Fukagawa by Hiroshige This is the second installment on the media event entitled “A Journey to Unravel Tokyo’s Diverse Food and Spirit,” organized by the Tokyo Food Promotion 2024 Executive Committee and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. This week I report on the three chefs who participated in it. There seems to be something almost magical … Continue reading Tokyo Cuisine: Past, Present, and Future, Part 2
Unknown Title; Artist: Hiroshige Late last year one of us here at drinkingjapan.org received an invitation from the Foreign Press Center of Japan to a media event entitled “A Journey to Unravel Tokyo’s Diverse Food and Spirit,” organized by the Tokyo Food Promotion 2024 Executive Committee and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. It was open to … Continue reading Tokyo Cuisine: Past, Present, and Future, Part 1
The Natto Sculpture When the expression “hill of beans” is used to refer to something, it means that the referent is so common that it is insignificant and worthless. In reality, however, nothing could be further from the truth, especially if the beans are natto. As many non-Japanese now know, natto is fermented soy beans. … Continue reading The Powerful Hill of Beans
We recently passed this normally inarticulate guy hanging out in a doorway on a Tokyo street. His smile was frozen, yet he whispered to us, ever so softly, that the year was coming to a close. (Remind us to stop consuming those moldy-oldie leftovers at the back of the fridge, will you?) And so it … Continue reading Good-bye, 2024; Hello, 2025
The Enigmatically Titled Giant Squid Versus Sperm Whale* Though less exciting than some of the antics of Conor McGregor, both inside and outside the ring, the Shiraz v Syrah metaphorical slugfest provides wine lovers with more than a modicum of entertainment, especially in an age of seemingly endless remakes crawling out of the subbasements of … Continue reading Soleil Syrah 2019
Three Monkfish with Mouths Agape That Metaphysical Poet John Donne (1571[?]-1631) with his inimitable poems-cum-pickup-lines (remember “The Flea”?) penned a short poem entitled “The Baite,” which is addressed to a woman that he was presumably hotly—emphasis added—pursuing. The third stanza is as follows:When thou wilt swimme in that live bath,Each fish, which every channell hath,Will … Continue reading Glorification of the Monkfish (アンコウ)
Bonfire, Toyohara Kunichika In last week’s entry, we implied, and if you were paying attention, you inferred, that UNESCO would designate the “Traditional Knowledge and Skills of Sake-Making with Koji Mold in Japan” to be Intangible Cultural Heritage. Well, they have, at their recently held meeting in Asunción, Paraguay. Prior to the announcement, a number … Continue reading Celebrating Sake, Part 2
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