Where Ambiance and Good Food Meets - "Ren" in Shinagawa

I like Italian food, and if you look hard enough, Japan is full of wonderful Italian restaurants.  However, I have been walking this route through Shinagawa for a very long time and it was not until my last trip a few weeks ago that I realized this place was even there.  On my way back to my hotel from a dinner at the Ichiryu Yatai Mura I saw this building on the corner.  What caught my eye were the decorative lights near the front entrance.  Upon closer examination I could see people in the upstairs window.  Could this beautiful old building possibly be a restaurant?  I must investigate!

What first struck me about this place was the building.  It was a wonderful old structure.  I went in and sat at the counter and spoke to the chef and waiter.  Their English was just enough for me to understand.  The chef said this restaurant has been there for nine years, and the building has been there for ninety to one hundred years.  That means it has likely survived the Great Tokyo Earthquake among other things.  This picture above I took off their web-site, and it is a great example of this incredible place.  Here is a picture of the chef, again taken off their web-site.  He said the specialties at the time were a seasonal fish called "samma" along with a spaghetti carbonara type dish that he makes without the use of egg or ham.  He substitutes a Japanese salty fish (the name of which I could not get).  He also makes an eggplant pasta in a tomato based sauce.

 

Here is a view (again from their web-site) of the upstairs dining area.  We had a dinner there on a Friday night and sat in the far corner of this picture.

We tried all of their specialties and we all felt that the food and ambiance was of very good value.  I would recommend to my friends or anyone else to try this place out.

Good food, good friends, good ambiance.  That is Ren in Shinagawa on that Friday night.
www.ren-shinagawa.com

Nov. 2010 Japan Trip - Post #14: Farewell Party!

Ok, this Blog is not dead.  On life support maybe, but not dead.  Having just returned from another wonderful trip to this fantastic country, I have been re-invigorated to come back and write again.  First on my list is to complete the final entry of the trip there with my wife in 2010.  After that, we will see where it goes.  I do have so many more interesting (at least I think so!) stories to tell, so there should be no trouble with generating more posts.  Alas, back to November 2010 in Tokyo.

After our return from the Tohoku region we had a final night in Tokyo.  Nothing too fancy, just a dinner out with old friends.  My colleagues from the office agreed to gather to eat at a local place, which was an English themed sports pub for our final meal.  I guess they were being very considerate for my wife's culinary tastes.  This consideration should be no surprise. We are talking about Japan after all.  I remember out in front of this establishment they actually had a small turf soccer field which was lighted.  Quite good marketing I would say for this place.  A heavy soccer influenced place.  Probably a madhouse during the recently concluded World Cup (if this place is still in business as I have not been back since 2010).

Good friends.  Good beer.  Comfortable food.  We had such a wonderful time on this trip.  It was a large number of years in the making.  I had the help of many of my colleagues, in addition to other friends.  For me it was very special.

Sad to say though after these past 3 1/2 years many things have changed in the company.  Many of my old friends have moved on or retired.  The good thing is though I still keep in touch with many of them, which is the most important thing anyway, right?

Life goes on.  Many things change.  Nothing stays the same.  Except friendships.  They can last forever.  If you try hard enough, and the feelings are mutual.

I think back on this trip now and am thankful for many reasons.  First and foremost though is that while I had wanted to do it for many, many years, when it finally did happen, it was only four short months later that the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami occurred.  We were very fortunate with this scheduling.  I am glad we did not procrastinate any longer.  The old Furusato and Cha-Cha's in Tagajo are gone forever.  They have been replaced with newer versions thankfully, so they do live on.  I live on too.  And hopefully, so does this Blog.  Thank you for reading it.

Reasons I Love Japan #447: Denny's

It has been quite a long time since my last post, and for those of you who enjoy these readings I am sorry for my absence.  Thought I would drop another one in, with the hopes that it would rekindle my fire for a more steady stream of content.  We shall see.

So the topic today is just another of the many small things that make me like Japan.  For this post, it is none other than that classic old brand of U.S. diner restaurants - the ubiquitous "Denny's".  In the U.S., Denny's has become synonymous with open 24 hours cheap food.  Mostly breakfasts.  Through the years my personal opinion of the place (and that should certainly not necessarily mean it is shared by all of my fellow citizens) is that of gradual degradation.  So much so that a few years ago the chain went through a major restructuring effort, complete with facility upgrades and new branding.  Since I have not eaten at a U.S. Denny's in many, many years, I cannot comment at all on the results of these efforts.

