Down Memory Lane

Where candy is dandy but liquor is quicker

Something for everyone:  a liquor store on the left to forget the bad
memories and a candy store on the right to forge the good memories

In a nostalgic mood I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane (even if they were someone else's memories, someone not a stranger to this strange land). I knew just where to turn too, a friendly neighborhood dagashiya. That's the Japanese version of the neighborhood candy store. I was told that it was unusual for someone of my advanced years to venture into one of these places, especially at the hour I was embarking on my journey. So knowing that these establishments are primarily the stomping grounds of the elementary school set I thought it best to take a schoolkid of my own as camouflage. 


Being just shy of three o'clock on a school day, the only one available in the house was my oldest son. While grammar school is by now a faded memory for the hulking twenty-year-old who stands head and shoulders above me, he was the best I could come up with (and I mean that in the best way possible) on such short notice. 


After rummaging around the small confines of this small emporium of delectable delights for the better part of half an hour, debating the merits of dried squid on a stick versus hermetically sealed miniature fried pork cutlets, we finally made a selection that weighed in at a grand total of 120 yen (about a dollar). Then as we stood there like two tall trees towering over the tiny shopkeeper, I began fumbling around inside my red leather coin purse to find the exact change that would consummate our commercial transaction. The deed done and the precious goods in hand, we ripped them open with glee like two giddy school kids and savored a moment that would likely be memorable for us all.