Dinner alone at Yume-an
its 8 o'clock p.m.
she asks if I'm a smoker
I say no - same every time

she guides me to my seat
I have a look at the menu
choose a salad, hot atsukan,
and some tofu chige stew

I push the button on the table
calling the uniformed waitress
she comes immediately of course -
its the land of convenience

she takes my order meticulously
like the working of a clock
leaving me feeling like I'm talking to
the wife of Mr. Spock

she carefully confirms it 
so as not a thing to miss
now tell me where in my home country
can I get service such as this?

I answer all her questions
before she asks them, in advance
a simple thing because they're always 
asked the same, as if in trance

the same, the same old routine
in every restaurant in this land
how many of you, do you smoke,
here's a hot towel for your hands

my atsukan arriving,
I promptly burn my thumb
but after two full sake chokko
I feel comfortably numb

next brought to me the salad
t'was a Caesar meant to be
but all I see here now is lettuce
with a few croutons and cheese

I dig in with a relish,
try to make the best of it
while the waitress gapes amazed that
a gaijin can use chopsticks

the tofu chige arrives
atop a burner filled with gas
which she lights with a canned warning
that it heats up very fast

I wait for it to warm up
as I drink more atsukan
feeling warm now, as if under
the kotatsu in my room

my mind begins to wander
with so many thoughts and dreams
then I see my tofu chige
has begun to sprout hot steam

I remove the wooden cover
looking down now with a smile
at hot tofu, not a sandwich
from some convenience store aisle

spooned into a china bowl,
the steaming spicy tofu hot
beats back the chill of the cold evening
with my second sake pot

I finish up the meal, sighing, 
a pleasant end to a long day
smiling down at my atsukan
and my hot tofu chige

When this country irritates you
and you've had a long hard day,
relax a while with atsukan
and a hot tofu chige