Raumen and other anachronistic pleasures

This will be a relatively short post, so I am daring to make it on the Urushibara family laptop.

After a pleasant afternoon in the Manga Kissa (including some reading of Naruto volume 1 - thank God for yomigana; I am also amazed both at the characters' constant use of shortened slang forms, and the fact that I understand them), I met Michiko and Yuya and we went to the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum.

Raumen being Ye Olde spelling of ramen, before its days of being written in katakana. The museum itself is like a mini theme park - you walk around an underground chamber styled after 1930s Showa-era Tokyo, dotted with ramen restaurants drawn from across the entire country and fitted retro-style (except, ahem, a photo of an astronaut celebrity who had eaten at the restaurant we chose). Outside each, vending machines with photos of the products provided ready meal tickets.

The underground main hall of the museum, complete with sky (which had a much more normal sunset colour before my camera went to work on it).

The ramen, though meat-based, was quite delicious, and I got plenty of practice at the Japanese custom of loud slurping. Other highlights include a 1930s-style sweet shop, complete with possibly-authentic ancient Japanese sweets and toys (at 1930s prices!) and a less-than authentic elderly couple as owners (they looked elderly from a distance, but were probably about my age, though the husband insisted, in a croaking voice, that he was 78 as he staggered about on his walking stick). Also, outside, an extensive gift shop featuring the place's mascot, Ramen Cat (Neko Ramen - I'm told his anime is on YouTube).

 

 Up above hang posters for old-school dramas and B-movies, while below holds a small fair (off to the right; hordes of participating children in bright clothes were not conducive to atmospheric photography).

ゆや登場！("Enter Yuya"); the first photo to feature my host family. There will be more when they're next all together AND I remember. Alone, these conditions are tricky. Together, all but insurmountable. But I shall persevere.

While cursing my camera, I note one more wondrous fact of the museum. The staircase back up is labelled "Future", which is both logical and a neat touch. However, just behind it is a staircase down, labelled "Toilet". I invite the reader to ponder the contrast and its implications.