The Unpredictability of Eating Out in Japan

Life in Japan can be fairly amusing and quite unpredictable at times and on odd occasions pretty banal events can turn into something enjoyably farcical. I have no evidence to prove it, but I'm guessing, percentage wise, events like the one I'm about to describe don't happen that much to Japanese people and are mainly reserved for the foreign community. 

I was looking for somewhere different to eat around my area, which is close to the Niike Colton Plaza mall. There are a variety of decent places at 'the Plaza' – but that's for another blog – but, no, I reckoned I could trust my instincts to find somewhere good, even if it was unfamiliar. I got on my bike and rode up to Route 283, where I found a restaurant serving Chinese Cuisine - Lui's Kitchen. The thing that attracted me to it was that the trees outside were decorated with flashing Christmas lights, which, admittedly, is not that rare here, but it definitely made the place stand out; I thought, “Hey, Christmas all year round, then”, though at that stage I didn't imagine I'd be leaving with a present.

I walked in and was greeted by the manager, who pretty much leapt forward at me, his hand outstretched. Now, this caught me out a bit as my mind had been wandering for a while and had only expected the usual courtesies. Anyway, he suddenly became very animated, coming at me with a barrage of questions and information: “Where you from? You American? How long you stay in Japan? I don't speak English. I speak Japanese, but no English. This is good chance, you come here. What you do? Where you work? What's your name? Did you see the Olympics? You have wife? You have baby?”

He continued:

“My name Jo-Shu. Call me Shu, like: shumatsu.” (weekend).

Anyway, this continued for a bit with Shu telling me that there are live music events at the restaurant on Saturdays, that he was from the south of Peking, that he used to be a pizza chef in Shimbashi, and that his hero was Bruce Lee, and that I was the first western foreigner to have visited his restaurant. Then he said, “You come next time I will give you muryō” (free stuff). “How old are you? Where you live? You like Japan? Why you come here?” All this is fine, and I really don't mind answering, but I thought I'd better order, as that was the main reason I was here. I ordered tan tan-men (spicy noodle dish) with chahan (egg fried rice), and a beer (why not?) and that was enough to give me a couple of moments to take in the surroundings.

Shu returned and continued: He then told me he was 29, that he was the manager, and that he wanted to study English - I kind of sensed where this might go (private lessons), but I told him what I did, where I worked etc. - that he played guitar, and that he used to spin pizzas when he worked at the Italian restaurant, which he demonstrated to me with a hand towel. I started, “Oh, I used to...”

Shu: “You want to stay Japan? You like music?”

Shu went away and then returned with guitar in hand. He said that he really loved to play and asked if I did. Then he started to serenade me as I ate, me complementing by bobbing my head as I slurped away at my noodles (not the easiest of motions). The strumming went on for a few minutes uninterrupted - there weren't any other customers, so I got the full complement of the performance.

 

As I was eating, Shu said: “O-Hashi ga jozu des ne?” (you are good at using chopsticks, aren't you?). I gave the standard answer that I'd been in Japan for 10 years so it was nothing special. Then Shu went off to get me some Italian pickles, which he said were free, and if I brought my wife next time there would be lots of muryō.

Then Shu asked to take my photo, which he did while I was eating, then got me up and got the chef to take a couple of snaps. To tell the truth, this was all so amusing, I wasn't bothered at all. Well, not much. When I choose to eat on my own, it tends to be a very quiet affair. This was certainly the opposite. Then a couple of other customers came in which changed the dynamic a bit. Shu went to turn up the TV, which was showing a really intense anime (Japanese animation) of the game igo (囲碁)  (ancient Chinese board game). And the background sound of this made the whole atmosphere very quirky.

I got the bill, which was a very reasonable ¥1300. Though when I asked for it, indicating I was leaving, Shu exclaimed: “Ahhh, samishi!” (I'm going to miss you). Seriously, no one loves a love-in more than me, but I really had to get on with things. When I got to the cash register, Shu handed me something. It was a small doll doing the hula. He said, “For you – muryō”. I said, “No, that's fine, honestly.” He said “No, OK, I have many here” and produced another couple from a bag behind the counter. So I duly accepted. 

What I set out for was an evening meal and what I got in return was serenaded, a new friend, compliments for my chopstick skills, treated like I was famous, and a hula doll thrown into the mix. When I got home, Tokyo TV was showing “Everything” performed by Misia with Christmas trees and snowflakes projected in the background and baubles swaying behind the teary-eyed studio guests. Am I missing something or has Christmas come early this year?

Misia: "Everything" -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHIR33pOUv0

リューズキッチン (Liu's Kitchen)

３丁目-３２−１２ Onitaka Ichikawa,  Chiba Prefecture  272-0015 047-377-5035  http://goo.gl/maps/qL2iT