Toluu

Tokyo Times

Notes from a small group of Japanese islands

Japanese drinks #9: Lager lager lager lagerToday

For those on a budget looking to get bevvied on a beer-like beverage, then the long-established but pleasant on the pocket (although not necessarily the palate) happoshu is an abundantly available brew. An option that varies in taste from the really not that bad, to the really rather awful.

However, if it’s purely to get routed rather than relax, then Kirin’s new-ish Strong Seven is undoubtedly the way to go.

A tonic that, presumably due to its much touted tendency to help one forget, isn’t a titan in the taste department. But, as a beer that’s not actually a beer, and definitely doesn’t taste like a decent beer, it does pack a big old beer-like punch which, after all, is its purpose.

A sensatoinal seven perxent pumch at that, Lukily tho I can. Take my drink whatevr some moght say. specially that bstat wha’s he called. You no, that talll fella from the booozr? .

But yeh, ots st

Love hotel lights?November 28

Japanese love hotels offer a vast array of designs and devious delights, but for those after a bit of nature to add to their naughtiness, then the euphemistically monikered meeting place below could be right up their alley. A, ahem, healing space that magically conjures its customers from the concrete of the capital to the cold of northern Canada.

In fact, so fantastic is the effect, that it’s practically impossible to tell them apart, leaving many people baffled as to which is aurora borealis,

and which is a bath.

Bygone Tokyo barbecuesNovember 27

After what felt like only a week or two of autumn, Tokyo seems to have well and truly waded into winter, resulting in the capital’s riverside barbecue retreats battening down the hatches and waiting for the weather to get warmer again.

However, whether it was due to either the climate or a considerable lack of customers, this secluded little spot appears to have closed for business at least several seasons ago.

Meaning that as well rust being the only thing on the rack, the welcoming room or whatever it was is now little more than a ramshackle wreck.

And, despite plenty of storage space, the only things left there now are leaves,

and lopsided lamps.

Japanese car sales saviour?November 26

The Japanese car industry has been commanding for a considerable amount of time now, but although it’s not in the same near-collapse conundrum as a considerable number of its competitors, in reality things really aren’t that rosy, with Honda postponing production in some plants and Toyota suffering some sizeable setbacks.

At least one manufacturer, however, has decided to fight back, deducing that this decline may not be entirely due to the worldwide economic downturn, but could also have something to do with a dearth of desirable cars. A sense perhaps that pragmatism rather than pleasure has bored would-be buyers. And as such, it has sensationally opted to spur sales by making its product action-packed as well as appealing.

Apparently.

Japanese bowl-based bistroNovember 25

When dining on delectables doled out in dishes, it’s sometimes nice to sit in suitably styled seats.

Allowing one to boast,

although it’s a bit of a mouthful,

about eating from a bowl in a booth that’s a bowl.