Dorayaki, Dorayaki, Dorayaki!!!

I’d been to Tokyo and Akihabara plenty of times before, but to see it so seemingly vacant almost felt wrong. There were a few people walking around shopping and a tourist or two snapping photos, but besides that, Akihabara nearly looked like a ghost town

“What’d I tell you? Check it out!” Sen smiled brightly and waved his hand out in front of him as we arrived at the first arcade, not a soul on the floor, and the only sound to be heard was the chirps and chimes of all the games and machines whirling about.

“Okay, I have to admit…this is badass. It’s like it's open just for us” I murmured quietly, staring at all of the games a bit mesmerized by how big the place felt without anyone in it.

“ Ahh, photo booths! C’mon! Before we start playing, we have to capture the moment!” Aiko ran off into the arcade, jumping through the hanging curtains into the photo booth. Sen and I followed after her, squeezing into the booth on either side of her as she clicked through all the options and got the camera ready.

“Okay…let’s do a serious one, and a funny one! And one with our tongues out and!” We took an absurd amount of increasingly bizarre pictures in all kinds of different poses. Each picture reel that was printed made us laugh more than the last, becoming more and more ridiculous. When we finally ran out of photos, Aiko split them all between us and smiled.

“There… now with the memories taken care of… on your mark…get set… game!” We each took off, going to each and every game machine in the arcade. Claw machines, shooters, driving games, darts, and basketball. We did them all, and then we did them all a second time. When we got bored with one arcade, another one was just around the corner. The hours seemed to pass by like minutes as we accumulated more and more bags full of claw machine prizes and candy.

Sen and I spent way too long beating the high score on the “Mansion of the dead” arcade game, while Aiko got her name on the leaderboards of each one of the pinball machines. We played game after game of Air hockey. Sen and I helplessly lost to Aiko again and again by several points.

“Uhh, guys…what do you say we go get some chow, all this fun we’re having has left me starving!” Sen’s belly grumbled so loud it could be heard over all the machines. Aiko and I laughed, smiling at him as we took the escalators down to the first floor of the arcade and walked outside.

“What kind of food do you think you want? I’ve always heard Akihabara has really good okonomiyaki, but I’ve never tried it myself… oooh what about dango or yakitori skewers? It all sounds so good!” Aiko was practically drooling as we walked down the street and looked at all the restaurants and food displays. Each block smelled like a mixture of all the most delicious foods you could imagine, twirling together to make us all hungry.

“I was kind of thinking Ramen myself… what about you, Sen?... Sen?” Aiko and I had been so entranced by all the sights, sounds, and scents that he hadn’t realized Sen had stopped a few feet back, gazing doe-eyed across the street.

“I wanna try that!” He pointed his finger out to the other side of the street to a large glass building with a large cloth banner running across it.

“Hamamatsu Culinary School

Annual Doriyaki Expo:

Try our 12 unique

Flavors of Dorayaki

Or make your own!”

Before we could even object, Sen had taken off across the street, waving for us to follow him. “C’mon, if that place doesn’t have the best dorayaki in Japan, no one will!” Sen’s brain seemed to only be able to listen to his stomach at this point, the mere mention of dorayaki enough to set him off.

“What do you think, are you okay with dorayaki for lunch?” I laughed as Aiko and I made our way across the street together

“I think it is a great idea, if this place really does have the best dorayaki in Japan that takes another two items off our list in one day” I’d nearly forgotten about dorayaki being one of the things on our list that could make this the best year of our lives. Who would have thought that some red bean paste between two pancakes would be the best thing Sentaro could come up with?

As we caught up with Sen and entered the restaurant, we were greeted by a young girl that didn’t look to be much older than we were. She had thick-framed glasses and jet black hair that was tied off in pigtails.

“Oh, Hello, my name is Mika! Welcome to the Hamamatsu Culinary Expo…the expo hasn’t actually gotten underway yet, but since you’re already here, I suppose I wouldn’t mind getting things started a bit early.” She smiled brightly and gestured for us to follow her as she led us to a table.

“Hey Ren, is it just me, or is that girl hella cute?” I don’t think I’d ever seen Sentaro be flustered by a woman before, what was even more shocking is that he seemed to be paying more attention to her than all the dorayaki ingredients laid out on the table in front of us.

