Getting close to sake heaven once more at Sasagin!

You know you're in for a special night when 
 Sasagin's Narita-san pulls out a bottle of sake 
called Glorious Mount Fuji for you to try!

Puppet Ponyo swooning next to another 
fantastic sake -- this one called Eau du Désir!

 Six may be a conservative number with regards to the different 

 sake that man introduced me to that one evening... ;b

The last time I visited Tokyo before my most recent Japan trip, a friend who now resides in Hong Kong but had previously lived in the Japanese capital city recommended that I spend an evening at her favorite sake bar there.  Thanks to her suggestion, another friend -- who has lived in Tokyo for over a decade now -- and I had an evening to remember at Sasagin.  So it was pretty much a no-brainer that this Yoyogi-Uehara izakaya would be where we would meet up again for what would be a pretty much guaranteed fun night out.

On the evening of our appointed meetup, I made my way to Sasagin on my own; hoping that I'd remember the way to it despite only having been there once before, close to four years ago.  Despite our having drank quite a bit that evening in 2012, I found that I did indeed remember a lot about the place (and occasion); with my memory of how the exterior of the bar looked being actually pretty accurate, and with the added bonus this time being that I knew the large cedar ball hanging above its doorway denoted that it was a sake establishment.

Thanks to the large amount of time I've spent in the years since at Sake Bar Ginn (a sake bar here in Hong Kong which I probably would never have thought to check out if not for that night at Sasagin that really started it all!), I could recognize some of the names on Sasagin's sake menu.  And I think that my choice of a Dassai 23 junmai daiginjo to start off the evening along with my telling the bar's affable owner who had recommended his bar to me had a bearing on how the evening ended up unfolding!

After my American friend joined me at the bar and spoke to him in fluent Japanese, Narita-san (Sasagin's owner)'s beams got even broader.  And when we placed orders for such as eihire yaki (grilled stingray fins), and seasonal sashimi (raw seafood) and tsukemono (Japanese pickles), I got the feeling that he decided there and then that we were in the right place. 

Early on, I noticed that my friend and I were the only non-Japanese at Sasagin that evening.  I also got to realizing that quite a few folks there found us quite fascinating -- and, in the case of the woman sitting next to my friend, enough to overcome her reticence to start chatting at length with us (on a range of topics, including the considerable amount of time that -- it turned out -- all of us had spent in the US, different places and ways to find friends these days, the difficulty of speaking keigo, and the amazing as well as amusing pear fairy known as Funassyi)! 

Maybe it was because we had been befriended by regulars. (Among other things, the woman told us that she and her companion go to Sasagin weekly.)  Perhaps it was because we were so obviously enjoying ourselves, the food and the drink.  But after our second round of sake orders, Narita-san started pulling out pretty obviously premium bottles of nihonshu and pouring us drinks from them.  

I have to admit that I actually can't remember the names of all the different nihonshu I sampled that evening (though I can definitely state that the revelatory standouts for me were the Glorious Mount Fuji (Eiko Fuji) sake from the Eiko Fuji Brewery in Yamagata prefecture, and the Eau du Désir (Water of Hope) from the Banjo Sake Brewing Company in Aichi prefecture).  Neither do I actually know how many glasses of sake I had that night.  But what I do know though is that my friend and I ended up closing down the bar -- and for the record, the only other bar I've ever done this to/at is Sake Bar Ginn!  

I also remember experiencing some trepidation at how large our bill would be when the time finally came for us to be shown it.  In all honesty though, the total damage was far less than I feared that it would be -- considering not only how much my friend and I had drank (and eaten; we also ordered a plate of tempura moriawase that included delicious pieces of frittered anago (fresh water eel) along with the more usual suspects such as shrimp, sweet potato and onion later in the evening) but also the sheer quality of the sake that Narita-san had included in what had amounted to a nihonshu omakase event!

Before this second visit to Sasagin, I did wonder how much I'd enjoy it.  For one thing, my memory of that first visit was so wonderful that even I got to suspecting that the years had made my recollections more rose-colored than the reality actually had been.  For another, I've drank hundreds more liters of sake -- and tried a whole lot of different brands of nihonshu -- since that 2012 evening that effectively amounted to my real, serious introduction to sake.

