Wow.  Three months went by fast...again.

I hope you have been doing well.  I hope you had an awesome holiday season and an exciting but not tiring New Year!

Too much has happened in the last three month so today I will focus in on Christmas and my New Year's holiday....

I use to love watching a Charlie Brown Christmas or How the Grinch Stole Christmas on TV when I was a kid in the USA but this year in Japan guess what was on TV!

Although only about 1% of Japanese claim to be Christians, Christmas is none the less one of the most popular foreign holidaysin Japan with cakes and teeny tiny Christmas trees. 

(Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan.)  

Winter vacation usually starts from the 29th and goes on till about the 4th.  (It is a bit longer for students though.)

I took a pretty long holiday.

The 23rd to today!

:-)

Here's what else I ate during the New Year holiday:

in Nagasaki

"Osechi" is a boxed meal that is filled with dishes that are made to last for a few days so that housewives don't have to be constantly cooking...we are supposed to let the kitchen rest... but you know how things are....it really doesn't end up that way!

The white bowls with the white round rice cakes on top are called "ozoni".  This is a soup that you put the rice cakes in.  Each region in Japan has their own flavors.  Osaka is miso based.  The city where my  mother is from (Fukuoka) has a clear fish/seaweed broth and in Nagasaki (where my husband is from) it is made with a seaweed and chicken broth and has lots of vegetables in it...which is actually quite unique in Japan.

I still have not mastered the Nagasaki style...

Rice cakes also show up as decorations with little mikan (like tangerines) on top.

The above are the decorations my mom had.

The flowers must include"sho-chiku-bai":

Pine-Bamboo-Plum blossoms (or Japanese apricot)

It is hard to see all three but they are there!

Speaking of New Year decorations, 2012 is the year of the dragon and this is my dragon at home!

This year I have made a motto:

Keep it simple.

and my NewYear's resolution is:

Do!

Combining the two means lots more de-cluttering this year!

I can't believe no matter how much 2stuff" I throw away there's still tons more.

Today I threw away old yellowed cards and envelopes and organized the ones that I have like so:

I had so many categories that I couldn't find the right cards when I needed them the most....I'd just keep buying and buying....

(the postcard with the girl in the kimono is something I bought in Kyoto but I do not know who painted it....)

If anybody out there would like to trade postcards please let me know!

Also, if you have any questions about my de-cluttering experience please leave a comment.  I will be posting more about my motto "keep it simple"soon!

Until then, I hope you have a wonderful January and a happy New Year!

Magic.

Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki

I can't believe I have never posted about Okonomiyaki.  Some call it the Japanese style pizza but I think it is more like a layered crepe. A crepe with diced cabbage and any other vegetable you like with meat, prawn or squid in between.  I like mine with cheese.  

The finishing touches are sauce and mayonnaise with bonita flakes and "aonori" green seaweed flakes are sprinkled on top.  The one in the above picture is a "negi yaki" so there are tons of sliced green onions on them!

http://www.justhungry.com/okonomiyaki-osaka-style shows how to make it "Osaka" style and there is even a dot com website for okonomiyaki! here: http://okonomiyakiworld.com/

I actually prefer the Hiroshima style okonomiyaki because you place the cabbage ON the batter (first layer of crepe) instead of mixing it WITH the batter which I think makes the cabbage less tasty.

I digress...since I am not trying to write about the recipes which you can find at the above links...I actually want to talk about MAGIC.

The magical wonders of the...

watch it in action:

It can squirt out five lines of mayonnaise or ketchup or whatever you like because...

there are holes.

So simple magic is.

Now, for another kind of magic.

I just got back from a friend's fantastic charity concert.  There were 9 different bands that came together to raise money for the people effected by the earthquakes and tsunamis in north eastern Japan.  

Magic is for those who "do".  That is what my friend K has taught me.  I think what she did was magic  because she brought people together for a purpose. Out of nothing she created a night of giving!

Here is another band that is creating magic!

Monkey Magik

They are volunteering and raising spirits and will have a charity concert in the summer here in Osaka.

Thank you so much for all of  your prayers and kind thoughts...to me all of this is magic too and I am so very grateful!

One reason why I think social medias are cool and one reason why I think they sometimes are not…

Hello!

Here in Japan we have started a three day weekend.  Monday is the spring equinox.  

I like my job but I am very happy that I do not have to go to the office on Monday. I am sure my friends up north are feeling the same way, but more intensely because of the power cuts and aftershocks they are still experiencing. 

