Three a.m.

Posted by Mike Cash (Kiryu, Japan) on 10 February 2007 in Lifestyle & Culture.

Three in the morning as I pass by this roadside ramen shop in Ageo City. I've passed it hundreds upon hundreds of times, but have never been inside and likely never will. It's about two hours from home, at roughly the midway point on my wee hours drive to Tokyo. The shop's windows are completely blocked from outside view by shelves holding countless manga to provide the patrons with chewing gum for their brains while they fill their bellies with ramen.

UPDATE: July 15, 2007

The restaurant was demolished a few days ago and all that remains is a building-shaped patch of flat earth.

They Ain't Got 'Em All

There are still places where people like me can hang out
With nothing at all in this whole world to worry about
They ain't tore 'em all down yet and said every man for himself
Or polished them up until nothing worth keeping is left.

They ain't got 'em all
If you try here and there
You'll still find a few holes in the wall
There an endangered species but i'm keeping track
I can tell you that they ain't got 'em all.

Thanks, Waylon, but sadly they ain't stopped trying to get 'em all.

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