Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2012
WHERE’S THE BEEF?
Regarding “‘Tokyo Burger Joints’” (Burger Special, Apr 13): I suppose you have to pay to play because my three favorites aren’t listed. They are, in order, Homework’s (Hiroo); Firehouse (Hongo 3-chome) and Kua’Aina (various). I like them because they are veg-friendly: half a dozen offerings and sweet-potato fries; a veg sandwich, and remarkable homemade garlic peanuts; a cheese sandwich and pretty good onion rings, respectively. And they have smoking restrictions. I noticed that while some of the ads in the burger special mention veg fare, your write-ups do not (and are not listed alphabetically for some reason). Since space doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem could you please devote one sentence to whether veg items are available or not. A comment about the smoking policy would also be appreciated.—Allan
STUCK IN SODAI, AGAIN
Regarding “Waste Not” (The Last Word, Mar 13): [Author] Wang Baosheng’s take on the “waste not, want not” ethos is certainly interesting, if not entirely correct. The plethora of secondhand shops, particularly those specializing in household goods and appliances, is really only something that captured the consciousness of most people after easy and cheap disposal of refrigerators and air conditioners and the like on sodai gomi days started to require a reservation and the payment of a recycling fee. Prior to that it was possible to outfit a small apartment for free, courtesy of neighbors’ cast-offs. But of course, only under the cover of darkness!—Mark Gresham
Try Googling “bullet train accidents” and China tops the list. Lesson: it hardly matters if Chinese bullet trains are faster or newer, I’ll still take the decade-old Japanese bullet trains anytime. Which exemplifies why it’s so hard to practice the mottainai culture with made-in-China products: How can you resell or hand down things that have completely fallen apart?—trish
Everyone wants to be “eco” nowadays, yet “old” appliances and furniture are sitting outside as garbage, houses which are fine are torn down to build brand-new ones and many new products are covered in 25 layers of packaging—I could go on and on. Recycling is better than the US, but varies by city/ward. On top of that, shopping in Japan really is a “hobby,” and people buy more than they need, even if they can’t afford it (including myself). Probably those who live, or lived, in Tohoku and other areas affected by the disaster last year are the only ones who truly understand and follow this concept.—Sarah Brave
LISTING LISTENING
Over the years Metropolis has done a good job of covering a wide range of music, both foreign and domestic, and I applaud and thank you for that. However in the last year or so there has been a deterioration. To mention just a few examples: The SonarSound listing this year does not mention Squarepusher, the best known of all the artists playing, and a headliner. The event I’ll Be Your Mirror was postponed some time ago, but is still listed. The Manic Street Preachers, hugely popular in Japan for many years, are coming again, but aren’t even listed. Hokuo Music Night is merely listed as Northern European Music Night, with none of the four participating artists mentioned.
These are not listings from one or minor promoters, but from various well known promoters like Creativeman, Smash, Beat, and M&I. Lots of people look to Metropolis for this kind of info, and it is increasingly not there. Hoping you might care.—Keith
We are doing our best to keep listings up to date. If you would like your event listed, please submit online at http://metropolis.co.jp/listings/submit