Me? I’m just laaaaazyyy.

AND I got a few bottles of strawberry liquor to taste.

strawberry sake, strawberry liquor, strawberry wine all made from strawberries from the Kyushu island

Yes, I know, strawberries AGAIN.

(FYI, there are strawberry blogs out there!

http://www.strawberry-recipes.com/strawberry-recipes-blog.html

http://growing-strawberries.blogspot.com/

and this blog I found thanks to the Tattered Cover:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/?s=strawberries&submit=

had the greatest recipes for strawberries and other “stuff” too.)

So this is why I think blogs are cool….you find great people to “talk” with, great things to read, information you are looking for and with things like facebook, sometimes you even find long lost relatives!

Blogs, Facebook and twitter (and in Japan, Mixi) have become a place for many people here to connect with friends and family... especially during these devastating times.

The internet has helped to bring people together.  We have been able to change lives, be changed and learn about things we would otherwise be oblivious about.

I think this has given journalists a hard time these days… It’s harder for them because, unlike before, we might actually “know” someone from the area they are reporting from.

Now…we can see…right through them…sometimes. 

For example,

20 or 30 years ago, if you saw on the news that hundreds of Tokyoites were wearing masks because they were afraid of radiation, you might have believed them.  Gee, I might have believed them too!

Now, thanks to tons of great blogs (see my blog roll on the left) and well in this case…

me

we know a bit more about Japan(or at least we can find out if some things are leaning towards suspicious). 

Therefore, you would know that Tokyoites are wearing their masks, like many other people around Japan this time of year, because they have HAY FEVER. (Here is a post from a Japanese blogger in Tokyo about hay fever in Japan: http://www.hellotokyo.jp/2011/02/20/hay-fever-in-japan/.

As I do not want to reinvent the wheel, here is a wiki that someone has made to collect some of the most blatant mistakes in the news covering the Quake and Tsunami in Japan.

http://jpquake.wikispaces.com/Journalist+Wall+of+Shame

Apart from this I would also like to add that although there are many people at the airport trying to flee Japan, please keep in mind that it is SPRING VACATION and since schools are out till April, lots of people have been scheduling holidays overseas ANYWAY.  So that is probably why many people are having a hard time getting tickets out of here too… ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/anxious-foreigners-flee-japan/2011/03/15/ABrlvnW_story.html).

A friend of mine is going back to the UK this weekend to see his family…he had this planned BEFORE the earthquake…

Although I respect peoples' decisions to leave Japan right now (especially if you are not fluent in the language, have small children or if you are ill etc.) there are some people who are choosing to stay: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-im-not-fleeing-japan/2011/03/16/ABQsdhk_story.html

(Thank you K for the link!)

Like any type of information we get, I think it is important to learn how to process the information.  I mean, really think about what you are reading or hearing… I mean REALLY.  Just stop to think…sometimes…it helps. 

I know, I am preaching to the choir now……but now for the one reason why I don’t like the internet:

(eeek! I am about to tread on very thin ice…)

I found wacky comments about how Japan is not a religious country thus this tragedy was brought upon them (?!).  There are tons of stuff out there that wouldn’t have been “published” for everyone to see, hear or read if it weren’t so darn easy to use the internet…

I know I know I know I know I know I know ...

We are entitled to our own opinions and beliefs and in some parts of the world we actually have freedom of “speech”.

I just hope empathy will prevail. And you know what? 

I think it will. 

Look what I found...

SMILE!

My trip to Hakata. + More tomatoes!?

Hi! I am back and feeling great!

I tried getting on the internet with my new phone but the area surrounding my mother's place did not have wi-fi so it has been a week since I have been able to peek at some of my favorite blogs!

The rice paddies are green and looking nice where she lives.

In a couple of weeks the stalks will grow taller, turn brown and start to bow with heavy heads of rice grains.



While I was in Hakata I found more interesting tomato sweets!

Tomato yogurt... it tasted like... cold tomato soup... but more creamy and sweet.

This is white chocolate with tomatoes in it! When you munch on it is rather crispy, kind of like when you eat a kit-kat.
At first the aroma of white chocolate fills your mouth...
but when you swallow there is a light tang and you get a whiff of tomatoes.

...

It was hot in Hakata but I had some errands to run, and one of them took me to my alma mater.
It is a Christian school and I remember attending chapel once a week to hear the pipe organ...which I forgot to check out while I was there....

