Welcome to Hipsville

  Nagoya, Chubu, Japan
Tuesday, August 18, 2009

08.18.09

Arrived at Nagoya Station. Easily navigated Nagoya's subway system, and not-as-easily located our next digs, Ryokan Meiryu.  Although less than impressive outside, the room had (6) tatami mats and shoji (paper screen) covered windows.  And we had room 202. We were excited and the poor desk clerk thought something was wrong with the number.  "Iie," we assured him.  “Good luck.”

After relaxing over our tea and cookies, we wandered around Nagoya a bit.  We got off the subway at the Oasis 21 complex, a mostly underground shopping mall.  Visited the TIC there and had some coffee at Starbucks while we looked for things to do.  Oasis 21 has a glass rooftop with a large pool of water in it.  The water is supposedly used in the design of the mall to more efficiently heat and cool the complex.  Either way it was very futuristic.  Walked down the street to the Sunshine building.  This multi-floor, multi-media mega-plex has a kanransha (Ferris wheel) attached to the side of the building.  Of course, Jes had to ride. 

After checking out the main drag for a while, we went back to the ryokan.  As we cleanup for supper, Jes discovered a Korean melodrama with a Japanese dub playing on TV.  This turned out to be “Boys Over Flowers,” a popular shojo (girls’) manga, which has been made into several animes and live-action dramas in several languages.  We subsequently watched it every day while we were in Nagoya.

Supper was at a place called Ebisuya.  They specialize in kishimen, a broad rice noodle.  Their basic kishimen wasn’t very expensive and the portion was big enough.  And it was really good.  It was garnished with katsuo bushi (dried, flaked tuna; used in dashi or as garnish); I was afraid the flavor would be too strong, but it was actually fairly moderate.  And I love noodles. 

Walked around looking for a LP (Lonely Planet)-recommended izakaya, Heaven’s Door.  Saw what appeared to be a kaishain (office-worker; salaryman) dressed up in a dinosaur costume, taking a smoke break.  Nippon desu yo.  Finally asked the girl who kept trying to hand us a flyer (even though we’d turned her down the previous 5 times we walked by her) where the address was.  Turns out it was closed; another restaurant opened up where they used to be.  Great. 

Went looking for another LP-recommended bar; couldn’t find it either.  Instead, we ended up at Soul Ground.  Kinda a hole-in-the-wall: small bar above a couple of other small bars, guys hanging outside smoking were only indication anything was goin’ on there.  Only had one Nihonshu: a giant, dusty bottle which had probably been there since the soul music on their jukebox was new.   We had some anyways.  Not so good.  Music was good: lots of Al Green, James Brown.  As we drank our bad sake, we noticed a sign listing menu items:  gumbo, jambalaya, fried chicken.  Being from NOLA, we were curious, but not brave (or drunk) enough to try Japanese Cajun food.  Décor would have been completely tasteless in the US:  posters of Black Power, black- and white-faced actors, racial equality slogans.  Caricatures of African-Americans (dated and somewhat offensive, at least where I’m from).   (Bear in mind, we saw maybe five African-Americans the entire time we in Japan; so the bar wasn’t for them, it was for the Japanese, who thought it was cool or something.)  Bartender seemed a little stand-off-ish at first, but as we were paying out, we told him we were from New Orleans.  He got very excited then, as he planned to go to Jazz Fest next year (’10).  Even gave us a miniature of a Dragons baseball player. 


The night was still young, so we walked around some more, looking for another bar (preferably one with takusan nihonshu).  Nearby where Heaven’s Door was supposed to be, we found a yakitori-ya, Tokoton.  It was great.  Sake was ok, but the food was really good.  Our waiter/cook/owner(?) was very friendly, and spoke a little English.  They actually served pork skewers, not chicken, but he would point to a corresponding point on his body to describe the menu items we asked him to recommend.  We drank and tried a buncha different cuts, including pork loin, cheek, breast, and some combination of green onions and pork cutlets (those were the best yo).  As we were receiving one course, jes began staring behind me.  The waiter and I turned to look, and lo and behold, it was the Japanese teenage version of Bonjovi.  At least the hair.  Our waiter kinda laughed at us, cuz he knew what we were thinking. 

