Fun City Matsuyama

[Ocean11 0]

Last night I went out on the town in Matsuyama. What a great, swinging city it is!

 

I met my friend in a sake bar for a couple of 200 yen glasses of quality sake, mingling with suited businessmen having a few after work. She told me about her recent argument with her American colleague at the university, another friend. It's about the size of place where you know of most people around after two years.

 

Next up, a fine izakaya with a huge range of foreign beers and what the English menu calls 'Japanese vodka'. We have a few 'sesame seed' ones and eat some perfectly prepared tako tenpura among other fine things. At 10 o'clock they suddenly dim the lights and the mood changes perceptibly.

 

The mobile rings occasionally and we make our arrangements with more people for the last stop. This is a crazy corner bar and food stall with sliding glass doors all around and barely room for 15 people. There are about 20 people crammed in there. Dancing. First to Puffy, then onto The Velvet Underground. Everybody availing themselves of the 250 yen beer and shochu. Besides us, there's a Mongolian car designer brought along by a friend, a Pakistani car exporter, some big Russian blondes who are probably prostitutes, a dude in a very nice suit from Uzbekistan, and lots of very frolicksome Japanese girls. There's an English bloke with a shaved head who seems to know all the lyrics to the Velvets and occasionally sings along very loudly.

 

A visit to the bogs is like a tour through central Asia, and mysterious girls who have found a seat under the counter stroke your legs as you pass by. The whole Showa-era building is full of yaki-soba smoke, and shaking with old familiar music that sounds even better for some reason tonight.

 

At 4 am when I could hold myself upright no longer and started for home, there were buskers playing their own original music every six metres down the central arcade. Some of them sounded very good, far better than the crap you get packaged on TV. Move over NY, this is the city that never sleeps. I love this town.

 

Today I have a hangover on the Richter Scale of 5, and there are several mails in my box saying "Another fabulous Matsuyama night. When are we doing it again?"

[grungy-gonads 54]

That sounds like a marvellous night out. Can I come and visit?

 

(Does your wife approve?)

[damian 0]

That sounds like a really good night out.

 

Last night after work I went with a few fellow employees to a new-ish trying to be trendy city bar called ‘apt’. It was crap and totally within expectations for the worlds lamest western city. I wont bother describing how dismal and un-fun the evening was. I would instantly trade London’s evening atmosphere for the likes of Matsuyama’s.

[Ocean11 0]

Yes.

 

No.

[scouser 4]

I had a night in, yours sounds very exciting.

[rach 1]

I still haven't had my official invite for the fun weekend in Matsuyama.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

Dont forget hitting Dogo Onsen: largest collection of pubic hairs in all Japan!

[grungy-gonads 54]

Thank you. I might well do. A bit far though. I would need assurances that the very frolicksome Japanese girls are around.

[Yuki's Passion 1]

then go to a konyoku onsen up in tohoku or hokkaido

[Ocean11 0]

The frolicksome girls are around all the time. There were only 3 good-looking girls in Suwa and they didn't stay out past 11 pm. In Matsuyama it's hard not to trip over them, at any hour.

[Dims 0]

That was a very colourful description of a fun night out. I can nearly feel the hang-over myself. Those small corner bars are a national treasure, as are the frolicksome girls with a leg stroking fetish.