Every place has something to offer. Sometimes it’s just a life lesson, like “You shouldn’t go to places this bad,” but this wasn’t one of those sometimes. After another hour of cycling on our Kita Senju round-trip extravaganza, what Torishu had to offer was chicken.
I’m joking to humorous effect, of course. It offered so much more. Iizuka san is a bit jovial, and was very welcoming.
But what you should really know is that he may not be so passionate about chicken. Because he is very, very passionate about rock. And roll. The patron in this customer is gazing toward the front door, on which is a poster of Iizuka san’s latest album. And above which is a video of his latest live show. He wasn’t bad, in case you’re interested, and his band 1960 looks pretty awesome.
Something interesting to me: He, like a whole ton of other Japanese guys, plays a Gibson. To me, a Gibson isn’t really an acoustic guitar. A Martin is an acoustic guitar. So I said “Hey Mamoru, how come everybody plays Gibsons in Japan?” and he laughed and you know what he said, he said “Well, for me it was the Beatles, and they played Gibsons.” And I laughed inside, because that Lennon J-160 with the pickup and the knobs is dumb looking. Jumbos are pretty cool, but they don’t sound like Martins either. Mamoru is a cool guy though. I’d like to hang out and play some music with him.
Oh, chicken, right. This is what his food looks like if you get it grilled with just salt.
This is what it looks like if you get it with sauce.
Meat’s pretty good quality, grilling is on fancy charcoal (he’s got the Bincho sign on the wall), sauce is too thin for my tastes. Pricing is right, and he has unpasteurized Sawanoi sake in little bottles, so all’s right with the world.
Gitcher chickin’ shoes on.
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What does a Martin jumbo sound like?
Rainbows and lollipops, my large, yellow friend.
No, they don't really make a jumbo model. The standard dreadnought size is pretty much the biggest.