About 3 years ago I was fortunate enough to have been able to attend the Reichenbach Irregulars conference in Leukerbad, Switzerland. Little did I know just how much that would affect my Sherlockian life. I mean I had a clue, but I digress. In attendance at that conference were Sherlockians from all over, including members of the Sherlock Holmes Club of Japan. I remember having a good chat with the group at the top of the Gemmi Pass about my upcoming Japan trip to visit my son, who was at the time doing a semester abroad. They inquired what I was most looking forward to about visiting and I remember saying everything, but probably anime and the food the most. I was wrong about the anime. I mean yes, they have lots of great anime, but this is a small fraction of what makes Japan so wonderful. I was NOT wrong about the food. The food in Japan is amazing.
Fast forward to summer of last year, while attending the Sherlock Holmes @50 conference in Minneapolis, MN. To my surprise, 3 members of the Japan Sherlock Holmes Club were in attendance, Yaeko Amano, Masamichi Higurashi and Yumiko Shigaki. I had a great time catching up Yaeko and Yumiko about my trip to Japan last year, including telling them about my son’s girlfriend, whom he met while studying there. I also told them that I have been studying Japanese and about another upcoming trip to Japan I was planning as a graduation gift for my son. I tried to remember some of my Japanese, although I can speak for us all when I say it is very difficult to actually put into practice a language you have been studying without much time practicing in conversational situations. I felt an immediate sympathy for our Japanese friends listening to Sherlockian lectures in English, especially with the blistering pace at which some of us speak. Upon hearing I was visiting Japan, Masamachi suggested I come to the end of year meeting for the Japan club. I immediately said that I would love to meet with the club! Yaeko and I exchanged emails and I promised to send my travel plans once they were pinned down so we could arrange a meeting. I don’t think I need to tell you dear readers that I was very excited about all of this. So much so that I may have been overzealous in in my bidding for the Strand Hound of the Baskervilles set, but it provided a good photo opportunity for me since Yaeko just happened to be wearing a lovely Hound scarf.
After a few emails back and forth, plans were made! I thank Yaeko again for kindly arranging this dinner with the club members and handling the reservations. The dinner was set for December 29th at the Izakaya Banya in Shinjuku, Tokyo. In case you are interested here is their website: https://www.banya-group.jp/en/
My son, Teddy and I arrived in Tokyo on December 16th and made a whirlwind tour that went from Saitama, Obanazawa and Sendai to Fukuoka, Osaka and Nagoya, finally coming back around to Tokyo on the 28th of December. The day of the dinner finally arrived (it went rather quickly actually with all the running about!) and I had to get ready early to meet up with my son and his girlfriend who were already in Tokyo. I was staying in Saitama, so I planned to leave by 4 PM as the trip by train was about an hour, plus I always give myself extra time for the possibility of getting lost, finding exact locations and just general additional walking time. Google thinks I can walk a kilometer in 10 minutes for some reason and it is definitely not accounting for the massive number of stairs you will encounter in Japan. Also, I was possibly excited and certainly didn’t want to be late. I was immediately proven right, because although I found the building with no issue, I was confounded as to the location of the restaurant in the building. The signs were in Japanese, and Google translate was very little help, probably because I was looking at the wrong signs. Eventually, I figured out there are elevator banks in the center of the building and the different elevators went to different floors. I immediately texted my son’s girlfriend to let her know so they wouldn’t have the same issue. After that, I made my way onto the elevator. I arrived at the restaurant’s front desk and I heard the woman from the elevator ask for “Amano” and quickly realized it was Yaeko. We were actually in the elevator together and didn’t recognize each other probably because it is rude to stare at other people in an elevator. We greeted each other and we were led to a private room with hooks on the walls for coats and purses and got settled in for our dinner together. My son and his girlfriend ended up being a little late, but it all ended well with everyone seated comfortably.
Attendees of the dinner, clockwise around the table starting on the left include Yaeko AMANO, Hiroyuki FUTUKAWA, Yuki SAHARA, Hiroko NAKASHIMA, Takahiko ENDO, Mayuko YAMASHITA, Theodore DANG, Nachi ONODERA, myself, Tommoya YOSHIDA, Masamichi HIGURASHI, and Yumiko SHIGAKI.
Dinner was wonderful. We started with drinks, including sake, beer and highballs (I have not tried one, but they are very popular in Japan!). Dinner started with tofu at the table, then the servers brought out sashimi, then tempura and chicken hotpot. It got really warm in that room when the hotpot was going. When I thought I couldn’t eat anymore, the servers came back and added udon noodles into the pot. I do not regret eating probably more than I should have as everything was amazing. For our final course we had ice cream for dessert. It was quite the feast!
During the dinner, I had several lively conversations with Tommoya, Yuki and Hiroko. Our conversations included so many topics, I wish I could remember them all. We talked about anime and manga, including Detective Conan, Moriarty the Patriot and we did wander off into others, including Jujutsu Kaisen and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures. Masamachi told me that his BSI Investiture was Baron von Gruner, much to my surprise. I was very confused by this because Masamichi is so nice, but then he explained because of Gruner’s collection of pottery, that link had not occurred to me at all. I was happy to have that explained to me. I regaled them with the story of my visit to the Sherlock Statue in Oiwake, my adventure in getting there from the shinkansen, to the local train to my 45-minute hike past Mount Asama and the very nice man I directed to the statue after a brief conversation. We also chatted about the BSI weekend. Tommoya was going for his first time and didn’t know what to expect. Since I have never gone, I was not much help but I did mention that others have told me there is always plenty to do and Sherlockians in New York would never let other Sherlockians go without company. I hope you enjoyed your trip to New York, Tommoya!
We also exchanged gifts. I brought Parallel Case pins for all the Japanese club members and Yaeko presented me with a beautiful handmade calendar and various collectibles from the Japan Sherlock Holmes club including pens that look like needles.
After dinner, gathering our things, we stood and looked out the window at the view of Tokyo at night. Masamachi asked if I had seen the crime scene the club had put together. I believe I have heard of it previously, but have not been lucky enough to see it yet. Masamichi, if you are reading this, I would LOVE to have a picture of your crime scene, please.
We went down in the elevators and took photos together, shook hands and exchanged farewells. Even my son, Teddy and his girlfriend, Nachi had fun, but I’m not sure I have convinced them to become official Sherlockians just yet. I will keep trying!
There is something about sitting down and having a meal and drinks with other Sherlockians that is magical. Even with the challenges of language differences. I would say that Sherlockians share, not only an admiration of Sherlock Holmes and “the game”, but also curiosity and a love of books and learning in general that really shines through when I listen to all the conversations and talks we have. I will say my only regret is that I never have enough time with my Sherlockian friends, that was especially so at this dinner. There is just not enough time to share all of our experiences and things we have learned and done in the times between seeing each other. I honestly wish I could remember every single word of the conversations we shared because they are a gift.
What I will remember very clearly is that tucked away in a cozy izakaya in Tokyo we shared some of the best food, drink and conversation with a wonderful group of friends, that I am very fortunate to have had the chance to meet. To my new Japanese friends, I hope you had wonderful New Year celebrations. Thank you for sharing your evening with me. I cannot tell you how much this meant to me. Mata aimashou! I will be practicing my Japanese and I hope our next meeting comes very soon.
