Tokyo a la Mode. Web Magazine for Japanese Fashion and Urban Culture

The Curse of Khan

By Bobby / Jul 17, 2006
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Last week I was working with a Japanese bonsai artist named Paradise Yamamoto on an exhibit of his miniature trees for the Anime Expo.  I went to pick him up one morning and while he was getting ready, he tossed me a small box and said, “Omiyage, from Hokkaido.”

Japanese people are born with a compulsive need to give out gifts.  Not like birthday gifts where you have to put some thought into it, but more like token gifts.  These are called omiyage.  It’s a way to preserve the social “wa” or harmony. 

If someone takes a trip, he is obliged to bring back gifts to those people with whom he has some kind of relationship with, mainly people at work.  Co-workers are often the recipients of individually wrapped specialty cakes or gourmet chocolates in a box that says, “Hey, look where I went!” If the salary man forgets to pick up his omiyage, the Tokyo train station has a kiosk that sells gifts from all parts of Japan for his convenience.

Fruits make good gifts for neighbors to whom you want to keep in your good graces.  So if you see a $100 melon in Japan, don’t buy it for your breakfast, save it for the Tanakas for watching your dog while you were away.

For Japanese tourists who visit Los Angeles, the omiyage of choice is beef jerky.  There must be something about beef jerky that screams beaches and smog, but I don’t know what.  And a trip to Hawaii means that grandma will be munching on Macadamian nut chocolates for the next 20 days.

Okay, so back to Paradise Yamamoto and his mysterious box from Hokkaido.  I took a look at it and written in English it read “Genghis Khan Caramel”.  The box had a picture of meat that made my mouth water, okay, not really, more like raised one eyebrow in suspicion.

When it comes to food, I believe in trying anything twice.  If I don’t like it the first time, I figure it might be an acquired taste.  I opened the box, unwrapped a caramel and tossed it in my mouth.  I have never tasted anything so disgusting in my life except for the time when I gargled with MSG because I couldn’t find any salt, but that’s another story.

Genghis Khan is what the Japanese call a Mongolian barbeque.  It’s a hot plate at your table where you grill your own mutton with garlic seasoning and veggie medley.  Sounds delicious at a restaurant but a very bad idea for candy.  I could taste the sweetness of the caramel and that was followed by the distinct flavor of meat and garlic.  Ugg!  I tried keeping it in my mouth to see if the bad taste would go away.  It didn’t.  I spit out the rest and vowed to inform the world of the foulness so that no one would have to suffer the way that I did.  There was no way I was going to make the mistake of trying this one twice.

So now you have been warned.  Yamamoto-san, if you are reading this, next time you visit L.A., a keychain will do just fine.