In all honesty though, I ended up having a better, even more epic time this time around!  And yes, I found myself ruing once more that I don't live way closer to Sasagin (which, more than by the way, is in the Tokyo edition of the Michelin guide) -- though at least now I can console myself with the knowledge that I at least don't live too far away from Sake Bar Ginn! ;S

Beauty as well as tragedy can be found in The End of Summer (film review)

Setsuko Hara and Yazujiro Ozu, on one of the sets 

of the last of six films they made together

The End of Summer (Japan, 1961)

- Yazujiro Ozu, director and co-scriptwriter (with Kogo Noda)

- Starring: Ganjiro Nakamura, Daisuke Kato, Yoko Tsukasa, Michiyo Aratama, Setsuko Hara, Keiju Kobayashi

In late November last year, the shock news was delivered to the world that Setsuko Hara had passed away on September 5th but her family, as per her direction, had not made a public announcement as to her demise until after more than two months had passed.  It may seem strange for someone who never met her to feel so impacted by the death of a 95-year-old woman -- at least until you see Setsuko Hara bestow her luminous presence onto a film.  And no matter that the last movie she appeared in was back in 1962; after which she retired from public view as well as acting when she was just 43 years of age.  

Although she worked with other directors (including Akira Kurosawa, Mikio Naruse and Keisuke Kinoshita), Setsuko Hara is most associated with Yazujiro Ozu, the master auteur who directed her in six films, including Tokyo Story, the bittersweet 1953 offering widely looked upon as his masterpiece.  Despite not being its main star, the general feeling is that Setsuko Hara plays a big part in making this film the beloved as well as much admired work that it is.  

As with Tokyo Story, the last of six films which Ozu and the actress often described as his muse both worked on is an ensemble effort in which she doesn't have a large role.  But whenever she's on screen in The End of Summer, it's very hard to take your eyes off her.  And, when viewed with the knowledge that the woman known as The Eternal Virgin retired just two years after making this film, certain wishes that her character express in it (e.g., a wish to follow her heart in the midst of family pressure and stay single for the rest of her days) take on a poignancy that those who viewed this offering on its original release may not have felt.

In what also turned out to be Ozu's penultimate film, Setsuko Hara plays Akiko, the widowed daughter-in-law of Kohayagawa Manbei (Ganjiro Nakamura), a fun-loving sake brewery owner who latterly leaves much of the actual work to Hisao (Keiju Kobayashi), the husband of his elder daughter Fumiko (Michiyo Aratama), and others.  As is often the case in Ozu's films (including Late Autumn, another Ozu-Setsuko Hara collaboration), the married folk seem to get uncommonly interested in finding a man for women without husbands, even widows who previously did so.

Ironically, while Akiko and Kohayagawa's younger daughter, Noriko (Yoko Tsukasa), don't seem in a hurry to have suitors found for them, the family patriarch has been pursuing a woman from the past on the sly.  On the one hand, there seems no harm in Kohayagawa seeing Sasaki (Chieko Naniwa) now that he's a widower.  On the other hand, Fumiko, for one is not prepared to accept the woman who was Kohayagawa's mistress when her mother was alive into the family any time soon; and this especially in view of the possibility that Sasaki's adult daughter, Yuriko (Reiko Dan), also may be his.

The End of Summer's title and storyline point to tragedy befalling in the film; and it's indeed the case that tragedy does strike in the form of an important character's untimely death.  But along with memorable funeral scenes and another contemplative sequence in which two people discuss the cycle of life while, at one point, watching smoke rising from a crematorium's chimney, there also are moments in the movie which are considerably lighter feeling.  

And probably not all that surprisingly, the most enjoyable scenes in the film are ones in which Setsuko Hara figures.  In particular, it's beautiful to see sisters-in-law Akiko and Noriko have such a warm and trusting relationship, and thus be able to confide in each other and express their feelings in ways that are so sincere as well as thoughtful.  In a world where many people appear to believe that marriage is the be all and end all, leave it to two people who never married (Ozu as well as Setsuko Hara) to show that other types of relationships can be caring and loving too.

