While Tokyo is a mega-city with endless, top-quality food options, it is the ubiquitous neighborhood restaurants, cafes and bars that offer a uniquely local Japanese experience.  And, one benefit of exploring our new “home town” is finding these delightful places to relax and enjoy drinks and food.

Shinsuke ––

The traditional place to drink in Japan is called an “izakaya.” Though they are often likened to pubs, they bear little resemblance to the local bars found in the United States.

The best izakaya are characteristically small and crowded with “regular” customers.  They specialize in serving premium quality sake and small plate offerings usually made with ingredients carefully sourced by the proprietor.

On our recent visit to the Yushima Tenjin shrine in the Ueno area we visited an izakaya named Shinsuke that was highly recommended by our good friends Ron and Yumi Dearth.  It did not disappoint.

Shinsuke is a classic traditional izakaya located in the old shitamachi district of Ueno. The family owners have been in the sake business for eleven generations since 1924.

We waited outside with a few of the “regulars” until the 5:00pm opening.  It was clear from the time we entered that it would be a unique drinking and dining experience.  The character and atmosphere of the place bespoke history, quality and welcoming comfort.  The service was attentive, the drink and food outstanding.

I particularly enjoyed my first-time sample of Taru sake, a dry Japanese sake characterized by its refreshing taste and the wooden aroma of Yoshino cedar.

Our meal consisted of wonderful perfect Japanese comfort food  –– a refreshing organic daikon salad with scallops and citrus, the best Norway smoked salmon I have ever eaten, and a very tasty minced pork cutlet.  I shared some of Keiko’s beer to savor the pork dish.

We had been away for a long while and needed to return home or we would have spent more time in this truly magical place.  Our sincere thanks to Ron and Yumi.  We will return to Shinsuke and begin a search for other Tokyo epicurean delights.

Mijinko ––

Earlier that afternoon we had another delightful dining experience as Keiko discovered a small stylish café called Mijinko in the charming Yushima neighborhood a short walk from the shrine.  Minjinko is a café/bar and the interior décor projects a museum-like calming atmosphere with paintings and books everywhere.

The coffee freshly roasted from very high-quality beans, is exceptional and is complemented by a selection of cakes and hand-made sandwiches.  I had a latte and a delicious piece of cheesecake.

The signature menu attractions however are their soft and airy pancakes made with a batter that includes cultured butter and served with maple syrup and a honey and mascarpone-topped version of French toast. We did not order either item but after seeing other customers receive their orders, we are going back to sample them in the near future.

The efficient and pleasant service matches the quality of the coffee and food, but be prepared to wait. The coffee drink preparation is not rushed.  The pancakes or French Toast take 15-20 minutes to prepare.  Everything is made to order with great care, so relax and enjoy the experience.

On Wednesday, February 5 Keiko and I, along with good friend Mikako Nishikawa the Yushima Tenjin Shrine. The picturesque shrine, dating back to 1478, is full of beautiful plum trees and sits on a high hilltop near Tokyo’s Ueno Park.

The purpose of our visit was to pray for our niece Mai who will soon be taking an exam to gain entry to the high school of her choice. Her academic, athletic and creative talents and experience speaks well for her continuing success and a bright future. She is among the top three students in her junior high school and served as the school’s student organization President.

Tenjin is the name of the deified spirit of the famous ninth century scholar Michizane Sugawara (845-903), a Heian Period high government official who is worshiped as the god of learning.

Yushima Tenjin, like all Tenjin shrines throughout Japan, is a scholar’s shrine. It is visited annually by thousands of students, and their family and friends, before an examination to pray for passing grades, a very competitive process to gain entry to the schools of choice. Students inscribe ema (small wooden votive tablets) with petitions to Michizane Sugawara’s spirit for success in examinations. The ema are then hung on special racks seen throughout the shrine.

I found it interesting that the ema depicts a picture of Michizane riding a cow, discovering a large bronze statue of a cow as I toured the shrine’s gardens. Known as a nade-ushi (“stroking cow”), it is believed to be the servant of the god Tenjin and that touching the cow will cure physical ills.

The shrine buildings are constructed in the shaden style of architecture entirely from Japanese cedar featuring brightly painted carvings of scenes from Japanese legend and surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens. A highlight of the gardens are the hundreds of plum trees displaying magnificently colorful plum blossoms (ume).

The plum blossoms prompted memories of the two beautiful plum trees that populated our home property on Crystal Lake in Gray Maine. They were prominent features of our Japanese garden landscape along with a majestic Japanese weeping maple tree. It is wonderful now to live Tokyo, a city with so many natural and beautiful landscapes to enjoy.