“Just play it cool man, if you stare any harder your eyes are gonna pop out of your head” I whispered to Sen as we followed behind her, his face red as he became more and more enamored with the girl.

“So…what exactly is a uhm… culinary expo?” Sen asked as Mika stopped and turned to face us.

“I’m glad you asked. We’re here in Tokyo today to represent Hamamatsu Culinary institute. As you know in a little over a month, thousands of students in the Tokyo area will be graduating, and equally as many have no idea what they want to do with their futures. That’s where we come in! We hold a yearly expo to open young people’s eyes to the opportunities that are available in the culinary industry?” Mika remained bright and cheerful the entire time she spoke.

“So, does that mean you’re a culinary student at Hamamatsu then?” Aiko asked, looking at all the ingredients laid out on the table beside us.

“Yes, my father actually runs the program and is one of the Professors at the institute. This is my first year coming with him to the expo, though. So I’m kind of glad you guys showed up early…it gives me a chance to practice before I have to deal with all the huge crowds!” she chuckled a bit nervously and clasped her hands in front of her.

“So you guys really just let people come in here and let people try to make their own dorayaki?” I asked, surprised to see just how many ingredients and flavors they had laid out.

“That’s the idea, we believe that if people get to see how some of their favorite foods are made, it might convince them to pursue a career in cooking or baking, does dorayaki happen to be a favorite for any of you?” Aiko and I immediately turned and looked at Sen. When Mika glanced over at him as well he looked as though he might faint.

“Uh, yeah! Yeah, it's probably my favorite food because it's so sweet. Sweet like you Mika… I mean I uh…” I didn’t think it was possible for someone to be more inept with women than myself, but as it turned out that someone was Sen.

“You’re too kind!” Mika bowed, seeming a bit flustered. Had that cheesy line actually worked somehow?! “Well if you like dorayaki, you’ll love how much time, work, and effort goes into making it perfectly fluffy and savory! Have a seat and I’ll show you the steps and what each ingredient is for!”

We all took a seat at the table. It was several yards long and had multiple stovetops and burners built into it, tons of ingredients of all varieties place sporadically wherever they could fit.

“To the average person, dorayaki might just seem like bean paste and some pancakes, but to make it right takes time and effort! So let's get started” Mika smiled and began to explain to us each and every step of the process, pointing out every ingredient as she went along. It was honestly a bit overwhelming, and I was surprised by just how difficult it all seemed.

Sen on the other hand seemed completely entranced… I’m not sure if it was by Mika or by the dorayaki but I’m fairly certain it was a bit of both. He never took his eyes off of her, listening to her and giving what she said his utmost attention.

“With the fundamentals out of the way, it's time to try making a few. Start by selecting your flavors, and then go through the steps we discussed in order. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time, it's only meant to be a learning experience.” The three of us went around the table and collected everything we thought we might need and got to work.

“This…is awful. I make pancakes all the time, how can it be this hard to get something so simple so wrong?” I said as I finished a single dorayaki, the filling was dripping from the sides, and it was burnt in several places.

“I don’t know… I was really hoping that picking the strawberry filling would make it easier, but I think I failed worse than you did, Ren” Aiko whimpered, the dorayaki on her burner had spread out so wide and thin it had become burnt to the pan, the strawberry filling fizzling up and evaporating into a burnt paste. We both turned our attention over to Sen, who hadn’t spoken the whole time since we’d started.

“Aaaaand perfecto!” He exclaimed as he slid a perfectly cooked red bean dorayaki on top of a stack of several more perfect ones. He drizzled a bit of chocolate syrup over top and decorated it with some powdered sugar. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that a professional chef prepared his plate.

“Ahh, I see someone has had some cooking experience before!” Mika laughed, coming over to examine his plate, seeming equally as impressed as Aiko and I.

“None at all, actually… this is my first time making anything. I was just so excited to make good dorayaki I guess I got a bit carried away!” Sen laughed out loud, slowly coming to a stop as he realized Mika was staring at him with a perplexed look on her face.

“You mean to say you really haven’t had any experience cooking before?” She looked over at me in disbelief, as if she were asking me to affirm his claim.

“It is true. I don’t think I’ve seen Sentaro make anything more complicated than instant ramen.” I laughed, he punched me in the shoulder and snarled through his teeth.

