon roe. They are all amazingly good. Each piece is super fresh with its own unique taste and texture.

For our final piece Aneesa and I both select ootoro (fatty tuna) perhaps the most prized of all cuts of tuna. The fish actually melts in your mouth it's so delicate.

As it turned out this was my only sushi meal in Japan. Fortunately I made sure it was a great one.

After the meal we did the traditional walk through of the Tsukiji Fish Market looking at all of the stalls with their fresh catches of the day.

Lost in Harajuku

I head back to the Design Festa gallery in Harajuku. The canvases are almost finished but Rupert has stepped out for a little while.

In the meantime I decide to head to Maisen, a pork Tonkatsu restaurant nearby that is supposed to be one in the best in Tokyo. I've got a map that shows the direct route from the gallery to the restaurant but it's in my backpack so I decide I can figure it out on my own since I have a general sense of where it is located.

As I head north from the galley I am looking for the first right hand turn. Unfortunately the road I am on doesn't seem to have a right hand turn for about half a km. When I finally do turn right I end up on a narrow uphill street running through the back of a residential complex.

I have the sense that I'm going further and further in the wrong direction as there are no longer any stores or commercial properties and I can't even see any well travelled streets.

I should say that I have been walking around all day with a large camera and back pack and that this wandering in the wilderness is getting to be too much. I'm hungry and tired.

Since I know where the restaurant should be I do attempt to course correct by taking the next right I come across. It's another narrow dark street but the street at the end does appear to be better lit.

When I reach the new street I can see that it's definitely more lively. There's a Family Mart and some other well lit storefronts. Pleased that I have managed to return to civilization I continue down the street all the while trying to figure out how to make it back to where the restaurant is supposed to be. So lost in thought am I that I almost miss the fact that I'm suddenly standing right in front of it.

It's a good thing that the restaurant is so prominent and well signed because I might have walked right past it.

My directional sense was good but I had made a wrong turn to start and as a result I had walked more than twice the distance that was actually necessary in order to get from the gallery to Maisen.

Thankfully, the kurobuta pork loin cutlet dinner that I had for 2100Y was as good as its reputation. The cutlet was melt in your mouth tender. Right from the first bite I knew that I would want to come back here again before the trip was over.

The Panko encrusted cutlet also comes with a miso soup (with pork in it), rice, pickles and a massive pile of shredded cabbage. You pour one of several Worcestershire sauces of varying taste and texture over the cabbage which you then eat in tandem with the pork cutlet. There's a nice Yuzu sorbet at the end as a palate cleanser. Amazing dinner. Well worth wandering in the wilderness.