Satoru Inoue

@satoruinoue.com

160 Followers 267 Following

Japanese-American physicist/translator/data scientist in Chicago. Writes about dishes, discs, and districts at https://www.satoruinoue.com Japanese account: @inoueian.bsky.social

A scene from a theme park. There is a pond with visitors riding boats inside in the foreground. In the background, there is a rollercoaster loop on the left, and a pagoda on the right.
A worker using a small 4-wheel buggy to move trash containers into a building
Screenshot of Google Maps with walking direction from Kaihimmakuhari station to Chiba Marine Stadium, showing a route that takes 15 min over 1 km
A reddish brown elevated bike path with metal railings, going up from a paved pedestrian area with bike racks
Halved yellow and red cherry tomatoes, pieces of pancetta, and chopped garlic scapes being sautéed in a stainless steel pan
2 plates, each with an open-faced sandwich. The left one is topped with a large mound of roast beef and greens, with a mustard sauce, and the right one is topped with soft cheese, nuts, and greens, with a dark-colored jam
A gasoline-powered bicycle, with an engine above the pedals
Google Maps screenshot of Lördagsplan, which is an open field inside a park, in Malmö
An airplane seat display showing an image of a lake at the bottom and a suburb at the top
A display with a quote from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
A largely pedestrian street with sidewalk cafes, with old mid-rise buildings on both sides, and a large gray concrete tower in the background with a red sign for the Scandic hotel chain
2 bikes on a train, latched to the left wall, with people sitting beyond them
A yellow Copenhagen Harbour Bus, about to dock at a stop, using a short drawbridge
3 bicycles that appear to have been parked but have fallen down sideways, on a stone-paved street
Satellite map of Takamatsu, Japan. To the north is the Seto Inland Sea, and there is a ferry terminal just to the north of the rail terminal in the middle. There are large buildings and blocks around these transport terminals, and generally smaller buildings in the surrounding areas. Green space is mostly limited to a mountainous area to the southeast and a relatively large part just east of the train station.
Satellite map of Malmö, Sweden. There is a large rail terminal in the middle, with a large area taken up by rail infrastructure to the east. To the south of the train station is the old town with narrow streets and small buildings, surrounded by canals, and the city extends to the east, south, and west, with larger blocks and wider roads. Just west and north of the train station are current and former industrial areas, with very large buildings and not much green space. There is a sea to the northwest, and there are wide canals going into the area near the train station and the industrial areas.
An open-faced sandwich on a dark brown rye bread, with spinach, saucy shrimp, orange fish roe, raw red onion, cucumber slices, and fennel fronds as toppings
A partially cloudy sky with the sun visible above the horizon, over a large body of water with a long bridge on the right half of the photo. There are rocks extending from the shore from the bottom left of the picture to the right
Dozens of orange scooters with green lights, by a city street at night
A field at night, full of people, with a fire burning in the middle
"In America it's almost considered proof that the gunman is a real craftsman," he said. "A kind of snobbishness. It shows the murderer is a real pro and doesn't bother to use more than what's absolutely necessary." "Malmö isn't Chicago," Månsonn said laconically.
A canal at dusk, with bridges over it, and old European buildings in the background
A sugared, brown pastry with black seats on it, where a rope-like dough was tied into a spiral shape before baking
View of the sea under a partially cloudy sky, through a window
One beer fridge to the left with a sign for Mikkeller, and 3 beer fridges to the right, each with a sign for To Øl
A round, laminated pastry with ridges that is well-browned on the outside
A bike parking area inside a car parking lot, in front of a restaurant called Kød og Flæskehal, with a sculpture of cattle in top of the building
Colorful squiggles with markers on a piece of white paper
A picture book showing many bikes, starting to climb a hill
3 library books, being held by a hand so that the spines are visible. Texts on the spines: Gehl & Svarre, How to Study Public Life Gehl, Life Between Buildings Murder at the Savoy: A Martin Beck Police Mystery, Maj Sjö Per Wa (the last names are covered up by a library label)
A spread of Indian dishes, with 3 curries in the middle, Basmati rice and naan to the left, and a tandoori chicken with vegetables to the right
A CTA bus stop display showing information about bus routes 2, 10, 29, 130, 146, 147, and 148. Bus #10 is shown as "Obama Presidential Center/Museum of Science & Industry Express"
A package of coffee beans with a stylized drawing of an owl in white against the black background, and description of the beans written inside a blue rectangle. “Hamasho Second State Coffee Origin Hamasho Station Bensa, Sidana Ethiopia Process Natural Tasting notes Grape Blackberry Plum Var. 74158 12 oz • 340 grams • whole beans”
At 7.15 the next morning, I reconvened with the group, aching, sweating Suntory and salty meat through my pores, sustained only by a milky bottled coffee from a vending machine. Optimal conditions for a morning at the world's largest fish market.
One implication of this is, it might be better to find, say, a tonkatsu place near where you happen to be, rather than trying to figure out where “the best tonkatsu in Tokyo” is. This is especially true in Tokyo, a city that is as dense as New York and as spread out as LA. I’ve seen advice online saying you should book restaurants in advance when you visit Japan, and I disagree strongly. The only exception is if you’re really, really sure you want to go to a particular very popular or exclusive restaurant. My real advice is to just find any old place and try it, but if you feel that’s too risky, Tabelog is the most reliable food review site in Japan. Unlike Google Maps or TripAdvisor, most of the ratings come from locals. The main thing to keep in mind is that its reviewers are extremely tough—3 stars (out of 5) means you’re pretty good, 3.5 is really good, 4 is a rare achievement.
