Jet Lag and Discovering Fuku
I have been challenged by the jet-lag all week. I don't remember waking up at 3AM every morning on previous trips and being so sleep deprived for this long. I haven't ventured outside of performances because of this. I forced myself to go out 2 days ago, taking the subway to another part of town where there was a ceramic show on the 12th floor of the Daimaru Department Store. In the run-out to Kyoto, I managed to walk over to this edgy ceramic store that the bus passed on the way to the hall. The proprietor knew people I knew in the Japanese ceramic circles and we managed to communicate by identifying those people in photos from a magazine that she had on file.
Back in Tokyo, our hotel is conveniently next to Suntory Hall and in a very comfortable, modern, and peaceful neighborhood. After Thursday night's concert, I wandered near the hotel in search of a late dinner. Booker was with me. We passed a few traditional restaurants and wandered into a building, curious about one place that appeared opened from the street. However, another place caught our attention which wasn't visible from the street. I could hear jazz playing down below but was reluctant to go in because they didn't have an english menu outside. When I peaked in to get a glimpse of what it was like, a woman behind the counter saw me and waved us in. We braved down the steps and entered a tiny smokey space (many restaurants in Japan are smokey...uk..). We perched at the counter near the entrance. The place was small with a few tables in a very cool modern decor. We weren't successful communicating and she found someone to translate. He turned out to be married to the other owner and stayed with us for much of the evening. He wore a goatee and I told him he looked like a beatnik. "Oh, an American beatnik," he parroted in a jazzy style. We bypassed the menu and asked the woman to give us some vegetable dishes. She served tofu, roots, asparagus, salad, and an interesting flavored sake. The tofu was very soft, musky, cheesy, and coated delicately with some kind of seasoning served beautifully in a small bowl. I never tasted tofu that good. It was dreamy and my first eating highlight of the tour.
Yuki, the Japanese beatnik, was a music producer. He introduced us later to a recording engineer ( who provided the Vienna State Opera with devices that convert archival vinyl recordings to digital), a radio announcer and theatre producer, and after mentioning our involvement in the documentary Music From the Inside Out, he gestured to a filmmaker sitting in the corner. We were in an artist hub. I was in heaven. I had my laptop and shared images of my paintings with Yuki. He mentioned a curator he knows. Who doesn't he know! I felt like I was in today's equivalent of Paris in the early 20th Century, or NYC in the 40's-50's. Booker shared stories of his father who worked for RCA and who built a TV from scratch in the early 1940"s. Jonathan, the archival specialist, was familiar with RCA's roots in Camden and the early recordings of the Philadelphia Orchestra. There were so many connections in this little place, the food was great, and I'm going back tonight.
Back in Tokyo, our hotel is conveniently next to Suntory Hall and in a very comfortable, modern, and peaceful neighborhood. After Thursday night's concert, I wandered near the hotel in search of a late dinner. Booker was with me. We passed a few traditional restaurants and wandered into a building, curious about one place that appeared opened from the street. However, another place caught our attention which wasn't visible from the street. I could hear jazz playing down below but was reluctant to go in because they didn't have an english menu outside. When I peaked in to get a glimpse of what it was like, a woman behind the counter saw me and waved us in. We braved down the steps and entered a tiny smokey space (many restaurants in Japan are smokey...uk..). We perched at the counter near the entrance. The place was small with a few tables in a very cool modern decor. We weren't successful communicating and she found someone to translate. He turned out to be married to the other owner and stayed with us for much of the evening. He wore a goatee and I told him he looked like a beatnik. "Oh, an American beatnik," he parroted in a jazzy style. We bypassed the menu and asked the woman to give us some vegetable dishes. She served tofu, roots, asparagus, salad, and an interesting flavored sake. The tofu was very soft, musky, cheesy, and coated delicately with some kind of seasoning served beautifully in a small bowl. I never tasted tofu that good. It was dreamy and my first eating highlight of the tour.
Yuki, the Japanese beatnik, was a music producer. He introduced us later to a recording engineer ( who provided the Vienna State Opera with devices that convert archival vinyl recordings to digital), a radio announcer and theatre producer, and after mentioning our involvement in the documentary Music From the Inside Out, he gestured to a filmmaker sitting in the corner. We were in an artist hub. I was in heaven. I had my laptop and shared images of my paintings with Yuki. He mentioned a curator he knows. Who doesn't he know! I felt like I was in today's equivalent of Paris in the early 20th Century, or NYC in the 40's-50's. Booker shared stories of his father who worked for RCA and who built a TV from scratch in the early 1940"s. Jonathan, the archival specialist, was familiar with RCA's roots in Camden and the early recordings of the Philadelphia Orchestra. There were so many connections in this little place, the food was great, and I'm going back tonight.
posted by Judy Geist, violist at 1:21 AM
1 Comments:
I saw a real beatnik once playing his bongos on an ocean pier. That was 45 years ago. He may have been a real beatnik any way. Sounds like you’re having some good times too. I hope everyone returns home safe and sound.
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