Tonight I'm feeling like having sushi (and maybe needing one or two spoons of nama cheesecake) so why not have dinner with the honorable Kiyohiko Azuma. After all, I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him yet, so having dinner with him today would be a wonderful opportunity to avoid talking about the expected topics that my brother and sister chew on every night. Then, no family matters tonight, tonight I’ll be in one of those hidden, cheap and chic restaurants of downtown Tokyo surrounded by red paper lamps and the clamor of a completely unknown language for me.
What a comfort when the meaning of the words doesn’t disturb their clinking sound… Yes, I’ll be there 15 minutes before Kiyohiko arrives. I sometimes like the feeling of getting early to an appointment. I have time to observe and acclimate to the scenario, I enjoy searching with my eyes inside the crowd knowing that I am in the right place and, also, I can pick the seat with the best view.
Mr. Azuma will choose my order, I totally trust him on this one, he’s an expert and of course we don’t want to spend much time discussing about something as unimportant as miso. Who cares about soup when you are in such a charming place, sitting in front of Kiyohiko Azuma and just about to taste the strongest ice cream that you’ve ever smelled. The conversation will be perfect, one topic after another, we’ll jump from the divine to the mundane, films, jokes, philosophy, Korean tv soaps… we won’t be able to reach any conclusions and we’ll have the feeling that everything should be discussed further next time.
After dinner, Mr. Azuma will quote some Japanese riddle and I’ll go back home… and I’ll spend all night trying to solve it with a smile on my face.
