Saturday, May 30, 2009
10:10 PM JST
Matsuura-san’s Home, 大船
Well now that 大阪 is done and over with, I’m not going to dwell on it and try to write a new entry for each day, I’ll just write one big entry with an overview. Haha! Overall, Kansai was a pretty good way to dive right into Japan. I feel like the people were a lot nicer and more straightforward than they are in Tokyo (not to mention a bit better looking), but I was also happy to get some of the, “We hate foreigners” bias out of the way early on.
We got to do a lot of really cool things for our ethnographic research over the course of the week, in spite of the fact that we were staying in what is essentially the Bronx of 大阪. For one, Sam, Kenji and I traveled to 京都 to meet a man named Kanazawa who has worked for NHK as a cameraman for a number of years. He showed us many of the famous temples in 京都, particularly those known for their sweet water. This same day, we were lucky enough to meet and interview Matsumoto-san, the president of the Matsumoto Brewery. The things he told us about Japanese sake were incredible, and it was an overwhelming experience to be talking with someone of such stature, and to be welcomed into his personal space. Wow.
I also had the opportunity to tour the Maruchan Instant Noodle factory near Kobe. Personally, I was very tired, and very nervous to meet these men, because they have such a history with my professor and hold such stature in the business world. Toyo Suisan is a gigantic company, and for us to be invited to visit the factory was a big deal. We were very important guests to them, and they treated us like it. For more than eight hours, we were constantly served coffee, food, desserts, and given presentations about the Maruchan Factory. We got to tour their facilities, and even got to go into a giant icebox that is kept at -50F! Holy shit that was cold! I have never seen so much steam come off of my breath, and I was even warned to cover my ears to make sure they didn’t get frost bitten. Haha, Kenji started coughing and looked like he was keeling over and dying. It was pretty funny. I felt bad for him though. X(
At the end the company men even took us out for dinner and 飲み会. Wow, this was really special, and probably one of the best highlights of this trip for me so far. We went to a gorgeous Japanese restaurant, sat down in a room with all of the company men (and one woman), and were immediately served food and drink. We started with amazing sashimi, and then had shabu shabu with vegetables and slices of Kobe beef (shabu shabu is essentially a pot of boiling water in which you swish the beef or vegetables twice through and then eat them). The company men ate with us, talked with us, and continuously poured more alcohol into our cups than we were able to pour into theirs. This is something that only Japanese businessmen get to experience, and to be here observing it was really awesome. Also, I have a funny story from this night. At one point, the head of the plant came and sat down next to me. He continuously poured drinks for Loretta and I, and kept piling food onto our plate. Essentially, we were being forced to eat and drin
k by this large Japanese man. At one point, I ate some mochi, choked on it, and almost threw up. The ENTIRE ROOM stopped what it was doing, nervously checked on me to see if I was going to be okay. I try to get out that I am 大丈夫, and what happens? The manager brings his chopsticks up from the shabu shabu pot, shouts, “UDON!” and starts piling fresh udon noodles onto our plates. HAH! I thought I was going to die, but that’s something I will NEVER forget for the rest of my life. Sam also made sure to challenge one of the company men to a drinking contest with me. We shared a shot of warm sake, after which I became known as ざるのジェフ (that means “tank” in Japanese).
One of my favorite parts of Kansai was the nightlife in both 大阪 and 京都. We often made the trip into 道頓堀 to walk the streets, shop, karaoke, and visit the bars with each other. Because of the flu-phobia, everything was basically dead, but it was really nice to sit, have a beer, and talk with my friends. 道頓堀 was pretty fun because we almost missed t
he train every night (I can recall the first night having to take a cab back, and another night running full of beer trying to catch the last train). I think moreso than 道頓堀, 京都 proved better for nightlife. The one night we did spend out in 京都 was ridiculously fun. Kenji, Loretta, Sam and I started off at a good izakaya near the Evisu the Kyoto store, had a few Moscow meals, a few small appetizers, and then headed over to a really sweet jazz bar called, “Blue Note.” This was unlike anything I have ever experienced. We walked in, and nearly every person in the bar was holding an instrument, waiting to get up front and improv with the “band.” We ordered a drink, sat down, and watched as people got up and played incredible music, while others listened and interacted with them. It was smoky, lit with blue lights, and the ambiance and atmosphere was surreal. It was so, so, SO frickin’ cool. Something like this would NEVER happen in America. Of course, Sam got up and played two songs, and after he was done we booked it out to the train (Surprised? We were trying to make the last one!) a
nd headed back to 大阪.