So on my many visits to Japan, I noticed that Denny's had quite a prevalent presence in the country (after looking it up I found there are close to 600!).  Quite a surprise to me, but it fit in along with the KFC's, McDonalds and Burger Kings that also seemed to be so common.  Cheap fast food.  One of America's most famous exports. :-(

On my last visit over, I decided to drop in on a Denny's for breakfast that was quite close to my hotel.  Boy was I surprised (but then again, not really).  The place was spotless.  Extremely clean like most Japanese eateries.  The food was prepared with obvious care and was very tasty (I chose a typical Japanese breakfast - small piece of salmon, miso soup, rice and natto).  The service was perfect, and the cost was very reasonable.  What a different type of feeling I had eating here from the last time I had one of their famous  "Grand Slam Breakfasts" at a U.S. Denny's.  It was night and day.

Just another example of how Japan can take something, throw in attention to detail, passion for excellence, and caring employees and make it far better than their U.S. counterpart.  I recommend anyone to try a Denny's in Japan.  It is certainly not a Michelin starred kind of place, but for what it is, it certainly hits a "Grand Slam"!

Golf in Japan - Round #2

I'm a lucky guy.  What can I say?  Thanks to my good friend Sam, I was able to have a second round of golf in Japan in October of 2008.  I can't remember the specifics, but I do know that this particular round of golf was arranged on an early Saturday morning in the Tohoku region at Osato Golf Course.  It was about an 8-10 mile drive from Tagajo.  The course was managed (or owned) by Accordia Golf.  It was a pretty funky set up I remember, as we paid via some kind of automated teller machine that was set up inside the clubhouse.  We had a group of seven golfers, and Sam arranged a very cool little competition between our groups.  Here is a shot of our members before we headed out to the first tee.

It was a beautiful day in Miyagi, and the cool air helped alleviate the effects of a long evening from the night before.  I do remember Sam and I being very tired this particular morning.  As you can see, we had a great group assembled for this particular outing.  My good friend Yusa-san (second from left) drove me from my hotel (Tagajo Castle) to the course.  Yusa-san is a very skilled golfer who I have played with before a couple of times in the U.S.  He has quite a large number of golf clubs, and I have always joked that his second set of clubs (which he always lets me use) is better than my primary set back home!

I can't remember very much about the golf.  I do remember they had the typical very nice lunch set up after the first 9 holes (I had the Gyoza and a coke, though my appetite was not all the way there yet).  I think I played a little better on the back 9, as I was a bit more awake by then. 

After the round, we gathered in the Clubhouse and tallied up our scores.  Sam gave out prizes.  It was arranged so everyone won something.  Sam did such a nice job.

I still have one of the prizes I won that day.  It was a set of tees and ball markers.  I keep it in my golf bag as a constant reminder of that great morning of golf with my friends in Miyagi.

Just another great memory from one of my visits to Japan.  As I said at the beginning, I am a very lucky guy.  Thank you Sam, thank you Yusa-san and thank you to all the others who made it such a great day.

Nov. 2010 Japan Trip - Post #13: Goodbye to Tohoku

I figure I better start wrapping up my most meaningful trip to Japan back in November of 2010 before it fades too deeply into my memory.  There are just two more posts to go on the series, this being one of them.

After spending a couple of days in fantastic Matsushima, and seeing many of my wonderful friends in Miyagi prefecture, it was time to leave Tohoku.  A sad day for sure, but we needed to head back to Tokyo, and prepare for our flight home the next day.  We took a nice breakfast at the Century Hotel on the edge of Matsushima Bay, packed up our suitcases, and took the hotel shuttle bus to Matsushimakaigan station.

While on the station platform waiting for our Senseki Line train to Sendai, I took a few pictures.

The air was crisp but not too cold and the trees were blooming their beautiful colors.  There was a quiet peacefulness about the place.  Too bad we had to leave.

I took the following photo looking forward off the station platform towards the bay.  Little did we know that only four shorts months later, a historical tsunami would wash in off this bay and cause so much damage.

