The opening ceremony: Clad in kimonos, waitresses stand by the sake barrel as several guests look on prior to the kagamiwari ceremony (sake breaking ceremony). The ceremony held on Jan.10 marked the opening of Kuishinbo Japan Village. Besides providing different kinds of Japanese food, Kuishinbo also features Japanese culture. (JP/Tifa Asrianti)

Sushi and lanterns. Tempura and sumo rings. Ramen and waiters in kimonos or happi coats.

Stepping inside Japanese restaurant Kuishinbo Japan Village on the fifth floor of fX Life Style X’ntre, feels like entering a Japanese village in the Edo period.

Reino R. Barack, Kuishinbo’s representative, said the restaurant’s concept blends the meal and the experience of eating in a Japanese village, creating a fun dining experience.

“We realize that Kuishinbo is not the only Japanese restaurant. So we have to offer something that will make our guests positively surprised by providing outstanding service and giving them an unforgettable experience,” he said.

Kuishinbo has seven areas. Each serves a different kind of Japanese cuisine. Sanpachi offers ramen noodles; Kira Kira Ginza offers other fresh noodles, soba and udon, with  tempura, battered and fried seafood and vegetables and donburi, a rice bowl with sides. Manpuku Bar serves varieties of sake, distilled shochu or sake cocktails with Japanese steamboat dishes known as nabe to accompany the beverages..

Kuishinbo also serve sushi and sashimi; Kare serves curried rice with different accoutrements; Torikatsu serves robatayaki grills and yakitori (Japanese shish kebab) and a Japanese café serves nonalcoholic drinks and Japanese desserts.

“When people want to eat Japanese food, they usually have to go to restaurant A to eat ramen, restaurant B to eat sushi. Kuishinbo provides all kinds of Japanese dishes under one roof,” Reino said.

Kuishinbo is an expansive establishment, accommodating tables for 222 people.  It is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily for lunch, and from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. for dinner, with the last order at 10.30 p.m. Most menu items are cooked in front of the customers, giving them an attraction while they wait for their meal.

Reino said he expected people would take to Japanese food because of the similarities with Indonesian favorites.

“Indonesia has curry, satay, noodles and fried rice and so does Japan,” he said, adding many customers have praised the curry and dorayaki cakes.

“We named the restaurant Kuishinbo, which means a boy who loves to eat, because we want the customers to be like the boys. We encourage customers to bring their children so that they can learn about Japanese culture. Most people only know Japan as the country where manga (Japanese comics) come from. We make an effort to present Japanese culture here.”

During the opening ceremony last Saturday, the restaurant’s board of directors also introduced a Japanese tradition: kagamiwari, the sake-breaking ceremony).

Kagamiwari is a custom usually performed at special celebrations in Japan such as the New Year, a wedding, an anniversary or the opening of a new business, in which a cask of sake is cracked open with a wooden mallet. The sake is poured into wooden cups and handed around to the participants who then toast.

Another opening day event was an exhibition of sumo, a wrestling competition where the two contenders try to force one another out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with any part of their body save the soles of their feet. Customers got the chance to try their hands at the sport. 

“We also recruited people to don ninja outfits. They will go from table to table and perform tricks for the customers,” Reino said.

“In the near future, we will hold other Japanese cultural activities, including cooking class, sumo wrestling, an ikebana (flower arranging) workshop, origami (the art of folding paper) and dancing,” he added.

Customers can also learn about Japanese culture through the table doilies that bear pictures and information about Japanese traditional artifacts. The koinobori  is a carp-shaped wind sock flown usually on Children’s Day in Japan. The kendama is a cup and ball toy. Players develop dexterity by catching the tethered ball in the cups or on the spike of the hand-held contraption.

Several other Japanese toys are at hand for customers’ amusement.

In Kuishinbo, customers can spin the tops resting on the table while waiting for their sushi order. The waiters distribute water balloon yo-yos. A latex balloon is filled with water and air.

The balloon is sealed with a clip, then an elastic rubber string is attached with a loop on the end for your finger). Both parents and children got a laugh from playing with the yo-yo.

Whatever the food, the experience is unmistakably Japan.

Kuishinbo Japan Village

fX Life Style X’ntre F5 #07-13

Jl. Jendral Sudirman

Pintu Satu Senayan

South Jakarta

25554094

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