Sumiyoshi 住よし 横須賀

Sumiyoshi -  住よし means "living well." It's a great getaway from the busyness outside. 

You could spend years in Yokosuka and never walk by Sumiyoshi, much less eat there. But the auto-yakitori machine is responsible for finding this back-alley getaway.  It's located on the same small alley as the infamous machine, along with a handful of other restaurants. You can find it on the blog map or by going to the location link at the very bottom of the post. The alley is no more than about five feet wide with a complex web of telephone, power, and streetlamps above. Despite its hidden nature and narrowness, the alley hosts several restaurants.

You know how your computer behaves when you get too many apps open at once, bogging down the hard drive? Then you get the  - blue screen of death - and you have to restart the computer for a fresh start.  Life can be the same way - with too many "apps" open. We get bogged down by to-do lists, problems, and stress, and need to hit that restart button.

Well Sumiyoshi is a place where you can go escape to help you achieve that "reset."  To that end, the service bell people press for service results in a pleasant bird chirping instead of a doorbell.

This restaurant visit is one that I will certainly remember well after my tour in Japan is over.  It was a visit where I met someone who, before lunch, was a total stranger, but after lunch was a friend. The humbleness and graciousness of the folks at this restaurant was truly heartwarming and I won't forget it. 

My memories of Japan will include the Fuji climb, the visits to foreign countries, the countless restaurants, the trips and the shows, and so-on. But what will endure are the friendships and memories of people both on and off-base. Those off base memories being held together mostly by an understanding that goes beyond language. I will remember Suzuki-san, the master Yakitori chef at Maido Bunko. I'll remember Ito-san, of Ito's Gallerie Cafe, the mother and daughter team at Shio-cafe, Andy of Shin-Hinomoto fame, Hiroo-san of Katsu Hiroi, Lisa-san of Lisa's Cake Market, Akinori-san of My Le, and of course my friends here at Sumiyoshi and many others. 

The story itself (below) may seem like no big deal. But it's these simple gestures, between people of two cultures and little second language capability, that will certainly endure in my memory.

The main food draw to this restaurant seems to be sashimi. But for lunch they did have at least one non-sashimi option, which is what I ordered.  For dinner they also offer plenty of cooked dishes so I'll be heading back to try them sometime. Menus are posted below.

Counter seating and Chef Kizumi-san

I was seated at the counter in a clearly labeled no smoking section. One or two others came in and sat at the counter during the period I was there. Outside of this bamboo enclosed area were private booths. Most of which appeared full. The restaurant has a local following it seems.

There was some surprise or intrigue it at seeing me (a foreigner) in their shop. It has many "barriers to entry" as they say. The first of which being located on a small hidden alley, the second - no good view inside from a window, and the last being no English signs outside. 

Not to be deterred by such barriers, I entered - and have learned over time that these are often the best finds. I will say that I had previously walked by their restaurant and saw a lunch menu, so I knew they had a tempura set lunch.  I also know how to read hiragana, which certainly helps, but is not necessary since their lunch menu has pictures.  Tempura is on the Key Food Kanji page and one that comes in useful when looking at Japanese menus - 天ぷら.

There were several servers at the restaurant wearing kimonos. One of the kind ladies is pictured above. They spoke decent English for which I was grateful.

The sushi chef also spoke some English and between broken English on his part and broken Japanese on mine, we were able to have a pleasant "conversation" if you will. Along the lines of "what is your name, can you write your name for me, how long have you lived/worked here, etc. It was fun. He wrote his name down on a business card of the restaurant in Hiragana and Kanji and gave it to me. That was cool.

But then he did something even "cool-er." Kizumi-san pulled out a Japanese style paper cutting, hand-made by him, in a nice plastic covering, and presented it to me. It's called kirie. Wow. Didn't see that coming. Such a friendly man too. He has a pleasantness and humbleness about him and you can see that in his picture below.  Clearly and rightly proud - his artwork hangs in the restaurant - as you can see in the photos. This man is skilled or "jouzu-des," as they say in Japan.

Kizumi-san has been working here for 5 years as the head sushi chef. 

I left the restaurant quite content needless to say. The set lunch was very good with all parts of the lunch carefully prepared. And the interaction with Kizumi-san, in a little restaurant off the beaten path, is something that cannot have a price placed on it.

The paper cutting now resides on the wall in my office, a reminder of the graciousness of our hosts in this wonderful country. Symbolism that I think will grow greater after our eventual departure.

Come to this restaurant if you'd like to get off the beaten track, have a quiet lunch or dinner, and try a restaurant that not many Americans know about. You'll be welcome. Open for lunch and dinner. Closed Mondays.

 I returned to Sumiyoshi about two weeks later. Wanting to return Kizumi's gift with one of my own, I brought along some handcrafted beer from my hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and a ball cap of a famous ship here in Yokosuka. He accepted them graciously and with the help of one of the servers, who provided translation, were able to chat some more about our families. He also showed me the knife he uses to cut the paper and discussed about how long it takes to make each paper cutting.  He then proceeded to give me yet another paper cutting! - this one of the mythical Phoenix bird. This bird appears on the back of the Japanese 10,000 Yen note.  A polite refusal of the gift was denied, and so the cycle remains unclosed.  I'm now searching for another gift in return and having fun with the situation!

This possibly never ending gift giving has a name in Japanese - it's called Okaeshi - whose root word is Kaeru - which means return. Okaeshi means to return a gift. Typically the return gift should be about 50% the value of the original gift. Many Americans, especially those living off base, are very familiar with this custom and how it can go on and on. I'm not a believer in the 50% rule though. Kizumi-san gave me his artwork which is so meaningful. So I'm going to come up with some more gifts that he may enjoy. 

Sumiyoshi - on the left

The alleyway where Sumiyoshi is located - looking toward the Auto-Yakitori machine at the far end.

Sumiyoshi is part of the Hanae-group which include Sumiyoshi, Hamakura, and several others.

Menus: 

Lunch Menu

 Their lunch menu will be posted outside. I believe it changes every month because on the lower right side it states "this month' recommendation." which is a pretty good clue.
Some other notes: 定食 or teishoku means set meal and 丼 or don or donburi means rice with food on top.

Regular Menu

I was having trouble editing the photo and the bottom two on the right did not want to coorperate and they won. When I edited them in, the ones on the left would disappear, and when I added the one on the left, the bottom right two would disappear.
They are an udon bowl and a kids meal. I couldn't make out the small writing on the menu but it does have a deep fried shrimp at a minimum which most kids like.

You can see from the prices above these are not cheap and I don't know what you get for this.

 

Only did a partial translation of the menu above. These hand written menus are the most difficult and time consuming to figure out. I've done some of the easy ones.