Everything in Kansai was awesome, from the food to the entertainment to the interviews. I can’t wait to see what 東京 holds for us. Assuming I have a better internet connection, I will be trying to update more frequently from here on out. We’ll see though. I’ve been saying this for a while. I’ll post again though, for sure. =) PEACE!
PS- Hopefully all of you can read the Kanjis, but if you can’t, 大阪 is Osaka, 京都 is Kyoto, 東京 is Tokyo, and 道頓堀 is Douton Bori. Also, the first picture is of the area where we stayed in Osaka, next is me and Loretta with the head of the Maruchan Plant, the second is me and Loretta at the izakaya in Kyoto, and this last picture is the Jazz Bar we went into in Kyoto. If you look closely, you can see a pasty white boy playing guitar. That's Sam. Anyway, see you all! ^^
ai definitely holds a special place in my heart. It was really amazing, the people were good looking, the food was delicious, and overall (sans the whole 外人 thing), everything was really fun. After being with a group of people CONSTATLY for a little over a week, I guess I’ve developed a bit of separation anxiety. I miss joking around with Sam, Loretta, and Kenji, and hitting the town on a nightly basis to see what kind of crazy things we’ll get ourselves into (Sam and Kenji even ran into Yakuza!).
Anyway, the next day my host father, Mr. Matsuura, gave everybody in the group a tour of the most famous temple in Kamakura. It was really cool to see, especially since his wife’s grandfather was samurai class and descends from the Genji family. WHOA right? They are really cool interesting people, and are really interested in the history of Kamakura, which I really respect. After the tour we returned to the hotel, and went off with our respective host families. The Matsuuras made me and Nathan dinner. I don’t remember exactly what we had, but it was delicious. Japanese food in general is delicious. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get back to the United States. I will really strive to eat healthier, consumer more vegetables and rice and less meat, but it’s not going to be the same. And God knows the sushi in the US is going to SUCK compared to Japan. ESPECIALLY the sashimi! xP
the fish was, Mr. Matsuura tried to translate it for me, but I’d never heard of it before. *shrug * Oh welll....
We got to do a lot of really cool things for our ethnographic research over the course of the week, in spite of the fact that we were staying in what is essentially the Bronx of 大阪. For one, Sam, Kenji and I traveled to 京都 to meet a man named Kanazawa who has worked for NHK as a cameraman for a number of years. He showed us many of the famous temples in 京都, particularly those known for their sweet water. This same day, we were lucky enough to meet and interview Matsumoto-san, the president of the Matsumoto Brewery. The things he told us about Japanese sake were incredible, and it was an overwhelming experience to be talking with someone of such stature, and to be welcomed into his personal space. Wow.
k by this large Japanese man. At one point, I ate some mochi, choked on it, and almost threw up. The ENTIRE ROOM stopped what it was doing, nervously checked on me to see if I was going to be okay. I try to get out that I am 大丈夫, and what happens? The manager brings his chopsticks up from the shabu shabu pot, shouts, “UDON!” and starts piling fresh udon noodles onto our plates. HAH! I thought I was going to die, but that’s something I will NEVER forget for the rest of my life. Sam also made sure to challenge one of the company men to a drinking contest with me. We shared a shot of warm sake, after which I became known as ざるのジェフ (that means “tank” in Japanese).
he train every night (I can recall the first night having to take a cab back, and another night running full of beer trying to catch the last train). I think moreso than 道頓堀, 京都 proved better for nightlife. The one night we did spend out in 京都 was ridiculously fun. Kenji, Loretta, Sam and I started off at a good izakaya near the Evisu the Kyoto store, had a few Moscow meals, a few small appetizers, and then headed over to a really sweet jazz bar called, “Blue Note.” This was unlike anything I have ever experienced. We walked in, and nearly every person in the bar was holding an instrument, waiting to get up front and improv with the “band.” We ordered a drink, sat down, and watched as people got up and played incredible music, while others listened and interacted with them. It was smoky, lit with blue lights, and the ambiance and atmosphere was surreal. It was so, so, SO frickin’ cool. Something like this would NEVER happen in America. Of course, Sam got up and played two songs, and after he was done we booked it out to the train (Surprised? We were trying to make the last one!) a
nd headed back to 大阪.
retty cool!
Probably the highlight of the night was spending time with the restaurant owner and businessmen who were also eating there. A buncha guys from JAL were all eating and drinking together, and became pretty animated towards the end of the meal. It was a lot of fun. The owner is a skilled shamisen player, and at one point took one down off of the wall and played for everybody in the restaurant. He offered me the taiko drum, and essentially forced me to play with him for two or three songs. I thought I did a pretty crappy job, but apparently the salarymen thought I was pretty skilled.
