Gyudon (Beef Bowls) Plus Raman

choi

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If you are a cynic, you may say that Japanese are flocking to guydon and ramen because the are ravaged by decades-long recession. And probably you are right. (A) is about three guydon chains in Japan now undergoing cutthroat price cuts. (B) is about walking around Tokyo to try on different ramens.

(A) Hiroko Tabuchi, Beef Bowl Economics. New York Times, Jan. 30, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/business/global/30deflation.html?scp=1&sq=Yoshinoya&st=cse
("Japan’s big three beef bowl restaurant chains, the country’s answer to hamburger giants like McDonald’s, are in a price war. It is a sign, many people say, of the dire state of Japan’s economy that even dirt-cheap beef bowl restaurants must slash their already low prices to keep customers.")

My comment:
(1) I disagree with the assessment. In this recession, in US the discount stores rack up profits at the expense of luxury stores.
(2) The three gyudon chains are Sukiya すき家 (no Kanji in the name);  Yoshinoya 吉野家 and Matsuya 松屋.
(3) Gyūdon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gy%C5%ABdon
("Gyūdon (牛丼), often literally translated into English as beef bowl, is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef")
(4) Japanese names
TABUCHI 田淵
HAMA 浜
Ryutaro KONO 河野 龍太郎


(B) Matt Gross, One Noodle at a Time: In Tokyo, ramen, a simple concoction of broth and noodles, inspires passion among Japanese and Foreigners alike. Exploring the places that makes it is to gain an understanding of the city itself. New York Times, Jan. 31, 2010.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/travel/31ramen.html
(Ramen was "brought from China [to Japan] by Confucian missionaries in the 17th century")

Note:
(1) Ramen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramen

Consult the "History" section.

(2) raggedy (adj; ragged-y) a derivative of and the meaning as "ragged"
(3) ganko 頑固 【がんこ】 (adj,n) stubborn

There is another noodle shop called Ganko Ittetsu がんこ一徹, which also means "stubborn."

(4) al dente (adj; Italian: literally, to the tooth): "cooked just enough to retain a somewhat firm texture <al dente pasta>"
(5) métier (n): "VOCATION, TRADE"

This is a French word, so note its French pronunciation.

(6) oleaginous (adj; Latin: olea, olive tree): "containing oil"
(7) blob (n): "something ill-defined or amorphous"
(8) Gochiso-sama deshita ご馳走様でした/御馳走様でした
(ご馳走 is the same as English transitive verbs "feast, treat." So the greeting means, "Thank you for treating me"--which is said by a guest or a customer after a meal.)
(9) tampopo 蒲公英

Tampopo the movie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampopo
(10) Shin-Yokohama Station 新横浜駅 is a train station in Yokohama, Japan.
(11) shoyu 醤油
(12) tonkotsu "豚骨 【とんこつ】 (n) dish made with pork belly and bones, simmered with miso, sake, vegetables, etc. (from Kagoshima)"

鹿児島醤油豚骨/まんてん＠大阪市大正区. July 24, 2008.
http://snoopy.blog.eonet.jp/takao/2008/07/post-21a9.html

(13) suss (vt; by shortening & alteration from suspect): "chiefly British : figure out —usually used with out"
(14) Mutekiya 麺創房無敵家 (where "mu" is 無; "teki," 敵 and "ya," 家)
http://www.mutekiya.com/
(15) Ikebukuro (東京・)池袋
(16) serviceable (adj): "of adequate quality <her serviceable but not exceptional voice — Irving Kolodin>"
(17) nagi 凪 【なぎ】 (n) calm; lull

Japanese invented this character by putting  inside 風.

The noodle chain is
凪
http://www.n-nagi.com/
("風のない所に、風を起こす."  Translation: Where there is no wind, the wind stirs up.)

You can click "店舖紹介" in the blue horizontal bar above.

(18) "bari" is short for the phrase baribari (ばりばり in Japanese) which is "crunching (sound)."
(19) mochi mochi "もちもち (adj) springy (texture)"
(20) kaedama "替え玉; 替玉 【かえだま】 (n) second serving (ball) of noodles"
(21) There is no Kanji for Basanova.
(22) Kaffir lime
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_lime
(23) tsukemen "付け麺 【つけめん】 (n) cold Chinese noodles accompanied by soup for dipping"
(24) ikaruga (n) 斑鳩 Japanese grosbeak
(25) Yokoi 横井 (Japanese family name)
(26) "zenned out" colloquial for "giving the feeling of zen"
(27) bonito is Spanish for 鰹.
(28) Jiro ラーメン二郎
(29) White Castle (restaurant)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Castle_(restaurant)
(Founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas, it is the first American hamburger fast food restaurant chain. For comparison, McDonald's started in 1940.)
(30) do up: "a : to deck out : CLOTHE  b : to furnish with something ornamental : DECORATE"
(31) Gogyo 五行
http://ramendining-gogyo.com/
(32) Chuka Soba Inoue 中華 そば 井上
(32) Keisuke No. 4  四代目けいすけ (Yondaime Keisuke)

It means, in English, "the fourth generation of Keisuke"--Keisuke being a given name for males.

(33) The Ramen Girl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ramen_Girl

Actress Brittany Murphy just died a few months ago, at age 32. Sohee Park was born in 1975 in Japan to Korean parents.

Brittany Murphy, Sohee Park & Ramen Girl. Slant Eye for the Round Eye, Mar. 10, 2009.
http://www.slanteyefortheroundeye.com/2009/03/brittany-murphy-sohee-park-ramen-girl.html

The English definitions for (English) words are from www.m-w.com.
The online Japanese dictionary is prepared by Jim Breen of Monarch University--a public university establish in 1958, named after Australian general Sir John Monash, based in Melbourne and the largest university in Australia with around 56,000 students.

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※ 修改:．choi 于 Jan 31 21:28:05 修改本文．[FROM: 128.197.0.0]