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Oishi Gevalt Food, Loss and Life in Tokyo
August 10, 2020
The Hairy Homes Of Tokyo

The Hairy Homes Of Tokyo

I am a collector.  It is a gene that I was born with.  When I was young, I started in on bottle caps, excited to pry a champale top out of the asphalt; I moved to baseball cards — no greater pleasure than the smell of stale bubble gum seeping out of that waxy packaging.  …

July 9, 2020
Rakuichi Horumon In The Time Of Corona

Rakuichi Horumon In The Time Of Corona

In the beginning of June, after 3 months of lock-down, I was bicycling, in a web of melancholy,  around the Shimo-Akatsuki train station.  In a narrow alleyway, tucked in between some non-descript buildings, I saw Paris.  Or rather a belle epoque themed cafe whose interior glowed with warm, art nouveau lighting whose patio was bedecked …

June 16, 2020
Black Lives Matter Tokyo March – June 14, 2020

Black Lives Matter Tokyo March – June 14, 2020

In January 1991 I was attending college in Chicago when the first Gulf War started.  I was opposed to this show of military force and decided to join a protest on a chilly, windswept day.  I marched with a sign that read “No Blood For Oil” and chanted the requisite slogans.  As we marched along …

June 6, 2020
Awaken The Dead

Awaken The Dead

In my youth, we did not have cable television.  When insomnia struck and I wanted to watch Star Trek I would have to endure “classic television” like I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners.  Seemingly, both programs had one plot with many variations: Someone tells a lie.  This lie then causes a chain-reaction of coverups, more …

April 8, 2020
The Unfathomable Reality of Loss: Adam Schlesinger 1967-2020

The Unfathomable Reality of Loss: Adam Schlesinger 1967-2020

My friend Adam Schlesinger is dead.  To write those words is to engage the impossible; to read that sentence, to see the way the letters fit together, is obscene and unnatural. Even as I write this I have to avert my eyes from that foul spot on the computer screen. As long as there was …

March 23, 2020
Tokyo In The Time Of Corona: 15 Days Later

Tokyo In The Time Of Corona: 15 Days Later

It has been about three weeks since I posted about Tokyo in the time of Corona.  Like a living proof of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, it feels as if it has been a year.  The anti-Corona measures that Japan imposed seemed startling to some when I wrote my piece; those same measures are now drops …

March 17, 2020
Porky Distractions In An Uncertain Time

Porky Distractions In An Uncertain Time

Near to my house, by the Tobu-Nerima train station, there is a tiny standing bar with space for maybe six people.  It is a jolly, drunken spot.  If you walk in the door, you are welcomed, no matter who you are.  People either try to speak to me with whatever English they have or they …

March 7, 2020
Tokyo In The Time Of Corona

Tokyo In The Time Of Corona

There is no toilet paper in Tokyo.  We are living in the age of the global Covid 19 Pandemic. When news first started spreading in January that there was a weird, new virus developing in China, I could not figure out if Japan was concerned.  Things seemed pretty normal.  And then…BAM!! Everything changed.  Facemasks sold …

February 19, 2020
What We Talk About When We Talk About Ramen

What We Talk About When We Talk About Ramen

The first time I visited Japan, I asked a policeman to recommend a ramen shop.  He seemed both irritated and confused.  The question was too general for him.  “What kind do you like?” He said, exasperated. At that time in my life, I did not even know there was more than one type of ramen. …

January 27, 2020
Mikame Yakitori: Happiness on Happy Road

Mikame Yakitori: Happiness on Happy Road

I am a Yakitorian.  It is my made-up word for a connoisseur of the Japanese art of grilling skewers of chicken parts.  I have, on many occasions, devoured a meal of yakitori at one restaurant and then ended the night having a little yakitori “nightcap” at a different spot.  I have always preferred plentiful appetizers …

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  • The Hairy Homes Of Tokyo
  • Rakuichi Horumon In The Time Of Corona
  • Black Lives Matter Tokyo March – June 14, 2020
  • Awaken The Dead
  • The Unfathomable Reality of Loss: Adam Schlesinger 1967-2020

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