Food Diary - Yokohama, Day 2

Note: This article was actually written on August 14, 2026. At the time of writing, Xiǎomī had already arrived at his desk at nine in the morning.

Continuing from Food Diary - Yokohama, Day 1, this entry in the food diary actually begins with dinner. The previous tempura rice bowl was lunch on the Day 1 timeline.

The First Meal

After feasting on the tempura rice bowl, Xiǎomī (小咪) was not, in fact, hungry. But he had long wanted to eat motsunabe or griddled hormon, so he arranged to meet a friend studying at TH University at Teppan Horumon Arizuki, inside JR Tokyo Station.

In Japanese, animal offal is called 「ホルモン」, apparently for a reason similar to the Chinese term “下水”. The former is said to be a variation of 放るモン, meaning “things to be thrown away”, while the latter is said to come from the need to wash the organs clean with water before eating them.

The commercial area inside Tokyo Station was enormous, and it took Xiǎomī quite some time to find the restaurant. Ordering did not take long: a griddled dish of diaphragm and beef small intestine, and the white miso motsunabe.

There was still plenty in Xiǎomī’s stomach when they began eating, and he worried that he would be unable to finish. Yet the fat and salt made his stomach feel emptier with every bite. Later, he and his friend even ordered another griddled dish. The small intestine and diaphragm made the better dish. The miso broth of the hot pot was delicious as well.

After finishing the meal, Xiǎomī returned to his lodging in Yokohama. Sleep. He was waiting to leave for Kashiwa at four the next morning, where he would watch a World Cup match with O-kun, a friend from B Country who had belonged to the neighbouring research group during university.

The Second Meal

The record skips breakfast. Leaving at four, Xiǎomī ate his favourite tuna-mayonnaise rice ball in order to catch the train. Convenience stores are simply delicious.

After a dreary 1-1 draw, Xiǎomī suggested that he and O-kun go and eat Chinese food. The two of them spent quite some time choosing. There was no shortage of either people or restaurants in the shopping centre, and finding a balance between queueing time and flavour was no easy task.

In the end, they chose Benitora Gyozabou in Kashiwa-no-ha. O-kun selected a fried-rice-and-dumpling set that would make work impossible that afternoon. Xiǎomī chose a set with stir-fried pork liver and chives, and yurinchi.

The pork liver and chives at this restaurant would be called delicious even if served in a canteen in China. The yurinchi, meanwhile, followed the usual Japanese preparation: fried chicken covered with a sweet-and-sour sauce and a scattering of chopped aromatics. The seasoning was not too heavy; everything was just right. The fine ribbons of egg in the egg-drop soup were exceptionally tender. A comforting meal.

The Third Meal

Between these two meals, Xiǎomī went with L-san, the friend who had eaten motsunabe with him, to a back number concert at Nissan Stadium. Worried that the timing would be too tight, he had bought tickets for the second of the band’s two consecutive performance days. The lead singer, Iyori Shimizu, had exerted himself too much on the first day and struggled many times to produce his voice during the second concert. Still, Xiǎomī was very happy to have joined the battle at the venue.

One must eat something on the way back to one’s lodging. After three days in Yokohama, it seemed right to have at least one local speciality. L-san and Xiǎomī prepared to eat Iekei ramen.

They ultimately chose Ramen Mikuniya. The name itself somehow felt like Yokohama, with Chinese things appearing in every form. L-san had an extraordinary tolerance for spice and ordered a hellishly spicy ramen. Xiǎomī chose an ordinary chashu ramen, adding extra shredded spring onion and quail eggs.

Eating so much fat and salt late at night was truly a crime. But when travelling like this, one inevitably has to confront the fact that the stomach spends 80% of the day at more than 80% of its capacity. Full of food and drink, Xiǎomī went to sleep under the weight of jet lag. Tomorrow would be his final half-day in Yokohama. Before leaving Japan, he had one last meal remaining.