A Japanese friend read the Japanese version of this book and recommended it to me because I did food and drink research in Tokyo for a number of years. I binge read the English original in two days. Bummer. Where was this book when I needed most?
Japan is one of the great food destinations in the world, but even with research, language skills and Japanese friends it can be difficult to break into the high end restaurant and bar scene. Tokyo still makes me nervous. Tokyo, on the other hand, made Mathew Amster-Burton, very happy. He did a test run and returned for a month with his family and did all the things that sort of looked like fun. Pretty Good Number One is a first hand, inventive account of how he and his daughter Iris explored Tokyo and zoned in on its more easily accessible pleasures.
I know Tokyo well, but what I learned here, is that you can have a pretty good time if you have a relaxed attitude, and are willing to try things you might not do in another country. For example, I hate to waste my appetite on fast food in New York or London. In Tokyo, however, a noodle shop or yakitori stand in an ordinary neighborhood, can provide a quick, good, (and often) very good, meal. And, for your visiting pleasure ,a wonderful cultural experience. If you are planning a visit to Tokyo, this is the book you need to introduce you to the comforts of "down-home" Japanese food, with tips on how to manage the ordering and other communication.
It is also an adventure story. Mark Twain's advice to story writers was "Put a boy in it." Shamelessly, Amster-Burton puts nine year-old Iris into the story as a foil, and as an object lesson. For example, on a hot evening when the line outside the eel restaurant is too long, he (his wife is a shadowy presence) sends his daughter, alone, with a handful of yen to buy takeout. Does he have your attention? This is only one of a dozen stories that pull you along through the book, waiting for the "what next...?" If you are traveling to Japan with kids, don't leave home without this book. Make them read it too....
The writing is good. Amster-Burton knows a lot about Japanese food, but does not lecture. He glides from subject to subject with an easy rhythm and sprinkles humorous asides on every page. Commenting on the ubiquity of soft drink machines, for example, he says "Summer in Tokyo is high season for drink vending machines, which are so common, you think they are following you." He credits a friend "and joke doctor" for all the good jokes. There are a lot of good jokes in the book, to the point where it begins to resemble Dave Barry. That's not a bad thing, except you will need to explain why you are laughing if anyone else is around.
This book made me remember all the good times I had in small places in Japan. Nostalgia is a profound emotion in Japanese culture; with this book, and the right mind set, you can experience Tokyo in a way you will never forget.
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Tyzaa
Drop tourist guides, buy this book instead
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2015
