Karaoke, Basketball, and Sushi

Last weekend I had my first real karaoke "experience". I'd sung karaoke before, with small groups of people, but this was my first opportunity to go sing with a majority of Japanese people. It was a great time, and I think I might be a karaoke junkie. There are probably nearly a thousand karaoke bars in Tokyo, and they're not the kind we're used to in the U.S. Here, it's a multi-floor facility with separate small rooms for groups of people from 2 to 25. On this Friday night we went to the karaoke bar across the street from my office, and got a room big enough to accommodate our group of 15 future Nihon-jin Idols. The rooms have seating around the edge, big tables, lights and tamborines, and a 19-inch TV off on the far end of the room. Frankly, they could have sprung for a bigger TV. We ended up drinking a heck of a lot of beer, and got out of there after 1 AM for around 5,000 Yen per person, or a little over $50. Not bad for a full 3 hours.

And for those of you questioning why I would enjoy karaoke so much, I submit Exhibit A:





And Exhibit B:





Your Honor, I rest my case.


On Saturday, this weekend, I went to a Japan Basketball League game about 1/2 hour train ride outside of town. It was in a prefectural sports complex south of Tokyo. The game was the Toshiba Brave Thunders (the home team) versus the Panasonic Trians. I have no idea what a Trian is. For that matter, I don't know what a Brave Thunder is either, but it does sound intimidating. These are local teams that hail from certain prefectures or cities, but they are sponsored by large Japanese companies. The cheerleaders chant T-O-S-H-I-B-A TOSHIBA!!! It'll get the blood pumping.





The game was lackluster. A veritable tour de force of two-handed layups and perimeter shooting the likes of which Larry Bird can only imagine. Truly, it was probably like watching a Division II college basketball team mid-season when the games don't really count. We did have very good seats though. Courtside at half-court. They really attempt to put on a show, and model themselves after the NBA I'm sure. But they were a little off with their multimedia. They played the exact same part of the exact same techno song each time the home team had the ball, and the exact same "da-du-da-da da-du-da-da DEFENSE" song each time the away team had the ball. And they wouldn't wait to make sure the turnover was permanent before hitting the change-song button. So often times the home team would be walking the ball down the court (TECHNO), and pass the ball into the arms of a visibly surprised guy on the other team (da-du-da-da) who would then trip and fall leaving the ball for the home team to pick up (TECHNO), who would shoot toward the portion of the court that contained the rim, hitting a disoriented away-team player in the back of the neck (da-du-da-da) only to leave the loose ball to be picked up by the home team's 6'3" center (TECHNO) and accidentally stepped out of bounds. It had the potential to become really annoying.









I was lamenting having spent 3,000 Yen on these seats for such a mediocre basketball game...until halftime. After halftime I was wondering how these seats could be half empty for such a bargain-basement price. The reason for my change of heart, you ask? Two words: Smoothie Cousin, a four-man boy band combining rhythm and soul for far and away the best half-time performance since Janet Jackson's nipple or an elementary school jump-rope squad. All the while being nearly 45% more uncomfortable than watching retarded kids play a short game of 4-on-4. Smoothie Cousin rocked, and I mean ROCKED, the house with "Your Sushi, My Hashi (chopsticks)". At least that's what I'm guessing this power ballad was called. It combined soulful melodies and harmonics with the pure sexual excitement of Japanese rap. For your enjoyment I smuggled a video, in direct contravention of the Boy Band Code of Ethics:




Today, Sunday, I went to eat sushi at Tsukiji (pronounced SKEE-JEE) fish market. The fish market itself is closed on Sundays, but the best sushi in town can be had within the market 7 days a week. I went with my friends Winnie and Masato. Winnie is Taiwanese, raised in the US and Cornell educated (so she's quite western and speaks perfect English -- and Mandarin and Japanese but who cares about those two useless languages) and works in real estate in Tokyo, and Masato is her Japanese boyfriend who works for one of the large Japanese "mega banks". Masato speaks English very well too, so guess how we all communicate! That's right, Latin.



They're both wonderful people and we enjoy hanging out together, and Masato loves to take me around his adopted hometown of Tokyo (he's originally from Osaka) to all of his favorite restaurants. He's an excellent guide and pretty good at ordering bizarre but edible food. We have eaten some strange stuff, and we plan to eat blowfish (which can kill you if prepared incorrectly) and whale in the near future. Today we had the following assortment, and I ate and pretty much enjoyed everything:


Fried, whole shrimp (you eat them like popcorn, and they're pretty good)



Mussels, really not that crazy



A sea snail, still in the shell. Delicious.



Squid, raw and cut into nice little slimy strips. I didn't really like this one. Not for the taste, but for the rubbery slimy mouthfeel. Blegh!





And by far the freshest sashimi (raw fish) I've ever eaten. That's the carcass of the fish, with its own flesh cut off and piled on top of it along with some grated-radish garnish. Check out the video below: