The name of the bar is taken from the novel by Junichiro Tanizaki. The bar is owned by Ms. Saiko Matsumoto.
Literary bars such as The Lamentations of a Mermaid are Japanese institutions. There are many legends involving famous writers in the literary bars. Literary bars are also practical in that you can have a chance meeting with people who share the same interest, namely writing and editing. Sometimes, projects for a book is struck up in the bar.
The Lamentations of a Mermaid is located near the University of Tokyo. I know the area very well from my student days. There are many second hand bookshops, where they sometimes sell the original hand-written manuscripts of famous writers.
The sign ("The lamentations of a mermaid" written in Japanese) at the door of my favorite literary bar.
3 comments:
"Bundan"(literary)bar... I have a little bitter experience on it. When I trained myself to write plays at Bungakuza(Thearte Literature), I had no work. An actress took me to the "Bundan" bar in Shinjuku, where she was a high paid worker. I was introduced to the mistress and start working.
A few weeks later the mistress warned me.
"YOU,can't you make any witty conversion? As if you were a seal puppy."
"Seal puppy...am I? "
"YES,only to listen to the GREAT authors' talk with your eyes open."
Actually I had been surprised at their tall stories. I was shunted to the kitchen after all, and an hourly wage also collapsed. I learned ice picking and enjoyed making hors d'oeuvre there. I wonder why Ms.Saiko doesn't employ me as an ice picker. I was not a marmaid but a seal puppy.
"Bundan" bar must be one of the hottest spots to visit or work in Japan.
Literary cafes are great. It's something I heard about a lot in English classes, about the Bloomsburg Group and those expatriates in Paris during the 1920s. I wish I could have been there.
same same: Literary cafes are great.
I don't know why but i have imagined Bauhaus. Paul Klee was there, right? i had once heard that he was called the Bauhaus's Buddha by his colleagues, right? I wish I could have looked there.
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