Memories of Japan Part 4 (^^)

 Deep in the bowels of Shinjuku is an area named Omoide Yokocho "Memory Lane" to others known as Shonben Yokocho "Urinating Lane" for the urinals that could be found behind the rows of small eateries.
A perfectly safe place (^^) with eating stalls lined up on two separate lanes. You can see the entrances by the two green signs.

Across the street from Omoide Yokocho, normally an overwhelming hordes of people are waiting to cross the intersection. A sight in itself. But due to the disasters the crowd had really dwindled.

Don't ask me why the pic is sideways! It was upright when I uploaded it...(**#) Anyway, one of the entrances to the two alleys. Not how narrow the alley is. There are eateries on both sides. 

 

The alley next to the rail tracks, Normally all the signs are brightly lit up, but some effort is shown to cut down electricity use due to the Nuclear Plant breakdown which severely limited the electrical supply to Tokyo. Scheduled blackouts were already in effect.



Owner of Fukuhachi, the destination (^^) He cooks up the BBQ sticks on that small charcoal grill in front of him. The display case holds a variety of ready to BBQ items. As we say in Hawaii "Ono" nothing like straight off the grill BBQ. 

Inside the shop. Note how narrow the kitchen is! Everything is served up from here. That's a balloon fish and Shark jaw hanging from the ceiling. (^^)

His delicious BBQ chicken sticks!

Stuffed Green peppers are a must here as well! All cooked on the grill. 

Other dishes such as pickled sardines, Potato salad, stewed bamboo shoots line up the counter.

Ahhh. My favorite grilled tomatoes wrapped in bacon. YUMMY!

    What is really interesting is the owner travels twice a year around the world to play golf! He is an avid golfer and has gone to famous courses all over world. Now, how a BBQ stick owner can afford such hobby is really beyond me. After all only 12 customers can sit at the counter and the prices are very reasonable. The wall is full of golf photos of him and famous players as well.

     I used to go here to meet with a LE counterpart at least twice a month. Unfortunately, could not post a picture of him due to his sensitive assignment. We would usually start here and work our way through Shinjuku until wee hours of the next morning and catch the first train back to work! No time to go home!

(^^)  High stress jobs requires High impact tension release activities! Fufufu. And Fukuhachi was the place to start for us. Ahhh fond memories for sure. Not quite sure our wives appreciated it..........(**;)