Okonomiyaki, or Japanese savory pancakes, are a mainstay of any festival, along with numerous other foods being sold at the many stalls. After a long night of dangerous shooting, I feel like a rest. However, it is understood in Japan that these kinds of food stalls are dominated by "boryokudan," or the so-called "violent people," meaning low-level mobsters.
With my Western sensibilities, it seems incongruous for violent mafiosos to be in the business of selling chicken on a stick. But anyway, that's what I'm told, and I believe it, so one wonders which is more dangerous--the flaming holocaust of the Sun Festival, or buying a Japanese pancake.
Copyright © 1998 by Edward Kaspar
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