6/21/2004

Tired old Japan (Narita Express, grey payphones look worn, Landmark tower needs a good scrubbing) – everything looked so shiny when I first came in 1996. It really looks like a lot of the stuff I saw then hasn’t been replaced or refurbished.

100 yen stores are now called “One Coin Store”

difficulties with Japanese professor. not much to say about this, except that I’ll be working at Tokyo University next year instead of Japan Women’s University.

pointy shoes and the trashy look are in. Those shoes always look sadly ill-fitting. I wonder if they’re really made for human feet. I miss the clunky shoes and chucks.

Typhoon no. 6 passed through and made the day rather dramatic. I had to duck into Takashimaya in Shinjuku for most of the day. That’s fine, since I spent some time listening to Cds at HMV. Franz Ferdinand’s album sounds ok, but I was pleasantly surprised by Morrissey’s latest. Tim Booth (of James fame) had a CD out, but it kind of stunk. Sonic Youth’s disk wasn’t anything unexpected, but had a nice satisfying buzz to it. The Pixies best-of was there, and I spent a few minutes reliving memories with it. . .



6/22/2004 1:52PM Sitting in the starbucks under Landmark Tower. I passed through here twice a day for a year between 1999 and 2000. Some bitter memories, some sweet. Japan to me is a layered mess now. Not entirely exotic, but not home either. I want to be here, and I don’t. I’m alone, but I’m not. Just came back from the Ramen Museum near Shin-Yokohama Station. Bought some ramen (mysteriously and consistently transliterated as ‘raumen’ throughout the museum) for Satoko and her family, since I’m staying at their place. A few observations: the reconstructed ramen town in the two basement levels is kind of amazing. There weren’t that many people there today, but there are signs telling you things like “the wait for sumire ramen from this point is 60 minutes.” Some serious crowds must attack that place on weekends. I didn’t get in line for Sumire ramen (an old standby from hokkaido), but chose a bowl of Hachiya Ramen (from asahikawa, in hokkaido. I passed through there!) and then a mini-bowl at Shinasobaya (from Kanagawa). Amazing difference in noodle shape, and soup flavor. Another observation: many of the original Japanese ramen restaurants were founded in the late 1800s and early 1900s by Chinese immigrants. But the place isn’t just about ramen; it’s about nostalgia. They were selling cigarettes, candies, etc, in 1950s packaging, and the town itself was filled with memorabilia. There were old Kurosawa movie posters, fake subway signs, an old ramen-selling cart. . .