Immediately after the earthquake and tsunami of March 11th, 2011, I frantically searched the internet for news on my friends, and our company's nearby facilities.  Then I also checked on Matsushima.  I feared for it's fate, due to it's immediate proximity to the ocean and the epicenter of this massive quake.  I stumbled onto a web-site of an American photographer, who shared a love of this place, who was also trying to gather news about it.  He was able to find an American woman who was there during the disaster, who posted news and a large number of great photos on her Facebook page.  Seeing this information was very comforting, as while Matsushima did indeed suffer much damage, it was far less than I had feared.  It seems the islands acted as a barrier to the brunt of the tsunami force, and the resulting wave was not as bad as those suffered by the surrounding communities.  One of the pictures on this Facebook page was taken from almost the exact spot as my picture above only a few days after the tsunami.  I copied it and put it alongside mine, so you can see what it looked like.

We had a very relaxing trip back to Tokyo, with a comfortable connection time at Sendai Station that allowed us to peruse the wonderful shops there.  The Shinkansen is such a wonderful way to get around Japan.  So much easier than the hassles of air travel.  So while we said our goodbye's to Miyagi and the Tohoku, we captured fantastic memories of our time there, and certainly do hope to visit again - together - some day.  Thank you to all who made it so special.

Pub Kodama - Shinbashi

My third and final post on a Shinbashi area establishment (for now anyway!).  This one is very special, and I doubt that my writing can do it justice.  Right after we finished a couple of drinks at John Begg as posted about below, we headed out looking for more cool places and adventures within the Shinbashi area.  We walked south along the western side of the station, through the normal bustle of a Shinbashi Friday night.  Oh yes, and did I say it was raining and we had no umbrellas?  Stall after stall, shop after shop underneath the train viaduct.  All of them, or probably more accurately most of them, packed.  Then up ahead, my friend spotted the word "Pub" on a green and white sign in English, which stood out amongst a sea of Kanji.  Here is what it looked like.  However I should note now that as with John Begg, these are not photos taken from my camera.  Details on that later.  The "Pub" sign I am referring to is actually the second and larger of the two (I didn't realize there were two at the time until seeing this picture!).

Upon seeing the sign we headed in for a drink.  What we found was quite interesting.  After ascending up some steps there was a bar which was filled with an older crowd of mostly Japanese men and some ladies.  We were the only Gaijin in the place.  Obviously a locals only type of clientele.  It was smokey, and there was a curving bar along the entire right side of the long and wide room, and towards the back there was a Karaoke machine with an older man belting out some long ago tune on a sound system that sounded quite muddled.  We took our seats at the bar, and ordered a couple of large bottles of Asahi.  I felt like I was an actor in a B movie from the 1950's.  Here is a picture of this bar during a much more sedate and quiet evening.

A very friendly bartender woman named "Stella" who was from Singapore chatted us up and poured our drinks.  She spoke very good English.  Stella told us this Pub was owned by the 86 year old Mama-san who was working alongside her behind the bar.  She has worked here for over 50 years, and had owned it with her husband before he died around 15 years ago.  We said hello to the Mama-san, who was very friendly, seemed to have a great spirit, but regrettably spoke no English.  Here is a picture of the Mama-san.

After a short while my friend commented that he didn't think this was an ordinary bar, and he said to look around at all of the tables.  There seemed to be a woman at each who were chatting with the men, and pouring their drinks for them.  Aha!  This was a "Hostess Bar".  Upon further discussion with Stella, she showed us some black and white photos of what the place looked like in the 1950's.  It was a Caberet at that time.  Here is one of the shots.  Notice the orchestra up in the balcony.  At the time this picture was taken, the Mama-san owned (or rented) the lower floor of this building too.  In the early 1960's they put the floor that we were standing on in, and sub-let the lower level out to another business.  The Mama-san can be seen in this photo on the left.

After the aforementioned new floor went in, here is another picture of the staff I believe from the 1960's.  The Mama-san and her husband are in the middle.

Well truth be told we did not feel altogether comfortable sitting in this bar, with Stella constantly filling our glasses up with seemingly each sip we took.  It seemed like they were trying too hard to get us to drink more.  Little did Stella know she was serving people who needed no such assistance.  Quite the opposite actually.  So we decided to leave, probably only 30-45 minutes after arriving, and after only drinking those two beers.  I became worried about what we would be charged, as they could easily have ripped us off as they seemed a bit surprised to see us leaving so quickly.  Stella looked over at the Mama-san and asked her how much we should pay (I couldn't say for sure this was what she asked but I certainly believe I am right!).  The answer?  2,000 yen.  A fair price I thought for the two bottles.  We thanked them all and left, back out into the cold and rainy night.