“Shhh! Shut it, man!” He seemed embarrassed, turning his face away, so Mika couldn’t look at him. This didn’t stop Mika however, she walked around the table and sat right in front of Sen, so he had to face her.

“Really? Tell me, Sentaro… have you ever considered a culinary school before?” She smiled at him, it seemed as though Sen had accidentally caught her attention for better or for worse.

“Uh…not really. Ya see I’m not so good at school and all that. I don’t really think it's much of an option for me. By the way, all my friends just call me Sen.” He chuckled nervously, struggling to keep eye contact.

“Part of the reason people come to this expo in the first place is that we select one person a year who impresses us and basically award them an all-expense paid apprenticeship at the school in Hamamatsu. I’d say you seem pretty impressive already, Sen.” Her smile grew bigger, and Sen seemed to be so red he was glowing.

“Even so, I don’t actually live in Tokyo, let alone Hamamatsu. I have a mom and brothers that are counting on me to take care of them… I can’t just sit around going to school after I graduate, I need to be making money as soon as possible…” Sen sounded a bit dejected, but even this didn’t deter Mika at all.

“Of course not! We wouldn’t expect a new student to move all the way to a new town and not have any money! You’d be working in the on-campus restaurant until you graduate and start your own restaurant. It wouldn’t be insane amounts of money, but….” Sen seemed to grow more and more interested the more Mika told him.

“I think you should do it, Sen. You always said you were scared to be stuck in Yokosuka forever doing a job you hate. It seems to me like you may have stumbled upon your calling.” I said, trying to encourage him.

“You really think so?” Sen seemed to go back and forth between being conflicted and being completely interested.

“We made a pact, Sen. No matter what you do in life we promised we’d have each other’s backs. That was the whole point. “ Aiko smiled at him, further pushing him to consider the offer.

“Alright, screw it! If I can make big bucks making food all day why not?” Sen laughed, seeming a bit more at ease now.

“Well, we still have to see if any other suitable prospects show up at the Expo…but you impress me, Sen. I’ll put in a good word for you with my dad. Here, let's exchange numbers so I can let you know if you’re this year’s winner!” Mika pulled out her phone and handed it to Sen who nearly fumbled and dropped it.

“Ah…ha…yeah sure, here you go!” Sen put his number into Mika’s contacts and handed it back.

“Great, I have to clean everything up to get ready for the real start of the expo now, but thanks for stopping by!” she seemed to say this only to Sen, but respectfully bowed and addressed us as a group.

“No, thank you! It was very enlightening Mika-Chan” Aiko bowed to her, and we did the same.

“Oh, feel free to take any of the Dorayaki you made today with you! And Sen, I’ll be in touch!” she began to clear off the table and clean the pans as we stood to leave. Sen picked up the stack of dorayaki he made and took a big bite out of one.

“Wow…this IS the best dorayaki I’ve ever tasted… and who would have guessed I could make it myself all along….here try one!” he handed me one of the plump, perfectly browned dorayaki, I ripped it in half and gave some to Aiko.

“Mmm…it really is perfect!” we said practically in unison as we devoured the whole thing.

“Who would have imagined Sen could cook this well?” Aiko muttered through mouthfuls of perfectly flavored pancake and filling.

“Not me…” I answered as I happily chewed up my piece.

After that, we said goodbye to Mika once more and left the restaurant, heading off down the streets of Akihabara once again. It had become slightly more crowded, the afternoon bringing in more and more shoppers and tourists as it went on.

“Hey it’s already 2:00 guys, and we still have an hour train ride home. I think it’s about time we pack it in.” I said, checking the time on my phone.

“Awww man, but I’ve been having so much fun. Maybe we can come back sometime…” Aiko said with a childish pout.

“Yeah, I’d like to come back just to see Mika again. Even if I don’t win the apprenticeship, I’d love to see her… not only is she beautiful, but she can cook! A woman after my own heart!” Sen swooned.

The three of us laughed as we walked back to the train station, I think if we could have, we probably would have stayed there forever.

“When we’d left the arcade that day,

I’d crumpled up those photo reels

And stuffed them into my coat pocket.

Now those wrinkled pictures

Are one of the few things

I have left to remind me of

A time when we

Were all

happy.