Sushi Yasuda Closed .....

Last couple days, I was really bummed to hear that Sushi Yasuda Japan, the Sushi restaurant that was featured in Parts Unknown has closed.   

Not sure what really happened there, but from I could read Yasuda-san lost his lease on the building, and instead of moving, just decided to just go into full retirement.

More info is available at the links below:

For myself, it's a great shame as the last time I was there, I had more/less a spirtual experience....

During Thanksgiving of 2019, I got stuck in Japan and was not able to get a flight back to the US to spend with my family. It was REALLY depressing.

Stuck in Tokyo, I was hoping to at least book someplace with a traditional turkey dinner, but since I called on Wednesday night, pretty much every American restaurant was full.

As a last attempt to do something special, I went over to Sushi Yasuda (which I was at the previous year) w/o a reservation. Of course it was totally also totally full.

So after striking out on "all fronts" that day. I decided to give up and get some "Thanksgiving Dinner" at 7-11 and just eat it back at the hotel near Meguro.

I started walking back to the train station when I saw a beggar near an intersection.

"すみません、　ちょっと手伝って？　[Excuse me, can you help me out?]" he asked.

It was odd as I almost never get panhandled in Japan, but out of instinct, I reached in my pocket for some change. I proceeded to hand him about 100 yen (about $1 USD) in coins when he suddenly startled me.

"You don't have more than this?" he asked IN ENGLISH with a thick Japanese accent.

"You speak English!!!..." I replied in disbelief.

"That's because you're don't speak nihongo [Japanese]" he yelled back at me.

I was sort of shocked by this situation, but I reached into my wallet and checked for some more coins. He sees that I have a 1000 Yen note and reaches over and grabs that.

"Hey what that hell?" I replied.

"Thank you! You won't regret it!". ”大丈夫ですか？[Is this all right?] he asked with a smile.

I was pretty pissed off, but seeing that it was Thanksgiving, I just said to myself "nevermind" and continued walking.

When I got to the train station, I went to the ticket machine to buy a ticket to go back to the hotel.... guess what? That 1000 yen note was all the Japanese cash that I had left. The rest was a mix of US and Taiwanese dollars, useless in Japan.

I needed to go to an ATM, but the closest one was at a Family Mart a bit past the Sushi Restaurant in the opposite direction.

Jesus Christ, I thought to myself. What a wonderful thanksgiving... I started walking back.

I'm still angry as I pass Sushi Yasuda again, but suddenly I hear a familar voice. It was the restaurant greeter.

"Hey I remember you. You were just here, right?" she asked in English.

"Yeah, but I didn't have a reservation." I replied.

"Well you know what? A big group just cancelled. If you want we can give you a seat at the sushi bar now..."

I was in total shock.

"Sure." I replied. "That would be great!"

I started to walk into the restaurant but then was TOTALLY freaked out.

"Sir." said the greeter. "I think you just dropped some money."

"What?" I at her in disbelief.

"Look by your foot..." she replied.

I looked down on the ground by my left foot, and see that I stepped on a 1000 Yen bank note....

Once in a while, we all experience things that radically change our views of the world ... for me .. this was one of those times!