Campus Life: The Unforgettable Restaurants You Get Hooked On | Jun Murai (Dean, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies)
2010.03.04
Near university campuses, there are always beloved restaurants that students pass down through the generations. Around our SFC campus, the number of such places has grown considerably. There's a certain restaurant in Shonandai, loved by the students who have supported SFC's 20-year history, that one alumnus working abroad visits first thing upon returning to Japan (even before visiting the campus). You might think, "Pasta in Shonandai after coming all the way back from California where you eat nothing but pasta?" But that's just how it is with food you love (A). I remember when SFC opened 20 years ago, there were few restaurants near the station, and we had to search far and wide. I was thrilled when I discovered a ramen shop run by a scary old man and became a regular, but it eventually became super famous, and the old man came to be known as a ramen master (B). During my long years at Hiyoshi and Yagami, I frequented a restaurant recommended by my seniors for its taste. As soon as I sat down, a "super spicy version of kalbi-gukbap" would automatically appear before me (C). When I first worked at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Ookayama, I was a regular at a ramen shop I thought I could eat at twice a day without getting tired of it. It was only after the ramen boom that I gained the specialized knowledge that it was of the Taishoken style (D). Mexican food has had a hard time taking root in Japan, but having developed a taste for it in America rather than its native country, my target was Tex-Mex, or rather, American-Mexican cuisine. I was a real regular at that one place in Jiyugaoka, so I was shocked when it closed. However, its main branch is in Hiroo, so I frequented it during my time as a Vice-President at Mita. The clientele there is mostly American (E). During that same time as a Vice-President at Mita, I also frequented a peculiar soba noodle shop. This shop, located between the campus and the government offices in Kasumigaseki, always has a line, but I started going there after a strong recommendation from an agriculture-focused alumnus from SFC's first graduating class (F). Around the time I moved to the University of Tokyo, Professor Nobuo Saito, a Todai alumnus and a senior dean, introduced me to his favorite oden restaurant. He said it tasted the same as when he used to go there. To my surprise, I learned it has tasted the same since the days of Natsume Soseki (G). Speaking of favorite purveyors, I frequent an unagi (eel) restaurant with a large sign proclaiming it's a "Purveyor to the Imperial Household" (H). And, given its location, I also often went to a chicken restaurant with the "best oyakodon in Japan," a place where rakugo storytellers and other stylish people gather (I). Around the time SFC was starting, an incredible curry shop opened near my house. The impact is so strong that words can't do the flavor justice. Most people are put off at first, but then they get hooked. I've succeeded in increasing the number of students who become as addicted as I am by forcing the SFC students around me to go to the shop; by about the third visit, they are finally captivated. The original Setagaya shop has closed, but I now occasionally visit the main branch on the Toyoko Line (J).
Food is culture. It would be great to see more restaurants that SFC students get hooked on and cherish in their hearts for a lifetime.
Answer Section (100 points total, 10 points each)
(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F) (G) (H) (I) (J)
(Date of publication: 2010/03/04)