   

My rating for this film: 8.0    

Marching to the China Liason Office again, this time along with one of the previously missing booksellers

The scene at the starting point of the protest rally in support 

of Lam Wing Kee over in Causeway Bay this afternoon

The scene outside the China Liason Office in Sai Ying Pun

one march and some three hours later

Along the way, district councillor Paul Zimmerman 

delivers a message to the CCP that many of us heartily endorse

The past few weekends have seen quite a bit more rain in June than I'm used to seeing in Hong Kong.  But even while downpours have laid waste to quite a few of my hiking plans, the heavens cooperated today by having the rain stop a few minutes before the start of this afternoon's rally in support of Lam Wing Kee that was attended by thousands of protestors (a pretty good turnout considering that there was less than 24 hours notice given for the event).

At the starting point of the march over on the Causeway Bay street where Causeway Bay Books has its home, the bookstore's founder made an appearance to thank people for their support as well as deliver the message to the assembled journalists that people want to be left to live in peace in Hong Kong (as opposed to feel pressured by the Mainland Chinese authorities to do things they don't normally want to).  Lawmaker Albert Ho also spoke briefly before the two men proceeded to lead the march, which began on time and generally went rather smoothly; with our progress being halted just a few times along the way to allow road traffic to pass through.

At certain points in the afternoon, I found myself walking faster than many of the others around me.  Consequently, while I had started the march just behind those protesters holding People Power banners, I ended up also walking in the company of Civic Party representatives (including Ken Tsang and lawmaker Claudia Mo; the latter of whom was holding a placard bearing a "one country, two systems -- dead" message on it), members of the League of Social Democrats (including the easily recognizable "Long Hair" Leung Kwok Hung), supporters of the Labour Party (and lawmakers like Cyd Ho, who made an impassioned speech at the China Liason Office that asked, among other things, what law the kidnapped booksellers had actually broken) and others along the way. 

At a corner in Wan Chai, some 20 representatives of pro-Beijing group Voice of Loving Hong Kong gathered to oppose this afternoon's rally.  In addition, lone individuals were spotted on one occasion each in Central and Sai Ying Pun protesting against today's protest.  However, all these counter-protesters were vastly outnumbered by those of us out there who would much rather that the Communist Chinese Party and government "back off" and let Hong Kong be; this especially when I count the number of people I saw along the way who gave those taking part in the rally the "thumbs up" sign or even vocally voice out their thank yous. 

I know there are people who will ask what's the use of us marching for hours in high heat and humidity (as was the case today and each year on July 1st).  But, as ever, I consider it a privilege which shouldn't be taken for granted that we in Hong Kong can gather together to publicly voice sentiments and send messages to the authorities in Hong Kong, and audiences beyond, that certain repressive governments would consider beyond the pale and consequently never allow.  So I feel we should exercise this right while we (still) can -- and if it turns out that we can make a difference, it'd would be a boon and bonus!

In the case of the Causeway Bay booksellers: It was very heartening, and inspiring even, to read that one of the factors that had prompted Lam Wing Kee to decide to tell the truth about what had happened to him in China is his having been touched by those who had taken part in the rally for the booksellers back in January.  And even while a lot of problems remain, I do consider it very much a step in the right direction that we now know what happened to the five people who had been missing the last time I marched to the China Liason Office in Sai Ying Pun -- and that this time around, one of them was among the protesters out there on the streets of Hong Kong.

Saluting a courageous Hong Konger brave enough to say 'No' to the authoritarian regime

Remember the five missing Hong Kong booksellers?

As was the case earlier this year, protesters gathered once again 

at China's liason office in Hong Kong today at the treatment of 

the booksellers by Chinese authorities, and the threat being posed

to "One Country, Two Systems" 

One wet, wintry day this past January, I was one of thousands of concerned folks who took part in a rally for five Hong Kong booksellers who went missing under suspicious circumstances.  In the months since then, we've been given proof that the quintet had been abducted and detained by the Chinese authorities, not least after they were paraded on Chinese TV as criminals.  We've also seen three of them return to Hong Kong to give assurances that they're fine before returning to the mainland after a few hours, supposedly -- but very doubtfully -- voluntarily.   

