Korea in Japan?

We went to an area of Tokyo not too far away called Korea Town which was settled by Koreans.  It is full of little shops and restaurants.

The restaurant where we ate our Korean lunch was a real 'hole in the wall'
You walk down the stairs and you are there in the tiny restaurant
There are lots of little mom and pop type restaurants here, and there were
tons of restaurants all along the street here.

Where we ate there were two frying type cookers on each table and our waiter
cooked the pork belly and some vegetables right there.

It smells good!

At most restaurants, you are each given a moist wash cloth or a disposable wipe
to wash your hands before you eat.
Bibs aren't typical, but with the bibs on, it's time to eat.
Napkins are almost never offered.

Good thing we don't have to wash the dishes--anyone for rabbit food?

The menu was all in Japanese so we mostly ordered by the pictures and it turned out well.

This might be the most piping hot soup every served.  It is actually boiling
in the serving bowl on the table.  It was a tomato based soup
with tofu  in it.

You're supposed to make kind of a lettuce wrap or in this case
a leaf wrap.

These were delicious frozen strawberries that had a custard type pudding frozen inside.

Watch and listen carefully wherever you are when you walk along the streets anywhere in Japan.
Bicyclists are constantly going in front of you, around you, behind you, etc
We think that they think it is more polite to run over you than to ring their bicycle bell,
So please be careful!

We always wish we could read all of the Kanji, etc.  This might be Korean
but it could be Japanese so it's all "Greek to me" or better yet,
"It's all Japanese to me!"
(Actually, we can tell the difference, and this is Japanese)

Maybe we're in Turkey instead of Japan's Korea town?

A spice store

100 yen stores are very popular here, too as they are like the dollar stores in the U.S.  They are
a hundred and five yen actually.  We had to stop and check out this large store.  We  bought some
toothpicks and two gift bags.  Great purchase!

You never know who you'll meet on the street!

There were lots of Korean Cosmetic stores there so Korean cosmetics might be something
that the Japanese really like, too.

Here's a super delicious Korean pancake that had cinnamon, sugar, sesame seeds, and a kind of syrup, in the inside of the pancake.  We have to get the recipe-it was sooo good! There is a similar recipe at this web address but it doesn't have sesame seeds: http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/hoddeok

Here is a very entertaining young Korean man making cookies from honey and coated with cornstarch.  He takes a solid block of honey and creates over two thousand strands and then fills it with crushed nuts.  He was very entertaining.

He pulls and pulls the strands of honey over and over again and then he wraps them all together.
You had to have been there.  He was a good salesman and we bought some of his candy, too.

The final product is otare, a honey taffy once given to the kings and valuable guests.  The 16,000 strands suggest a prayer for longevity, health, good fortune, and wish-fulfillment. 

Hearts, or liver, or other assorted delicacies anyone? 

There are lots of fruit stands in Japan.  Here the fruit was actually cheaper
than most places but still expensive.  It is very, very good quality, though.

Here we are making a quick fruit stop.

Yes, we're still in Korea town.

Here was a little shrine just along the street where we walked.

We leave you with our closing words of caution as you go about life, especially if you find yourself in "little Korea" in Tokyo:
Be careful about what you open without notice as you may get an
"Acauisition" in the deal and we think an
"Acauisition" just might be similar to a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
So, please don't take that chance!