While we had a great time at Yakiniku Juju and brought many friends here, this evening we were shocked to find that it was mysteriously closed. We tried calling to see if we could get an answer but only got a random busy signal. Finally a notice on the door of the whole “family house” that this place was in caught my eye. It was telling inspectors to stop coming here because the restaurant that was here closed due to water damage after the fire.

…wait. FIRE!?

This is serious business. Why wasn’t this reported anywhere? I googled everywhere I could to find any information on a fire and there was nothing listed. There was no sign of this place even moving or re-opening somewhere else. Is this the end of my favorite yakiniku place? And so with a heavy heart JP and I went to Yakiniku West which kinda sucks now because they’ve raised all their prices by at least $1/item (although it’s not directly their fault they had to do this.) In addition they’ve added huge dividers inside to make it more private and cozy I guess.

If anyone has news or any articles on this please link! I’m really having a hard time finding any information on this incident.

So if you were stalking me on twitter you may have followed me “live” while I was at the festival. Unlike last year, I didn’t really do much. I didn’t enjoy standing in the heat (especially with all that yakitori smoke). They rearranged their booths this year and some of them were hidden behind a giant tractor trailer…making the line long and difficult to walk through. We skipped games like yoyo and goldfish scooping because all the lolis and shotas were crowding around that, and well frankly I didn’t know what I’d do with a poor reject goldfish and a rubber banded water balloon. I also didn’t get a mask this year cause I still have the kyuupi one from last year. Continue Reading »

After 6.5 months of signing up on their mailing list Mitsuwa finally sent me their weekly circular:

Thanks guys I appreciate the quick turnaround! Well anyway as you can see above, the annual Mitsuwa summer festival is Saturday August 9th this year, so I can finally come decked out in my yukata. If you’re going see you there (maybe this time being able to spot me will be easier? )

I never thought I’d be using this phrase outside of my cynical jokes but it’s a sad day for Cafe Zaiya. The owner Hirokazu Sano, died in a flame that engulfed his house. By some twist of fate his wife and kids were on a vacation in Japan so they are safe. That’s too bad considering that Cafe Zaiya just opened up another store (Cafe Zest) in Midtown. One of my co-workers said he saw the man once during Zaiya’s after hours. That’s a shame, I hope this doesn’t change things for the way Zaiya is run, it’s one of my favorite Japanese places to eat.

I have to admit last year’s Yukata section at Uniqlo was a lot bigger. They had a TON of Yukatas and those shoes that you wear with a yukata. This year they just have them kinda to the side when you enter the store. I almost missed them completely when I walked in.

I did end up purchasing one that I really liked the design of for about $60. It came with a little matching purse and obi. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the shoes (although they had a “sale” on shitty colored flip flops that were about $6 a pair but they only came in sizes medium and large for big fat American feet.) I tried to find a pair at Muji but they didn’t have any there either. I know they have them at MARS (which also sells more expensive Yukatas) so next time I go to Mitsuwa I’ll probably pick up a pair for about $20. Too bad the instructions that came with this thing are all in Japanese and since my kanji sucks I can’t really understand them too well lol. Time to hit up youtube for some how to videos!

Even though I got sunburned and even though it was hot as all hell, I quite enjoyed this year’s Japan Day and it really made me think about the whole convention going experience in general. Now I know technically Japan Day isn’t a “convention” but I’m associating it together as it’s an event dedicated to some aspect of Japanese culture, similar to an anime convention. I’d even go as far as saying that this was a lot better than Sakura Matsuri and I’m definitely looking forward to coming back in 2009. Continue Reading »

Japanese Fusion restaurants in NYC are the ultimate douche bag trap: You pay a lot of money and you get jack shit, but good you look kinda cool now. This afternoon I was taken to Koi Restaurant at the Bryant Park hotel. You know for an expensive place you’d think they’d SEAT you when you get there. But no. We get there, 2 of our members on the reservation hadn’t arrived so they made us stand and wait. This wouldn’t have been bad except for the fact that a bunch of douche bags & construction workers flooded the lobby to get their afternoon booze. Also despite what the image on the website looks like, it’s a lot smaller than you think. Continue Reading »