THINGS JAPANESE: Kaiten Zushi by Josh Wilbur (USA, Acceleration Program)

Though I have lived in Japan for two years I still cannot seem to get the knack for cooking or preparing Japanese style food. I just don't have the flair, the style, or, quite frankly, the ability to read what I am buying. Because of this, when faced with a desire for something other than rice and either instant curry or fried rice mix or a Cup Ramen I must travel to the local restaurants. I usually stick with the advice of my friend or the "osusume" of the store and staying with this system I have tasted the wonders of Kobe beef, Hiroshima Okonomiyaki, Morioka Reimen, among other things.

Atom Boy Kaiten Zushi

Though the above mentioned foods are some of my favorites I have also been introduced to foods known as "delicacies", a word most likely from the French meaning "stuff we have a lot of, you CAN eat it, but why would you want to" or "stuff you eat on a dare". This would include the reproductive organs of sturgeon, chicken leg cartilage, cow tongue, raw liver, and the obvious raw fish to mention a few. While I still cannot bring myself to eat some of them I do enjoy others, sushi being chief among them. However, despite the fact that I do enjoy sushi I can now rarely afford it seeing it is so expensive (a requirement if a food is to be considered a delicacy, or no one will eat it). So it is no surprise that I was happy to find out from a friend that there was a chain sushi restaurant by Yamasa where the sushi was only 100 yen per plate. A few days later I was able to persuade my friend to join me (I hate eating alone) and we were off to Atom Boy.

Inside Atom Boy - The Sullen One

Upon stepping into almost any Japanese store one can be sure to be greeted by the store workers with shouts of "Irashaimase", a greeting that can be taken as "welcome" or something similar. In fact it is almost an assault being that EVERY employee will let fly a cheery "Irashaimase" and a smile. However I have lived in Japan for two years and have become accustomed to the greeting and now dismiss such greetings as common place.

As we stepped into the restaurant we were greeted with the obligatory "Irashaimase" and asked to sit and wait for a table. As with any "delicacy" there were many people waiting to eat, and with such an inexpensive price it was no wonder. When our name was called we sat down at the counter and prepared our places.

The Pit

For those of you not aquainted to the workings of a Kaiten Sushi, here is how it goes. Both tables and booths are set up around a food prep area, much like a horse track with the stands being the seats for the patrons and the grassy area the food prep area. This of course leaves the track itself, which serves the role of a rotating plate on which sushi is placed on tiny plates, two pieces per plate. One is able to choose from the sushi on the track or, if you are able to say what you want in Japanese, order from the chefs directly. One takes the plates from the conveyor belt, eats the sushi, and piles the plates to the side and on finishing the meal a staff member comes, counts your piles and sends you off to the register.

In front of you are all the fixings, your ketchup and mustard if you will. Soy sauce for dipping your sushi, "sauce" to paint onto eel sushi, and slices of ginger to "cleanse the pallet" (and I have been told to kill any germs from the fish, it is raw after all). In addition to this there are also tea bags, a hot-water faucet, and cups made out of the same material as the space shuttle since the water is roughly the same temperature as the liquid rock. This is okay though since while you are allowing your tea to cool to a temperature that is safe to drink you can look at the rotating plates and think again why you have chosen to eat raw fish, sea urchin intestines, and fermented soy beans.

The Racetrack

As I was looking for some tuna sushi and did not see it I caught the eye of one of the chefs, called out "Maguro Onegaishimasu" and was promptly answered with "Hai, yorokonde!". Having no idea what yorokonde was I simply assumed it was cool sushi restaurant language for maguro. After all I had learned that ginger or shouga was called gari, but only in sushi restaurants. I also noticed that the other chefs repeated "yorokonde" and assumed my chef just wanted to tell everyone what he was doing. Soon after I heard another "yorokonde" come up from one of the chefs and this was repeated by all the chefs and those who cleaned the tables after the customers left. Again I assumed they just wanted to keep everyone informed.