(Quick note on Japanese fashion:  The natives are, by and large, pretty conservative.  There is a large western influence on fashion here [obvious by the massive amounts of English (or Engrish, at least) T-shirts, Crocs, and New York-ish 4-inch heels].  As my buddy Mizumoto said, “When we use English instead of Japanese, we feel kind of cool.”   The older generation of men were pretty homogenous, I have to say.  White button up shirts, black or dark slacks.  Everyone even wears their blue shirts on the same day (Friday, I think it was).   Like yogurt.  The women all had distinctive styles; the housewives/mothers were a bit less polished, but all pretty similar.  Younger or professional women were impeccably dressed; short skirts and 4-inch heel (if they weren’t wearing sandals, they wore heels; even the housewives), always-perfect makeup.  But Nagoya is a hip city; a lot of college-age kids and a big music scene.  So we got to see some of the “cool” fashions that the younger kids wore.  Girls were wearing (really) short skirts and heels, t-shirts off of one shoulder (ala 1984); guys were a little more into leather and t-shirts…and hair.  Most of the younger guys looked like they were Dragon Ball Z & Jon Bonjovi’s lovechild.  They must’ve spent hours, and cans of hairspray, in front of the mirror.)

After getting thoroughly sloshed and full, we headed home.  Passed a large group of dancing kids in a deserted parking lot, watching themselves dance in the window reflections.  Several different songs playing at once, although one group was definitely playing “Bust a Move.” 

08.19.09

After coffee, we set off to find a nearby temple.  And totally got lost.  We walked a very, very long way in the wrong direction.  Baka maps.  But we got to see some of the neighborhoods (albeit not all good ones) around the city.  Found a hyaku-en (100 yen) store, bought some candy and bento box accessories for our lunchboxes back home.  Also found a post office.  Mailed one of our postcards, after jes made a huge mess with the weird ball of red ink on the counter (don’t know what it’s for, but she thought it was the stamp moistener thing).  The poor mailman reluctantly took her postcard and (I hope) cleaned it up a bit for her.  Finally got back to where we had started from (and it took most of the morning). 

Got on the subway to get to the temple (the easy way, but we were trying to save $$).  As we walk up to the temple, I realize I’ve left my camera somewhere.  Took out some anger on a signpost (don’t think I hurt it as much as it hurt me).  Back on the subway to previous stop.  Search the platform to no avail.  Go to station master’s office.  They don’t speak very much English, but I got my point across.  However, they don’t have it.  Kuso.  So we backtracked.  Followed the path we’d taken earlier (the one where we were going the wrong way and kinda got lost in the neighborhoods).  Didn’t find it.

Walked to Osu-dori pedestrian mall to get lunch.  Had beer and sake with our udon.  Needed it after the morning we’d had yo.    Found a film development place in the arcade.  She directed us to a camera store.  There were several in the area, but, being a Wednesday, it was closed.  So we found the place and started checking out the cameras.  Lots of cool cameras, far advanced from the one we lost (it was rather old).  And some definitely within our budget.  However, after consulting the salesman, who matched our pidgin Japanese with his Engrish, only two brands, Canon and ??, offered an option to change the camera menus to English.  Nippon desu yo ne.  Of course their cameras are in Japanese.  After further ensuring our memory cards (by now, we have 4-5) would work in the camera and that it came with a carrying strap (cuz I’m not letting go of this one until we get back home), we bought it.  And became a member of the store’s buyer’s club, which means we get a discount on our next purchase there.  Very useful.  Not. 

Found a unique (to us) store on the way back.  The entire store was full of toy/trinket vending machines.  They had all kinds of figurines, toys, stickers, etc.  Jes found one that dispensed figurines of a little boy urinating (well, at least holding himself).  We got one, of course. 

