Little Tokyo in Los Angeles has a rich history, and last year, one of its oldest businesses, Mitsuru Sushi & Grill, closed permanently following the retirement of its owner.
I had gotten to know the owner and his family pretty well over the years. Mitsuru may not have been the fanciest or trendiest eatery in Little Tokyo, but to me, it was the most peaceful — and perhaps the most authentic. The walls were decorated with old monochrome photographs of the neighborhood, Japanese movie posters, and vintage Asahi and Suntory beer advertisements. It felt like a place where time had slowed down.
Back in its heyday, Mitsuru operated as both a sit-down diner and a convenience store. In its later years, it had been reduced mostly to the restaurant side, though it still had a sushi bar. During its final weeks of business, I decided to pay it one last visit during one of my usual trips to the record store.
As a goodbye gift, I thanked the owner personally and gave him one of my own records: Sneaker Dancer by Yosui Inoue (井上陽水). He was so grateful for the gift that I ended up taking home ten bottles of sake and two shot glass collections in return. I guess he was a big Inoue fan — or maybe he was just touched by the gesture.
At that point, I had only just begun digging deep into Inoue’s discography, but Sneaker Dancer immediately stood out to me. Part of that was because half of the songs were arranged by legendary guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka, which was already enough to catch my attention. But the song that truly sold me on the album was “Jenny My Love” 「ジェニー My Love」.
Maybe it’s because I’m a hopeless romantic, but I’m a sucker for some good old-fashioned brokenhearted blues. There’s something funny, and strangely moving, about hearing the phrase “singing in the rain” delivered not with the cheerful, happy-go-lucky spirit of Gene Kelly, but as a loud, dramatic cry for help. With Inoue crying in the rain over a sad, one-sided love for Jenny, whoever Jenny may be.
For me is Takanaka’s emotional guitar solo is the glue that holds this song together, cutting right through the track and pairs beautifully with Inoue’s bluesy wailing, giving the song a sense of longing that feels deeply personal.
In my personal opinion this song sounds best when performed live. My favorite being the version sung at NHK Hall on March 7, 1982. This version features singer-songwriter Kōji Tamaki (玉置浩二) , who would become well known as frontman of the rock band Anzen Chitai.
Hi, Rocket, and thanks very much for your take on "Jenny My Love" as well as your reminiscings of Mitsuru. Toronto has only developed a J-town in the last several years so for the longest time, I'd wondered what having a Little Tokyo was like. Still, we did have some generalist Japanese restaurants scattered around the city for many years. My first Japanese restaurant as a kid was Nikko Gardens right next to the Japanese food store Furuya right in downtown Chinatown.
ReplyDeleteThe Japanese Diaspora has a complex history in Los Angeles. Crenshaw used to be the Japanese hub, the Crenshaw plaza sign still has that Oriental aesthetic.
DeleteI am not sure if this is true but have heard that more recent Japanese expats live in Los Angeles than do in New York City!
DeleteHello, guys. Yeah, the Diaspora here in Canada is rather complex as well. After World War II, Japanese-Canadians preferred to blend in with the rest of the population rather than create Japantowns again for quite a few decades.
DeleteI wonder as well whether there are more Japanese expats living in LA rather than New York City. I think the biggest confluence of Japanese living abroad anywhere in the world could be Rio de Janeiro.
@Brian Mitchell
DeleteI definitely think Little Tokyo is older (late 1890s to be exact). But I do know for sure that before its was largely known as an African American Community, it was influx of Japanese Americans moving after World War II. Like I said, places like Leimert Park and Crenshaw plaza still retain some of that Japanese influence.
In Toronto, we have J-Town up north which has a number of Japan-related stores including a supermarket but it has that industrial park look. There is also the Japanese-Canadian Cultural Centre and then one of the main downtown hubs now has a few more Japanese stores and restaurants such as Uniqlo and Muji. Still, none of those places have that obvious architectural look of Japan in the design.
DeleteWhen I discovered City-Pop (and your blog in the process), I didn't expect to also discover entire sections of Japanese music: this melancholic Blues, of remarkable intensity, is another discovery to your credit, once again... Thank you for everything you do!
ReplyDeleteHello, Francois. Our pleasure entirely. I'm glad that you can check out some of the different genres within Japanese music.
DeleteThe thing is once you've gone deep down the city pop rabbit hole, you realize Kayokyoku is just as diverse as American pop music. Just wait until you hear Japanese country music recorded in Hawaii (I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it lol)
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