Archive for January, 2009

The story behind the 9.63 million yen tuna

The economy is tanking right now, but Tsukiji’s first tuna auction of 2009 has shown us that the super rich can still afford to pay big bucks for premium tuna:

The 282-pound (128-kilogram) premium tuna caught off the northern coast of Oma fetched 9.63 million yen ($104,700), the highest since 2001, when another Japanese bluefin tuna brought an all-time record of 20 million yen, market official Takashi Yoshida said.

Yoshida said the extravagant purchase _ about $370 per pound ($817 per kilogram) _ went to a Hong Kong sushi bar owner and his Japanese competitor who reached a peaceful settlement to share the big fish. The Hong Kong buyer also paid the highest price at last year’s new year event at Tokyo’s Tsukiji market, the world’s largest fish seller, which holds near-daily auctions.

Here’s a FTV news segment about the what the buyers did with the ultra expensive fish:

The clip starts by introducing Ricky Cheng, who owns a very successful restaurant chain called Itamae Sushi. His original restaurant was in Hong Kong back in 2004 and he has since opened two Itamae Sushi stores in the Ginza and Akasaka districts of Tokyo. Cheng won last year’s auction by himself, but this year he shared the purchase of the fish with the owner of Ginza Kyubei.

Most of the part Cheng bought was flown off to be served in Hong Kong, but some parts of the special tuna did get served to customers of the Tokyo branches of Itaemae Sushi. One 5-kilogram section of the fish is shown being cut up and prepared at the Akasaka branch, apparently to be sold as part of a 2980 yen sushi plate. Huge signs plastered all over the outside of the restaurant announce its winning of the special tuna auction, attracting a great many customers. Cheng readily admits he is losing quite a bit of money by letting people eat the premium fish at such a low price, but there is some value in showing the world that his restaurants serve high quality dishes.

Meanwhile, Ginza Kyubei sold their portion of the fish for a much higher price (2000-2500 yen for one piece). Ginza Kyubei has a long reputation as one of Japan’s finest sushi restaurants, and its owner had no intention of having a foreign-owned sushi restaurant take all the premium tuna glory.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Tkyosam interviews Arudou Debito

YouTube vlogger Tkyosam interviews Arudou Debito (7 parts):

Highlights include:

• Sam telling viewers to “stay Black.”
• A waitress who answers Debito’s Japanese with English.
• A discussion of the value of passing gas.
• Debito eating chicken.
• And more!

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Mmmm… Tentacle… Grape

Japan has one export more notorious than all others. It’s about time we gave something back.
The lowdown from Kotaku:

Tentacle Grape is a caffeinated grape soda that Mnemosyne is targeting at gamers, cosplayers, and comic book fans. It is also perhaps the best name I’ve ever seen for a product you actually ingest. You can currently pre-order the soda (pre-ordering soda?) in six-packs for $15.99 plus shipping from the drink’s website, with each order before January 5th eligible for free Tentacle Grape bumper stickers or condoms…

Guzzle some, and get back to us on its… taste, probers.
[hat tip to Brett, who runs a great blog on the Japanese language]

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Japanese man impersonates Freddie Mercury

A Japanese Freddie Mercury(from the same show that featured the impersonation of Louis Armstrong):

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Ringing in the New Year at a gay bar in Tokyo

Another clip from ATV’s coverage of how certain people spent New Year’s Eve:

This clip is about Hiroshi, a 26-year-old who works at a gay bar in the Shinjuku 2-chome district. It is customary for most Japanese people to visit their families for the New Year holiday, but Hiroshi will not be going home. He has only told his brother than he is homosexual, and is afraid of what will happen if his father discovers the truth. He enjoys his life in Tokyo, but worries about the day he will have to come out to his father.

Hiroshi calls home on January 2nd to wish everyone a Happy New Year. He talks to his brother, but he doesn’t have a chance to speak with his father (who is probably passed out drunk from holiday drinking). Hiroshi hopes he has the courage to come out, but isn’t quite ready to do so.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Ringing in the New Year in Akihabara

A clip from an ATV news report about how certain people spent New Year’s Eve:

The person in this clip is Gontada, a 33-year-old otaku who is attending a countdown party　at Dear Stage in Akihabara. Akihabara is the one place where he can truly feel like himself, unlike his company, where he must hide the fact that he is an otaku. Gontada spends the night dancing and singing along with the songs of his idols, and it truly looks like he is in heaven.
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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)