Last night I took The Girl to Aki for sushi. Aki is a small authentic restaurant underground on Thurlow street. There are Japanese businessmen shooting sake and conducting acts of Japanese business down there at night. I have never seen a Geisha, but there may be a back room full of them. I believe it's considered one of the most such authentic in town; Girl, being ESL teacher, says she has heard as much from students, some of whom had jobs there. "Those students complained," she said, "because they never got enough practice speaking English."
The prices are as Japanese as the food, by which I mean high. Granted, it's more authentic at Aki than most (bland favorites like salmon and sushi rolls, the kinds of mundane items we see many westerners suck down before settling back with a smug 'I'm a cultural connoisseur of the Far East' sort of expression, are not readily apparent) but it takes more than authenticity to make me part with large piles of cash.
That says something about western culture, I suppose: when it comes to sushi, in a way we consciously miss the point. We seek to separate the experience from its context; transplant it to a more accessible, more palatable environment, divorcing ritual details from the process, leaving us free to exploit elements of the culture without committing to it in any meaningful way. We take what we want, discard the rest. History and origin are valueless; only gratification is important.
In Japan, though I have not yet been, I have heard that the rituals of the sushi-ya remain intact. Sushi is among the most basic staples of historic Japanese culture, afforded great respect and oddly, prohibitively expensive for many. Whereas in Vancouver, thanks to a sky-high Asian population, Japanese cuisine is so widespread that in many areas (like Downtown) it's cheaper at lunch than fast food.
I'd like to say I appreciate the nuances of Japanese culture more than most (and am prepared to pay for them) but I guess we probably won't be going back to Aki anytime soon. Too expensive, not fake enough.
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