Back to Meiryu.  Jes watched her Korean Japanese-dubbed live-action manga adaptation while I went to the train station and worked on tickets for Gujo-Hachiman.  I had wanted to go to the town and stay late for the nightly dancing (Gujo-Odori).  However the train and bus schedule didn’t really allow for anything like that.  We would have travelled four hours to get to Gujo, only to stay there for 4 hours, before another 4 hour trip back.  Not really worth it.  Oh well.
Instead of supper, we decided to go izakaya-hopping.  First stop was right down the street: Yuzu, recommended by the guy we freaked out with the room 202 thing.  It wasn’t really what we were looking for, more of a restaurant than a bar.  But we sat at the side bar and had a little Nihonshu.  Pretty good.  So we tried a little sashimi.  Also pretty good.  But, as it was a little pricey to sit and drink there for a long time, we bailed. 

Next stop, Tokoton (again).  Same cook from night before recognized us and called our buddy out of the back.  He came out bearing our Nihonshu and several recommendations for what to eat.  We took his suggestions (except for the pork heart and this one item which he kept pointing to the veins in his arm to describe—still not really sure what it was).  Fun times.  We asked for a suggestion for the next bar and he drew us a map to the Fifty-Nine’s Bar.

Not hard to find, but the Fifty-Nine’s wasn’t really what we had in mind.  The décor was like a US retro bar.  Pictures of Elvis, Campbell’s Soup,  Budweiser, Coke, Jello-O,….Kraft Mac’N’Cheese?  Jes got the beer and ginger ale drink (she said it was pretty good) and I just had a coke, since they didn’t have sake.  Although not at all what we were looking for, the two waitresses in there seemed to like us and tried hard to make friends with us.  They were very cute and spoke some English.  We ordered an ice cream sundae and a sausage plate as well.  It took a while, but it was the only real piece of sausage I saw in the whole country (apparently, hot dogs are what pass for sausages there).  It wasn’t bad. 

Next to Red Rock Bar, an LP-recommended Aussie bar.  They did have a very large beer selection and some Australian themed snacks (kangaroo chips or something like that).  But they didn’t have a drop of Nihonshu, so we didn’t stay.  Also was full of tourists (LP said it was popular with ex-pats).  Not the night out on the Japanese town we’d envisioned.  Back home to bed.

08.20.09

Ate breakfast at Café Terrance, just down the street, while we waited to laundry to wash at the hotel.  They had a morning set, a daily special consisting of coffe or tea, toast, a hard-boiled egg, slice of watermelon, and a heaping mound of shredded cabbage.  Nippon desu yo.  Toast came with blueberry jam; it was bangin’.  Egg and cabbage:  eh.  No refills on coffee, but at Y360 for whole set, it was the cheapest cup of coffee we got in Japan. 

Traveled uptown to go to Nagoya Robot Museum.  Couldn’t quite find the address and we never saw any signs for it.  LP map and a tourist map posted on the street said we were on the right block, but we still couldn’t find it.  After circling the block a few times, we stopped in a sweet shop and asked about it.  She said we were in the right spot, but it had closed down.  Kuso. 

[Warning:  Rant. 

So the Lonely Planet’s Japan book was really helpful and informative.  I highly recommend getting it if you are traveling to Japan.  We used it to find accommodation in a few cities and to locate good places to eat, drink, etc.  However, you should get the absolute latest copy of the book, if you intend to rely on it.  It was our primary source of maps, contact info, and general info.  We got the 2007 edition (at Christmas 2007, I believe), planning on going in April 2009.  We actually got there in August 2009.  A lot of the info on Nagoya was either dated or woefully incomplete.  I guess it’s really our fault for having an outdated guide, but you wouldn’t think that much would change in two years.]

Went back to Osu-dori and shopped around the arcade.  Still looking for that Godzilla (Gochira in Japanese) T-shirt for my buddy, Erik.  Of course, they didn’t have any.  We did find a manga figurine store as well as a manga shop proper, which helped turn us on to a couple more titles. 

Wandered back towards downtown, looking for lunch.  Walked by Yabaton (a LP-recommended eatery), since we couldn’t read the sign (and weren’t specifically looking for it).  But as we passed, we realized that the line out the door was all locals and decided to give it a whirl.  After getting inside, did we remember reading about it in LP.  Yabaton specializes in tonkatsu, serving it with an aka-miso (red miso) sauce, rather than the traditional tonkatsu sauce.  Slightly different texture, but still a tasty sauce.  And fried pork chops are always good.  I had the katsu-don, which was a bowl of rice with the tonkatsu pieces and sauce on top.  Fairly inexpensive, and really tasty. 

