\n\u3000I would say that my first dining experience at Olympic was when I was in kindergarten, so it must have been around 1960 or 1961\u2026 A while back, I taped a cable broadcast of the movie \u201cUtsukushiki Teikou (Beautiful Resistance)\u201d (1960) starring Sayuri Yoshinaga shortly after her debut and found that there was a scene that I was almost sure had been filmed at Olympic. It is where Minako Kazuki \u2013 not Yoshinaga \u2013 dines with her fianc\u00e9. The interior design with the pot-grown tropical tree and its location, with Meiji-ya seen across the street from the windows on the second floor, assured me that it was Olympic. Unfortunately, there were no other cuts from other angles, so I could not find the oven. The couple seemed to be having steak with their fork and knife. Oh, how I wish they had ordered gratin\u2026
\n\u3000However, reading some essays about Ginza, I found that Olympic was famous for its steaks. For example, in his essay collection, Edokko no segare, Ryo Ikebe writes an essay titled \u201cBisteki\u201d about his father taking the whole family out to have steak at Olympic when he was a little boy. He comically portrays his father ordering \u201cbisteki\u201d and being corrected by the waitress that it was called \u201cbifteck.\u201d He said that the episode was from 1928 (Showa 3) or 1929 (Showa 4), so Ikebe must have been taken to dine at Olympic shortly after its opening in 1928. Kafu Nagai also writes about dining at Olympic from around 1930 (Showa 5) in his diary Danchotei-nichijo. There is a unique description of the restaurant in his March 25, 1942 entry.
\n\u201cI had dinner at Olympic at twilight. Since its opening three or four years ago, it has been so popular that it is packed every day at mealtime. The owner used to run a restaurant in Seattle, in the United States. The diners are mostly office clerks, store clerks and students \u2013 both men and women. Very few people speak in the Tokyo dialect, and almost no one knows their manners. Watching these customers dine is enough to learn the level of our country\u2019s culture.\u201d
\n\u3000The condescending attitude is very much like Kafu. He seems to have been a great fan of the restaurant from 1932 to 1933 as it appears often in his diary. However, he says little about what he ordered.
\n\u3000The restaurant was established by three young men who had trained in Seattle. I had no doubt that the name Olympic had come from the Olympic Games, held in Amsterdam in 1928, but they had named it after a mountain in Seattle.
\n\u201cWe named our new store Olympic after Mt. Olympia, which would always look up at, missing our hometowns and pledging that we would withstand all hardships.\u201d
\nThe May 1970 (Showa 45) edition of Ginza Hyakuten ran an article of an interview with the store. The store interior in the photo used in the article is almost exactly the same as what I saw in the aforementioned movie. The restaurant that Kafu enjoyed dining at before World War II was a two-story building. After the war, they built the eight-story building that I was familiar with – home to \u201ca fruits parlor on the first floor, the restaurant on the second store, and a party room on the third floor,\u201d according to the 1970 article. <\/div>\n
\n
\n![\"\u300c\u9280\u5ea7\u767e\u70b9\u300d\u662d\u548c45\u5e745\u6708\u53f7\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Column_02_01.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nGinza Hyakuten, May 1970 edition<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u3000I looked through back issues of Ginza Hyakuten, but failed to find any articles on Olympic from around 1960, when I was a child. However, I found an intriguing dish introduced in an article introducing the restaurant in 1978. The recommended dish was called \u201cOriental Rice.\u201d
\n\u201cOur original Oriental Rice is made by covering stir fried rice with special toppings and a white sauce, which is baked in the oven. It is doria with a twist.\u201d
\n\u3000Oriental Rice\u2026 the name rung a bell. An article published in 1984 (Showa 59) refers to the Oriental Rice, stating, \u201cthe dishes that were created in the days of our establishment are still served today and remain very popular.\u201d That would mean that the dish was on the menu when I was a child. It may have been this dish that I had enjoyed the toasted top layer of, huffing and puffing from the sides. Unfortunately, they did not have a photo. <\/div>\n
\n\u201cOur original Oriental Rice is made by covering stir fried rice with special toppings and a white sauce, which is baked in the oven. It is doria with a twist.\u201d
\n\u3000Oriental Rice\u2026 the name rung a bell. An article published in 1984 (Showa 59) refers to the Oriental Rice, stating, \u201cthe dishes that were created in the days of our establishment are still served today and remain very popular.\u201d That would mean that the dish was on the menu when I was a child. It may have been this dish that I had enjoyed the toasted top layer of, huffing and puffing from the sides. Unfortunately, they did not have a photo. <\/div>\n
\n
\n![\"\u300c\u9280\u5ea7\u767e\u70b9\u300d\u662d\u548c53\u5e749\u6708\u53f7\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Column_02_02.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nGinza Hyakuten, September 1978 edition<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u3000In 1984 (Showa 59), I had already graduated from university. I remember having lunch there when I was working for a company in Tsukiji, but the building was eventually changed into a Sanrio gallery. The gallery opened in summer 1989, so I would guess they were still in business at the end of the Showa period.
