Food in the Time of Coronavirus (in Japan)
With a nod to Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel Love in the Time of Cholera.
May 22, 2020
Now that most restaurants have at least partially reopened, I have noticed that not much has changed regarding smoking. Almost all the places that formerly allowed people to smoke still do so, the only difference being a sticker on the door with a picture of a smoking cigarette indicating the place is smoker friendly. Most non-smoking places have put up stickers showing a cigarette with a red slash through it. Apparently, the new smoking law, which I thought was a ban on smoking in establishments that employed non-family members, is not being enforced at all. So much for Japan joining the modern world. At least I won’t be wasting my time walking into places I did not know allowed smoking any more.
May 11, 2020
Things seem to be more and more back to normal around Ningyōchō. A lot more restaurants were open last week, Golden Week, than had been the week before. A few places, mostly bigger and with windows and doors that could be opened to the outside, allowed sit down dining; the rest of the places did take out only. The places that allowed sit down dining pretty much all stopped serving food at 8:00 and alcohol at 7:00, as requested by Tokyo Governor Koike. Tonight, though, many more places were open, and allowing sit down dining. It still seems like a nightly yatai food festival, only without people eating in the streets. But more and more things are getting back to normal.
April 30
Things have settled into a routine here in Ningyōchō. Although 60 to 70% of the restaurants, bars and cafes are closed (my estimate), a few places remain open more or less as normal, the main differences being last call for alcohol is at 7:00 and food an hour later at 8:00. Then there are the restaurants doing takeout, many starting around 11:00 for lunch and continuing until evening, while others start around 4:00. Pretty much every sort of food normally served is available, including lots of yakitori, some sushi, Thai and various curries, sashimi, sukiyaki, you name it, it is probably available. It almost seems like the bettara market held every November in nearby Nihonbashi Kobunechō, a yatai matsuri, only with much better food and no one eating on the streets. It is a good way for the restaurants to generate at least some income and for residents to support the restaurants, and have good food to eat. Shopping for groceries is maybe even better than in normal times. Because of so many restaurants being closed, one of our local chicken meat shops, Daikin, sometimes has premium grade, ryotei quality chicken and eggs that needs to be sold in a hurry, meaning for cheap. Ningyōchō Imahan, with all of its department store outlets closed, has a lot of high-grade beef that needs to be moved, meaning huge discounts on roasts and other cuts everyday. Even toilet paper and tissues seem to be fully stocked the past few days.
Thursday, April 23, 2020.
Not much has been going on foodwise where I live. Something like 70% of the restaurants in my immediate neighborhood are closed. Almost all the others are open for limited hours and service. Almost all restaurants are closing at 8:00, which is not too surprising seeing as how they are supposed to stop serving alcohol at 7:00. The best thing about the shutdown, if it can be considered “best,” or even good, is that there are a lot of places offering takeout, both at lunch time and in the evening. My wife and I have been going out for walks to see what there is and to pick up takeout menus. And we have been eating some takeout as well, both lunch and dinner. I have seen a lot of people that live in the area supporting the takeout shops as well. We all have an interest in keeping the restaurants going.
One thing I have noticed is that it seems as if most restaurants that have been here for a long time, in many cases for over 100 years, are closed. I am not sure, but I suspect that these places can afford to be shut down for a while as they own the buildings they are in and have, in most instances, strong finances. Almost all the younger restaurants, on the other hand, rent their spaces, and knowing what some of the rents are, need to keep doing business in order to survive. Walking around last night I saw perhaps ten restaurants that had either opened very recently or were still preparing to open for business. I hope the landlords of these places give their tenant restaurants some slack, if they can afford to. Nobody would benefit if one hundred or more small restaurants went out of business because of the coronavirus shutdown.
Friday, April 10. Day 3 of the so-called state of emergency.
I have been seeing more and more closed restaurants, mostly small places, but also our local Starbucks. Edomasa, my favorite yakitori-ya, is closed, which is understandable considering how small and tightly packed it is almost every night. A lot of places normally not open for lunch have been open this week, many if not most of them offering take out bento rather than sit down dining. High end places, Michelin starred restaurants and the like, seem to be full, although I do know there have been quite a few cancellations by people who needed to travel to Tokyo to eat. Luckily for the restaurants, there are plenty of local people ready to fill their seats.
I think a lot more places will be closed next week. I suspect restaurants are trying to use up perishable ingredients before closing their doors. I picked up a small pack of kara-age last night for only ¥180 from a small obanzai place nearby which seemed to be trying to clean things out. I need to check again tonight.
Closing every restaurant except for take out as has been done in much of the U.S. and Europe would be impossible here. There are just too many people—mostly single men—who live in small apartments with nothing more for a kitchen than a sink and maybe a toaster or microwave oven, plus a refrigerator for beer. Instead of cooking at home they eat out two meals a day, every day. There still would be konbini food too eat, though. But think of the huge number of people that would be out of work if most restaurants closed. And how would small places that don’t own their buildings afford to pay rent when closed, rents that can be quite high, at least in my area?
April 8, 11:00 pm
Right now, tonight, is likely the most beautiful night I have ever experienced in Japan. And for the city, maybe the best people have ever experienced. The moon was full last night, the sakura are still mostly in bloom, the weather is warm, and there are no people out, nor vehicles driving around. It is so peaceful and quiet, the quiet made even quieter by the lack of jets flying overhead. I have experienced similar quiet here before, but only during a taiphoon when I was out walking. Walking alone, but safely, with rain gear and a hard hat on. Alone because who else would be crazy enough to go outside in such a storm. The difference is that in the midst of the taiphoon the wind it was a howling and the rain was outrageous, to paraphrase a Dylan song from long ago (it was the snow that was outrageous in the song, not rain), not dry and still like tonight.