So what makes this place, and this post, so special you might ask?  Well, when I came back to the U.S., I tired to find out information on this place.  I could not remember the name, so luckily Google had mapped the street and a quick look in street view gave me the name - Pub Kodama.  Then I Googled Pub Kodama Shinbashi.  The first thing that came up is the following link.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/tokyoeye/archives20110803.html

It seems NHK did a 30 minutes special on this woman, whose name is Hideko Yoshida.  When I went to this web page and watched the accompanying four videos, I was stunned.  What an amazing story, what an amazing place, and what an amazing Lady!!!  I hope your computer has Flash capability and you can watch these videos.  Please take the time to do so if you can.  All of the pictures above (and below) are screen shots I took from them.

The old Shinbashi train viaduct pictured above was built in 1909.  Under it's arches are housed many amazing people, places and things, including Susie's Jazz and Drink, John Begg and Pub Kodama.  I hope to return to Shinbashi and Pub Kodama soon, and bring along with me a Japanese speaking friend.  I want to communicate with Yoshida-san, and tell her that I think she is an amazing person.  I want to spend some money there (for drinks) and repay her for her loyalty and dedication to her business.  Who knows, I may even get up the nerve to sing a song or two.  "What a Wonderful World" indeed!!!

John Begg - Shinbashi

Here is the second post on another great little bar in the Shimbashi neighborhood of Tokyo.  We stumbled into this place when I had planned to go to Susie's but found it closed.  John Begg sits right next door, and it's sign is quite a bit more prominent and inviting than Susie's.  I should start off by saying that regrettably I did not take any pictures at John Begg, so I shamelessly clipped these off the internet.  To the Japanese reviewer who took them, I hope you do not mind!

John Begg was a Scotsman from Aberdeen.  He started the New Loughnagar Distillery in the 1845, and as a result of receiving the "Royal Warrant of Appointment" as a supplier to the Queen (Victoria) he changed the name to Royal Loughnagar Distillery.  John Begg passed away in 1880, and the company was later acquired by John Dewar Ltd and Sons in 1916.  Today the company is still going strong as part of the massive holdings of the beverage giant Diageo.

While the origins of John Begg Whiskey are well documented, how this John Begg bar came about in Shinbashi remains a bit of a mystery.  What I can tell you is the place is run by a Mama-san who has been tending to this same establishment for quite a long time (40-50 years?).  It is my understanding that this bar originated in 1949.  My guess is that not much inside has changed since.  It is a much bigger place than Susie's next door, but before you think it must be large, please don't forget you had to turn sideways when you walked into Susie's.  John Begg is small.  A very nice curved wood bar fronts around 6 or so stools along the right side of the room.

To the left is a seating area with three small sections that can seat around 9 at the most.  A few comfortable looking very small couch type pieces along with a few stools.  That's it.  What makes this place so cool is the decor, both behind and on the bar as well as on the walls.  It is tasteful, old, and classy.  There is a very large painting of the Mama-san when she was young.  A very beautiful lady, both then as well as now.

John Begg has many different liquors but seems to specialize in Whiskey.  Begg's brand is of course the "house pour", and I would recommend the 12 year old Royal Loughnagar Single Malt, which was quite tasty.  Two capable and experienced barmen tend very professionally to the drinks.  The service is first rate.  One speaks a little bit of English, which was very helpful (I did not have my Japanese co-workers along for this adventure).  The place had some classic looking coasters seen here.

Go to John Begg if you want to relax and go back in time.  Enjoy the serenity of the place, the nice service, and the fine cocktails.  The craziness of Shinbashi is outside all around you, but within these walls you can escape.  You can enjoy.  There is a Ginza feel here, which is only a few blocks away.

I hope to return to this place with some of my Japanese friends so I can find out more about it from the Mama-san.  Shinbashi, Tokyo and the world needs more places like John Begg.  Search them out before they are gone forever, like Susie's next door.

