Karitori

The ghost of Kafu Nagai, pulling a rickshaw, munching on a giant sembi, wearing a rubber chomage, leads the cheer some hungover day last spring:

“Asakusa! Asakusa! Asakusa!”

Slasher and Betty. We eat okonomiyaki off an ancient griddle in what looks like someone’s un-kept house circa 1963: tiny Sony TV, yowling pussycat brushing past our ankles. First time for me to eat liquid monjayaki, which looks unnervingly like spazz chow.

A long slow walk up Roku-za, past the cabaret where Beat Takeshi got his start, sharing the same shabu spike with everyone else backstage. Nude show lures. A few battered old blondes poke out of sun-bleached photo lineup. 60 bucks. Not the nice price...

Babysteps past the underground theaters playing old Koji Tsuruta and Tora-san flicks. Smells like urinal disinfectant and stale popcorn down those battered old steps with plastic sealing cracking. In the street: the Asakusa army of dirty old men sipping Ozeki One Cup, watching horserace results on giant public TV screen. A sole tekiya sets up a grilled mochi stand, turning over blackened little bricks on greasy plate of steel.

Hanayashiki! Formally, an Edo-era flower garden become post-war family fun center turning to post-Disneyland decaying Showa-holdover. How much longer can it hold out? A gaggle of fake Sentai power rangers greet the kids on a stage. Brats on motorized panda contraptions. Attractions include: a palm sized roller coaster with tracks trailing around the tops of izakaya shacks. Random shit and rides: Mopper's Band in the Forest, Funky Duck, Bikuri House (highly reccomened), 3D Surprising Bus.

Betty crying at the scary gates of the Ghost House. Says Western style haunted houses do no damage to her, but obake Peeping robot yokai inside, including snake neck lady and the tortures of the dammed.

Rusty old Bee Tower. Taken into the sky by dental floss wires in a tin cage. Then they spin you around. Damp mineral smell and steam coming out of building tops. Exhaust ports from public baths nearby.

Nothing like a freak show. The light-activated automata do their jobs so fast there’s no time to get a pic off. Little kid with his pants going down. Severed heads popping out at you on uncoiled springs. And giant tits for the whole family.

We found Pedro Edogawa (by himself, as per usual) tripping in the cherry blossom clinc. He wouldn’t share his beer with us. Nice overpriced Takeo Kikuchi hoodie, asshole.

Comments

[Matt Gray]

There is something strange about that last photo. You look like you're getting younger. Something about that half-smile sneer is doing you right.

And those tits of that SHEBEAST! Praise Jesus! What the fuck is that thing? I thing folks are arfraid to post comments after seeing that.

[Steve Harrison]

I CAN'T BREATHE! Holy crap, what IS the deal with the massive mams? Is this one of those secret Japanese fears that no Western mind can understand?

OK, stupid Steve question of the day: This Hanayashiki, is this the park where Toei had their annual live Sentai shows? That elevated track looks really familar...

[danno!]

And what the heck is "spazz chow?"

[slasher]

The park of Toei Sentai annual live show is Korakuen which is next to Tokyo Dome.