Japanese Friends Equals Japanese Food

I went Thursday morning to the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo with my new friend, Atsushi... yes, that is his name. At. Sushi. Together. By this I mean that I woke up at 4am to be on a 5am train, met him at 6am, walked through the world's largest and most sought-after fish, and was having a sushi breakfast by 6:45, only to make it back to work (an hour late!) by 10. Now that's how the Japanese do breakfast! And when I say sushi... I mean sushi. Atsushi ordered us 70 dollars worth of sushi. Yes, dollars. And we were in this narrow authentic sushi restaurant, Japanese bar-style, with the waitor thinking it was so funny because he kept handing me more and more sushi, when I thought I was done! A little scary for a non-fish eater like me, but I did it.
A famous Japanese singer even came in and everyone freaked out, of course I didn't know him, but still it was so fun. I was a little bummed to find out that three weeks ago a rule was passed that no more tourists are allowd in the daily 5am tuna auction--- where restaurant agents from the world round come to bid on the largest tuna from that day's catch. We are talking auctioning close to the millions here, seriously, for tuna! I'd had sushi less than five times in my life before this, and now I can say I had it for breakfast... before 7am. There's a first and a last time for everything...

There are some places you just can't go as a foreigner, alone. For example, a traditional Okonomiyaki restaurant. Sliding doors, with some mysterious noises inside, sounds of Japanese... Do I dare enter alone? No! But, last week my marvelous Japanese-Onsen friend, Ayano, took me to the most wonderful 80's restaurant ever. She took me to Kichijoji, her favorite area around Tokyo, and I had Okonomiyaki, Yakisoba and Manju for the first time.... food I have been hearing about from my students since day one. I made them so proud when I came to class and told them I loved it! You sit in low booths with no shoes and the table is a stove and they cook right in front of you... I'm not even going to pretend to explain what it is cause I certainly don't know, but its good! There were Japanese 80's photographs everywhere, this cool balance between traditional food and funky style that happens to be really hard to pull off in this country. Thank you, Ayano!

Japan likes to out-do the world. They take over our holidays, and do them bigger, louder, with more "illuminations" (a word now integrated into every Japanese brain).
Valentines Day made Japan so much money that they decided to also make "White Day," which should really just be called V-DayII, where only boys give girls candy in saying thanks for the candy from last month. A little extreme if you ask me. In addition to holidays, Japan decided to build Tokyo Tower, a copy of the Eiffel Tower. Only, its 12 metres taller. And, in the case that you neglect to notice it, its painted bright orange. Sexy. Not.

The 1st time I went was with my friend Andrew about 2 months ago, but we failed to make it up because we got lost inside the elevator. Yes, it was Willie Wonka style... floors missing from the elevator buttons, going up and then back down but coming out at a completely different place, no where bringing us to the famous view. I went back last weekend, declaring a need to see Mt. Fuji before leaving Japan. Seeing the 1 hr. long wait for the elevator, I opted for option number 2 (for the same price, mind you!): the stairs. Sure, why not? Well, hot damn I will tell you why not, I was out of breath just going up to the 4th floor where the stairs start. Dad, now you're not the only one who can run marathons! I took this picture to show the top stair, quite an accomplishment... 531! 531 what you may ask? Well, I don't quite know. Not important. 531 sounds like a pretty high number, whatever measurement they may be using in this crazy country, point being, it was high! But, well worth it, I saw the sun setting over Tokyo and Fuji-San, and it was unbelievable (picture above, Mt. Fuji to the right). Maybe in Chile and Guatemala I climb volcanoes, but in Tokyo, its an orange tower of metal. Very fitting.

I've also just discovered the joys of Kabuki. Getting day-of, nose bleed balcony seats to watch Japanese men dressed in traditional clothes, performing their version of Shakespeare. I love it... especially watching with a kimono-filled audience.