Susie's Jazz and Drink - Shinbashi

I want to write two back to back posts on a couple of very cool, small bars in Shinbashi.  I want to get these posts out now, as I just found out one of these bars just regrettably closed one month ago.  The name of this now closed establishment is Susie's Jazz and Drink.  Both of these wonderful, little bars, which sit side by side under the arches of the Shinbashi Station train tracks are throwbacks to an era of long ago.  Founded in the 1950's, Susie's was run by who else - Susie, until it's recent closure.  We happened to stumble on to this place in November of 2011, as I desired to search out a nice, casual bar in the Shinbashi area.  The outside of this place was certainly nothing special, as it was basically just a door with an uninviting, small sign that read "Jazz and Drink".  That was enough for me though, as upon being brave enough to enter we found an inviting and interesting interior along with Susie herself behind the bar.

The theme of the bar was of course Jazz, which was playing softly in the background.  Pictures on the walls of many jazz greats reinforced this theme.

Perhaps the most amazing picture though was of the New York skyline which adorned the entire left side semi-curved wall.  I could not get a picture of it that did it justice, but you can see some of it here on the left.  It was beautiful.

It was a tiny box of a place, with a retro feel that was very warm and inviting.  Whiskey was perhaps the most popular drink here, as it took up a good portion of the menu.

Unfortunately Susie did not speak much English, so I was thankful I had along some of my coworker friends with me.  This kind of bar I think is a bit rare in Tokyo, and they are getting harder and harder to find.  They are off the beaten path, and becoming forgotten in this day of more modern, youthful oriented pursuits.

 I am glad I had a chance to catch Susie just before she closed her doors after decades of continuous service.  I hope she is well in her "retirement".

While I suppose it may be a bit irrelevant at this point due to the closure, here is a card from Susie's.  Maybe the closure is temporary though and one day we may be able to once again get a nice drink and sample the good atmosphere and jazz from this place.

A Whale of a Time at Shimanto

Back in the beginning of the 21st century, our Tokyo office was at a relatively new building in a complex called "Shinagawa Seaside".  It was not very convenient from a train perspective, at least compared to our other Tokyo locations.  During the time spent at this office, which was a number of years, some of our local staffers found a small restaurant on the old Tokaido Road called "Shimanto".  It was a small Izakaya, located on the second (or third?) floor of a nondescript little building.  If you did not know where you were going, you probably would never find it.  During our span at this office location, our staff became friends with the owners as they ate quite a number of meals there. 

The Mama-san was quite a famous and entertaining lady.  She was a bit of a fortune teller, and many people asked her for their fortunes.  I do remember getting mine told by her many years ago.  I cannot remember it specifically now, but I do remember it was for the most part positive.  Do you think she ever gives out any negative fortunes??  :-)

Here is a picture from one of those dinners there in May of 2004.  It is a special shot because it includes my old friend Joe.  I only had the good fortune of joining Joe for dinner a couple of times in Japan which is a pity.  Good company.

One of the things I also remember about Shimanto is that they served Whale.  It came in a shashimi form.  It was the only time in my life that I have tried Whale, which I believe is illegal to be served at any restaurant over here in the U.S.  Anyway Whale was (and I am sure still is) always on the menu at Shimanto.

I have not been to this restaurant for a number of years now, but I heard that it is still going strong to this day.  There seems to be a good market out there in Japan for restaurants who serve Whale, good times, and good fortunes!

March 11th

Today is March 11th, a day that I will forever associate with the disaster in Tohoku one year ago.  It is a bit like September 11th in the U.S., another day that has special meaning since 2001.  I actually spent a good part of this past week in Miyagi, and have seen quite a bit of positive change since my last visit.  Here are just a few photos I took.  This is the location of one of my favorite places - Cha-Cha's which is now a lonely vacant lot.  The Master is trying to figure out his plans for another shop, and I along with many others eagerly await it.

The building that housed the old Furusato along with a number of other small snack bars is now in the process of being demolished.  You can see what it looks like now below.

While these are pictures that may sadden you, there are other many good things going on up there.  The spirit of recovery is alive and strong in the Tohoku.

I can imagine there are many special ceremonies all over Japan on this day.  My company decided not to hold one, probably because the day falls on a Sunday, as well as because the painful memories are still too vivid.  As I sit here typing this on my computer, I take a moment to remember all of those lost on that fateful day a year ago.  Included in this is a special thought that goes to my personal friends who lost family members.  We will never forget.

