Soba Restaurant in Kamata

Japan is known for strong earthquake-proof buildings and for sure this is very important because they are as common as Cicadas in the summer time... almost... I had to get used to the earthquakes for sure and I've experienced around 5 of them this year, but having said that, some of them are so small so you start to wonder if it really was an earthquake, for example, at times I'll be in bed and feel the house shake ever so slightly, so suttle that it could of been a gust of strong wind. These strong durable building are excellent but Japan is also known for their wooden structures so there are more fires, I'll see buildings on fire on the news or even in person but it is still a rare sight.

Just the other day I came accross a Soba restaurant that had an all wood interior and I really like this style, it had that old-school Japanese look and it reminded me of the countryside, I strongly recommend going to the countryside if your thinking of visiting Japan, it's very beautiful and you'll definitely apperciate the fresh air and green scenary especially if you've been traveling around cities.

The Soba noodle restaurant I went to was sprouting sweet potatoes... a rare sight! I prefer cold Zaru Sobas as I seem to be able to taste the noodles better but as it's getting colder I went in to try out the Chikara Soba which translates to 'strength Soba', this was a hot dish that included; Mochi, Kamaboko and Wakame, I found this more filling than other Soba dishes due to the Mochis. The Soba was decent and the service here wasn't as fast as Yudetaro but it wasn't slow, you should be careful with the Shichimi (spice) as it's quite strong here.

Useful info.
-Mochi: Guey, rectangular & flavourless - made out of Mochi rice.
-Kamaboko: Made out of fish.
-Wakame: Seaweed.
-Chikara Soba: ￥850



Front





Display



Interior

Menu

Sweet potatoes being sprouted

Chikara Soba





Yudetaro Soba noodle restaurant

Yudetaro is without a doubt the most common Soba restaurant you'll find in Tokyo, they're a franchise with many branches that serve mainly Soba noodles, however you can always ask for Udon noodles if you prefer. It is a place of fast service, convenient payment system and decent Soba. The variety of toppings and Gohan dishes that you can have with it isn't bad too. Every time I come here the wait is no longer than 5 minutes and at times they only take a couple of minutes if it's not too busy. You are able to pay at the vending machine-like ticket dispenser and these are quite common in Japan, especially in these eat & go style restaurants. No matter which branch you go to you'll always get the same experience and food, kinda like Makudonarudo! The Soba here are more white in colour than the ones you'll encounter at typical Soba restaurants and they are boiled just right, not too soft or too hard, the Tsuyu here might be a little stronger too which I like. You'll be able to customise meals as you can select individual toppings like Ika-age or Tororo and if you're a first timer then there are realistic plastic models of the foods at the front of their restaurants. Yudetaro is relatively cheap compared to others places and all in all it's a place to get decent Soba and fast service.

Useful info.
Omori Zaru Soba: ¥470
Soba yu: Free of charge

Yudetarou

Plastic models

Ticket dispencer



Ticket




Zaru Soba


Yen aka ¥ aka 円

Pounds & pennies, dollars & cents, yen and, well… yen. It's all about the yen in Japan, it's actually pronounced 'en' but whatever. Yen is the only measure used in Japanese currency so your ¥10,000 would only be $83 so your far from rich! Japan is a cash country and people do pay with cards at times but for the most part people are using Osatsus and Kozenis (notes and coins) for their Gari Gari Kuns or whatever they may be interested in. You have two characters that represent the the yen, one is '¥' which is the symbol just like '$' and the other is '円' which is the Kanji character version and both are equally common in usage, however, the '¥' is used at the beginning i.e. ¥500 and the other is used at the end i.e. 500円. I kid you not, the ¥1 coin is probably the lightest coin used in the world! Money is respected highly in Japan as with many other countries, however it is one of the three main virtues that has existed  throughout history here, the three being; the sword which represents force, jewels (or in modern times, currency) which represents wealth and the mirror which represents knowledge.

Useful info.
Japanese coins: ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥50, ¥100, ¥500.
Japanese notes: ¥1,000, ¥5,000, ¥10,000.

