Japanese find there's more to Seattle than Suzuki and Starbucks

[younggiftedandblack]

Among the Japanese-Americans who came to settle in Washington state, majestic Mt. Rainier is still referred to by some as the "Mt. Fuji of Tacoma."

But it's the city of Seattle, the state's largest with a population of roughly 560,000, that has become familiar to Japanese. Its fame, reports Yomiuri Weekly (1/22), is due in no small part to the recent Japanese infatuation with the success of Seattle Mariners' right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, who joined the team in 2001.

From next season, Ichiro will be joined by Kenji Jojima, the first catcher from Japan to play on a Major League team. A key factor in Jojima's decision to join the Seattle club is said to have resulted from a visit to the city last November, when he and his family fell in love with the city.

"The city's layout sort of resembles Japan, and with lovely mountains in the distance and t he ocean nearby," Jojima pronounced. "And since there's an outlet of Uwajimaya (a Japanese supermarket) here, my bride was captivated by the town."

Uwajimaya, Yomiuri Weekly notes, has served the culinary needs of Seattle's Japanese community since its founding in 1928, and naturally is favored by athletes on the local sports team.

Hiroshi Hibi, the store's manager expressed his surprise at the tenfold leap in the number of visitors to his store's Internet web site following Jojima's remarks to the media.

Unlike most American supermarkets, where the meat counter is typically at least twice as large as the seafood section, the balance is reversed at Uwajimaya.

Adjacent to Uwajimaya are branches of the Kinokuniya book store -- proffering Japanese-language publications -- and Paris Miki, a retailer of spectacles.

While Ichiro Suzuki was on his quest to break the all-time record for base hits in a single season (in 2004), the shop raised a large banner exhorting his efforts. It is said to be considering raising a welcoming banner for Jojima as well.

The area of Seattle where Uwajaimaya is located, nowadays referred to as the "international district," still shows vestiges of its time as a "Little Japan" where immigrants converged in pre-WW2 days. The Maneki Japanese restaurant is even older, with a history going back a full century.

Another Seattle surprise is the availability of matsutake. These fragrant, phallic-shaped mushrooms grow wild in the region, and local restaurants offer such dishes as matsutake tempura or "dobin-mushi" (mushrooms steamed in an earthenware vessel) for the equivalent of under 1,000 yen -- a fraction of what the same food goes for back in Japan.

But nothing is more indicative of the locals' enthusiasm for things Japanese, notes Yomiuri Weekly, than sushi. Yutaka Saito, proprietor of Saito's Japanese Cafe & Bar -- which picked as one of the five best sushi shops in America. And along with such traditional fare as hot dogs, fans at Safeco Field can view games while feasting on "Ichi-roll," a variety of sushi named, of course, to honor the Mariners' star player.

Only eight hours from Narita airport, this cozy, mid-sized city might even be called "the America nearest to Japan" -- both in terms of its geography and sentiment. For growing numbers of visitors from Japan, an enjoyable encounter awaits. (By Masuo Kamiyama, WaiWai People's Pick Writer)

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[kimpossible]

Seattle is a pretty Japanese-friendly place to live. I don't have a lot of experience with many West Coast places outside of Washington and the tippy-tip of Oregon, so there may be others, but it's got almost all you need. Some things not mentioned in the article are various Japanese and Japanese American orgs, big enough population for celebrations (though a lot of us are hapas) and that Seattle was one of the key places that held onto kendo and helped it re-establish in the US after it was made illegal during WW2.

Kasie and I were bumming around Uwajimaya and the international district last year. She could compare and contrast it to California better than I could. I've only been to Japantown once and it looked a little tourist and ghost-townish to me.

There's also the availability of really great crab for just dollars per pound which is unheard of in Japan. Sometimes we pack some up for guests to return with.