Kabukicho Russian Restaurant “Sungaree～A restaurant where Madame Gina will tell you “sometimes stories about the old days” ~.

Tokiko Kato at Sungaree Shinjuku 3-chome restaurant

The restaurant Sungaree serves authentic Russian cuisine in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho district.

The restaurant is famous because it was owned by Ms. Tokiko Kato, a chanson singer and the actress who played Madame Gina in the Ghibli film “Red Pig. Her parents, who lived in a mini-Russia* in Harbin during the war, opened the restaurant upon their return to Japan, and it has been passed down from generation to generation.

Of course, the food tastes superb. The restaurant has an astounding 3.57 rating (top 3% of all restaurants) on “Eat Log,” the No. 1 word-of-mouth website in Japan, and has long held a special place in people’s hearts despite its location in Japan’s most meccially connected downtown area.

In this article, we will look into the history of Sungaree and the personality of the former owner, Tokiko Kato, as well as introduce many of the restaurant’s exquisite Russian dishes.

Introduction of Sungaree
Cuisine
Former owner, Tokiko Kato
Finish

Introduction of Sungaree

1965. This photo was taken when Sungaree was located near the Koma Theater in Kabukicho. It later moved to its current location at the main branch on the east exit of Shinjuku. On the left is the first generation, Yoshiko Mama (mother of Tokiko Kato)

Opened in 1957. Founder Koshiro Kato and his wife Yoshiko lived in Harbin, Manchuria during the war. A large number of Russians had immigrated to Harbin since the late 19th century due to the Eastern Qing Railway connected by Imperial Russia. The secret Russo-Chinese agreement extended intervention to economic and urban development, and Russian style buildings and culture flowed into the city at once, and for decades it remained a historical city as a mini-Russia.

A view of Harbin’s Central Avenue (Kitayskaya) in the early Showa period

In the midst of all this, Kato and his wife emigrated from Japan in 1935 when her husband, Koshiro, was hired by the Manchurian Railway. They spent 11 years immersed in Russian culture, from lifestyle to fashion. They returned to Japan with their daughter, Tokiko, who was born there, but her father, Koshiro, could not forget the taste of the cuisine of that time, so he finally opened Sungaree.

Inside the current Sungari restaurant. (The current interior of Sungaree restaurant, which is reminiscent of an old house with high ceilings in the suburbs of Moscow, has a warm atmosphere that makes the food delicious. The restaurant is decorated with Russian-inspired decorations and accessories here and there, making you feel like you have instantly jumped into a different world

Cuisine

・Perimeni

Siberian-style hand-pulled water gyoza with lemon and butter sauce. The juices that come out when you bite into it and the light sauce create an indescribable harmony, making this a very popular dish.

・Grivy Vous Smetanier

Mushrooms and white asparagus are placed in a small jar, covered with bread dough, and stewed in smetana cream, a typical Russian dish. The combination of freshly baked savory bread dough and rich mushroom cream is an exquisitely delicious warm appetizer.

・Marinovna Yaketa Wrapped in Blinis

An appetizer of homemade marinated fresh salmon wrapped in a thin Russian pancake called blinui. This is our most popular appetizer and offers the perfect balance of thick salmon and smetana cream in a thin pancake. Sliced tomatoes, onions, and salted Russian pickles can be added as desired. (Only at the East Exit branch).

Former owner, Tokiko Kato

Tokiko Kato, daughter of the founder and former owner of Sungaree, is famous for voicing the popular character Madame Gina in the Ghibli film “Red Pig. She is bewitching, and yet lonely,

For children who saw the movie, she may have been the first “adult woman” they had ever encountered.

What kind of person is Tokiko Kato, the owner of such a voice? Let us trace her life story.

1943 Born in Harbin, Manchuria

1945 After the war, she moved back to Kyoto, where her mother Yoshiko Kato lived, and went to elementary and junior high school.

1962-1965: Department of Western History, Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo

1965 Wins the 2nd “Japan Amateur Chanson Competition” while still a student at the same university

1966 Made her record debut with “Nobody Knows Nobody”; her second single, “Akai Fuusen” won the Newcomer’s Award at the 8th Japan Record Award.

1972 Marries Toshio Fujimoto, a member of Zengakuren, in prison.

1987 “One Million Roses” becomes a big hit.

What a tumultuous story.

She thought she had achieved stardom with her record-breaking hit, but then she jumped into the student movement, fell in love with the leader of the Bundt faction she met there, and became pregnant. She later married him over the wall after he was arrested, and later returned to show business and became a million-selling singer-songwriter. I wonder if Madame Gina’s voice, which seems to have mastered both sweet and sour tastes, is the result of her life experiences.

And although she will turn 79 this year, she continues to be active as an actress and concert performer. Here, I would like to excerpt some of the lyrics from one of her best-known songs, “Sometimes I Talk About the Past.

“Searching vainly for an invisible tomorrow

Everyone was pinning their hopes on

The hot winds of a shaky time

I felt the moment in my body.”

Tokiko Kato at the time of the opening of the Shinjuku Nishiguchi Subaru Building in 1967, when she had just made her debut

Her debut in show business while still a student at Tokyo University, the student movement with no clear future, meeting her husband…

I wonder if these poems were written while reviving such fierce memories. I cannot help thinking so.

Finish

Restaurant Sungaree was born in turbulent times and has the DNA of three countries, China, Russia, and Japan. Tonight, too, the restaurant opens quietly amidst the hustle and bustle of Kabukicho.

If you want to be free from the hustle and bustle of modern society, why don’t you visit the restaurant and have a chat about the old days?

◆Mainichi ga Hakken Net