Ode to Sashimi

Picture the scene: Fourteen hundred wide eyes stare at a lit stage, eagerly watching as the conductor lifts his baton. One, two... da, da da di di da da di di! The sound of timpani, brass and woodwinds thunder through the hall, proclaiming the commencement of Beethoven's final masterpiece. A chorus of nearly two hundred heads looks back at the crowd. Both the chorus and the crowd are anxiously awaiting the moment when the sounds of the heavenly Ode to Joy will fill the hall with beauty and light.
Now picture the orchestra: half students at Heisei Music Conservatory, half hired professionals, a handful of old-timers who return every year, and me. A... foreign face. The only foreign face--except for the conductor. This man, Renike, a German-born Japan resident for over twenty years, was remarkable. Not only did he bring Beethoven's spirit out of all of us through his inspiration, but he managed to convey his wishes at rehearsal through a mix of Japanese, German and English.
So how on earth did I get a gig like this one? Tsunoda Sensei is the answer. Haven't I mentioned that Japan is about connections? Maybe that's another blog waiting to happen, but, Tsunoda Sensei is one of the few old-timers who was asked back to play. He put in his good word for me and got me in. Into the first violin section, that is!
We had three rehearsals, two of which were during school hours, so I had to take some vacation time. I ended up getting paid about $100(against my contract, but I didn't know about the $ beforehand, I swear!!), so it didn't really matter that I took off. Rehearsal lasted three hours, which were put to good use, I'd say. Part of the time, we rehearsed a bassoon concerto by Weber, which was utterly Mozartian in my opinion(which means I like to listen to it, but not to play it). The rest of the time, I sat at my own stand in the back of the section trying desperately to get the comments from the concertmaster passed back to me. So many of the people I've met are terribly, horribly shy, to the point where no one will even look at me for fear I might talk to them. I had hoped to meet a couple people and maybe form some of my own musical connections in the area, as it's been a difficult task from the start, but no one would talk, even in Japanese!
Yet, I am not writing to show any discouragement, I am mainly writing because of food.
I want to write about the food Tsunoda Sensei and I ate after the concert.

Tsunoda Sensei, as I once mentioned, is a wealthy man. He runs a chiropractic business from his home, is the only Chinese herbalist I've heard of on Kyushu, and maintains a small concert hall in his house. He took me out for sashimi(raw fish/shellfish) after our hard day's work at the concert hall.
The sashimi place was one block from his house, in my hometown Arao. It was the tiniest hole-in-the wall of a restaurant, but looks were certainly deceiving in this case. My friend Steve, whom I traveled to Kyoto with, has a fine appreciation for all things sushi/sashimi. I wished I'd known of this place when he was here. We're not talking salmon and tuna, these fish and shellfish were from my area, fresh as can be, killed and cut up as we waited.

---I wanted to look up all the translations online, but I've tried and have come up with nothing helpful. I believe that many of the food items were rare or delicacies, so I will just do my best to describe them---
(I will list the Japanese in katakanized romaji for those who understand it and wish to correct my mistakes--please do. Also, everything is raw unless otherwise mentioned :) )

Starters: Kairagi-Shellfish, served on Amakusa wakame(local seaweed):
Kaibashira-Looked like a small conch(couldn't identify the shell), hammered open, scooped out of the shell, and thinly sliced. Colorful black and brown edges with a pink flesh.
Bira-Several small clams
Shoyu mameyariika-tiny squid soaked in soy sauce, mirin, and sake for 3 days(yuck-the eyeballs were not of a pleasant texture)

Another round of sashimi:
Aka ebi-Red shrimp, striped, very mushy
Tora fugu-The dreaded blowfish. The chef showed me his license as he served this specialty item. It is illegal to serve blowfish without a license because several parts of the fish are poisonous if swallowed. I freaked out with pleasure when he told me what it was, and I ate it right away. It's flavor was nondescript, like any mild whitefish sashimi I've had.
Haze-Small, whole, white fish, lightly fried
Iwashi dango-Dark brown fish balls, with onion and other vegetables, resembled my memories of liver

Tempura(batter-fried items) arrived:
Kuchizoko-Another tasty white fish
Konyaku-Purple gelatinous squares, rarely made tempura-style
Carrots
Haze-White fish

More sashimi and other things:
Hirame--White fish sandwiched in kombu seaweed for 2 days. Thoroughly consisent and pleasant texture.
Takuwa Tsukemono, ori-Two varieties of wild pickles
Ariake nori-local seaweed-Dark brown, nearly black. Resembled prunes in texture, flavor and color, all except for the seaweed aftertaste. Hmm.
Sukeami shiozuke-Teeny little shrimp, so bitter and salty they were nearly inedible. I did my best ;)
Kapo marunishi-Another shellfish, resembled fleshy, pink cheeks.

Special tastes:
One thirty-year old umeboshi-Plum soaked in wine/sake. So flavorful and bitter, my whole being became 'plum' for a moment. The taste lingered for several minutes. Not unpleasant, but fully encompassing the taste buds. A real treasure.
One thirty-year old umeboshi geokyoso-The plum's seed, removed from the exterior shell. Supposedly possesses special healing powers. It tasted good(shoulders shrug).
The chef's homemade 16 year-old shochu-whisky. Quite delicate, for whisky.
The chef's homemade 6 year-old umeboshi sake-plum wine. Yum yum yum.

Finishing course:
Rice
Daigojiru-Miso soup with coin-shaped dumplings inside. This miso had a texture like corn chowder, contained carrots, sweet potato, winter squash, and onions. The chef said that the recipe had been in the family for centuries. He learned it from his grandmother. He said that she'd served it to samurai. It was by far one of the tastiest foods I've had in Japan, if not in my entire life. It was a great way to finish a stunning meal.

I left out all the tasting sauces, but I think my point's been made about the amazing and unusual quality of this meal. It was obvious that the chef hadn't encountered a customer so enticed by his dishes in a long time. I believe this is why he attempted to create a meal beyond regular extravagance. (Truly, I believe it was the look on my face when he mentioned the blowfish. He knew I'd be interested to try anything after that.)
I ate so much that I had a hard time sleeping. At 3:30AM, I was wide awake. I called my mom and also bought a plane ticket home to Philly for the holidays. Then I read for an hour.
Ah, Japan.