Just your friendly neighborhood Ninja Restauranteur

Name: Gotoku-tei
Style: Japanese (general)
Neighborhood: Near the station in Nagano / 長野駅に近い
Website: None, but here a Google Maps link to the address:
380-0801 Nagano City, Hakoshimizu 3-24-19 026-234-3277


This weekend my friend from Singapore was in town and he wanted to get out of Tokyo, so we wriggled our way through the JR reservation system to book a trip to Nagano. When we got in we asked where we could get some soba, since Nagano is famous for Soba (see next post). He directed us to Gotoku.

As is usual these days, I greeted the staff in Japanese and we sat down to puzzle out the menu. They then brought by an English menu -- I was surprised since Gotoku doesn't look like the kind of place to have an English menu. When we tried to actually *order* from the English menu, we found out it was left over from the 1998 Nagano Olympics, and had the selections from 10 years ago! A little negotiating in Japanese and we sent in our order.

The food is Gotoku was good, straightforward Japanese food. It's a safe choice if you're looking to eat near Nagano station. But the most interesting part of the trip was when we went up to pay. The round-faced proprietor started ringing up the check, and casually asked, "So where are you from?" Seeing our surprise, he added, "I speak English too! I lived in Philadelphia for eight years." What a goldbricker, he hadn't let on that he spoke English at all during the entire mail. His English was excellent, too - he hadn't lost any of his ability since he came back. We explained where we were from and added we were going to the village called Togakushi the next day. "Oh!" he said as his face brightened. "For the Ninjas!"

"Yes, so I've read," I said. The guidebook had mentioned that Togakushi is a center for the study of Ninjutsu, the martial art associated with ninjas. And so began a long conversation with Miyashita-san about ninjutsu. He had studied many martial arts over the years, but had eventually settled on studying ninjutsu because, he said, unlike the other martial arts, it has no rules. He goes to Togakushi once a week (it's about an hours' drive from Nagano) to study at the Dojo there, run by the famous ninjutsu master. He proudly showed off his handwritten letter from the master, kept carefully framed.

It was really fun to talk, we ended up standing at the checkout stand for over half an hour (I think slightly annoying the other staff in the process). Miyashita-san said that traditionally, only the ninjutsu master really knew who was a ninja and who wasn't; apparently things aren't quite so secret now since his card list three affiliations: Gotoku, a hotel called Yamanokami, and "Togakushi Ninja." So, if you're looking for a friendly place near Nagano station, look up Gotoku and say hi to Miyashita-san. But don't tell him I let out that he's a ninja... just say you're going to Togakushi, he'll know what you mean ;-).