Akitaya Yakitori - Our "Soko ga" Moment

Hands down, our evening at Akitaya was my favorite time of the entire trip to Japan. With all due respect to the hot springs, castles and great food we would still encounter during our travels, eating yakitori and drinking beer at Akitaya was our "Soko ga" moment.

So before I go on and on about my awesome time at Akitaya, let me explain about "Soko ga" which is short for Soko ga Shiritai. This is actually the name of a Japanese television show that was popular in the early nineties. Reporters would travel around Japan trying different restaurants, sightseeing and looking for unusual things of interest. This is really an oversimplified explanation of the show but you get the picture.

Anyway, KIKU (http://www.kikutv.com/), a local television station in Hawaii has continued to show reruns of Soko ga Shiritai for years now, even though the series has long since ended. What was always the most fun for my friends and I to watch was when the reporters would find some hole in the wall bar or restaurant that would serve cheap and tasty food with good beer and/or sake. The visiting reporters would inevitably make friends with the regulars at the bar and end up drinking and eating the night away with their new friends. It became a dream of ours to one day visit Japan and experience this as our Soko ga moment. Akitaya Yakitori was that moment.

Akitaya is a very popular yakitori place just a short walk from the Meishu Sake Center in Shiba. Salary men crowd the place after work to enjoy some tasty and inexpensive yakitori and beer before going home. Our plan was to have a few drinks at the Meishu Center and then continue on to Akitaya for some food and good times. As you will see in the upcoming pictures, we were certainly not disappointed.

Part of the Soko ga moment for us was drinking outside on the sidewalk outside Akitaya. You would always see this on Soko ga Shiritai and it always looks like so much fun. At Akitaya, makeshift tables made of wood and stacked plastic beer crates line the sidewalk fronting the establishment. Crowds of people huddle around plates of delicious food while happily drinking beer and shochu.

A good bar is the same no matter where in the world you go. Good food, good beer and good people. Just like the Soko ga Shiritai television show, we met some fun people at Akitaya and became friends immediately. Here's a picture of Timmy (on the left) and his new Japanese friend. We could not remember his real name so Timmy ended up giving him the Hawaiian name "Keoni" for the rest of the night. These two guys became good friends very quickly. Alcohol is a powerful drug . . . heh heh!

Here's a shot of us before the fun begins. As you can see we are literally standing on the sidewalk and actually overflowing on to the street.

Here we are after a few beers. You can see Timmy's new friend Keoni on the far right making the Hawaii "shaka" sign around Richard.

Side Note: A Japanese show very similar to Soko ga Shiritai is called Next Stop Discovery. Although the episodes that KIKU broadcasts in Hawaii are a few years old, it is my understanding that the series is still running in Japan. Here is a link to their website, sorry but it's all in Japanese http://www.ntv.co.jp/burari/.

Meishu Sake Center

We're still on Day 2. Having just finished touring the outer grounds of the Imperial Palace, we had lunch nearby and did some quick sightseeing. Then it was back to the hotel to bathe and get ready for some sake at the Meishu Sake Center.

Located down a little side street, the Meishu Sake Center is a place where you can try all different types of sake for a very reasonable price. Normally you can try three very full cups of sake for less than $5.00 American. On this night fourteen of us walked in right off the street and probably scared the owner half to death. However, the staff was more than accommodating and proceeded to bring out the good stuff for us to try.

Some of us (including myself) really enjoy drinking sake. Visiting the Meishu Center was one of the things I had looked forward to on this trip. They had a ton of different sake to try and we decided to go with the very best they had. (See the above picture) The green bottle on the far right was supposed to be one of their best. It was a sake that was created and dedicated to the birth of the new male heir to the throne earlier that year. It was excellent! It was so good that we bought their last two bottles to take home with us.

Sigh! Good sake with good friends in Japan . . . it doesn't get any better than that. And again, the best part of this was that we could drink to our heart's content because we would be walking home instead of driving. Well . . . maybe not walking but staggering for sure!

"Shi Shi" Boy

I had to include some pictures of the Pissing Boy or "Shi Shi" Boy as I liked to call him. Here's Rei and Kurt having a little too much fun if you ask me. Our hotel was was very near the Hamamatsucho train station. This was extremely convenient for us as the Hamamatsucho station was part of the Yamanote line which gave us quick and easy access to places like Akihabara and Ueno. Located at the end very end of the platform at Hamamatsucho was the Shi Shi boy. (For those of you from Hawaii you know that shi shi refers to urinating or pissing.)

The Japanese Pissing Boy was patterned after a famous statue in Brussels called the Manneken Pis. Literally translated as "Pissing Boy", the statue is only 60cm high and on any given day may be wearing one of his 600 costumes. (See above picture)

The Japanese Pissing Boy is also dressed in different costumes. During our visit in November 2006, he was wearing a firefighters uniform. Everyone took a turn standing in front of the statue to take a picture.

Outside the Imperial Palace

After touring Tsukiji and having the freshest sushi I have ever had in my life for breakfast, it was off to the Imperial Palace via Tokyo station. Here we are all trying to squeeze together for a picture in front of the Tokyo Station sign. This side of the station is made of brick and faces the Imperial Palace. It dates back to the original 1914 opening of the station.

Checking out the outer Imperial Palace grounds was fun. Everything was immaculately landscaped and you could really feel the history in the bridges and moat walls that dominated the area.

Look real close at the above picture and you can see guards standing motionless in the two white guard houses. The actual palace buildings and inner gardens are not open to the public with the exception of January 2nd (New Years Greeting) and December 23rd (Emperor's Birthday).

