I'm in Japan at the moment

(adapted from an email I just typed)

...My uncle took me to a sushi-ya called Kyubei tonight for dinner. Oh, nothing, they're just the INVENTORS of the gunkan-maki method of rolling sushi. According to him it's one of the top few sushi restaurants in Tokyo, which would logically make it one of the best in our Solar System, right? After eating there I find that very easy to believe. I've never tasted its equal. The sushi chef gently placed our fish, wasabi, and ginger onto the cedar bar before us; there was no plate on the raised platform. We had toro sashimi that was like pats of butter, negi-toro (two orders, it was so good), anago x2 ways, ebi x2 ways, maguro sashimi with garlic and minced onions inserted into the slices, and uni (sea urchin). It was my first time trying it, and I hesitated for a split second; Like monkfish liver, which I tried once (and only once) at Echigo, I've heard it's an acquired taste. When I put it in my mouth, though, it was like a burst of sunshine and brine in my head. Like my finest dreams of a clean, crisp ocean. It was like a superlative caricature of what delicious sushi should taste like. My uncle related to me that once while he was in Cebu on holiday the boat boy brought live sea urchins up from the ocean floor, cracked them open and served them up raw -- he said the uni at Kyubei tasted even fresher. Apparently Kyubei is so old and respected that the daily fish market at Tsujiki reserves their best stuff for them.