Garden of a shinto temple (Picture is mine) .
I've written about Japanese food, specifically breakfast, before, but I didn't go into much detail, so I decided to write this article. We usually eat at places where locals eat, rather than tourist-only spots. In Venice, Italy, for instance, we realized that the food at local places is really delicious.
One evening in Tokyo, we went to a small restaurant run by a Malaysian-Chinese woman , thinking it was a Japanese place. There, we met another Malaysian-Chinese man, struck up a conversation, and drank two Asahi beers. The Malaysian-Chinese man said that in Malaysia, they are treated as "second class," while the Bumiputras (indigenous Malays) receive better treatment. That's why he came to Japan. His family and home are in Malaysia, and he sends money there. I don't know if it's true or false.
This restaurant had large bottles of sake. You could buy them, drink a portion, and if you couldn't finish it, you could leave it there. They'd label it with your name. You could then come back another day and drink it. It's a great way to keep customers coming back. Those bottles on top of the fridge are examples of that. We ate something like noodles there.
In Kyoto, we went to a shopping mall and saw a Chinese girl eating some sushi there. We decided to eat from that spot because they had bluefin tuna. They made it fresh right then and there. I got a soup and a sushi set with an Asahi beer.
This is the bluefin tuna dish Ines had.
We spoke with the Chinese girl who was nearby. She said she was there for two months for work and would be leaving soon, but planned to return for a longer stay next time because she loves Japan so much.
While in Japan, something our European guides mentioned is that Japanese work long hours and people are struggling. They work late into the night, which leads to a higher suicide rate. Although I plan to discuss this at length later, it's worth noting that when it comes to suicide rates, countries like India, Russia, Sri Lanka, the United States, Finland (the happiest country), Burkina Faso, and Sweden rank above Japan. Japan is 49th, while Britain is 117th. Japan has a custom called Harakiri, where samurai commit suicide if they are defeated, considering it an act of honor. During World War II, Kamikaze pilots also died by suicide. If a Japanese person is unemployed or has no work, it's considered a dishonor, and committing suicide is seen as an honorable act. This is the exact opposite of the European perspective.
So, on the second day, after visiting temples (I'll write about this in the next article, with the picture at the very top), we walked around looking for a place to eat dinner. We saw a small cafe-like place and went inside. There was an older woman there. Since I'm sixty yeas old myself, she seemed young to me now. She was talking to a few Japanese men and women while preparing their food. She couldn't speak English. Fortunately for us, there was a couple from Tasmania sitting at a table. The husband had a translation app. They showed us the dishes they had eaten and said they were good. One had pork and beef fried with cabbage. The other was just like an omelet.
We then told them to order us the same thing. The Tasmanian couple translated that for us and then said goodbye and left. Even foreign tourists help each other in Japan.
The little cafe could only seat about seven or eight people. The person with their back turned is the cafe owner Hikido.
For the dish Ines ordered, it was something like flour, with miso sauce, and some kind of milk added dough, then fried. On top of that, she put bacon and beef slices, and then the omelet-like topping was added again. On top of that, she kept adding something like matcha powder made from green tea. It had a unique taste. We both got a jug of warm sake.
The Japanese neighbors who were there took a couple of dishes for takeawy and left. Now we had no way to communicate. I spoke to the Japanese person next to me. It turned out he was Chinese. He's the one pictured below. He also had a translation app, but he could speak a little Japanese too. It turns out the man is a data engineer, and his English was good.
For my meal, I asked for Soba noodles (I guess I learned about these from watching Netflix shows) which shechopped up with cabbage and stir-fried on the hot iron griddle like kottu. This was a cool thing! She doen't give you plates, so you don't have to wash them. You just need to wipe the steel griddle.
However, for some reason, she found a plate and brought it to me. The dish had plenty of meat pieces, and she sprinkled that green stuff on top of the noodles again. It was really delicious!
.This is the sake jug and some fruit juice.
We chatted with the old lady (the owner). She said she was happy to work until 10 PM. Friends come to talk and eat (we saw that). Otherwise, she felt her life would be meaningless, that's how we understood her words.
This is how you eat by cutting with a crepe spade type thing here.
She took a photo with me. She's a very lovely person. We were the last three customers for the day. She said she wakes up early and goes to the market. She does everything by herself. If you go to Kyoto, visit her cafe. It's on Shijo Machi Street, in the Minami-ku area.
They say one reason people on Okinawa island live over a hundred years is that they consume less salt than other parts of Japan. The second reason identified by scientists who surveyed them is working. Even after retirement, they find some kind of work to do.
The third factor is socializing with others, maintaining community or social connections.
We were in Kyoto for three days, from May 22nd..
Ajith - 10/06/2025
