【In search of life's final meal】Nostalgia for a 豚ショウガ焼き set meal, where time and space stood still. It seems that most of the world had finished work for the year the day before. Yet for someone who left company employment long ago, opportunities to encounter that seasonal custom have grown scarce, and the bustle and urgency of the city lie far beyond the horizon of memory. I stepped off the train at 「芦花公園」 station on the Keio Line. Returning to this town after more than forty years, I found it exposed to the cold winter wind, presenting a deserted appearance. A dull air of stagnation drifted through the sparsely populated streets. Although the town clearly retained traces of former days, I was inevitably reminded that the passage of time had quietly etched itself there. My reason for coming was clear: to see the 「ドナルド・キーン展」 being held at 世田谷文学館. ドナルド・キーン—thinking of his name fills my heart with profound affection and respect. When I once tried to turn my back on literature, his writings quietly but surely held me back. ドナルド・キーン, who translated 谷崎潤一郎, 三島由紀夫, 安部公房, and countless treasures of Japanese literature into English, conveying Japan's aesthetic sensibility to readers around the world. This man, who knew Japan better than the Japanese themselves and understood the full depth of its traditions and refinement, settled permanently in Japan in 2011, when that earthquake struck and the whole country was enveloped in gloom, and his life came to an end in 2019. Now I had come, wishing to feel his traces directly. Leaving the station, I naturally walked toward the old Koshu Kaido. I tried to follow the town's image buried deep in my memory, but the gap of forty years was far too great. Everything before my eyes was fresh and yet somehow unfamiliar. Apart from the area in front of 芦花公園 station and 世田谷文学館, there were no particular landmarks, only an endless landscape submerged in residential streets. Yet hunger and cold tormented me without mercy. After 15:00, almost every eye-catching sign on the street corners bore the name of a ramen shop. As I continued walking by memory, an old building appeared in a corner of the residential neighborhood. Faded lettering reading 「丸美ストアー」 clung to the building like something half ghostly. Led by curiosity, I stopped before it. Between an illuminated ramen shop and a barber shop, a single noren curtain swayed in the cold wind. It bore the words 「Small Japanese restaurant」, and a handwritten set-meal menu was displayed. It seemed to be open. Stepping timidly inside, I found two elderly women seated at a table, conversing quietly. When they noticed me, they looked slightly surprised and dispersed into the kitchen. I settled into a corner of the L-shaped counter and studied the menu. Even its list of prices carried the scent of nostalgia. I ordered 「豚ショウガ焼定食」. Inside, the voices of a detective drama on television quietly mingled with the sounds of cooking from the kitchen. The words 「Karaoke, one song for one hundred yen」 on a posted notice seemed to symbolize the restaurant's timeless atmosphere. Before long, a set meal on a tray arrived in front of me. Small pieces of pork were accompanied by cabbage and tomato, with small plates of simply colored side dishes arranged alongside. A tube of mayonnaise sat on the counter, and picking it up filled my heart with a sense of reassurance, as though I had been invited to a relative's dining table. I was somewhat taken aback by the amount of rice, but the pork's rather strong seasoning immediately made sense of it. Daikon ohitashi, chikuwa concealing cucumber and cheese, and rice-bran pickles also offered small rests between flavors. Simple yet somehow evocative of the past, the meal offered a glimpse of nostalgia gradually being lost with the passage of time. When I finished paying and stepped outside, the town already carried the first signs of dusk. The cold wind pierced my skin, but deep within I felt a quiet exhilaration. I would now head to 世田谷文学館 and come face to face with the traces of ドナルド・キーン's life—that thought lightened my steps. The stillness of a town that had weathered long years gave me a premonition of a deep conversation with literature, and the single set meal I had enjoyed in the old little restaurant was engraved deep in my memory, as though it were the prologue to that journey.……

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【Drinks from lunchtime! Grandma's set-meal restaurant】Thank you, Grandma, for letting me have bottled beer and a standalone serving of もつ煮込み (the ginger-packed kind!), even though it was clearly set-meal lunch service! Debating whether to have my final meal here too, since this is a ramen town, I ordered 豚肉しょうが焼き on its own and an oolong high! Grandma's 豚肉しょうが焼き comes with mayo. Feeling grateful, I ordered an oolong high too, but it tasted almost entirely of shochu, lol. I wanted to drink a lot to help their sales, but unless you drink this slowly, you will get completely wasted (2 glasses were my limit)! Such a classic Showa-era service thing! Apparently at night you can sing karaoke for 100円 per song.

+3

I stopped by a shopping street that casually caught my attention! A small shopping street with a Showa-era feel…😁 And there…a little Japanese restaurant! Personally, I find this kind of setting really appealing!😅 A truly tiny place with only counter seating. At lunchtime, the lady was running everything on her own! From the set-meal menu, which was also personally appealing…I chose 『マーボ豆腐定食』! The price is reasonable too! Everyone around me had 『カレーライス定食』…something to look forward to next time! Even to be flattering, I could hardly call the interior clean…but I like this atmosphere! Enough to want to drop by casually at night too!😁

+3

They seem to serve noodles as well as set meals. Since it was my first visit, I ordered the classic 生姜焼き set meal. Along with the 生姜焼き, there was miso soup, pickles, and even a few little side dishes, all for 750円! So cheap,, comforting like visiting Grandma's house, with delicious food,, just the best. I definitely want to go again. They are closed on Tuesdays and Sundays. Apparently they are open from around 11:30 to around 20:00.

A small Japanese restaurant with counter seating only. I visited at lunchtime on a weekday; there were 2 customers already, and a regular was drinking beer. I had the 生姜焼き set meal, which included plenty of different side dishes, making 750円 an absolute bargain. Cash payment only.