We will return to Yushima Tenjin later this month for the spectacular spring blossom festival when the 300 trees of 20 different varieties are in full bloom.

There is also another Yushima Tenjin festival held on May 25. It is marked by drumming, dancing, and excited hoisting of Yushima Tenjin’s portable shrine, or omikoshi.

Yesterday Keiko and I celebrated Setsubun with thousands of our neighbors and other Tokyoites at the Nishiarai Daishi-Sojiji Temple.  It was great fun but not exactly what we anticipated.  (It was Keiko’s first experience as well.)

A very large crowd stood quietly in the Temple courtyard listening to the Buddhist monks saying the sutras accompanied by rhythmic drums and flutes.  Then, the monks accompanied by politicians, athletes and entertainment celebrities, paraded along an especially constructed platform throwing soy beans, candies and amulets to the assembled crowds below.

The most recognized “bean thrower” star attractions were definitely the sumo wrestlers and TV personalities.  On leaving we walked into the temple garden area to be greeted by an early display of plum tree blossoms, a sign that spring is on the way.

Later, having done the ritual bean throwing and a trip to our local spa, we enjoyed a quiet dinner at home.  We began by standing and facing south-west to begin eating our special eco-maki rolls.  Keiko also made a tasty crab miso soup and I drank a traditional Japanese New Year’s bottle of sake with floating flakes of gold.  I then scattered toasted soybeans around our apartment to be sure the demons got the message!

Pleasant dreams.

It was great fun watching the SuperBowl on Japan TV (Monday 2/3 @8:30AM JST). We could access the English-language play-by-play on the audio sub-channel function of our tv. It was one of the better games and it didn’t feature the Patriots. Sadly, at least for this event, there were no commercials. The only thing I missed was my traditional “SuperBowl” chilli. Wait till next year.

Each year on February 3rd the celebration known as Setsubun takes place across Japan. This celebration, literally meaning “seasonal division,” marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. The celebration entails lively rituals to chase away symbolic demons that includes drinking sake, eating special sushi, and scattering soybeans. Thus the evils of the previous year are believed to be driven out, as fortune is welcomed.

Driving Away Demons with Beans

In keeping with other traditions that are practiced around this time of year, the purpose of celebrating Setsubun is also one of cleaning and purification. The day is used to drive demons and evil spirits out of one’s home with the help of roasted soybeans. These beans are known as ‘fuku-mame,’ meaning “lucky beans,” as they are supposed to be a tool that rids the home of evil and invites fortune in.

Traditionally, the oldest male member of the family dresses up as an oni, a kind of demon or ogre in Japanese folklore. The other members of the family then throw the roasted soybeans (sometimes peanuts) at the ‘oni’ to drive it out of the home by chanting: “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!” This chant translates to “Demons out! Fortune in!” and represents the act of cleaning one’s home from any evil or harmful spirits.

In addition to the oni mask that is being worn during Setsubun, those who throw the beans often don the face of the deity Okame. She is the kami of luck, good fortune and kindness, portrayed with a white friendly face, with chubby cheeks, and a warm smile. She acts as the defender against misfortune, scaring off oni and other wicked creatures with the help of the soybeans.

While the beans are usually thrown directly at the oni, they are also scattered in the front entrance as well as throughout the home and outside around and in front to make sure to scare away any demons in hiding.

Afterwards, people often eat the number of roasted soybeans that corresponds to their current age – plus one more – in order to make the coming year an especially lucky one.

It is also customary to drink sake and eat a type of fat sushi roll (makizushi) called eho-maki that are found in supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants. Each eho-maki is filled with seven ingredients, as seven is considered one of the luckiest numbers in Japan.

Though makizushi is usually cut into pieces for convenient eating, eho-maki is kept as one long roll. The exact meaning of the word eho-maki translates to “lucky direction roll.” It is said that eating these in complete silence will bring good luck in the coming year.

Try It?

Setsubun heralds spring in a very unique way. Keiko and I will practice this tradition at home and also participate in an afternoon celebration at our local temple.

If you are interested in chasing out demons and ogres out of your homes and off grounds on the 3rd of February, why not throw a handful of roasted soybeans for yourself this year and take care of your good fortune?

Some of my former colleagues and students at the University of Maine may remember Setsubun from the times I invited them to participate in the celebration in my campus office. It is on a long list of memories I cherish from my service as the Executive-in-Residence at the Maine Business School.