Old Japanese Telephone - If You Know What This is... You Are Old (and have visited Japan long ago...)

The other night I went to a small pub near my house named "Nonki." Nonki is what is called a "Izakaya." An Izakaya is basically a Japanese tavern that serves drinks and all sorts of foods. Kind of like what they call "Tapas" in Spanish: Lots of small dishes with many, many taste delights along with beer, booze and hard liquor.

Nonki is run by a nice old guy and his wife. It's actually the wife's place... The husband came in to help after retirement and another kind old lady - who I assumed was the wife's best friend - passed away several years back.

I like "Nonki." "Nonki" basically translates into "carefree." And that it is. Every time I go there I see the same customers from the neighborhood laughing and having fun.

I am assuming that Nonki has been in the neighborhood for 45 years (read on and you'll know why I think that). Nonki used to be a a hundred meters away in a different spot. I had been there a few times 12 years ago or so... Now, it is located on the main shopping street at Futakotamagawa.

Nonki really is a traditional old style drinking establishment. The only time I have ever see other foreigners there was when I went to the wash and saw my reflection in the mirror or when I brought foreign friends there.

I hadn't been to Nonki in years when I decided to visit a while back. As I approached the door, I could hear many people inside laughing and talking and, as I opened the sliding door and looked in, all the patrons looked at the door and saw me standing there.... They all suddenly went silent. You could hear a pin drop - it was like they were immediately frozen stiff - with their mouths open and gaping at the E.T. standing at the door. They looked like they'd seen a ghost.... 

I felt like I had walked back in time to a pub in Kawasaki in 1980! 

It was like that scene from the Blues Brothers when Jake and Elwood went to that high class French restaurant and looked in; the customers were frozen in shock.

Anyway, the reason I write about Nonki, and the reason why I suspect they've been in business for 45 years is their telephone. That's right, their telephone. They still have and use the type of telephone that were prevalent in Japan up until the late 80s. It's a huge pink box with a ¥10 coin slot at the top. 

I think it's a pretty safe bet that this pink public phone is one of the few remaining in Futakotamagawa!

I hadn't seen or used one of these in years.....

So I picked up the receiver and, as I did, the Mama at Nonki smiled at me and brimming with pride she said, "That phone is 45 years old!" I smiled back at her. I was touched... Her expression and her smiling eyes! What a nice, charming lady she is!

Then, I had an inspiration! I pulled a ¥10 coin out of my pocket and inserted it into the slot and entered into a Time machine! Really! Wow! 

It was like going back in time - and for only ¥10! - it was a strange sensation putting my finger into the dial and dialing after all these years... But who would I call? Ah? I'll call myself! 

I have an uncanny memory for numbers... But after I put my finger into the hole to dial, my brain drew a blank suddenly and I couldn't recall my own number! I stopped and had to think for a few seconds. What was it? I suddenly recalled, and, like Back to the Future, I was dialing up my past. It was new and different to actually dial up a number with my finger after all these years.

.... You've seen those memes on Facebook and Twitter that show some old object and they say, "If you know what this is, you are old"? That's what it reminded me of.

It was brilliant taking a trip back into time, if only for a few seconds... Images of the faces of old friends and loving family long gone and passed away - and all the good times and memories they gave me flashed though my mind.... It felt good....

I miss you all and I miss the good times... God bless you all and thank you all for being a part of my life .

.....And thank you pink telephone! For times past and a recent exhilarating experience I will never forget.

NOTES: Oh, Nonki is super cheap and delicious! If you go there, tell them "Mike sent me!" They won't understand as they don't speak a word of English and you'll get nothing for it - but maybe I'll get a free beer or something! ;)

のんき　（Nonki）
東京都世田谷区玉川 4-12-1
4-12-1 Tamagawa, Setagaya-Ku, Tokyo
https://www.nikotama-kun.jp/shop/g_nonki/

Tel: 03-3709-2381

The Ultimate Japanese Song and Karaoke: Four Minute Taste of the Essence of Japan: 浪花節だよ人生は

Ever wanted to go to Japan but couldn't afford it or just haven't had the chance to? Well, here's your chance, folks. This short blog post will give you one integral part of anyone's vacation to Japan all in just under four minutes.

Kimura Tomomi made this song a standard Enka classic

Ask any foreigner whose ever been to Japan and partied with Japanese people and they will tell you that this, if anything could, captures one slice of the essence of Japan. Laugh now, but it's a Karaoke video. 


Seriously. 


Let me set up the situation for you (as it happened to me!): You've been in Japan for one or two nights and your Japanese friends want to take you out eating and drinking. Of course you want to go and do.


They take you out to Shibuya or Shinjuku or some place that you can't remember the name of. First you go to an Izakaya and eat all sorts of delicious foods that come in all sorts of small plates. Everyone eats a little bit of this and a little bit of that. There's all sorts of foods there. The typical Japanese diet is not just a huge plate with one slab of beef, some mashed potatoes and gravy and bread. The Japanese eat a tine bit of this and that.


Of course you start off drinking beer. Everyone makes a toast and, instead of yelling, "Cheers!" they yell "Kampai!" (You just learned a very important Japanese word!)

Kampai!

After drinking and eating some,  then your Japanese hosts start drinking something else. It's probably sho-chu (Korean liquor). They ask you to try it. Heck, you're in Japan for the first time. What the heck? You'll try anything once. You do. The sho-chu is great! You drink a lot of it.


More food comes and you continue to eat and drink. Everyone is speaking Japanese so you haven't the clue as to what people are talking about and what's really going on, but you don't care... You're having a blast!


Then, it's on to the Japanese sake!


You get tipsy and have to go to the restroom... It's one of your first forays into Japanese world by yourself. The restaurant mama points you in the direction of the restroom. You walk in. You think, "Woah! These rooms are tiny! And what's that water faucet doing over the toilet water tank? Is that water clean?" 


When you return to your table, your friends continue with the festivities. You've eaten and drank to your hearts content. But, no! This is Japan! We have to go to somewhere else! Your friends want to go to Karaoke! You hate Karaoke, but you go anyway.


Outside, as you walk the city, you are blown away by the neon lights and the pretty girls who are just everywhere! What a sensory overload...


And the city is clean and the sidewalks are safe. There is no crime to fear! Heck, the most dangerous person in the entire 1 mile circumference of where you are is probably you!


You get to the Karaoke club. You haven't a clue as to which direction you came from. The club is a nice place. You go in. You drink more! It's a blast. "Wow! Japanese people are good singers!" You think (but no. They just are used to the controls of the Karaoke machine!) Everyone sings. You watch.


Then, the ultimate "Japanese song" and "Japanese Karaoke Video" comes on.... Like I said, this one video, at least for me, encapsulates the entire thing in just under 4 minutes.

浪花節だよ人生は (Naniwa Bushidayo Jinsei Wa) Suggested viewing? Watch along with drinking beer and sake

Later, your hosts make sure you find your way back to where you are staying... The next day, you wake up with a hangover...


You think, "God! I love Japan! I wish I could stay here forever."