The Other Side of Kinshicho

The neighborhood of Kinshicho has a somewhat unsavory reputation. It is perhaps best known for its abundance of “gaijin pubs” (aka seedy hostess bars staffed by foreign entertainers) and the conspicuous off-track betting facilities that flank the Marui department store, both of which attract a certain clientele.

“I wonder if that’s winning sake, or losing sake,” my friend Tetsuo said, pointing to a shady group of older men crowding around a soba stand advertising chuhais for Y160.

It was just after 4:30, and the races had ended for the afternoon.

“It’s hard to tell right now,” he said, and turned around to take another look, “but if I see them in a sushi shop, I know they won.”

“Oh god,” I laughed. “That is so funny and sad.”

“This reminds me of the time we went to see keirin racing,” JP said. “Everyone there looked vaguely homeless, and we saw this one guy reading the betting sheets through two pairs of glasses.”

“Improvised bifocals,” I nodded. “Whatever, you won 10,000 yen that day.”

“Total beginner’s luck. When the guy beside me saw that, he couldn’t take it.”

JP bared his teeth in mock fury and pantomimed the violent shredding of a betting slip. A man holding the racing pages shuffled by and disappeared into a pachinko parlor.

"Winning pachinko, or losing pachinko?" I asked. Tetsuo shrugged.

There’s more, however, to Kinshicho than its sleazy underbelly. The first thing that comes to mind is the fish shop Uotora, where you can buy a tray of small abalone for Y2000 (trust me, this is a bargain) and packs of fresh tuna for Y1000. The biggest attraction for us, though, was the chance to drink sake with our friends Tetsuo and Kazu on their home turf. They’re huge sake fans, and they took us to one of their favorite local watering holes, a tiny robata-yaki izakaya called Kaizoku.

It’s the kind of place that you might hesitate to walk into on your own, but the staff is terrifically friendly and the sake list, which changes monthly, is great. We took a chance on a sake none of us had ever tried before -- Jikon Muroka Nama Genshu from Mie, a robustly fruity Tokubestsu Junmai-shu -- and were not disappointed. You don’t really see lots of sake from Mie on lists in Tokyo, so it was quite a lucky find. My choices were all over the map, geographically: Kikuyoi from Shizuoka (fantastic with crunchy deep-fried nankotsu chicken cartilage karage, which is a thousand times tastier than it sounds), Suigei from Kochi (a natural with the katsuo sashimi), Ouroku and Gassan from Shimane (nice with the kinmedai himono), and Denshu from Aomori (the details get a bit fuzzy at this point). The boys made their way through the rest of the sake menu.





We later discovered that Kinshicho is also home to a pretty sweet jibiru beer bar called Yeast, where they serve Yona Yona Ale on tap. We were seated on mezzanine, where the atmosphere was somewhere between a speakeasy and an underground casino, with low ceilings, red carpet, white vinyl stools and mirrored glass tables. The only thing missing was the gambling, but there are plenty of places on the other side of the tracks for that.

Why Do I Have Spring Fever?

The last time I attended a really big sake event in Tokyo about six months ago, an older woman, who had clearly had a little too much to drink, stomped on my left foot, through my open-toed sandals. It's always the little old ladies, who seem so innocuous, that are the most ferocious on the tasting floor.

The middle toenail on that foot turned completely black, and remained so for months. Unaccustomed to this particular podiatric phenomenon (I'd heard of black toenails but never thought that I would have one), I started to worry when it didn't go away.

"It's a toenail," JP said, waving away my concerns. "It takes time to grow out."

"But why is it still black?" It was as though I hadn't heard him.

"Stop worrying about it."

Eventually, I did stop worrying about it. Now, it looks pretty normal.

Just in time. It's spring, and the sake tastings are about to begin in earnest. So get your steel-toe boots ready.

April 20: The 2010 Spring Mekikikai will be held from 11-3 at the KKR Hotel in Takebashi. Entry is Y500, and, though the tasting is for industry professionals, regular folk can call to try and reserve a spot.

April 21: Tochigi's New Generation 2010 Tasting at Theater 1010 from 6pm. Tickets are Y3500 and can be purchased on e-plus.

May 9: Garyubai Tasting at the Hoku Topia event space from 1-3. Tickets are Y3500, call 054-366-0839.

May 11: The Big Daddy of spring tastings, the Ginjo Shinshu Festival, will be going on at the Diamond Hall in Yurakucho from 6pm. There's also an afternoon session. Tickets are Y2000 in advance, Y2500 at the door. Call 03-3378-1231 to book.

Happy Tasting!