PSY-S -- Big Kitchen

Osaka is regarded as Japan's Kitchen or Stomach for good reason. There are a lot of famous delicacies there including takoyaki and okonomiyaki which the Osakans proudly declare are tastier than their equivalents in any other place including Tokyo. However, I've gotta say that no matter which large Japanese city a tourist or citizen may visit, there will always be some sort of foodie-friendly conglomeration ranging from a century-old shopping street to the most modern food floor underneath a department store.

Active Otaku Channel is a YouTube channel that I've subscribed to recently at my anime buddy's suggestion since the fellow running it has an expert's knowledge of the electronics district known as Akihabara in Tokyo. I've been to Akiba many times but I can hardly call myself an expert so I can give this fellow my respect.

The videos are all in Japanese, though, but if you can understand the language then you can appreciate all of the shops and establishments that he has covered in his many creations, and the one above here is all about having breakfast in the area. To my memory, it's only been within the last 15 years that Akiba has gained a ton of places to nosh on stuff. Before then, I can only remember the McDonalds at the northern edge and then the Mansei Building at the border between Akiba and the bookstore district of Kanda as dining places.

The thumbnail photo at the top of the article shows the large restaurant floor near the top of the massive Yodobashi Akiba complex. If memory serves, the expansive floor is above the one with the branch of Tower Records, and I used to go there now and then for everything from ramen to kaiten sushi to tonkatsu.

Well, it's been a while since I've put up a PSY-S song so I've got the thematically appropriate "Big Kitchen" from the technopop duo's debut album "Different View" (May 1985) as vocalist CHAKA happily sings about the wonders about a town as one huge kitchen. The tune cooked up by lyricist Osamu Takahashi（高橋修）and composer/PSY-S keyboardist Masaya Matsuura（松浦雅也）sounds like a kid's adventure in foodie land with all of the sweets and junk food that one can engorge on. Cholesterol be damned!

Active Otaku Channel didn't cover this place in the above video for breakfast nooks in Akihabara, but the franchise Vie de France has been one of my go-to establishments anywhere in Tokyo since it's got a load of buttery pastries and some savory fare in the form of sandwiches, croquettes and mini-hot dogs. In fact, when I was there in 2017, I had an hour to spare before meeting my friend for lunch so I spent that hour noshing on some of V de F's lovely goods while drinking down some java.

Of course, the tonkatsu lunch up on the aforementioned restaurant floor of Yodobashi Akiba wasn't too shabby either. Endless cabbage, rice and miso soup? But of course!