Like those three of his colleagues before him, Lam Wing Kee (aka Lam Wing Kei) was allowed to return to Hong Kong recently.  But after taking the now familiar steps of meeting with the Hong Kong police and requesting them to cancel his missing person case, he bravely called a press conference during which he proceeded to give a detailed account of his illegal capture, detention and mistreatment at the hands of the Chinese authorities over the past eight months.  In so doing, he confirmed what many people, including the daughter of one of the quintet of booksellers -- Gui Minhai, who in addition to having gone missing while living in Thailand, is a Swedish citizen -- believe: that these men were illegally abducted and being held in China on dubious charges.

After Mr. Lam made his damning revelations, Paul Lee Bo (whose name is also written as Lee Po) was trotted out to deny his -- and presumably his colleagues too -- not having been abducted by the Chinese authorities.  For anyone in doubt as to who's telling the truth here, consider this: who has close relatives over in Mainland China and who doesn't, and thus feels more able to "say 'no' to the authoritarian regime"?

At the same time, there is little doubt that Lam Wing Kee has put himself at no small amount of risk and danger after defying the might of the Chinese authorities; this even though he stated that he intends to remain outside Mainland China, over here in Hong Kong (where the Basic Law is supposed to prevail).  So I truly admire and respect this 60-year-old Hong Konger for his courage; as I do the likes of Gao Zhisheng and still detained Nobel prize winner Liu Xiaobo, people who most countries would be proud to have as their citizens but seemingly not China. 

Meet Funassyi, my latest Japanese love! (Photo-essay)

"All your favorite plushie characters are from Japan!"  That's what a friend of mine recently noted.  Believe it or not, I hadn't actually realized it until she said so.  But it's indeed true enough that Winkipinki (my first Sanrio love), Hello Kitty, Totoro, and Ponyo do indeed all hail from the Land of the Rising Sun (or, rather, their creators -- since Kitty Chan's actually supposed to be an English girl cat character!).  

And so too does Funassyi, the pear fairy from Funabashi, whose existence I only got to know about in the final months of last year but whose incredible -- and often incredibly diverse -- exploits I've been addictively and vicariously following via such as the amazing We Love Funassyi blog and often hilarious Youtube appearances such as this, this, this and this!  (For those who are interested in checking out more videos featuring this shrieky yellow and blue creature, you could do worse than Google "Funassyi explosion run", with a version with English subtitles being available on Youtube!).   
Although the hyper-active unofficial mascot of Funabashi (a city in Chiba prefecture with pear orchards) is super popular in Japan, it's not yet that well known internationally -- and its merchandise (still) is not all that easy to find in Hong Kong.  So even though a friend very kindly got me some Funassyi items when she visited Tokyo a few months back, I was determined to buy myself some more goodies with the Pear's visage on them when I went over to Japan myself at such as the branch of Funassyiland located on the ground floor of the wonderful flagship Kiddy Land store in Harajuku...

 Actually, as I found out on this recent Japan trip,

the Pear -- pictured here holding an apple in Nagano -- 

can be seen in many places in the country! ;b

And on the very first day of my recent Japan trip, Puppet Ponyo posed 

with a tiny Funassyi charm in the grounds of Nagano's Zenkoki :) 

It was raining when I got to Funassyiland/Kiddy Land but 

I just knew there would be things in there that'd brighten up my day :b

 On those shelves alone are far more Funassyi merchandise

than I've seen (to date) in all of Hong Kong!

Funassyi rules!  (And with the Pear being a charitable fellow,

I wouldn't be surprised if it had allocated some of its store space

for Kumamon items to help with the Kumamoto earthquake relief) 

I wonder how many men out there wear Funassyi 

boxer briefs... willingly and of their own volition! :D

In retrospect, I really wish I had bought that 60 cm 

Funassyi plush sitting on the edge of the shelf... :S

 Still, I think I got a decent sized Funassyi haul 

on this one trip... (Confession: that's actually not 

everything I bought this time around! ;b )

Tsukiji's less well known -- but more welcoming -- Jogai Shijo (Outer Market)

Eye-catching restaurant advertising at Tsukiji ;b

A sushi-ya that welcomes customers in many languages, 

including ones I really didn't expect to see at Tsukiji! :O

In my previous blog post, I wrote about going to Tsukiji Market to say goodbye to it before it relocates in November to Toyusu.  Actually, though, only a part of the market will be moving out of its current premises.  More specifically, whereas the famed Inner Market (where the tuna auctions and wholesale seafood trading takes place, and popular restaurants Sushi Dai and Sushi Daiwa can be found) will be in new premises, Tsukiji's Outer Market actually isn't going anywhere anytime soon!