My maguro came and I was given another "yorokonde" which again was repeated by the entire staff. The person next to me who had ordered some shrimp also got a round of "yorokonde" and I realized I did not just learn a new word for tuna.

"It means gladly," my friend explained, "it is just to thank you for ordering." I accepted the explanation and began to enjoy my meal. Throughout which I heard many more expressions of the staff's gladness, but it did not limit itself to when people ordered.

"Gladly" one shouted as he put out a new batch of sushi. It was of course followed by the rest of the staff much like the wave at a sports event. I wondered if the crowd could get into the shout also and inquired this of my friend.

"Don't, just don't," he said as he finished what he explained was the green stuff in a crab that is, of course, a delicacy.

The Good Stuff

"Ah, here comes the good stuff," he stated as he reached out for a plate of uni, sea urchin intestine on a ball of rice, wrapped in a cover of seaweed. I looked at him and asked how good could the "good stuff" be when it was only 100 yen. [Uni is actually quite expensive (up to 2000 yen for two pieces of sushi at some restaurants) and being a brownish yellow mush it fits the term "delicacy" well.]

"Happily." (Someone had just ordered a beer and some fresh melon was put out, so this shout circled around a bit more.)

"Well, it's the CHEAP good stuff. By good I mean expensive...but it is only 100 yen so it really the cheap inexpensive stuff, but if it were another type of restaurant it WOULD be good EXPENSIVE stuff so...well...just sod off."

"Pleasurably" (A cheer for a family that had just finished and were heading to the register.) I spied some beef tongue coming down the conveyor belt and decided that it would be my 10th plate (number 9 was the uni and I wanted to get the taste of the "good stuff" out of my mouth and the ginger was not cutting it). Just as I was reaching for it a young boy, no older than 6, snatched it out of my grasp, grinned at me with his two front teeth missing, turned back to his table, and quickly devoured MY sushi.

"That kid just took the sushi I wanted, and it was the last one," I whined to my friend.

"Just order another," he replied.

"I wanted that one, it had a big slice of meat and the scallion was just the right amount."

"Okay, just take the next one that he wants," he stated, "Oh, wait but he is in front of you. Okay, take the one I want next time."

"But if I do that I'll have to eat that uni again and it was really bad the first time."

"Then I'll eat it."

"So basically I can't win, right?"

"Right, now get me the crab...the green stuff, that kid is eyeing it."

My next dish was ika, or squid, which is a white piece of sushi that seems to have been scored for some reason and is extremely rubbery. It does have a fine taste though so I highly recommend it. Now the correct way to eat sushi is not with chopsticks but to take the piece, dip it fish-side into the soy sauce and pop it into your mouth. They are bit sized so this is not really a problem. The problem arises when what you have popped into your mouth is slathered with wasabi, Japanese horseradish, under the bit of fish.

A wasabi burn is not curable by drinking the scalding tea you have at hand, that would only add to your pain for a wasabi burn directly attacks the tongue and sinuses. It goes quickly but it is not a pleasant experience and any malicious friend, such as mine, will have ample opportunity to take pleasure in your pain.

"Burns?"

"Want the other piece? It's not that bad," I said as tears streamed down my face.

"I'll stick with the salmon covered in mayonnaise and onions," he replied as he reached for just that.

"Coward."

After a few more plates we finished our dinner, me having filled any space left in my stomach with ginger slices and green tea, and we requested our check.

Atom Boy Kaiten Zushi

"Ecstatically!" came the call from the staff and I could not help but wonder if they were actually happy we were leaving, that we ate as much as the family of five sitting next to us, or that we were the only foreign customers that night. Though I have not figured out the exact use of the word "yorokonde" it definitely adds to the atmosphere of Atom Sushi and I will assuredly go back to get my fill.

Find Atom Boy Sushi just opposite Denny's on the 248 in front of Mandaraya Billiard Hall. Open 11am to 10pm. All dishes 100 yen except Chahan and beer. And soba.

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