April 1966: Rita Clark Trip - Epilogue

Well I hope you enjoyed a very brief glimpse into the life of my Great Aunt Rita Clark.  If any of you are so inclined, I would be most appreciative if you could drop me a mail with any comments you might have.  I hope I have conveyed to you the extent of these great books in my possession.  You are just seeing a very small 10 day look into the massive content.  It is quite impressive.  Here are the remaining pages that Rita entered regarding the trip to Japan.

She also wrote a lot of trivial information about various things.  Most were specific about the countries she visited. I am not sure where she gathered a lot of this information.  Perhaps it was encyclopedias, or books she read on the various counties she visited.  Some of the entries read like school textbooks!  Here is another page from Japan from which I took the top picture and added it to my previous post.

Well I can safely say based on my experience that Aunt Rita had a wonderful visit to Japan.  She saw many of the best sites, and stayed in some nice places.  Japan in the mid 1960's was obviously quite different from today.  Just one relatively new Shinkansen line, an exchange rate of 360 yen to the dollar, and Eisaku Sato was the Prime Minister.

I say sayonara to this set of entries to my Blog, and thank you Aunt Rita, for your wonderful contributions!

April 1966: Rita Clark Trip Days 8-10

The following is a reprinting of the content taken directly from Rita Clark's Travelogue seen in the picture link below.

8th Day Thurs 4/21 - Morning city tour of Kyoto, classical city of Japan with Toshi accompanying us all through Japan - good guide.

4/21 - Here we saw the old Imperial Palace, Golden Pavilion, Higashi-Honganji Temple and other places of interest.  The meat in Japan especially the beef is very good, so I repeated the sizzling steak dinner in Hotel Miyako to-night - after returning from the theatre with Gertrude - many Geisha girls.

9th Day Fri. Apr. 22 - At 9:00 A.M. we left by motor coach to the ancient city of Nara visiting Todaiji Temple with the world's largest bronze image of Buddha, Kasuga Shrine with thousands of stone lanterns and Deer Park where we fed tame deer rice crackers.  Lunch at the Nara Hotel and then returned to the Miyako Hotel about 25 miles.  Before leaving Irene and Ward Sumpter introduced us to Mrs. Duncan Hines also from Bowling Green, Kentucky - she was returning from the South Seas and ran into her friends by mere chance.  Our last day in Japan we went to a private home for a tea ceremony and flower arrangement.  At 6:45 P.M. we were taken to a sukiyaki dinner party with Geisha girls entertaining us.

10th Day Sat. Apr. 23 - Breakfast at Miyako Hotel where the meals have been so good - Western style.  We transferred to the Osaka Intern'l Airport by private motor coach with Toshi and at 10:50 A.M. said sayonara to Japan.  The Japanese Airlines flight 601 took us to Taipei, Taiwan and we were taken to the famous Grand Hotel in Taiwan better known as Formosa.  The Nationalist Chinese government made Taipei it's capital in 1949 when they moved their government to this city.  We took a city tour and saw the National Historical Museum, Lungshan Temple, the Theatre district and Presidential Square where Pres. Chiang Kai Chek has his offices.

Well that's it!  A short ten days for my Great Aunt Rita in Japan.  She did and saw so much in such a short period of time.  I am jealous!!  While I did make a very special visit with my friend Ken to Kyoto which I blogged about here, I have not had a chance to visit the city of Nara.  It is definitely on my list of things I still want to do.  Rita went to the theatre, a tea ceremony and even made a go at Ikebana - Japanese flower arrangement.  I am so impressed.  This was obviously a first class tour judging by the itinerary and the hotels they stayed at.  Here is a picture of their group taken in Kyoto.  My Great Aunt Rita is the eighth person from the right, in the back row just to the left of the Geisha girl.

The other interesting thing to me about this page of entries, is the mention of a "Mrs. Duncan Hines" from Bowling Green, Kentucky.  In the United States, the name "Duncan Hines" is very famous as it is a brand for cake mixes and other food products.  Well I was a bit curious, so I Googled Duncan Hines.  I should not be at all surprised to find out that the original Mr. Duncan Hines hailed from where else - Bowling Green, Kentucky.  While he died in 1959, he was married three times.  His first wife died of cancer in 1938.  He married his second wife in 1939 and they divorced in 1945.  He married his third wife Clara in 1947.  Clara was born in 1904, which would have put her at 62 years old back in 1966.  My guess is it was her.

