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Published: August 23rd 2007
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Arrival to Suzu City
Everyone had earned a beer, it was a long drive. Sitting on tatami around the table.KAMPI! Cheers! Izakaya kiyakusama Summer Fishing Trip. Izakaya is the name given to small Japanese eateries and bars. Japan is full of them. Normally frequented by grandmas and grandpas. They come here to enjoy each others company, eat and drink cheap nosh and sing old Japnese songs...Enka. Karoke. Although students,young folk and salary men visit them too as they are affordable . Its lovely actually. I was fortunate enough to find a nice little Izakaya place about 30mins by bike from Chubu.
Truth be told I was bored one day, went out to buy a bicycle and after finding a real el cheapo 2nd hand bicycle went searching for a place to eat. I was starving!
I needed some beef, hadnt had beef for so long.
In mid May, still adjusting to Japanese lifestyle , for the first time by myself I found an Izakaya, now my local. its name ironically is Kappa, my nickname...the Izakaya in Kasugai.
The red paper lanterns with Japanese characters written in black outside the tiny bar was for me a good reason to enter, the tiny wooden structure and the stairs leading into a basement type of bar was also a curiosity , bend your head when
you enter. The scary thing was it was empty, 7ish pm and just the Masuta (barkeeper) was sitting on his legs watching a baseball match. Chunichi dragons vs...?Giants? Cant quite remember , but then Im not a baseball fan, and I had never watched a pro baseball match up until 2months ago. Now Im a Chunichi Dragons Fan!
I must say the Masuta looked a little surprised when I entered, I must have been the first foreigner in his bar? Dont really know what he thought, but I think he thought I was lost? I spoke a limited, very limited amount of Japanese, the first thing I said was 'are you open , I am hungry? Do you have any beef?'
He gave me a blank stare and said ' beef is expensive, why not try tempura, udon or sushi?'
So I did.
He asked me what I drank and I said 'whiskey,' but usually in Izakaya, they only serve, Nihonshu (sake), beer (nama beeru) and chuhi (lime,lemon alcohol)
So he poured me a chuhi, it was ok, but I preferred to try the whiskey he had at the back on the top shelf. He said its reserved for special
customers and poured me a shot. After a few shots, another customer entered...now probably my best mate in Japan, Kawagoe Yasuo San. I think he was shocked too, why a young lady entered this small, smokey bar with retirees? Then again Kawagoe I found out is the same age as me? Funny thing is he just moved into Nagoya around the same time as me, so we were both newcomers to Nagoya, to Kappa. Although I think he had been to Kappa a few times before me.
Then a few more customers came in, wow, it turned into a long night, I dont think any of the grandmas and grandpas had spoken to an Australian before , let alone a foreigner, they were all so curious , all the questions and they kept offering me food and drink. I finished the bottle of whiskey. I was pretty drunk by the time I left and the Masuta called me a cab, I didnt pay for anything. I was amazed by the generosity and care. I think being a foreign exchange student makes a big difference. People are worried about your safety here, be careful they say, take care and return home
Masuta
Japanese love golf, sushi, beer and fishing!
safely. Also I had only been in Japan 6 weeks.
The next day I went to pick up my new bike and in the evening I went to see the Masuta to thank him, he was very kind. I felt pretty bad I hadnt paid for anything, I also left my umbrella behind. He thought I came back to drink...no way...just to pick up my umbrella and say thankyou. He invited me back and said come again. Since that night, I go 2-3 times a week. I have become aquainted with the local customers, Hori San, Furukawa San, Kato San.
So thats the story of Kappa and the following pictures you see is of a trip the Kappa customers including myself were invited to go on by the Masuta , we stayed at his house in Suzu city , 6 hours from Nagoya up North close to the Sea of Japan, we went fishing, had a beach BBQ and went swimming and drinking together. I saw OBON Festival and went to the local markets. The OBON Festival was awesome and the markets during the weekend break of OBON were entertaining and interesting to observe.
I had a ball.
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