Then, since we realized all we’d done in Nagoya was eat, walk around, and get drunk, we decided to get some culture.  Went to Nagoya-jo, Nagoya’s very own castle.  Pretty impressive grounds, and the castle itself must’ve been awesome back in the day.  The castle has these two gilded (they used to be gold) dolphins on top of the castle, each 8-10 feet long.  Five stories, with a great view at the top.   The castle has since been turned into a museum and it houses a lot of cool Tokugawa-era armor, swords, and displays of historical Nagoya, such as miniature city replicas, recreated shops (rather a fake street lined with fake shops) showing historical tools and methods, and a whole section dedicated to the dolphins themselves, detailing their construction, deconstruction, reconstruction, and replacement.

As we entered the grounds to the castle, we noticed three college-age Japanese girls holding up a sign saying “Free English Tours.”  We couldn’t resist, so we asked them for the tour.  It wasn’t as informative as I’d hoped (most of the signage in the castle was in Japanese) but they answered our questions as best they could.  The girls were ESS students at Nanzan Jr College in Nagoya.  Apparently this was something their class did to help their English skills.  We actually tried to ask most questions in Japanese and got our answers in English, so it was good practice for both parties.  We had a lot of fun and laughed a lot with Fumika and friends (can’t remember their names; gomensasai, tomodachi). 

Went back to ryokan after the castle and watched some TV.  Watched a couple of anime episodes and game shows while Jes took a nap.  Then we went to Hanare for dinner.  It was actually located where Heaven’s Door was supposed to be.  They do traditional Nagoya cuisine, though in a very modern setting.  The fairly cramped dining room was ingeniously separated by lots of curtains, making the setting much more intimate than it otherwise would’ve been.   We ordered several small plates and some Nihonshu and enjoyed ourselves.  The food was pretty good (I got some kishimen), but the bill was pretty hefty. 

Too tired for yet another night out, we went back to Meiryuu and crashed.

08.21.09

Next morning, I had the distinct honor to take a shower with Bonjovi.  Not the guys from the night before, but they still had their own hair band thing going on.  Think they were a little surprised to see a gaijin in there with them, but not enough to stop them from busting up the blowdryers and combs after they got done. 

Checked out of Meiryuu, who mercifully let us leave our bags while we went and grabbed breakfast.  Went to Café Terrace again and got our morning sets.  The toast accompaniment today was butter or cheese.   I got butter; Jes got cheese.   Still pretty good (the cabbage is still weird yo) and cheap.  Grabbed some bento boxes at the 7-11 and grabbed our bags from Meiryuu.

As we passed through the subway station, we decided to check once more with the station master and see if our camera had ever turned up.  After 15 minutes of broken Japanese, they suggested I call the city hall lost and found.  But they speak no English at city hall, so I’d need to call the Gaikoku (Foreigner) Center and get them to help translate for me.  Called the center; they said I needed to go there and they could call for me.  It was on our way to Nagoya station, so we figured, why not?  Found the center and they called city hall for us.  Guess what?  They had our camera.  Wtf?  Someone had actually turned it in to Lost and Found.  Never would have happened in America.  Damn sure not in New Orleans.

Left Jes in Gaikoku Center subway station and jetted over to City Hall.  After a little difficulty finding the office, I re-acquired the camera and we went to Nagoya station.

Ate our bentos outside the station, with a buncha bums.  And it started raining.  So we go inside, toting our luggage and a bag of trash from the bentos.  And I can’t find a garbage can.  (That’s the thing about Japan:  it’s pretty clean and they recycle most everything, but they don’t have a freakin garbage can ANYWHERE.  You can find recycle bins at most vending machines, but if you have just general trash, there’s nowhere to put it.)  Looked around station for someplace to get rid of it and met the only rude person in all of Japan.  Walked in a shop to ask where I might find a garbage can and the lady started shouting “Nai, Nai” (no, no).  Got rather angry, but asked, politely as I could, “Jaa, doko desu ka” (ok, where?).  She just shooed me out.  Baka baita. 

Boarded the train and took a beautiful ride to Takayama.