A piece of Japan
March 6th 2008 15:29
I took a little trip to Düsseldorf this week -- a relatively large German city on the Rhine river. I went there with the intention of exploring the "Japanese area", since Düsseldorf has the third-largest Japanese community in Europe after London and Paris. Many Japanese companies and banks have their branches there.
The Japanese district is located only a few hundred metres from the main train station, centred around Immermann Straße. Once you're there, you suddenly feel like you've been teleported to Japan. Even the aromas inside the shops (not sure if it was the products or the people) immediately took me on a mental journey back to the time I spent in Tokyo.
I suddenly felt guilty for not being able to speak Japanese -- and like a total outsider. I walked into a local snack shop and the lady behind the counter greeted me with "ohayou gozaimasu", to which I stupidly replied "hallo!". (I actually DO know how to say "good morning" in Japanese, but I was scared she might think I can actually speak it. And THEN I would have felt like a moron.)
And I was simply overjoyed that I was able to purchase all the same weird and wacky edible stuff that I saw in Japan: ready-to-drink canned coffee, some odd nibble snacks with a shady-looking detective on the packaging, canned green tea, some exotic beer from northern Japan, coffee-flavoured chewing gum and, last but not least, a corn-soup-flavoured snack bar (!).
As you can clearly see, it was worth the trip. At least now I know where to go when I want a nostalgic experience that reminds me of the month I spent working in Tokyo.
Just on a side note -- that area is probably the only place outside of Berlin where you can buy Berlin souvenirs. I am guessing that those Japanese businessmen have such busy schedules that they need a convenient location where they can purchase trinkets from all parts of Germany without actually having to travel there.
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