Musing

There is a certain mystery to a traditional Japanese restaurant.  The long, narrow corridors leading from the street to the entrance, the noren (curtains) hanging in the doorways hiding all but the shoes of the patrons, the kōshi (wooden window lattice) which serve to screen the "lord of the house" from the outside.  It is this mystery that is so inviting.  You want to know what is happening in there, you want to go in.  They don't need plate-glass windows, neon signs, tables and chairs on the sidewalk, sandwich boards with specials.  They've hooked you with nothingness.  The Zen restaurateur.