Yen

Gari Gari Kun

Sword, jewel & mirror

Japanese Calendars

We've all heard of bank holidays but here in Japan you have 'red days' or 'Akai hi', these red days are scattered across most of the months within a typical calendar year except for June and August, these national holidays occur 1 - 4 times in a single month. There are two main holidays in Japan and they are called 'Golden Week' and 'Silver Week' which take place during May and September and on these days you can have 4 - 5 consecutive days off (including the weekends) depending on his or her work schedule, however, as with most schools across the world kids here get to indulge in their summer holidays during early July to late September. During the new year period it is common to have a rest on the 31st, 1st, 2nd and 3rd of January where people countdown in their local shrines and eat traditional new year Bentos called Osechi. Just like in the western world Christmas is also a national holiday and it is highlighted red in the Japanese calendar. If you want to greet a Japanese person during Christmas then you ought to know how to pronounce 'Merry Christmas', and it goes something like this: 'Merii Kurisumasu'!

Useful info.
-Day = Nichi
-Month = Gatsu
-Year = Nen
For example: "Watashi no tanjoubi wa 12 gatsu 23 nichi 1933 nen desu"

Japanese calendar

Mama-chari Bicycles

When it comes to Mama-chari bicycles in Japan you'll be seeing more than double! These friendly looking things are right up there in the list of most commonly seen things in Japan. Let me break it down for you... Mama = Mum and Chari = bicycle, so these are for Mothers apparently, however, everybody is riding them; teenagers, salarymen, Ojichans & Obachans. These Mama-charis are quite slow but safe and efficient as they have a light and a basket at the front for riding in the evenings and for grocery shopping, they also come with a built in lock that's attached to the back wheel, if you want to travel long distances or maybe just go a little faster, then road bikes and mountain bikes are also an option, however, are less common, I've also been seeing quite a few bicycles with HUGE wheels! Something that's trending in Tokyo atm, those rebels! If you live in Japan and you're planning on going to your local Conbini or station then it is more than common to use a Mama-chari. These bicycles are so popular in Japan that there are designated parking spaces for them where you normally pay ¥100 to enter, these parking lots are normally near stations, however are sometimes full due to the increasing number of people who are falling in love with Mama-charis!

Mamachari

Average Life Expectancy in Japan

Japan has the highest average life expectancy rates in the world with the average person living until the age of 84! That's 80yrs for males and 87yrs for women! For those of you who aren't aware, almost half of Tokyo is made up of the countryside, you have the main rural, industrial, city area on the Eastside of Tokyo and the green, Inaka, farm-life area on the Westside, so fresh local produce is always available. If you go to the supermarkets in Japan everything is very neatly presented with super-efficient staff at your service but most importantly you get your money's worth as the food here is very high in quality, although I find the fruits a little pricey. There's a lot of rice and Soya products that are consumed in Japan and this is like their base foods, Gohan is eaten everyday in Japan like pasta-based foods being eaten everyday in Italy! Gohan actually translates into two words; one is 'rice' and the other is 'meal' so you can already tell how important rice is in the Japanese diet!

I have a park very close to my house and sometimes when I'm up at 6am (for whatever reason...) I see a group of elderly people stretching to music and this is called 'Taiso' in Japan and apparently it is quite common, I also see elderly people running quite often, maybe even more so than the younger people! So back to rice and Soya... Soya is found in; Miso, Soya sauce, Natto, Tofu and plenty of other things, people were even chanting "Soya Soya" whilst carrying the Omikoshi during the Matsuri season! I'll give you a heads-up on the main things that you're going to encounter everyday when your in Japan; salarymen, "Irashimase" and Soya stuff.

Taiso

Ikegami Honmonji

Honmonji is a very famous shrine that exists in Japan and it's only a 30 minutes Mama-Chari bicycle ride from my house. It is the place where Nichiren Daishonin spent his final moments of his life until his death on October 13, 1282, he is most famous for having a huge influence on Japanese buddhism and it is said that the nearby Sakura trees all bloomed shortly after his death although normally they only flower during April in Tokyo. Every year a whooping 300,000 people from all over Japan gather here from the 11th to the 13th of October, I didn't go this year, however, went last year and the place was jam packed! There are plenty of Jinjas (shrines) all across Japan and the local ones are normally quite small, my local Jinja is 1 minute away from my place and I sometimes go there to pray, during summer there are Matsuri festivals and the Omikoshis come out of the Jinjas. You can think of Honmonji as the mother of all shrines in Tokyo or perhaps even Japan. It's a beautiful place and the it especially comes to life during April.

Stairs

Dragon fountain

Main building