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Japan - An Irish Guide
Turning Japanese: An 'Irish' guide to Japan Scotland, Argentina, Iceland, some island...the ever-growing list of places that Japanese people have mistakenly thought to be my homeland. It's a frustrating indication of what a small blip it is on their awareness radar. "You know England,
right?" "Oh, yes!", comes the happy
reply. "Well, it's to the left of that." The
resulting "Ahh!" is accompanied by the kind of
blank look that tells you it's the end of the geography
lesson.
But there is also a minority among the Japanese who
are nothing less than Ireland fanatics. They play the
fiddle or the bodhran, wear Aran jumpers, only drink
Guinness or Bushmills and even have a smattering of
Gaeilge (embarassing for someone like myself - the only
phrase I can reel off with any confidence being the one
that I needed to know if I wanted go to the toilet in
6th class). They proudly take part in the annual St.
Patrick's Day parade along Tokyo's fashionable
Omotesando street (below, left). They write books about
their fascination with and experiences of Ireland. They
actually know the difference between Irelands north and
south and may innocently ask your opinions on the
divisive issue. The 1990s saw something of a worldwide
boom in popular Irish culture and thanks partly to the
loyalty of this devoted group, Enya, Riverdance and
Irish theme pubs have been as successful here in Japan
as anywhere.
These are people whose footballing loyalties will be
divided between two island countries next summer, two
countries half a world apart but with some surprising
similarities. A shared love of the festive occasion
combined with a good-natured passion for the national
team mean that the World Cup will be an ideal time for
fans from both countries to forge ties. It's also a rare
chance for these Japanese Sons of Erin to fly the
tricolour on their own turf. Whether you arrive in Japan
alone or in a group, who better to show you the ropes
and help you get the most out of your short stay in the
Orient? But in the huge metropolis that is Tokyo, how do
you go about finding these folks? Where else but the
pub.
The success of the Irish pubs, with reassuringly
familiar names like The Dubliners, Inishmore, The
Warrior Celt and The Pint, has been phenomenal. I've
lost count of how many there now are in Tokyo alone but
it runs into double digits. So, if you're feeling a bit
homesick or just can't your hands on a match ticket for
less than the price of your return airfare, there's sure
to be a watering hole nearby where you'll be welcomed
with open arms. Be warned, the price of a pint will be a
bit less welcoming, usually 900 or 1,000 yen. That's 6
or 7 quid so if you're on a tight budget, you'd be
advised to look for a happy hour or match-day specials.
But, prices aside - a mouthful of steak and Guinness
pie will set you back another few quid - the continued
success of the pubs has been something of a revelation.
The first pubs opened in areas frequented by a lot of
foreigners. Bewleys opened a restaurant/bar next to the
route of the Paddy's Day parade but it only really
became a pub on that one weekend of the year (it's still
going, though under different management and is now
called The Pint). The first real Irish pub opened in the
early 1990s in Roppongi, the area of Tokyo often
referred to as "the zoo" and a definite
must-see for any adventurous singles. Paddy Foleys is
authentic, designed in Ireland and built with imported
timber and limited seating, a real drinker's pub. I was
surprised at the opening to meet Barbara Cruise, one of
the interior designers invited over for the occasion and
a neighbour of mine from my childhood days in Malahide.
I heard somewhere that Foleys (right, staff members in
the '98 Parade) was in the Guinness Book of Records for
having the world's highest turnover of the black stuff
per square metre of floor space. Probably true. Our
ambassador Declan O'Donovan, one of the more sociable
types among Tokyo's diplomats, has long been a regular.
More and more pubs opened in all sorts of places,
from busy urban centres to outlying suburbs. There's
even one in my wife's hometown of Utsunomiya, a town
that, though quite a big urban area, has
"country" written all over it and shows the
scars of Japan's decade-long recession in a way Tokyo
rarely does. The surprising thing is that these islands
of gaijin (foreigner) culture seem to manage to survive,
even thrive.
I say it's surprising because the whole concept of
standing and drinking, a standing bar, is a bit alien to
the Japanese. The traditional watering hole, the izakaya,
is a sit-down combination of bar and restaurant. It
usually has the noisy, raucous atmosphere of the former
and always has the extensive menu of the latter. Western
people are often surprised by how tatty - downright
unhygenic, even - some of these places are. But the
general rule of thumb is that the grotty places are
where you'll have the most fun and the best food.
But assuming you arrive in Japan with little or no
nihongo (Japanese), the bigger, brighter izakaya chains
are perhaps a safer bet. You'll usually find one or more
near most train and subway stations. They have big menus
with photos of all the items and you can get by with
standard gestures and pointing to what you want. They
are also quite cheap, and attract a lot of younger
customers. The Japanese have an uncanny ability to spot
new arrivals and, especially after they have a few
drinks in them, will often regale you with their broken
English and become instant drinking buddies.
If you manage to strike up enough of a friendship,
and even better if your new friends are ticketless
football fans, why not introduce them to Irish pub scene
on match day. It'll be quite an eye-opener for them.
They may be surprised to see their own countrymen are
the ones screaming loudest at the referee.
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Japan Embassy of Ireland Ireland House 5F, 2-10-7 Kojimachi, Chiyoda -ku, Tokyo1020083 Tel : ++81 3 32630695 Fax : ++81 3 32652275
Korea Embassy of Ireland Daehan Fire and Marine Insurance Building, 15th Floor, 51-1 Namchang-Dong, Chung-Ku, 100-778 Seoul Tel : ++ 82 2 7746455 Fax : ++ 82 2 7746458
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