I’ve always found certain countries and cultures speak to certain souls. The first time I understood this phenomenon was Jamie A.’s mom’s love of France. I’d met my first Francophile. Then I noticed my dad’s an Anglophile. And my brother’s an Anglophile. Nathaniel is a third generation Anglophile. I recommend inviting Nate on a casual lunch date and speaking only in British accents.
Personally, I’ve have always been a Mexiphile. So are Alesia and Jennifer Anne. And James was a Japanophile.
I once met a creepy American guy in Madrid who practiced martial arts and collected asian tchotchkes. You know the type. Fortunately James was more into the simplicity of design and impeccable craftsmanship. He didn’t have any belts or katanas. He taught me about kintsugi and shou sugi ban and of course, bonsai.
At the age of 5, Jacob became a Japanophile, like his dad, when he developed an insatiable hunger for Pokémon. And sushi. Jake credits his early literacy to Pokémon and those teeny tiny ant-sized words. He just had to know what they were saying and I was an unreliable medium.
So to top off Spring Break 2023, the boys and I took a short roadtrip down to LA to visit Little Tokyo.
Jake and Nate have had a multi-year fascination with “conveyor-belt sushi.” I don’t know where this originated but my guess would be YouTube. So we went back to the source to determine which restaurant to visit. We took a page from James’ Disneyland build-up, ingesting YouTube videos to narrow in on exactly how to spend our caloric intake.
Friday morning we woke-up, filled our water bottles, prepped our Google maps, and set out for the closest Japan Town this side of the Pacific. We got a front row parking spot and headed straight to Yamazaki Bakery. We chose a cube croissant, a sugar ring donut, and the melon pan. Nate and I had to get back in line to buy some canned guava nectar and a milk tea. The pressure was on as we watched Jacob on a bench in the distance, inhaling our freshly bought pastries while we waited. Fortunately we made it back out to the plaza in time. My favorite was the cube croissant– it was really unique with a ribbon of red bean paste and some sort of white cream like a danish. All the bloggers raved about the Japanese melon pan. The boys declared it Mexican pan dulce of which they are experts. This explains the “pan” and why we mostly heard Spanish behind the counter at the Japanese bakery.
As we ate our second breakfast we enjoyed looking at the corn dog joint’s colorful windows. Nate regrets not eating there, too. Next time.
Most of the shops weren’t open yet so we decided to take a spin around Nijiya Market to preview what we’d buy later. This ended up being the highlight for Nate and me. We saw all kinds of interesting snacks and delicacies. On our second trip back at the end of the day he picked out the spiciest looking chips, the spiciest looking ramen, and the sourest looking lemon candies. Jacob found some colorful anime-themed drinks in the cooler and a bag of cookie things. I bought Japanese mayo, yuzu, and sesame salad dressing.
After a walk to the bookstore, we ate an early lunch at Kura Revolving Sushi Bar. It’s a restaurant chain that started in Japan. We were seated at Table 8… an auspicious sign. Our server then showed us how to lift the plates correctly so as to spring the little clear dome open as the sushi passes by on the lower slow train conveyor belt. He also showed us how to use the iPad above our table to peruse the menu and order anything which would arrive on the upper bullet train conveyor belt. Then our server tested us with his demo dome… making sure we all successfully passed before we were allowed to be left alone.
The boys ordered two Sprites from the iPad and I made a quick break for the loo. This is my only regret. I came back and the yellow minion drink robot was just leaving… fortunately it returned to deliver sodas to the guys behind us and I got to see its cutie eyes and hear its Hello Kitty voice. I’ve never been big on robots but if they’re short and bring drinks and have cutie eyes, I say more robots, please.
We ate all kinds of sushi. Rolls. Nigiri. Nate and I tried the conch. Strange crunchy texture– do not recommend. The boys chose watermelon for dessert. Once we’d eaten our fill, we placed the plates down this little perfectly plate-shaped chute where it counted them up and calculated the check. We just exceeded the 15 plate threshold with 16, winning ourselves a surprise prize. It came down from a little machine above the conveyor belt, spitting out a round black plastic Easter Egg. The egg produced a little baggie of generic Legos to build your own… wait for it… sushi roll. Pure delight.
We left Kura to find Japan Town full of visitors. As we waited for some of the shops to open at noon, Jacob felt ill. He’d eaten way too much and had to rest on a bench. It wasn’t clear whether sitting or walking was helping but he rallied when we found some sweatshirts at Japangeles. Jacob’s clothes are currently verging on crop-tops. Mom hack: shopping trip disguised as sushi-eating expedition.
We tried to go to the Japanese garden on the roof of the Double Tree hotel. For some reason the doors were chained shut and we could only see the garden through the windows. We poked around some other little shops and then stumbled into Bunkado on our way back to the garage. They had my favorite Hasami porcelain so I bought a little cream and sugar set that matches my mugs. The shopkeeper asks if we’ve been upstairs. Why no, we haven’t! We head upstairs and find the sweatshirt Jacob saw that brought us in in the first place. I find the cutest little wooden tray that goes with my tea set. There is a lady selling linen sprays. I buy Jacob a second sweatshirt. Turns out I have to go back downstairs to buy the wooden tray. After three transactions the boys are convinced we’ve got to get out of this store.
As I’m signing the receipt at lunch I pause when I notice the headline reads:
Your server’s name is James.
Of course it is.
We head back to the car with our stomachs full of sushi, our arms full of shopping bags, and Dad in our hearts.
This sounds so perfect!