JAPAN MEETS THE EAST VILLAGE

How Japan Got Blended in the East Village

In New York City, where is the place equivalent to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and Japan Town in San Francisco? The East Village might naturally come to mind. Nowadays, there you can find any kind of Japanese cuisine as well as Japanese fashion, and you can even shop for everyday groceries like the Japanese do. But how and when was Japan powered by the area? "When I opened my first restaurant in the '80s, SoHo was rising but the East Village was not yet recognized in spite of its cool atmosphere. There was a certain energy in the area that something exciting was going to happen. The rent was also reasonable, and that is why I moved here to open my restaurant," says Mr. Hideyuki Okayama, owner of Noodle Café Zen and Sushi Lounge, and an East Village resident for over 30 years.

The '80s was the key period when Japan-related businesses started infiltrating this area. This coincided with the booming economy in Japan. The economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1990 especially encouraged many corporations to expand overseas and the number of Japanese people coming to New York grew rapidly. While business expatriates tended to live in midtown, uptown and the suburbs, those of the younger generation and artists who came to the city on their own preferred affordable, cool places and settled in the East Village. It was in 1984 that Mr. Bon Yagi opened the sushi restaurant Hasaki, his first restaurant out of nine in the East Village. "At the time I wanted to eat Midtown quality sushi in the East Village at an approachable price, so I opened my own place," he says. Now most of the Japanese restaurants in the area attract more and more non-Japanese customers, but back in the '80s, they began so Japanese residents could enjoy authentic food from their home country. It did not take long for non-Japanese to find them. Mr. Hirokazu Takaya, who opened his restaurant Natori in the late '80s, recalls, "Since we have stayed here for over 20 years and lots of local East Villagers both Japanese and non-Japanese have enjoyed our food, we now have a second generation of fans. It's interesting to see our earliest customers come back with their children."

Melting Pot of Japanese Cuisines

Compared to Japanese restaurants in Midtown, the ones in the East Village are not upscale, but they offer a variety of authentic Japanese cuisines. Yakitori, udon, soba, ramen, yakiniku (Japanese Barbecue), Japanese curry, etc., ---- you can find not only popular sushi, izakaya food and homestyle dishes, but also vendors as well as fancier foods within walking distance. Mr. Yagi, mentioned above, is one of the most influential figures who has contributed to the promotion of Japan in the area. He has brought the types of cuisines that aroused his interests one by one, and this is why each one features different specialties such as soba noodles (Sobaya), ramen (Rai Rai Ken), shabu shabu (Shabu Tatsu), takoyaki and okonomiyaki (Otafuku), sake and shochu (Sake Bar Decibel), Japanese curry (Curry-ya), tea (Cha-An) and robatayaki (Robataya). If you like to sample Japanese food, all you need to do is come to the East Village.

What should also be highlighted here is that the East Village is the home of unique foods. Souen Noodle serves macrobiotic-based organic ramen, and Kajitsu features a unique Japanese ingredient called "fu", which is a breadlike food made of wheat. Well-known Chikalicious is the dessert specialty restaurant serving a dessert course menu in New York City. Also, the home of the first sake and shochu specialty retail store in the city, SAKAYA, is in the East Village.

Cool Styles Directly From Japan

Let's look beyond the food. As Japanese began to settle in the East Village more and more Japanese-related services and retailers opened their businesses there, and Japanese stylists are no exception. Hair salons and fashion retailers find their bases in the area because it meets their aesthetic sense. As compared to their rather conservative counterparts in Midtown, hair and beauty salons in the East Village take pride in their intimate and cozy atmospheres with a bit of daring taste. Because their customers are relatively young, they are willing to play with their self images.

As for fashion, consignment and vintage clothing stores like Tokyo Joe and Tokio Seven have been rooted there for about 10 years now. One newcomer is Tokyo Rebel, a select shop offering Japanese street fashion. The artistic and elegant side of the East Village is seen in Makari, the antique furniture and houseware store. In addition to antiques, they carry art-quality tableware made by Japanese artists.

Epicenter of Food Trends

Back to the food issue, it should be mentioned that some food trends started in the East Village. The frequent founding of ramen specialty houses in the East Village boosted the recent ramen craze, although many Japanese restaurants had served ramen as part of their menu for a long time. The spirit of exploring something new lives within the customers who regularly come to the area; therefore many new introductions are found by them and these findings become a trend. In this sense, they are collaborators in the expansion of Japanese culture. Another interesting story related to this is seen on the menu of Hakata Ippudo, one of the most popular ramen houses in Japan which opened its first U.S. restaurant in the East Village in 2008. They introduced a new item, a teriyaki burger with Chinese buns, as one of the new location's original foods and it was a hit with New Yorkers. Then Ippudo decided to bring it back to Japan and started serving it in their branches there.

What You Should Check Out Now

If you are trend savvy, you might want to check out the following two latest imports from Japan in the East Village. One of them is "tsuke-men," dipping ramen noodles. Tsuke-men itself is not a new cuisine, but a couple of years ago it changed greatly and created a huge boom in Japan. The new tsuke-men is different from the original type in that it has thick and chewy noodles and more dipping sauce with an abundance of toppings. Now tsuke-men is available at Kambi, Minca, and Setagaya (both East Village and St. Marks Place). Another new introduction is robatayaki, the traditional, rustic style of broiling fresh ingredients on a hearth. It is a quite simple but perfect way to appreciate the essence of the ingredients. Make sure to try robatayaki at speciality restaurant Robataya.

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