Neil Duckett

Today i got out to Harajuku and although the original purpose was to visit as part of the JR Yamanote Line tour i ended up cutting it short for a few reasons, weather and a hangover being the main 2 though.

I was hoping to get out there on a clear blue skies day, instead it was overcast and started to rain. There were far too many people for me to handle and not enough on the bridge.

Instead of wandering around, i followed the recommendation of a few people from my local bar last night, the scene of the crime, and headed to Jangara Ramen a famous Ramen shop so i’m told. With no real idea of where it was it took me 20 minutes to find it, when i did and i sat down to my Ramen i was well pleased i did.

I’ll be back to try something a little hotter next time but for today i went the Miso Ramen, with Chashew, Egg and extra onion.

Anyone looking for Jangara Ramen - if you head for the bridge turn left instead of going to right to Meiji Jingu and start walking down the hill you’ll see it on the left hand side.

There’s an upstairs restaurant as well as a down stairs one in the Harajuku area. I got there a little before 12 and when i left the line up had started.

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In a week where many people get away from Japan i’ve unfortunately stayed put and worked most days … the last 2 from home so not all bad. I’m off to Ireland at the end of the month so i needed to conserve the few holidays i have in preparation for that.

It’s been a pretty casual week though and i’ve managed to get out pretty well every night this week and also catch up on a few things i’ve needed to during the day.

Perusing the internet this morning i came across an interesting article re “The Foreign Ministry plans to give favorable treatment in visa applications and extensions to foreign nationals with a good command of the Japanese language.”  You can read more about it over at Japan Probe.

Essentially though there’ll be no unfavourable treatment to those with no Japanese language skills but for others who have endeavoured to learn they will include extending the resident status of foreigners with a certain level of Japanese language proficiency to a maximum of five years from the current three.

On a less serious note, i found this lunch special quite amusing, childish i know.

Image Source: Neta

I’m expecting the next few days to be pretty quiet for me, try and do the right thing and keep it pretty tidy and all things go according to plan, i aim to get out to Harajuku on Sunday for the next installment on the 29 stops of the JR Yamanote Line.

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Prior to moving to Japan i had never eaten Ramen, now i can’t live without it. Most weekends for lunch i visit a local Ramen shop in Yoyogi or if i’m visiting a new station on the JR Yamanote Line then i’ll get my fix there.

Ramen comes in all different flavours and naturally i’ve got my favourites. I generally lean towards a Miso base with either a flavouring of Onion or Chashew with an Egg for topping.

One of the only good things about working in Hon-Atsugi is the Ramen down that way is good, very good, and it’s hard to get anything close to it back up here in Tokyo. Luckily for me i have a good shop a few minutes walk from home, just in front of the North Exit of Yoyogi station.

Today i went for the Negi (Onion) Miso Ramen, and once again it hit the spot.

It’s a very Japanese thing to do, taking photographs of your food that is, and i find myself doing it more and more these days.

Going through my phone last week after my trip to Nagoya i was surprised to see how many photos of past Ramen experiences i had. Here’s some of the favourites from Hon-Atsugi and in and around where i live.

As i continue the 29 stops of the JR Yamanote Line series i’ll make sure i have Ramen for lunch, it will probably become a series of its own.

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Last night I attended the same function I met the grandson of the founder of Miss Nippon last year. Again it was held at the Keio Plaza hotel and again it was a great night.

I spent the early part of the evening talking to TVK Yokohamas Kyoko Nakayama which was interesting as always and also caught up with the World Extreme Skiing champion Yoshimasa Wada and told him of my recent Snowboarding trips.

The highlight would have to have been meeting Lungtok who apart from being part of the Tibet Olympic Judo Team several years ago, is currently the translator for the Dalai Lama when he is in Japan. Not only was his conversation interesting I was most impressed to hear he was fluent in 5 languages.

Unfortunately the guy in charge of taking the photo was obviously impared with Sake and he managed to take an out of focus photo.

Not unlike last time, the grog and food was put on, and put on very well i might ad. Fast becoming a favourite of mine is Sushi and I only broke away from the Sushi last night to try one thing and that was the Whale Steak. There was a raw option beside the cooked variety but my taste buds weren’t tempted.

Coming from Australia the topic of Whaling came up on several occasions and it was discussed in a mature fashion, more than I can say for the behaviour from the guys from Chasers in this recent clip on youtube. I never have really liked much of their stuff.

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A few weeks ago the good folks from Mark Batty Publishers approached me saying they were putting out books on Japanese visual culture and wanted Japanophiles to review them. The first thing i did was check what the word Japanophile meant.

Japanophile - Japanophilia is an interest in, or love of, Japan and all things Japanese. (It’s opposite is Japanophobia.) One who has such an interest or love is a Japanophile. Various cultures and peoples have gone through various periods of Japanophilia, for various reasons, throughout history.

Once the word checked out I promptly agreed and a week later they sent me a book on “Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes”

I’m not a massive reader of books these days, so lucky for me there’s lots of pictures and what fantastic pictures they are, all about the Bento Box.

This book provides a fascinating insight in to the Japanese Bento Box and the integral part It’s played for the last several hundred years.

The book is not only very entertaining for the pictures of the Bento Box but at the back there’s a how to section providing a great example for you to try on your own. I probably won’t be rushing out to do it myself but for anyone with kids it would be a bit of fun.

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