I didn't realize the existence of Tsukiji's Jogai Shijo (Outer Market) until my third visit to Tsukiji, in 2012, and I get the feeling that there remain many visitors to this famous foodie attraction who think that its Jonai Shijo (Inner Market) makes up the whole of Tsukiji Market.  The latter fact is pretty ironic since even both sections of Tsukiji do cater to food professionals, the Outer Market is actually far more (casual) visitor-friendly than the Inner Market.  

Among other things, there's a designated visitor information center at the Outer Market and fewer motorised delivery carts zipping around the place.  Also, venders at the Jogai Shijo generally appear to be more active in trying to get customers to patronize their place -- whereas I imagine that at the Jonai Shijo, the vendors deal far more with regulars who also will make far larger purchases at any one time than casual visitors to the place.

Doubtless, there are some folks who will think the Outer Market feels too touristy and may be put off by the constant shouts from people to check out their wares or choose their particular restaurant to eat at.  Still, the sellers' enthusiastic efforts to get your attention is a far cry from overly-pushy, even aggressive efforts, to get you to buy stuff that one is liable to encounter in many other parts of Asia and some -- if not all -- African countries.     

Furthermore, the visual displays at the Jogai Shijo really can be something -- and unlike in a number of other places, photography does not appear to be frowned on at all!  On at least one visit to the Outer Market, I also saw a tuna slicing demonstration that involved in an intimidatingly large knife as well as fish taking place outside a sushi restaurant.  This time around, I "only" saw "artistically" arranged tuna heads and tails outside another sushi-ya as well as other eye-catching displays!  

One other thing that prompted me to stop in my  tracks was a sushi restaurant sign that bade visitors welcome not only in English but also traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, Korean, Bahasa Malaysia and what I think is Hindi.  If nothing else, this is a good indication of how international the visitors to Tsukiji are these days, and also how the love of sushi has spread far beyond Japan. :)

Tsukiji long goodbye (Photo-essay)

On the sixth day of my recent Japan trip -- and the first morning I spent in Tokyo -- I went on a culinary pilgrimage to the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market at Tsukiji.  It was at this, the largest -- and busiest -- wholesale seafood market in the world, that I first caught sight of the massive heads of tunas and many different kinds of sea creatures that I previously didn't know exist, and had my first omakase sushi meal  -- which also happened to be the best sushi meal I had ever had by a long chalk up until that point in my life and that which truly ignited my passion for quality sushi (and sashimi).

Once again, I had sushi for breakfast there.  This time though, I also went about saying goodbye to Tsukiji, as the market will be moving in November to another part of Tokyo (and I don't think I'll be returning to that part of the world before its relocation).  Maybe it's my imagination (or my timing this time around) but large swathes of the place already didn't seem as busy during my most recent visit as on previous ones.  

So I'm going ahead and cobbling together a Tsukiji photo-essay using photos from earlier visits as well as this most recent one; and I hope that when viewed collectively, they will help give an idea of how atmospheric this old locale (which has been operating in this particular location since 1935) is, why I find it a really fascinating place to wander around and why a visit to Tsukiji is pretty much guaranteed to make non-vegetarians hungry as well as nostalgic... :)

I reckon the line for Sushi Dai has gotten longer 

with each passing year! :O

It's not yet 10.15am but plenty of people 

have already decided that it's time for sushi!

Still, it's not like every eatery at the market is 

crazy busy serving customers...

Also, quite a number of folks are still working

and generally buzzing about  

One only gets a sense of how big those fish heads are

by comparing their size to that of the human in the picture

 I wish I didn't feel so stuffed already post  

sushi breakfast that I figured it'd be wise to 

not have some fresh raw oysters for "dessert"... ;S

The cleaning up has begun... 

But before you/I go, here's saying "Thanks for the memories" 

-- and introduction to great sushi! -- once more :)