\n\u3000One more memory of Olympic that I deliberately saved for last is a milk candy that they sold. Before I started reading manga magazines for boys, we had a subscription to a monthly magazine for younger children titled \u201cKobato.\u201d I was addicted to a popular manga called \u201cKorisu no Pokko-chan (Pokko-chan, the little squirrel)\u201d starring a little girl squirrel. Olympic sold a milk candy depicting Pokko-chan. I recall seeing an ad next to the manga, so I might have asked my mother to take me to Olympic not for the meals but for the candy. If I remember correctly, the ad had a picture of a girl holding the candy in her hand, posing in front of the \u201cBirthplace of Ginza\u201d monument that had been placed in front of the store.
\n
\n\u3000I could no longer recall the name of the candy, but when I visited the Modern Manga Library in Waseda, I found the ad that I has been searching for in the October 1963 (Showa 38) edition of Kobato Yochien (Kobato Kindergarten) (name changed from Kobato, Shueisha).
\nThere was a photo of a girl carrying the candy in the basket of her bicycle along with the slogan, \u201cMom, I got Risumy.\u201d The ad was not exactly as I remembered it, but I would suppose it was a later version. It said \u201cOlympic Seika Co., Ltd.\u201d With the address of the restaurant in Ginza 2-chome. So, the candy was called \u201cRisumy.\u201d The red box with a string looked identical to the package that Milky came in. Both companies (Olympic and Fujiya) were located in Ginza\u2026 its must have been a carefree time.
\n\u3000I wouldn\u2019t insist on Risumy\u2019s revival, but I would surely like to see the Olympic restaurant restart business somewhere.\n<\/div>\n
\n\u3000One more memory of Olympic that I deliberately saved for last is a milk candy that they sold. Before I started reading manga magazines for boys, we had a subscription to a monthly magazine for younger children titled \u201cKobato.\u201d I was addicted to a popular manga called \u201cKorisu no Pokko-chan (Pokko-chan, the little squirrel)\u201d starring a little girl squirrel. Olympic sold a milk candy depicting Pokko-chan. I recall seeing an ad next to the manga, so I might have asked my mother to take me to Olympic not for the meals but for the candy. If I remember correctly, the ad had a picture of a girl holding the candy in her hand, posing in front of the \u201cBirthplace of Ginza\u201d monument that had been placed in front of the store.
\n
\n\u3000I could no longer recall the name of the candy, but when I visited the Modern Manga Library in Waseda, I found the ad that I has been searching for in the October 1963 (Showa 38) edition of Kobato Yochien (Kobato Kindergarten) (name changed from Kobato, Shueisha).
\nThere was a photo of a girl carrying the candy in the basket of her bicycle along with the slogan, \u201cMom, I got Risumy.\u201d The ad was not exactly as I remembered it, but I would suppose it was a later version. It said \u201cOlympic Seika Co., Ltd.\u201d With the address of the restaurant in Ginza 2-chome. So, the candy was called \u201cRisumy.\u201d The red box with a string looked identical to the package that Milky came in. Both companies (Olympic and Fujiya) were located in Ginza\u2026 its must have been a carefree time.
\n\u3000I wouldn\u2019t insist on Risumy\u2019s revival, but I would surely like to see the Olympic restaurant restart business somewhere.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n![\"\u300c\u3053\u3070\u3068\u5e7c\u7a1a\u5712\u300d\u662d\u548c38\u5e7410\u6708\u53f7\uff08\u660e\u6cbb\u5927\u5b66\u73fe\u4ee3\u30de\u30f3\u30ac\u56f3\u66f8\u9928\u6240\u8535\uff09\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Column_02_03.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nKobato Yochien, October 1963 (Showa 38) edition (Modern Manga Library collection, Meiji University) <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nGinza Hyakuten runs a mini column on items bought or found by Mr. Izumi\u3000during his interviews for his monthly column \u201cGinbura Hyakunen.\u201d
\nGinza Hyakuten is available at member stores.
\nOr, have your personal copy delivered every month by subscription.
\nPlease refer to our website for details: http:\/\/www.hyakuten.or.jp\/<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\nGinza Hyakuten is available at member stores.
\nOr, have your personal copy delivered every month by subscription.
\nPlease refer to our website for details: http:\/\/www.hyakuten.or.jp\/<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Column_izumi.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\nAsato Izumi Asato Izumi<\/span><\/h4>\n
Asato Izumi Asato Izumi<\/span><\/h4>\nBorn in Tokyo in 1956 (Showa 31).
\nAfter graduating from the Faculty of Commerce at Keio University, he joined Tokyo News Service, Ltd. While editing \u201cWeekly TV Guide\u201d he had articles published in Studio Voice and Popeye. In 1984, he became a freelance columnist and author. He has published many works on Tokyo, among which is Tokyo 23-ku Monogatari (the story of Tokoy\u2019s 23 wards). Kanreki Sharehouse (sharehouse at sixty) will be published soon. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u3000Last time, indulging in an Eggs Benedict at the caf\u00e9 on the twelfth floor of Ginza Itoya, my thoughts went to … Continue reading
\nAfter graduating from the Faculty of Commerce at Keio University, he joined Tokyo News Service, Ltd. While editing \u201cWeekly TV Guide\u201d he had articles published in Studio Voice and Popeye. In 1984, he became a freelance columnist and author. He has published many works on Tokyo, among which is Tokyo 23-ku Monogatari (the story of Tokoy\u2019s 23 wards). Kanreki Sharehouse (sharehouse at sixty) will be published soon. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n