Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 179 posts

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#151

Post by Cthulhu_ »

ardy42 wrote: post #85
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi has a poignant commentary on this. Jiro's oldest son is expected to eventually take over Jiro's sushi place, so as a result essentially is toiling for his father into old age. On the other hand, somewhat ironically Jiro's younger son actually has more freedom, so he strikes out on his own pretty early and has his own very successful sushi joint.

> The documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi has a poignant commentary on this. Jiro's oldest son is expected to eventually take over Jiro's sushi place, so as a result essentially is toiling for his father into old age. On the other hand, somewhat ironically Jiro's younger son actually has more freedom, so he strikes out on his own pretty early and has his own very successful sushi joint. IIRC, that's wrong. The documenta…

Your last sentence is what I often feel about (usually) Japanese arts and crafts, but I always get a pang of jealousy of sorts, because I don't feel like I or anyone in "the west" can live like that - sure, there's sayings like "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" and all, but in reality, we all need to earn a living, contribute to society, and somehow min/max everything we do - maximize profits, minimize efforts and cost.

Closest thing we have are the arts, and there's the meme about the starving artist here because most artists struggle to get by, or end up having to do commissions for others (I hear furry porn is lucrative) so they don't get to do what they want.

Meanwhile in Japan you get 1000 year old roadside snack shops, brushmakers, a watchmaker that spends a year holed up in his apartment to produce a single watch, etc. That's the 'PR' side of Japan anyway, on the other there's the 14-hour workday wage slaves.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#152

Post by Cthulhu_ »

dkural wrote: post #115
Complexicate wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who (finally) went from employee to small business owner, I wouldn't wait for "someday". Start the process while you're still working now. Take the time to learn everything you can to make this happen over the next couple of years. "Free and clear" stops a lot of people, but it's not as important as knowing how to scale up and down so your cash flow is always above paying your debts. There will be balancin…

Sometimes the dreaming is sweeter than the doing. Why ruin a perfectly fine fantasy?

I for one will continue to dream about winning the lottery and owning a bigger house. No clue what I'd do if I never had to work again though, I'd probably find some kind of employment anyway to keep busy.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#154

Post by Ichthypresbyter »

yborg wrote: post #143
Sophistifunk wrote: post #84

This reads like some "noble savage" rubbish about how the Japanese are better than us evil capitalists, but how exactly does one maintain a business in a steady-state for 1000 years when the neighbourhood around you gets gentrified, or the zoning changes, or your city made pension promises it can't keep for council employees so your land tax doubles every 5 years?

Don't do those things? The Japanese were appalled by Europeans when they first encountered them and considered them savages. They may have had a point.

There are some pretty old businesses in Europe- plenty of English pubs claim to go back to the Middle Ages, and at least some have records to prove it.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#155

Post by waffl »

In Regensburg, Germany, there is a restaurant that has essentially been operating for 850 years since the construction of the Steinernen (Stone) bridge was constructed in 1146 AD, and in its precise/current form as a sausage restaurant since 1806. It's really incredible to see the longevity of a simple business like this and be able to eat where entirely different generations ate for almost a millennium (Plus the food is honestly remarkably good if you eat meat). There are only three things on the menu: sausage, sauerkraut and potato soup and together they make a very nice meal :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regensburg_Sausage_Kitchen

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#156

Post by biztos »

bovermyer wrote: post #14

Someday I hope to own my own little pub, free and clear, and just do that for the rest of my life. It wouldn't be stress-free, but I enjoyed my time working in a bar, and I like the idea of operating a little community hub.

I have a similar dream, but knowing lots of people in the business I plan to do it only in “retirement,” by which I mean whenever I have enough money to live without the bar/café making any profit.

Because one of the key things I’ve learned from those I’ve known in the business is that it’s sometimes very, very stressful to make your living this way. And, as the pandemic has shown us, sometimes hard work isn’t enough.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#157

Post by petercooper »

veridies wrote: post #123

Related to this: I've tried to figure out what the oldest surviving organization in the world is (specifically something with some form of rules or decision-making process that has been formally kept and amended over time instead of being replaced by a new code of rules). Best I could do is the Roman Catholic Church, but I feel like my search terms might be missing something.

The Icelandic parliament would be up there at around 1100 years old.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#158

Post by petercooper »

Michael_Sieb wrote: post #10

I don't think any tech companies will ever survive that long.

If any were to, I'd hope it'd be YouTube. For better or worse, it's an amazing repository of what it is to be human in the early 21st century in terms of the billions of hours of evidence that people record and upload. Imagine being an archaeologist in 1000 years having access to this.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#159

Post by laurieg »

myrandomcomment wrote: post #139
smukherjee19 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Living in greater Tokyo for the past 5 years, can speak the language fluently. Added the Tamahide restaurant to visit sometime, thanks! The biggest thing I've felt since moving here: whether or not you can speak and interact in Japanese makes a world of difference. Seriously. I have interacted with expats who have not studied any inkling of Japanese, nor have tried any kind of interactions apart from other expats, an…

I have had the same experience. To push down on this the Japanese feel shame in not being able to communicate to you if you do not speak Japanese. It makes them uncomfortable. Being able to manage some basic Japanese helps so much to build a warmer feeling in your interactions. It does not have to be perfect but you have to try. There is a bar I love that is known for not being friendly to non-Japanese. However that…

Perhaps it's a bit reductive, but your story reads like "I went to a restaurant I like and they nearly refused service due to my ethnicity".

A similar thing has happened to me and it doesn't make me want to go back.

Re: A Japanese shop is 1,020 years old

#160

Post by tasogare »

smukherjee19 wrote: post #121
agar wrote: post #73

A colleague took me to Tamahide restaurant in Tokyo, which opened in 1760 and is known for creating oyakodon, a chicken and egg rice bowl. (Oyakadon translates to "parent and child donburi" which somehow makes eating a combination of chicken and egg a little less appealing). Looking at reviews today, people apparently see the food as a mixed bag - some are clearly disappointed. In my opinion, it was excellent, with t…

Living in greater Tokyo for the past 5 years, can speak the language fluently. Added the Tamahide restaurant to visit sometime, thanks! The biggest thing I've felt since moving here: whether or not you can speak and interact in Japanese makes a world of difference. Seriously. I have interacted with expats who have not studied any inkling of Japanese, nor have tried any kind of interactions apart from other expats, an…

> The biggest thing I've felt since moving here: whether or not you can speak and interact in Japanese makes a world of difference. Seriously.

Literally right for almost every country: France without knowing French, US without English, Taiwan with Chinese or Taiwanese, Egypt without Arabic... Japan is not special in that regard, save for the fact that most people here have quite a low level of English (which is also not very specific to Japan).

So I wholly agree that making the effort to learn the local language repays by itself for any medium or long stay.

Post reply on HN