Everyone I know who’s been to Japan gave me a list. Things to eat, things to do, things to see - the best ramen, the most extraordinary this, the unmissable that. I love a recommendation. I save them all, in little folders on my phone that I open occasionally and feel good about and then completely ignore. With two kids in tow, the checklists of top spots in Tokyo were never going to happen anyway. Instead, wherever we found ourselves across Japan - in a city or further afield - I opened Tabelog (their equivalent of Google review) and found anything above 3 stars and walked in.
The view out of a window on a wooden building, showing some wooden piers with small boats in a large body of water. There are islands visible near the horizon. The sky is partially covered by clouds.
A museum display with text on the left and a map on the right. Left: CHARLESTON IN THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE 152,000 Estimated number of African captives who survived to arrive in Charleston directly from Africa, 1710-1808 809 Slave ship voyages that arrived in Charleston directly from Africa, 1710-1808 63 DAYS Average length of the Middle Passage across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to Charleston 17,000 Estimated number of captives who survived to arrive in Charleston from the Caribbean, 1670-1808 Right: There is an old, black-and-white map of Charleston, showing the Charleston Peninsula with its gridded streets. Many piers are on the east side, facing the Cooper River, and much fewer piers facing the Ashley River to the southwest, with many marshes. caption: Charleston's Wharves Captives arrived at many wharves along the Charleston peninsula linked to international trade. Gadsden's Wharf was most active during the trade's final years. Map of Charleston, South Carolina, 1866. University of Michigan
A photo from an airplane, whose right wing is visible in the middle. A large body of water extends to the horizon that is covered by clouds, and the sky is partially covered by clouds. The water is blue far away, and gets slightly greenish near the bottom, where a large cargo ship is traveling toward the bottom right of the image, and there is a breakwater extending from the bottom left of the image.
View under a highway bridge, where a river with boats are visible in the background, and the foreground is a muddy area with puddles of water
A large plate with spare ribs, glazed with wine red sauce, and pulled pork. Small bowls with yellow curry cornbread with garnish on top, and collard greens with red spices on top.
About a dozen shrimp on grits with light brown broth, and garnished with green sprouts and a red condiment
A po’ boy sandwich with browned scallops, purple beet sauce, mayonnaise and chives, served with fries and pickles
Rice with crab and shrimp
Many pieces of partially browned asparagus, with shallot and garlic slices similarly browned
Multiple ads inside a CTA train, all for Michigan tourism, with the catchphrase “Pure Michigan”
A high-rise building that has a narrow tower in the middle, which narrows further into a pyramidal rooftop that is painted blue. The blue paint nearly matches the color of the sky in the background. Also visible in the background is a large body of water that is darker blue.
3 white ramp bulbs in a clear pickling liquid, in a clear plastic container
Japanese (crude) birth and death rates from 1950 to 2020. There is a general decreasing trend in birth rates over time from 28 per thousand in 1950 to 7 per thousand in 2020, with a peak on top of the declining trend in the early 1970s. There is a large drop in 1966, which had a birth rate of 14 per thousand when neighboring years had 18 to 19 births per thousand.
Screenshot of the disambiguation page for Péter Magyar, translated from Hungarian to English: Péter Magyar (1937–), architect Péter Magyar (1940–) journalist [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Péter Magyar (1946–) economist Péter Magyar (1964–2018) rock musician, drummer (Balaton, Európa Kiadó) Péter Magyar (?–) financial manager (Comedy Theatre) [ 4 ] Péter Magyar (1976–), politician, member of the Jobbik Movement for Hungary party Péter Magyar (1981–) politician, Prime Minister, chairman of the Respect and Freedom Party
White cooked grits, topped with pieces of orange cooked shrimp, brown slices of mushrooms, bacon bits, and green herbs. A wedge of lemon is also on the plate
A view of Chicago skyscrapers, with the Jewelers' Building in the middle, under a cloudy sky. The photo is taken from the Chicago Water Taxi's yellow boat, visible on the bottom right. The top of Sears Tower is visible between buildings in the foreground.
A hand holding 4 library books, with back covers showing. Back covers, from left to right: "Seven Gothic Tales" by Dinesen "A Dream Play and The Ghost Sonata" by Strindberg "Alphabet" by Inger Christensen "Doctor Glas" by Hjalmar Söderberg.
A satellite map fo Seattle, showing Puget Sound to the left, Lake Washington to the right, and 2 oblong landforms meeting in the middle across the Lake Washington Ship Canal
Yellow yakisoba noodles with slices of meat and pieces of carrots, bok choy, and ramps, all on a tabletop griddle.
A payment machine just behind the front door of a bus, with “Not in service” on the screen. There’s a sign on the window that says “This is a Ventra test device. (Future updates coming soon!)”, “Este es un dispositivo de prueba de Ventra. (Nuevas actualizaciones en breve!)”, and a QR code.
A large toasted corn tortilla with toppings that include large cilantro pieces, small dollops of orange sauce, mussels, streaks of cream yellow and dark brown sauces, and green ramps
A small sauce pan with a brown liquid inside, starting to bubble
A high rise obscured by fog