権八 Gonpachi

 Went to the izakaya Gonpachi recently.  The first time I heard of this place was some years back when then-Prime Ministaer Koizumi took then-U.S. President George W. Bush to the Nishi-Azabu location for dinner.  The picture below are from the Shibuya branch.

It's not a typical izakaya.  Some dishes were better than the usual, and at the same time I missed some of the standard izakaya fare that wasn't on the menu.  The beer pitchers looked like they held more drink than they really did; they were an optical illusion.  Braised pork was pretty incredible; the salads were surprising in taste and texture.  The sashimi and karaage were average, to me.  Overall, the food was a little better than at a Watami or Doma-Doma, about twice the price, with a nice view and quite a nice atmosphere (although all the smoke from the kitchen made us feel a bit grimy, as we were sitting close by).  It was a nice restaurant, one that I might not go to on on a regular basis but I will certainly take visitors there to partake. . .

 

 

website:  http://www.gonpachi.jp


And some You Tube videos:




 

 

Hanzawa Naoki (TV show)

I've been meaning to post something about this show for months but have only now gotten around to it.  Hanzawa Naoki, a story about a good man trying to survive in a corrupt banking world, was hugely popular last year; its ratings kept going up week after week, I suppose through positive word-of-mouth, and its finale had the highest ratings share (42.2%, I believe) for a show in three decades.  Going in, I really didn't expect to find it very interesting, since it's about banking, but I was hooked pretty early on.

A good part of the reason is the intensity of the lead actor, Sakai Masato.  He goes through virtually the entire series with his head cocked, lips pursed, eyes usually with a laser-like focus.  I understand it when people suggest that he might be overacting a bit, but I think he fits the character and story quite well.  His lighter moments come with his wife Hana, played by Ueto Aya.  I think I found her annoying at first but she turned out to be an endearingly in-your-face personality.  I like their scenes together.  When he comes home to her, the cloud lifts from his face and he endures her good-natured whining, ribbing, and  shoulder-slapping at the end of some long days.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot and I won't put in any spoilers.  There are some major Oh my God moments, often at the end of episodes. I hope it suffices to say that the story framed in two parts; the first in Osaka, where Naoki tries to recover a large sum of money lost by his bank in the face of many roadblocks set up by his superiors, those sleazy and schmoozing bastards.  The second half of the series is set in Tokyo, where he again faces a maze of corruption and quid pro quos as he tries to save a hotel chain and, ultimately, the good standing of his own bank.  The more touching and uplifting moments of the story, to me, rest on the empathy that Naoki feels for people with less.  He sees their pain and carries his own.  He does what he can for them.

Below is a trailer.




 And this is a website where you can watch it with English subtitles.  To be honest, I don't think that the translators are native English speakers, but I'm not complaining--they did a good enough job that I could easily keep up with the story.

http://www.drama.net/hanzawa-naoki-episode-1

 The show is based on novels written by a former banker named Jun Ikeido.  A continuation of the series seems assured.  I hope they make one.  Again, I'm trying to be careful not to put in any spoilers. . .I just want to say that I though the finale was very emotional--they really did it right--but at the same time I don't feel like the whole thing should end that way.

Japan expands army footprint for first time in 40 years, risks angering China

 

 By Nobuhiro Kubo

 

YONAGUNI, Japan (Reuters) - Japan began its first military expansion at the western end of its island chain in more than 40 years on Saturday, breaking ground on a radar station on a tropical island off Taiwan.

The move risks angering China, locked in a dispute with Japan over nearby islands which they both claim.

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, who attended a ceremony on Yonaguni island to mark the start of construction, suggested the military presence could be enlarged to other islands in the seas southwest of Japan's main islands.

"This is the first deployment since the U.S. returned Okinawa (1972) and calls for us to be more on guard are growing," Onodera told reporters. "I want to build an operation able to properly defend islands that are part of Japan's territory."

The military radar station on Yonaguni, part of a longstanding plan to improve defense and surveillance, gives Japan a lookout just 150 km (93 miles) from the Japanese-held islands claimed by China.

Building the base could extend Japanese monitoring to the Chinese mainland and track Chinese ships and aircraft circling the disputed crags, called the Senkaku by Japan and the Diaoyu by China.

CHINA THREAT

The 30 sq km (11 sq mile) Yonanguni is home to 1,500 people and known for strong rice liquor, cattle, sugar cane and scuba diving. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to put troops there shows Japan's concerns about the vulnerability of its thousands of islands and the perceived threat from China.

The new base "should give Japan the ability to expand surveillance to near the Chinese mainland," said Heigo Sato, a professor at Takushoku University and a former researcher at the Defense Ministry's National Institute for Defense Studies.

"It will allow early warning of missiles and supplement the monitoring of Chinese military movements."

Japan does not specify an exact enemy when discussing its defense strategy but it makes no secret it perceives China generally as a threat as it becomes an Asian power that could one day rival Japan's ally in the region, the United States.

Japan, in its National Defense Programme Guidelines issued in December, expressed "great concern" over China's military buildup and "attempts to change the status quo by coercion" in the sea and air.

China's decision last year to establish an air-defence identification zone in the East China Sea, including the skies above the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islets, further rattled Tokyo.

Japanese and Chinese navy and coastguard ships have played cat-and-mouse around the uninhabited islands since Japan nationalized the territory in 2012. Japanese warplanes scrambled against Chinese planes a record 415 times in the year through to March, the Defence Ministry said last week.

Tapping concern about China, Abe raised military spending last fiscal year for the first time in 11 years to help bolster Japan's capability to fight for islands with a new marine unit, more longer-range aircraft, amphibious assault vehicles and helicopter carriers. Japan's thousands of islands give it nearly 30,000 km (18,600 miles) of coastline to defend.

MIXED FEELINGS

Onodera's groundbreaking ceremony on Yonaguni took place s four days before President Barack Obama lands in Tokyo for a summit with Abe, the first state visit by a U.S. president in 18 years.

The United States, which under its security pact with Tokyo has pledged to defend Japanese territory, has warned China about taking any action over the disputed islets, but has not formally recognized Japan's claim of sovereignty over the territory.

Many of the islanders on nearby Yonaguni are looking forward to hosting the radar base and the 100 troops who will man it because of the economic boost it will bring.

Others on the island, however, fear becoming a target should Japan end up in a fight.

"Opinion is split down the middle," Tetsuo Funamichi, the head of the Japan Agricultural Association's local branch, told Reuters. "It's good for the economy if they come, but some people worry that we could be attacked in an emergency."

Onodera was also greeted on Saturday by about 50 protesters who tried to block him from entering the construction site.

"Becoming a target is frightening, they won't talk to us about it, we haven't discussed it," a protestor, who declined to be identified said.

Takenori Komine, who works in an island government office, said it was a risk worth taking if it meant reviving an outpost of Japan that has been in decline since a brief postwar boom.

At that time, U.S.-occupied Yonaguni's proximity to Taiwan made it an entry point into Japan for smuggled food and clothing from Hong Kong. Since the end of World War Two, the island's population has withered by some 90 percent. Average income of about $22,500 a year is a fifth below the national average.

"We are hopeful that the arrival of the young troops will bolster local consumption," Komine said.

(Writing by Tim Kelly; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

 http://news.yahoo.com/japan-expands-army-footprint-first-time-40-years-115916042--sector.html