Go to Japan

I first visited Japan 20 years ago. I enjoyed it, but found it a very difficult place.

I was living on my horrible South Dakota professor salary, and everything was SO expensive. I remember buying an apple for $5 and thinking I would never be able to afford to come back. English speakers were almost non-existent, especially in the far north (Hokkaido) and south (Kyushu) where we were staying, and I didn't know a single word of Japanese, so getting around was challenging. I remember standing outside a set of bathrooms just waiting for someone to walk out so I wouldn't go in the wrong one. I got horribly sick (I think I caught some bacterial thing in one of the onzens (hot tubs)) and had to leave a day early, which also happened to be my birthday. I then got stranded in the Tokyo airport for 24 hours because of a flight cancellation or something (I was so sick I don’t remember much). The food was great but I didn't know what I was eating half the time, and I didn't know enough Japanese to even ask. I was able to visit a couple of amazing volcanoes, but all in all it was just plain tough.

Sitting on Mount Unzen during my first trip to Japan in 1995.

Through the years, I've found it hard to recommend it to my non-wealthy friends because I had such a rough time. Since signing up for this voyage and realizing I’d get another chance to visit, I've been very curious about how things might be different.  I have three words of advice for all of you after our week there.

Go to Japan.

Wow. What a spectacular place, and wow have things changed. Let’s start with the food. Hell, let’s end with the food too. Luckily, the prices for things in Japan are very similar to what we would pay in Colorado, so we could afford to really enjoy ourselves this time. And even though I know the same amount of Japanese as 20 years ago, luckily the Japanese are better with languages than I am, so English can get you by.

Hisao...

Hisao, Karen and some old guy.

This is Hisao Fukuda. He is one of my Newt (Phi Kappa Nu) brothers from college, and I haven’t seen him since we graduated 30 years ago. We reconnected by Facebook, and when I found out we were visiting Tokyo I asked him if he had time to get together. I’m still shaking my head at the day we had with him and his family.

Hisao knows about food. Man, does he know food. He worked for the USDA for a while, and then the US Embassy in Tokyo, and now he is back in the food industry there. I knew he did something with food because he is always posting these ridiculous pictures of food on Facebook. He met us the morning we arrived in Yokohama at the port with his daughter Michelin.

Michelin is a chef, and apparently a damn fine one as well.  She just left New York, where she worked for Morimoto. Yes, thatMorimoto, of Iron Chef fame. We first went to Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji fish market. Michelin showed us all of this amazing seafood, and so much of it wasn't really recognizable to us in its most primitive state. One of the coolest things I would have never noticed is how different Japanese wasabi is from some of the stuff we normally get in the states. More fragrant, and to me a little sweeter. Then we had a “snack” of tuna and rice from one of the local vendors. Sooooo good.

Michelin pointing out some of the tasty morsels
in the Tsukiji fish market.

Then it was off for a tour of Tokyo. A subway ride, a visit to the top of Tokyo Tower, some pastries, a visit to one of the local theaters, a visit to Asakusa to visit local markets and Shinto shrines, some great snacks from the supermarket, driving past the Emperor’s grounds, wandering through Shibuya (busiest intersection in Tokyo), and a tour around downtown Tokyo including the neighborhood he grew up in. Before we knew it we had blown 8 hours.  But in many ways the day was just getting started, because the real food was still to come.

Enter Nobu’s.

Dessert. Three kinds of creme brulee, and a chocolate cake 
oozing chocolate

If you are into food, you know that name. If not, I sincerely hope that one day you will first hand. When we returned to the ship the next day and told folks that we went to Nobu’s for dinner, one of the “life-long learners” (ie. Wealthy folks who pay big $$$ to join our voyage) almost fell out of her chair and asked me “who is this friend of yours?”. She said it takes months to get into his Honolulu restaurant. Not only did we have amazing food with Hisao and his wife Norma, we got to meet and talk with Nobu’s daughter as well. Karen and I did taster trays of sake, and were able to try a bunch of different dishes. Hisao then picks up the tab over our protest, as he did all day. The most gracious and generous host I could imagine. Even on the drive back to the ship, we stopped for more local fare. I don’t think Karen and I have ever devoted an entire day to food, but it was definitely the most amazing day. I finally get to the point in life where I can afford to enjoy the food in Japan, and a friend I haven’t seen in 30 years picks up our tab. Yes, I really do live a blessed life (and I do fully intend on repaying the favor, Hisao!).

Once Newt brothers, always Newt brothers.

I just wrote a whole blog about one of 6 days in Japan! I guess I’ll have to do a second…

Oh, and go to Japan.

Tuna goodness.

Can't. Stop. Eating.

Happy, and full, couple in Shibuya

Oh, and go to Japan.