My favorite Duncan Hines product!!!

April 1966: Rita Clark Trip Days 4-7

The following is a reprinting of the content taken directly from Rita Clark's Travelogue seen in the picture link below.

4th Day - Sun Apr. 17, 1966 - At 8:00 A.M. we left by private motor coach to Asakusa Station with our Fuji Tour Guide "Toshi". At 9:00 A.M. we boarded the Tobu Railway's Dream Train known as the Romance Car for Nikko.  We saw cherry blossoms along the way - about 85 miles - the Express Train took exactly 105 minutes from Tokyo to Nikko.  Here we saw the vermillion painted Sacred Bridge, hand carved Yomeiman Gate and the Inner Shrine of Toshogu.  After lunch at the Kanaya Hotel where we had trout from the waters of Lake Chuzenji 4194 ft. above sea level we visited Kegon Waterfall.  Returned to Tokyo by the Limited Express train after a very cold but pleasant day - Had Cherry Jubilee in Hilton dining room with Jeanne.

5th Day - Mon. April 18 - After breakfast at the Hilton Tokyo we checked out and by private motor coach drove to Fuji Hakone National Park via Yokohama and Kamakura.  Passed Tokyo's residential district, stopped to see the image of Buddha (Daibutsu) and towns & villages along the Pacific Ocean.  Lunch at the Kasiero Chinese Restaurant all of us sitting on tatami's in real oriental fashion for a true Chinese meal.  Arrived at the Fujiya Hotel in Miyanoshita, Hakone late afternoon to stay overnight in this large tourist hotel half Japanese and half Western.  After a trout dinner I had a massage at 9:00 P.M. 500 yen ($1.40) for 45 min.

6th Day Tues. 4/19 - Had the morning at leisure, then at 2:30 P.M. transferred by motor coach to Atami.  Largest hot spring resort, enjoying view of Lake Hakone, Ten Province Pass and Mt. Fuji on the way.  Dinner and accommodation at the New Fujiya Hotel where we donned Kimonas provided by the hotel and wore them to dinner as well as outdoors - both men and women in our party.

7th Day Wed 4/20 - Breakfast at the New Fujiya Hotel then we transferred by motor coach to Atami Station.  At 9:31 A.M. we took the "bullet" train for Kyoto which travels 130 miles per hour.  Arrived at Kyoto Sta. at 12:17 and were transferred to the Miyako Hotel - welcomed remainder of hotel afternoon to do some mending, washing, etc.  Lunch and dinner at the Miyako Hotel.

Well one of the amazing things to me about this post is that my Great Aunt Rita went to Nikko as have I and was mentioned in a previous post in this blog.  She also went to the Daibutsu in Kamakura which I also did during one of my early trips to the country (I will blog about that one day!).  She made it to Hakone which is still on my list of things to do.  I would also like to visit Atami one day as it looked cool when I saw it from the window of my Shinkansen on a past trip to Kyoto.  The most amazing thing though about this journal page?  The 500 yen equals $1.40 exchange rate!  Upon further research I learned that the yen was fixed at 360 to the dollar not long after the war.  It stayed at this rate until it was changed to 308 to the dollar in 1971 due to market pressures.  Finally it was allowed to float in 1973 with other major currencies of the world.  Wish I could get that 360 rate today!  I might move!!!

Yen to Dollar Exchange Rate

Also of interesting note, apparently the Fujiya Hotel is quite a beautiful and famous place.  It originated in 1878, and is a very popular place to this day for those heading to see Hakone's beautiful sites.  Here is an old picture of it from their web-site:

Here is a more modern look at this wonderful, historic property:

The New Fujiya hotel is still in Atami.  Lastly I would like to comment on the Shinkansen.  Japan's modern day Shinkansen was completed in 1964 in time for the Tokyo summer Olympics.  So when Rita took it in 1966, it was still a relatively new service.  There was only one line running at that time - the Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka which operated the original "O Series" trains seen in this picture.

This original Shinkansen train was finally removed from service in 2008.  What a long run of incredible safety and service for this engineering marvel.  As Rita states, it traveled at 130 mph when it was introduced.  Today, there are a number of Shinkansen lines running all over Japan.  The current Tokaido Shinkansen train runs at a top speed of 186 mph.