Searching for Lobster | Motohiro Tsuchiya, Vice-President / Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance
Heading north along the U.S. East Coast, we arrived at our destination nearly an hour earlier than scheduled. It was still too early to knock on the door of our host. I decided to stroll along the brick-paved sidewalk with President Kohei Itoh and Mr. N from the Global Engagement Office.
I hardly recognized most of the shops lining Harvard Square. I browsed the bookshelves at the Harvard Coop and was impressed to see the kinds of books current Harvard professors are writing.
As the appointment time approached, we returned to our destination and rang the doorbell. It was Alan Garber, the President of Harvard University, who opened the door himself. Sitting on a sofa in a quiet room, we were able to exchange views on the situation surrounding universities in Japan and the United States.
The Provost who joined us showed us two old videos from the Harvard University archives. They showed the Harvard University baseball team visiting Japan in 1934 and playing games against the baseball teams of Keio University and Waseda University. Although the footage is monochrome and silent, it also shows the Harvard baseball players sightseeing.
We promised to develop future cooperation while valuing these past connections, and then took our leave.
We immediately headed by car to Boston's Logan Airport. As we drove along the Charles River, I saw the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the left. This is where I spent a year starting in March 2008. If I had time, I would have liked to stop by MIT. I also wanted to go to the lobster restaurant that used to be near my apartment.
It wasn't just the lobster. I have many memories of my year at MIT: Red Sox baseball games when Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima were on the team, the Tanglewood Music Festival, the shared research lab, the MIT classroom where I gave a short lecture, the heavy snow falling silently, the rattling subway. While I am confident I didn't waste any time, research didn't progress as easily as I'd hoped due to various circumstances, and I ended the year having only written a few papers. I remember looking out the window from my seat in the library, thinking that things weren't going quite as planned.
I wanted to revisit those places, but there was no time on this trip. Come to think of it, the stir-fried lobster with ginger I ate in Chinatown was exquisite. I wonder if it's still there.
After arriving at the airport, checking my bags, and passing through security, I looked for my last hope: Legal Sea Foods. It is a restaurant chain near Boston famous for lobster, oysters, and clam chowder. I quickly found a corner with tables spread out in the concourse. However, upon opening the menu, I was disappointed to find that they did not serve whole lobsters like those found in city restaurants. It makes sense, as people are expected to eat quickly while waiting for a flight.
I had a set consisting of a lobster roll and clam chowder. It also came with coleslaw and Cape Cod brand potato chips. Feeling nostalgic, I tucked the potato chips into my bag. It felt a little insufficient, but it was just right for a jet-lagged dinner.
However, I was shocked when I saw the bill. I was shocked again when I converted it to Japanese yen. Prices have risen due to inflation, and the weak yen makes it feel even more expensive. Even if a whole lobster had been on the menu, I might not have ordered it after hearing the price. This reminded me of how I was shocked by the price of xiaolongbao in New York three years ago (Okashira Diary: New York Prices). My desire to return to MIT and do research someday suddenly deflated.