Shimada and His “Top Curry” Restaurant

By Zhou Xianxian

“I feel happy for the first few days when I come back and eat delicious food in Japan, but after several days, my spirits will sink, and I’ll be eager to get back to Wuhan,” Mr. Shimada said with a smile on his face.

Shimada Kouji, 71 years old, is from Fukuoka, Japan. He began to travel around the world at the age of 35 and has visited a lot of places. Eight years ago, he decided to settle in Wuhan because he liked the greenery and fresh air here which were similar to that of his hometown. What’s more, he liked the local people who were friendly to him, and he felt at ease while living here.

Mr. Shimada opened a curry restaurant named “Top Curry” in Wuhan. Because of the taste and affordable price, as well as the free Japanese lessons that he offers in the evening,his restaurant is popular among the youth, who prefer to affectionately call him “Grandpa Dao”(“Dao” is the short form of Daotian, the Chinese translation of Shimada). Grandpa Dao, growing old and having no child, doesn’t need much money, so his restaurant is not for making a fortune. For him, it’s great to communicate with young people, and he believes that, in this way, he can always be full of energy and happiness.

岛田和他的“顶屋咖喱”

文/周献献

“我回日本的头几天，能吃到好吃的会很开心，但过不了几天就会没精打采，然后就想回武汉”,岛田先生笑着说道。

岛田是日本福冈人，今年71岁，35岁开始游历世界，去过很多地方，八年前选择留在中国武汉。他说武汉绿化好，空气清新，和福冈很像，更重要的是，这里的人很友好，住这里安心。

岛田在武汉开了一家咖喱店——“顶屋咖喱”，美味实惠，每天晚上还有免费的日语教学，来吃饭的年轻人很多，他们都亲切地称他“岛爷爷”。岛爷爷说，他开店不是为了赚钱，年纪大了，又没孩子，也不需要什么钱，能够和年轻人接触交流，他觉得有活力，非常幸福。

岛爷爷的店交给店主丹子打理。丹子，武汉本地人，是一个带点文艺范的90后姑娘，和岛爷爷认识已经四年多。岛爷爷不会讲中文，丹子日语专业毕业，和岛爷爷交流没有什么障碍，两个人一起研发新品，还时不时地用日语开玩笑，像朋友，更像家人。

除了咖喱店的事和日语学习会，岛爷爷多在家看书、下围棋，很少出门。丹子有空就带岛爷爷看画展、话剧。两人都很随性，出去旅游时也不做计划，坐上公交车，从起点到终点，中间有想看的就下车。过年过节，丹子还会带岛爷爷回家，体验中国百姓人家的节日氛围。

岛田（右）和丹子 Mr. Shimada (right) and Dan

Mr. Shimada entrusts his restaurant to a local post-90s girl named Dan who is fond of literature and art. She has been employed by Grandpa Dao as the manager of his restaurant for more than four years. Grandpa Dao can’t speak Chinese, but Dan, majoring in Japanese,can communicate with him in Japanese fluently. Thus, they often work together and discuss how they can develop new menus,and sometimes they also make jokes in Japanese. They look like friends and family too.

When not running his business or giving Japanese lessons,Grandpa Dao usually stays at home reading or playing Go,rarely going out. When Dan is free, she will bring him with her to art exhibitions and dramas. Both are free of other commitments,so once they decide to travel, they just take a bus from the departure station to the terminal station.As such, when there is something attractive outside the window,they will get off. Additionally,Dan often invites Grandpa Dao to spend Chinese festivals with her and her family.

When asked about life in Dan’s hometown, Grandpa Dao gets very excited and describes vividly all he saw and heard.Dan’s home is in the countryside,where cicadas can be heard in summer and dogs and roosters can be heard at dawn. Grandpa Dao imitated these voices with extraordinarily high and delightful tones. He said he felt extremely moved when he heard them. In winter, he saw there was a wood-burning stove and insisted on boiling coffee by making a fire,despite the fact that there were modern domestic appliances.“Before the water boils,” he said.“I just watch the burning fire and smell the fragrance of firewood. I really enjoy it.”

