Ever tried raw tongue? Ever gobbled up uncooked harami (skirt steak)? I have! Sounds gross. Tastes delicious! I would have never known had I not been brought to Motsuyaki Den in Naka-Meguro. Motsu means entrails, offal, the left-over bits; yaki means grilled. Like its name, Den is unadorned. No tables. Linoleum counter. Rock and roll posters. Baseball on the …
Last month my sister and her husband came to Tokyo for a visit. I made intricate plans; used a ruler to carve out grids on our calendar; I matched favorite restaurants with favorite neighborhoods — keeping a sharp eye to let them experience some of our local pleasures so they could see how we live. …
I often think Japanese people do not make mistakes or ever have accidents. A slippery bottle of soda, a mishandled cup of coffee has never been accidentally dropped onto a subway floor. People don’t seem to lose their keys, their wallets, their phones. For the most part, people don’t bump into each other, step on …
