They came (120+ of y'all); they ate (40 bowls of gumbo in about an hour, plus a slew of other meals); they drank (oohh, my, did they drink 300+ glasses worth); and they bought them books (many, many dozen).

Thanks to everyone who came out last Thursday and made the Tokyo Poppas release event a complete success. A huge thanks to Sanbancho Cafe for being gracious and accommodating hosts. For Kaizan and Nakamura-san for dragging their giant JBL speaker over from Komae and performing a unique 50-minute ambient sax duo (described by one patron as, "Whale Sex Music"). Thanks to Kohiyama-san, the president of Yushin Printing, for providing us with giant blow-ups of 'ole Rex's mug. And thanks to Bruce for flying his nomadic self out here and making the event feel whole!

Sanbancho Cafe was probably the perfect venue for the event. We had as many people show up as we did at the Kuhaku release two years ago, but it never once felt crowded and, perhaps most importantly, we got to really meet and talk with a large number of Japanese writers and editors. Or perhaps most, most importantly, a lot of Japanese folk got to taste some damn tasty gumbo! To which, I send much respect to the Sanbancho Cafe head chef for stretching his culinary legs out and giving this Southern dish a serious go.

All in all a success and we hope to do more of these next year! Lots more to talk about from Bruce's recent trip out here, but for now, here's some more photos:

More photos after the break ...