request. Though this lack of communication may seem to hinder Nishiwaki’s ability to serve his English-speaking customers, he has noted that the students’ laid-back manner and their patience while waiting for their orders has made them pleasant customers to serve in contrast to some customers who ask him to hurry. “They wait, even when we’re busy in the kitchen, and they don’t seem to be in a rush, so it’s a lot easier and I find it helpful,” he explains, mentioning that some customers can become impatient, anxiously waiting by the narrow kitchen counter that runs across the bar seating. When asked why they go to Sankichi for their lunch-time fried-rice fix, current student Saaya Hori ’19 replies, “I go there because it is a really popular restaurant within the community.” Her classmate concurs. “The food tastes great, and it's always nice to support local businesses,” says Jason Fujii ’19. “My favorite is the kimchi. It has the perfect, ‘Goldilocks’ amount of spice for me,” he adds. Colette Macarios ’19 says that it is a tradition among her and her friends to head to Sankichi after a concert, recalling “I have been going since freshman year and now that I am a senior it has become one of the highlights of performing at concerts.” Colette looks forward to using her senior privileges for a quick trip off-campus to grab a chahan lunch. But high school students aren’t the only ones enjoying his chahan. Visiting teams at this year’s YUJO Volleyball tournament were sustained by a large order for 100 people and middle school peer helpers also enjoyed a bulk delivery recently.
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THE AMERICAN SCHOOL IN JAPAN
While current ASIJ students tend to go to Sankichi from September to June, there are many recent alumni who return to Sankichi for a nostalgic bowl of chahan whenever they come back to Japan. Alumnus David Forster ’10, owner and chef of PekoPeko ramen in Baltimore (see page 4), recalls having gone to Sankichi prior to sports matches at ASIJ. Now, whenever he visits Tokyo and stops by ASIJ, he makes sure to grab a bowl of fried rice. Cleha Kodama ’14, now an assistant teacher in high school, has fond memories of grabbing chahan for lunch when she had senior privileges and has enjoyed the opportunity to grab a natsukashii taste of her student days. Reflecting on his years at Sankichi, Nishiwaki remembers that chahan isn’t the only thing that he has provided for ASIJ students. Throughout the years, students have asked him almost yearly for interviews or even to be a part of a graduating class’ senior video. “They come and film things here frequently. Every year, students come to interview me,” he jokingly wonders if interviewing local shops and restaurants is a regular assignment at one of the classes at ASIJ. To an extent, he would be correct as Jason Fujii sheds some light on the seemingly odd pattern, “For my Japanese class last year, we were tasked with interviewing a local business and my group chose Sankichi. When we finally interviewed them (they're always busy) they seemed genuinely happy to talk with us and had lots of passion and pride in the food they made.“ It’s clear that this chahan restaurant has quickly become ingrained in ASIJ student life and will continue to be for quite some time.