Grandpa Dao is always ready to resolve customers’ problems with patience, so his “Top Curry”is regarded as another “Namiya General Store.” Now, it is becoming difficult for this aging old man to answer customers’questions and teach Japanese on his own. Sometimes, Dan, will communicate with customers on his behalf. Then she translates their conversations to Grandpa Dao and he usually praises her,saying, “Wow, excellent! I didn’t think about that at all. Good job!Good girl!”

To others’ eyes, Dan is like Mr.Shimada’s daughter, but for him,sometimes she is more like his mother. Dan not only manages his curry restaurant but also takes care of him in daily life. Mr.Shimada has a good disposition and he can’t speak Chinese, so he would sometimes be tricked and suffer losses. Once Dan was informed of such a slight, and she confronted the dishonest person directly and demanded justice for Mr. Shimada. Grandpa Dao who was protected behind her attempted to stop her and said in a low voice, “Well, it’s all right.Come on!” He remarked that he felt very happy when he was like a child being protected by his mother.

Grandpa Dao likes China because he is deeply affected by the kindess and warm care from the locals. Due to his poor Chinese, he doesn’t have many friends in China, and he has become acquainted with many of them just in the restaurant or in Japanese lessons. Although they have little contact in daily life, these friends will give him a hand when he is in need. Some even come to visit him from other provinces, which moves him very much.

Grandpa Dao’s Top Curry,which was once relocated, has developed into two restaurants in 2016, still run by Dan. What is most interesting is that both restaurants were completed and opened after Dan became pregnant, so she said jokingly that she gave birth to three children:her son and the two restaurants.She hopes all of them can grow healthily. No matter what, Top Curry will always be there, and she will make sure they are brought up right.

岛田在日语交流会后与同学们合影 After a free Japanese lesson, Mr. Shimada took photos with students from different countries

谈及在丹子家的经历，岛爷爷非常兴奋，绘声绘色地描述他的所见所闻。丹子家在乡下，夏天能听到蝉鸣，黎明时能听到鸡鸣狗吠，岛爷爷用格外高的声调模仿这些声音，说自己听到这些会莫名地感动。冬天，他见丹子家里有烧木柴的炉子，非要自己生火煮咖啡。看着燃烧的火焰，闻着木柴的香味，等待水的沸腾，他很享受这个过程。

岛爷爷总是耐心地帮陌生人解决困扰，因此也有人说他的“顶屋咖喱”像“解忧杂货铺”。现在岛爷爷年纪大了，身体不太好，答疑、教学不像以前都亲力亲为，丹子有时替他和客人沟通，之后再翻译给岛爷爷听。“哇，好厉害啊!这一点我都没想到呢，做得好！做得好！”岛爷爷经常会这样夸丹子。

在外人看来，丹子像岛爷爷的女儿，而在岛爷爷看来，丹子有时更像他的“妈妈”。丹子除了打理咖喱店，还照顾岛爷爷日常生活。岛爷爷脾性很好，又不懂中文，时不时会吃亏。丹子知道了，就会找上门和人家理论，岛爷爷被她护在身后，一旁小声劝着：“哎呀，好了，好了啦！”他说，这个时候，自己就像被妈妈保护的小孩，感觉很幸福。

岛爷爷喜欢中国，说他在这里感受到了自然的关怀和朴素的温暖。因为语言问题，他朋友不多，大部分是在店里和学习会上认识的。这些朋友虽然平常联系不多，但是在需要的时候都会伸出援手，有一些外地的朋友还特意来看他，他非常感动。

岛爷爷的“顶屋咖喱”经历过拆迁、重新选址，2016年后发展为两家，都是由丹子负责。巧的是，它们都是在丹子怀孕后建好营业的，所以她笑称自己生了三个宝宝——自己的儿子，还有这两家咖喱店。她希望这三个宝宝都能够健康成长，哪怕岛爷爷以后不在了，“顶屋”还会在，她会为了岛爷爷好好经营，一直开下去。