What could be more unusual… than a place that serves nothing but sardines? That's the rare claim of Iwashi, which is to be found one block further west (i.e., nearer to the Palace) than Ginza, and one block further south (i.e., nearer to Shimbashi Station) than the Dentsu Building. The Sardine House, as is calls itself on its cards in English, is owned by Naito Naoshige, who offers sardines in 50 different ways, including sardine hamburgers, sardine soup, sardine curry, and pickled sardine stomachs (which taste like anchovies).
Naito, who doesn't speak English, is a big devotee of this humble fish. "I admire sardines. Seagulls, tuna, whales, dozens of creatures prey on them. Yet they survive; they keep right on multiplying." His clippings and books are filled with sardine sagas; how Hideyoshi filled the lunch boxes of his soldiers with sardines when they went to capture Korea…the poem Lady Murasaki composed for her husband when he scolded her for eating sardines. The walls are covered with paintings of sardines. Naito is a soft touch for sardine pictures, as many an artist knows.
From Japan and Hong Kong on Five Dollars a Day (1965-66 Edition)
Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since Tokaido training began: 106.2km
Days left until departure: 52
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