What the heck do they mean by “the best married couple in Japan”?!? I’m so ticked off already! … Oh, excuse me, I was beside myself. It’s because I watched Meoto Zenzai again.

Meoto Zenzai is a love story set in the 1920s. Ryukichi (played by Hisaya Morishige), born and raised in the merchant town of Senba in Osaka, is the very picture of a rich and spoiled son. Choko (played by Chikage Awashima), a former successful Geisha in the nightlife district Sonezaki Shinchi, falls in love and elopes with him. It is based on the novel by
Sakunosuke Oda, so I’ll let you google the plot on your own, but I can’t emphasize enough that this character of Ryukichi is such a jerk that I’m disgusted by him. He counts on his rich parents to support him, despite being disowned, and continues with his playboy habits. He spends all of Choko’s savings that she made by working a temp Geisha job. Just terrible. And his shameless attitude! He’s got a lot of nerve! It’s frightening.

However, the actor Hisaya Morishige is really good. Some examples include getting angry when his parents treat him coldly after asking them for money, throwing out a cup of water and making a sharp retort, staying out all night, coming back home in the morning and jumping straight into bed. In another scene, while sitting around doing nothing, he has Choko put a cigarette in his mouth for him. He infuriates her by constantly fooling around, so she dunks his head into a bucket full of water and noodles, which results in his head being covered by noodles and on and on… Morishige, oh, my darling! What to do?!? Nonetheless,
I have to say that the way he moves is so graceful; he’s so hopeless when put in words, but when I watch him on screen, I’m enchanted.

My most favorite Morishige moment among all scenes is when he gets excited by Choko’s line “Honey, do you wanna get something nice to eat?” He replies, “Let’s go, let’s go!” and clings onto her arm!

But I find this line to also be quite kind and affectionate. It doesn’t have to come from an epicurean like Ryukichi, but anyone who hears these kind words would be delighted. They’re magic words that would make you feel delighted even when you’re feeling blue. This can’t be done by just any words. In any case, let’s get something nice to eat!

There is a “something nice” kind of sweet in Kyoto.

What? Is this a sweet? Yes, it is…! It’s called “Chirashi-sushi”. Wow, exactly as described!

This is a sweet that Nijo Wakasaya, a shop near Nijo Castle, offers annually for a limited time from the beginning of the year to Hinamatsuri (a girl’s festival in March) by reservation only. I wondered if it’s a relatively new product, but no, it’s surprisingly been around for a long time. Nijo Wakasaya was established during the Taisho Period (1912-1926) which
makes this shop a relative newcomer (!) amongst Kyoto’s more long-established shops. That might have motivated the craftsmen to think of something different from the others.

Now, this “Chirashi-sushi” consists of various ingredients making a mysterious, cluttered formation: Shiitake mushroom made of Yokan (sweet adzuki bean jelly), snap peas and red ginger made from steamed bean cake, sushi-rice made from “domyoji” manju rice cake (2 rows of 3, 6 pieces in total), and finally kinshi-tamago, thin omelet that is cut into strips that are laid on top of real Chirashi-sushi, is made out of kinshi-tamago itself!

This kinshi-tamago, like a cameo appearance, delivers a powerful performance in my mouth. Am I eating a sweet? Or what is this supposed to be?!? It’s so confusing. Indeed, kinshi- tamago is supposed to be slightly sweet, but it’s not a sweet… but what I’m eating right now is a sweet?!? It makes me feel so strange. I even feel that the very concept of a sweet is being challenged. But still, it sure tastes good.

And the package is also aggressively elaborate! Take a look!

Oh my God!!!

Even the packaging is just like Chirashi-sushi, wrapped up in a box! How adorable! It even comes with real chopsticks…! Oh wait, does it mean it’s supposed to be eaten with chopsticks? But isn’t it a sweet? See, it’s meant to be challenging us…!

But I’d say, it’s exactly “something nice” (though I’m not sure if it’s a sweet or not).

When you lightly hold it by the string of the package, I can imagine Ryukichi and Choko walking drunkenly, holding a box of sushi on the way home after going out to eat “something nice”. At the end of the day, they get along with one another. I guess I sort of understand. Or not. Argh!