One of the most wonderful nights I had in Japan was spent in Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu. And not just because it was a really interesting restaurant but because of what it came with: a reunion with a friend who I last saw decades ago.
 |
| Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu |
Hide and I were classmates in the 2nd grade and we became best friends. He and his family moved to Japan in about a year. This was of course before the time of email and mobile phones so back then, the only way to stay in touch with friends in other countries was to write letters and send them via snail mail (back then, we just called it mail). But Hide and his family moved around in Japan a lot and eventually we lost touch. Then, several years ago, I somehow managed to find his email address online. We then connected via Facebook. He told me he was living in Tokyo now. I made a mental note of that and told myself that if I ever get to visit Tokyo, I would try to meet him. So when my family and I finalized our Tokyo plans, I shared my schedule with Hide and we agreed to meet. I was really excited!
 |
| This restaurant served as the inspiration for a scene in Kill Bill |
Hide asked me if I had any requests for where we would meet but I didn't know enough about Tokyo to know so I said I would leave it up to him. He suggested Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu. He said it's a very popular izakaya and it served as the inspiration for a popular scene in the movie Kill Bill. Naturally, I agreed. At 6pm, we finally saw each other face-to-face for the first since we were about 8 or 9. It was such an amazing moment!
 |
| A reunion many decades in the making! |
The evening was spent catching up, sharing stories about what we remember from back in the day and how our lives are now. My family joined us and Hide told my nephew that he used to work for Capcom, the maker of Monster Hunter. Cool! Hide also used to work for Disney and I was amazed to know he was a project manager for the construction of Tokyo Disneysea! Amazing! At that point, we hadn't been to Disneysea yet so this made me more excited to go.
 |
| Stage set-up on the second floor of Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu |
My family was still full from our mid-afternoon meal at Hunters Bar so we only ordered a little food but it was really good. I also really love the ambience and the vibe of this place.
 |
| Delicious yakitori |
Another amazing bonus for us was that because it was a Sunday night, a taiko drum band called Renka regaled us with a live performance. Hide didn't know that there was a live show so we were lucky that we had dinner that night. Our reservation was only from 6 to 8pm but Renka started promptly at 8pm so we got to see them before we left. They performed two numbers and I took partial videos of both. (Don't worry, I just held the camera in front of me while I watched these very talented women work magic on their drums.)
Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu is about 10-15 minutes away from the nearest Metro stations so we all walked to the Roponggi metro station together. Hide even showed us where Tokyo Tower is. We were going in different directions at the station so we bade farewell.
 |
| Renka performing in Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu |
We only spent a few hours together but it was such an enriching, life-affirming experience. I am tremendously glad I was able to find Hide after all these years and that we finally got to see each other again.
Next: Food!
No comments:
Post a Comment