Tsukiji Fish Market

Tsukiji Fish Market is the largest wholesale fish market in Japan, probably the world. It goes through something like 2,000 tons of seafood everyday it's open. Anything that is even potentially edible from the ocean can be found here. Most people, including ourselves, came to see the tuna or maguro for sale. Incredibly large maguro, some over 500 lbs, are auctioned off every morning. The Japanese are known for their love of quality items and their willingness to pay top dollar. With that in mind it should be no surprise that the most expensive maguro ever sold at Tsukiji was something like $175,000 American for a 202-kilogram fish. Miles and Kurt pose in front of a huge maguro.

http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/youkoso/welcome.htm

One of the first things Nadine and I noticed about Tsukiji before even looking at the fish, was that this is a working fish market. There are very few, if any, considerations made for tourists. Trucks, cars and propane powered "put-put" carts zoom almost recklessly amid narrow aisles and roadways. Fourteen people trying to traverse these small fish stalls was just asking for trouble. There were a few close calls amongst our group but luckily no one got hurt. However, my wife was so upset over how dangerous it was that she vows never to return to Tsukiji again.

I had to include a picture of the Styrofoam mountain I saw while leaving Tsukiji. Almost all of the seafood at Tsukiji is kept and transported in Styrofoam containers of all shape and sizes. As the day goes on, used containers are all thrown into this huge mountain. When we left Tsukiji it was still early and the mound had already grown this large. One can only imagine what this looks like at the end of the day. My understanding is that all of this is melted down at the end of the day. Anyway, it makes for an interesting picture.

Day 2 - Off to Tsukiji Fish Market

We started our first official full day in Japan by getting up very early in the morning. We planned to take the subway to Tsukiji Fish Market to watch the Tuna auctions at 5:00 am. We walked a few blocks to Daimon subway station and proceeded to take our first subway ride in Japan.

Nadine and Rei waiting for the subway at Daimon station.

Shiba Park Hotel and Dinner

Our home away from home was the Shiba Park Hotel in Shiba. http://www.shibaparkhotel.com/en/ Here's a picture of Richard doing his fake smile for the camera. I really liked the Shiba Park Hotel. It was not a luxury hotel by no means, but the location was excellent and the staff was very nice and accommodating. Most of them spoke English as well, which made things a lot easier. The first order of business after checking in was to find a place for dinner. The Shiba Park Hotel is located just off a main street with plenty of interesting side streets and alleys. There was an abundance of eating places both big and small to choose from.

Not wanting to overdo things on the first night we ended up having dinner at an Izakaya close by. An Izakaya is a bar that serves different appetizers as opposed to complete meals. A round of Japanese beer was followed by sushi, oysters, chicken wings, steak and other delicious items. Several rounds of beer later and it was time to call it a night. One of the great things about Japan was that we never had to worry about drinking too much and then having to drive home. Our hotel was always a short walk or train ride away from where ever we were. The guy in the picture above holding the beer and smiling for the camera is our fearless leader Dean. Dean masterfully planned and executed the entire Japan trip! All of us would have been lost without his Japanese speaking and reading skills and owe him a huge debt of gratitude for everything that he did.

Richard and Timmy enjoying their first beer in Japan!

Narita Airport

We arrived at Narita airport via Japan Airlines (JAL). I must say that everything I heard about JAL's excellent food and service were all true. Eating Japanese style food on the plane ride over helped to get us all in the mood. We were already starting to experience the difference in cultures during the plane ride as all of the flight attendants changed from their blazers into aprons while serving us our food and drink. Prior to arrival a flight attendant walked around with a large JAL picture frame asking us if we would like a picture taken. (My wife Nadine and I obliged - see picture above.) With the exception of the travel time (about nine hours) the plane ride was quite pleasurable.

Narita airport was huge and a little intimidating. You know the airport is big when it takes the plane about fifteen minutes to taxi from the runway to the terminal. We arrived in the early evening and the weather was cloudy but not rainy. Once we got off the plane it was a mad rush to Customs and Immigration. Luckily none of us had any trouble getting through. Luggage was next and again we were lucky that all of our stuff made it to Japan safely.

After retrieving all of our luggage it was off to our hotel via Limousine Bus. http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/e/index.html It turns out that the Limousine Bus is just a regular bus but it was still the best way for us to get to our hotel. This was the first time I had rode a bus that had a standard transmission as opposed to automatic. It was impressive to see the Japanese driver smoothly navigate this huge "standard" bus through Tokyo. The ride was about an hour and a half. There was some unexpected traffic but our bus driver expertly took us through some side streets and back roads to keep us on time.

Welcome to Japan 2006

About two years ago a group of friends in Hawaii came up with the idea of traveling to Japan together. We dreamed of sushi, sake and experiencing the "Soko ga" life. (More about "Soko ga" later.)

Since this plan originated late one night at our favorite bar over large quantities of alcohol, many of our friends doomed it to failure. No wives or families were consulted for approval and no thought was given to the cost of the trip. To make things even more challenging, our travel group that started out as a few friends soon exploded to fourteen people with three flying in from Oregon.

Two years later, eleven of us from Hawaii (three friends from Oregon arrived earlier) walked happily through the arrival gates of Narita airport into Tokyo Japan. So began the trip of a lifetime.

I decided to create this blog as a picture diary of our trip to Japan in November 2006. My goal is to eventually post pictures and comments for all of the activities we experienced during our trip in chronological order - Malcolm