Lost In Translation

Kobe 2017

 
First stop, Hyotan, this is one of Kobe's most famous gyoza (dumplings)restaurants. It is eaten with miso and garlic infused soy sauce according to the brusque shop workers-one of which had an impenetrable Chinese accent.

Second stop Rokko Beer Diner with the beer of the day Rokko Pilsner for ¥500.

Trying out a craft gin from Liverpool at the Harbor Tavern.

Nishimura coffee.

The clock stopped at 5:46 in 1995 when the Great Hanshin Earthquake occurred.

Vegetables and Kobe beef steak before being cooked by the grill master at Wakkoqu, the Wakkoqu Lunch Course was ¥5,880 with Taijima & Sandra beef from Kobe (Sirloin 150ｇ), grilled vegetables (six kinds), today’s soup, salad, rice ＆ Japanese pickles, dessert, and a drink.

The Kitano branch of Nishimura Coffee.

Starbucks Coffee Kitano Injinkan branch is a Tangible Cultural Heritage site.

Inside the Starbucks.

Kitano Garden restaurant.

Trick art museum-pass.

The Kitano Museum.

I was planning on visiting the Tadanori Yokoo Museum Of Contempoaray Art, Tadanori Yokoo-one of my favorite contemporary Japanese artists- is from Nishiwaki, Hyogo, but it was under renovation after suffering damage from a typhoon. Across the street was The Kobe Literary Museum.

One of my favorite Japanese writers, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, was a resident in Kobe at one time.

Dinner at Sun, an experimental fusion restaurant, this is the otoshi or starter set.

This is bokkake kimchi stir fry-"bokkake" is is a salty sweet mixture of stewed beef tendon and konnyaku. It's considered Kobe "soul food."

Deep fried Miyake mushrooms and ginko nuts with mushroom yuzu salt.

Okhuharmia Yamahai Yamajunmai nihonshu from Hyogo prefecture.

Minced duck meat cutlet.

Otoro (fatty tuna) nigiri with salt and sudatchi.

PuzzLe Bar has a massive gin collection and Keisuke the bar tender is friendly and knowledgeable and makes his own infusions and Campari.

My first Gibson martini.

The Trip To Spain

Michael Winterbottom's latest collaboration with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon is The Trip To Spain (2017) is another delightful journey. The picturesque highways and byways of Spain takes a back seat to amazing meals and the comedic banter of the two stars. Their impersonations of Mich Jagger and David Bowie among others are particularly brilliant. The locations are Txoko (in the city of Getaria), Etxebarri (Atxondo), La Posada del Laurel (Préjano), Nola (Cuenca), Parador de Almagro (Al Magro), and El Refectorium (Málaga).

Sweet Cactus

Healthy one plate lunch in the Beans complex under the tracks at Sweet Cactus.

The Bird People In China

Takashi Miike is best know for extreme films such as Ichi the Killer and Audition, but he has made a number of more conventional films throughout his career. That being said, The Bird People In China (1998) may be his finest film. It is an unusual film in that is it something of a buddy road movie as well as a spiritual journey of awakening for the two main characters, the diligent salary man Wada (Masahiro Motoki) and the grizzled yakuza foot soldier Ujie (Renjie Ishibashi). The story is narrated from Wada's point of view and is done in narration as he dictates his diary into a tape recorder. At the beginning Miike condenses his back story into a fat motion montage of images that is innovative and effective. The relationship between Wada and Ujie is something of an odd couple paring that has some comic aspects to it, as well as with their interactions with their guide, Shen (Mako), who is leading them to a potentially rich vein of jade deep in the wilds of Yunnan province in China. Shen takes them through the Chinese wilderness (eventually traveling up a river on a raft pulled along by turtles). They brave the elements before finding a village hidden from the rest of civilization whose inhabitants are being taught how to fly by a mysterious young girl. Soon their attention shifts from the vein of jade to translating and understanding a collection of old texts that may hold the secret of the bird people. This film is fascinating in that it encounters several cultures and laden with breathtaking images, the misty mountains of Yunnan  to an underwater point of view shot of a raft being pulled by large turtles.  This film is an enchanting spiritual adventure and surprise from Miike. While it contains some yakuza-related content, it is completely unlike anything one might expect from Miike.

Suburra: Blood On Rome

Suburra: Blood On Rome (2017) is a Netflix TV series that is supposed to be a prequel of film of the same name adapted from a the novel that was released in 2015. This the second boutique crime production to come out of Italy-the first being the Naples based crime series Gomorrah. This one focuses on the unlikely alliance of a drug dealing son of a policeman, a gypsy gangster, and minor Roman mafioso. Their involvement in a land deal brings them in contact with 2Samurai" head of the Roman underworld, the Vatican, and City Hall. There is a large ensemble cast which isn't as strong as the cast of Gomorrah in my opinion, the story feels weaker as well. But it outshines the alter with the cinematography-Rome is a much more picturesque city than Naples-you might say it is a supporting character in the series.

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

I have long been a fan of Noah Baumbach and The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017) may be his best film to date. It is helped by a stellar cast: Dustin Hoffman as the patriarch Harold, Adam Sandler, in his best dramatic performance as Danny as his overlooked son , Ben Stiller as Matthew, the favorite son, Elizabeth Marvel as Jean, the forgotten sister, Emma Thompson as Harold's drunk fourth wife, Judd Hirsch as LJ, HArold's contemporary and successful artistic rival, and Grace van Patten as Danny's well adjusted daughter ELiza-who holds her own against the more famous cast. In many ways it resembles another Baumbach film, The Squid and the Whale, with similar themes of obsession with artistic success, divorce, and strained father-son relationships. The films also questions what is considered success and who gets to define it.

D.O.A.

I really enjoyed Rudolph Mate's film noir set in San Francisco D.O.A. (1949) starring Edmund O'Brien. Polish-born Maté, the cinematographer for the classics The Passion of Joan of Arc and Vampyr, in his directorial debut produced a film noir classic. Ernest Laszlo's impressive cinematography enhances the nightmarish journey the 'everyman' victim is going through, as he becomes enmeshed in the mystery of his poisoning in San Francisco and Los Angeles. 

Tori Maru

Tori Maru is a local yaki tori restaurant near my apartment in Asagaya that has an extensive nihonshu menu and reasonable prices. On eof the highlights was tuna risotto.

One More Time With Feeling

Andrew Dominick's documentary on the making of Nick Cave's album Skeleton Key, One More Time With Feeling (2016) is an intimate look at the singer and his grief at losing a son at a young age. I suspect this film might even be tedious for the casual fan, but for the seasoned fan this is a revealing look at the creative process of a talented musician.

Devils In Daylight

Devils In Daylight (1918) is an early short novella from the great Japanese writer Junichiro Tanizaki. It is a mystery story that seems to have been influenced from the likes of Edgar Allan Poe and Edogawa Rampo. Explicitly in the case of Poe as a code from his story "The Gold Bug" is used as a plot device int this story. But it also has many of Tanizaki's themes that will be explored later in other works such as sexual obsession. In this story Takashi is called by his old friend Sonomura out of the blue and asks him to join him in witnessing a murder he believes will happen. Reluctantly he agrees and from there the story takes off. It is an entertaining short read, but not one of his major works.