Writing Life

We returned yet again to Morimoto restaurant in downtown Philadelphia (at 723 Chestnut St). For the first time, Diane and I didn’t order the medium-sized chef’s choice sushi plate. We decided to go a la carte. We ordered our favorite salmon and tuni sushi and maki, and then I got my usual cucumber roll (kappa maki). I started with an amazing miso soup. We were joined by my mom and dad, who had a calamari salad and a five-spice lobster, respectively. Fun was had by all.

If you ever watched the original Iron Chef shows on the Food Network, you’d have seen Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, who did modern Japanese cuisine in that cook-off show. Awhile ago, he opened an eponymous restaurant in downtown Philadelphia. He’d worked at Nobu in New York as the executive chef, but this was his own baby. The restaurant is uber-chic, with a fantastic layout on the main floor. Lucite tables and benches delicately change colors throughout the evening. It’s subtle and tastefully done.

The food is seriously TO DIE FOR. The nouveau Japanese cuisine combined with eclectic dishes is well worth the need for reservations. The chef’s choice for sushi and sashimi is the best option if you’re into that style of food. I ate types of fish I’d had for years as well as items that only had Japanese names and I had no clue what they were. A great starter is their Cha-soba chilled green tea noodles with chopped scallion, fresh wasabi and dashi-shoyu sauce for dipping. They have Kobe beef too, though I think it’s only on the chef’s tasting menu.

Diane and I have been there twice now, both times with my parents. Below is a cell-phone picture Diane took of my folks during our second time at Morimotos. This was from December 27th, back in 2005.

Having thoroughly enjoyed his previous book, Ashes, I was thrilled to start reading the latest translation of his work. Winter Sleep, translated by Mark Schilling, is a first-person psychological study of a complicated and lonely abstract artist spending his winter in a cabin near Nagano, Japan. Having been a promising artist who accidentally kills someone during a fight, he has left jail and continued his painting. Working to perfect his art while ensuring that it can be enjoyed and understood by others, he settles into a routine in his winter abode. Three characters routinely enter and exit the his path over the course of the novel: a middle-aged woman who has a passion for his art and selling it; a young female art student who is seeking a teacher, and a young man who is on the run from the police after committing a murder.

Winter Sleep couldn’t be a better title. You really do feel as though you’ve almost gone into hibernation or a cocoon, waiting to see how you change, develop, and emerge in the spring. This book is fabulous for the ride it takes the reader on. Like Ashes, it’s pacing is rhythmic and fluid. It’s not a thriller but it is a page-turner. You are both pushing and being propelled through the story. I highly recommend picking up this book. My only caveat is that the translation isn’t totally up to par. Sometimes there’s an “A” where there should be a “THE”. Less than conscientious editing pops up every dozen or so pages. But, it’s not enough to derail the story, so get out there and grab a copy! Maybe start with Ashes which will give you an appreciation for Kitakata’s prose and psychology.

If you’re looking for a great modern Japanese piece of mystery/crime noir, check out Miyabe’s Shadow Family. I had read her other book, All She Was Worth awhile back and wasn’t overly happy with how the story ended. That wasn’t the case this time around. Shadow Family is a fabulous novel whose action revolves around a small cast of characters. Most of the action takes place inside a police interrogation room, although what is going on isn’t what you’d expect. This relatively short novel (~ 190 pages) only covers a few hours in the police station, but effective flashback techniques fill in the missing pieces. The characters are well-developed and the emotions run high. The action involves a former desk jockey who stands in to help investigate two murders, which originally seemed unrelated but become connected through an the internet. Four unrelated characters, including one of the murder victims, formed a cyber-family on the internet. The interactions of these family members online and off drives the novel.

I’ve really been caught up in Japanese mystery and crime fiction lately. I’d been looking for something new to read and picked up Kirino’s book. Now, I’m hooked. For those interested, Kirino has her own website.

I just finished reading Kenzo Kitakata’s Ashes. It was a really intriguing read about a middle-aged Japanese yakuza. The book sounded so intriguing before I bought it. I have been on a Japanese novel kick ever since I read Out by Natsuo Kirino. But, the first couple of dozen pages seems really boring and slow. It was told in two parts, one from the outside, with the main character, Tanaka, being seen in third person. The second part of the book was told from Tanaka’s internal perspective. The staccato pace of the sentences and thoughts seemed disconnected at the beginning of the book; however, it developed into a solid rhythm as the book progressed. I’d highly recommend this book to read.

I just finished reading Out by Natsuo Kirino. This is a fabulous, if devious and visceral, book. It tells the story of four Japanese women who get embroiled in a deepening spiral of violence that both brings them together and forever renders them alone in the world. A tour-de-force (wow, I rarely use such words) that will have you turning page after page long after you should be asleep. It’s like a waking dream. Ms. Kirino does a fabulous job crafting multiple plot lines that intersect at random and inevitably. Check it out!