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Published: January 19th 2006
Greetings from Japan! We've had an interesting second week here spent mostly in Tokyo, though we also ventured a few hours north to the spiritual center of Nikko. Japan has lowered its aesthetic distance to us. We fell in love with sushi all over again, devouring a delicious meal the other night. We visited amazing galleries in Ginza, and walked among the buddhas in Nikko. The man who befriended us in Asakusa (mentioned in our last blog) turned out to be a charlatan. Long story short, we ran into him on our way to Nikko and he chased us around the train station. No worries, we're okay.
We went 52 stories up to the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi, the highest exhibition space in the world. We saw a really cool retrospective exhibition about Vivienne Westwood (fashion designer, founder of "punk"). We also spent a rainy afternoon wandering around Ginza. We visited a few little galleries, hosted by the artists themselves, almost bought an amazing painting by Yukari Inoue (unbelievable oil paint impasto - like nothing we've ever seen, think, dripping, luscious, all senses, soft colors, thick, sculptural, opaque yet translusent, contrasting in just the right way... sorry, enough art
criticism from Amanda).
But let's get down to the really important stuff. Koi Sushi. The best sushi place in town. This is the type of place you only get to because you know someone who knows someone who knows someone (okay, you get it). Carli led the way. The chef is an artist, modest when Rich called him a magician. He created some of the most interesting sushi combinations we'd ever tasted. For starters, he presents you with all his ingredients, and makes you wonder what he's going to do with it, "What will I do with this strawberry?" With our glasses filled with plum wine and sochu, the fun began. One plate after another, one better than the next. We can't decide which was the best, we've been arguing for days, was it the curry shrimp? was it the rice wonton with okra? the oyster drizzled with hot olive oil? cheese melted over garlic chips? japanese breakfast: fried quail egg, bacon, topped with black sesame and soy sauce? crepe with mentaiko? horse? (yes, that's right, Rich did, Amanda didn't, it was amazing, not like you would have thought) or was it the strawberry with vanilla ice cream? I
guess you'll have to go to decide for yourself. But you'll need to know someone who knows someone.
We just returned from Nikko, the sacred site dating back to the middle of the 8th century, when buddhist priest Shodo established a hermitage here. It is a famous training center for buddhist monks. We saw amazing temples, a buddhist ceremony, got lost among the towering cedars, and walked along the many buddhas, bakejizos (the guardian dieties of children and travellers).
We never saw sumo or made it to Kyoto, but we are satisfied with our Japanese experience. Tomorrow, off to Hanoi!
R + A
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kerry gale
non-member comment
safe travels
hi there, just wanted to let you know we have been thining about you and wish you both all the best on your trip. your entries are fasinating and we love reading about where you have been and where you are going. lots of love, kerry and ethan