I did stop to see what was on the bulletin board:

Since my errand had to do with my "new beginning" ( a new job in September) the above bit of scripture seemed directed at me...

I can just see the trees "clap their hands"!

When I got back to Osaka, the trees had a few yellow leaves and the clouds looked farther away than they were before...an autumn sky!

There are a few errands for me to run before my magical merry Monday off is over.
Next week my Monday will be spent in Tokyo! I am so excited!

fireworks, tomato dessert and my new phone

I will be visiting my mom in Fukuoka from tomorrow...I will probably not be able to do a whole lot of blogging this week since she doesn't have a computer...but with my current blogging rate, you won't even notice that I'm gone! lol

However, I will try to see if I can blog via my new phone...

Yep, you read right, my new phone:

I am a sucker for apple computers...

I have an i-pod too.... but I think my new i-phone is pretty....

Anywhooo...

Last week was packed with fun and work. I got to meet some friends and we had a great lunch and some sparkling wine...

I also treated myself to some interesting dessert that my husband found...

this is a "tomato tiramisu"

It was a little sweet and sour at the same time...not bad really!

There was also a fireworks festival not far from where I live. I got to catch a glimpse of it all between the surrounding buildings!

I'll try to get back on track with more photos and posts about Japanese culture as soon as I get back.

I'll be starting a new job in September but it should give me a lot to write about since I will be a "traveling sales person"! Autumn is my favorite season in Japan for so many reasons and I hope to share them with you too!

plates and dishes

Willow at Willow Manor and her friend at  About New York  posted some beautiful plates on their blogs and ...well... I thought...

since I still haven't found all the boxes with my tableware in it, maybe this would be the perfect type of thing to give me the incentive to move my butt and get those plates found!

This  plate comes in a box made of paulownia.  Lots of precious things in Japan are kept in boxes or drawers made  of this wood. The Kanji on the box (the one in the middle 皿) is "sara" and it means plate (or dish).　It was made by the potter, Ryoshu.  He is one of the many brilliant potters from Arita in Saga Prefecture (located on the western coast of the Kyushu island).

This next plate is from the Maebata China Corporation.

I like how the inside is a simple blue and white with a gold rim and the outside is...

red, gold and black.

This will never go into the microwave...

and now for some smaller dishes...since Japan may have many large plates, we often use lots of small dishes to decorate the dining table... 

these are the ones I use on a daily basis.  They are from one of my most favorite china makers in Japan... Fukagawa.




..and then there is one very simple dish.

I use this one for "edamame" (boiled green soybeans)...sorry I don't have any today...

This is a simple dish, I have lost the details on who made it. 

I like how it fits perfectly into my hand.  

There is a shiny glazed area but it also has  a rough, granola type feel to it too.  

The bamboo leaves are the accent... in which this dish speaks.

The Biwa or The Loquat

This is for all the wonderful comments and questions I have received recently, especially about this mysterious fruit.

I wish I could send everyone a real box of biwas....

This box was sent from Nagasaki.  Nagasaki is in the south western part of Japan, on an "island" called Kyushu.  Nagasaki is at the north western tip of Kyushu.... in other words,

fairly warm but lots of ocean breeze and lots of rain.

My hand is not extra huge or extra small so you get an idea of how big the fruits are...
The skin is thin, like an apricot or peach.

The texture of the fruit is similar to that of an apricot but the flavor is closer to (I think) a sweet pear.

The fruit is not sour even when it isn't ripe.  You know you have a "not so ripe" batch of fruit when the the biwa does not have any sweetness...

Lots of Vitamin A.

The biwa leaves are used as tea, it is supposed to be "good for you", but I don't think it is that tasty...

Biwa jello-o (or biwa jelly) is also sold in Nagasaki and is a popular gift in the summer.

I think the fruit got it's name "biwa" because it is shaped like a lute (in Japanese this instrument is also called a biwa).

As I was taking the above pictures just a few minutes ago,I realized how badly my floor needs to be vacuumed. 

Argh.

I will try to post again later today about today's national holiday... Children's Day!

strawberry season turns into loquat season

Cherry blossom season was also strawberry season in Japan...

I found cute wax paper and stickers at a lovely, tiny store in Kobe.

But I must admit that nothing beats the real thing.

The "last batch" of fresh looking strawberries I bought the other day.

Strawberries in Japan are sweet... There are many types of strawberries in Japan and the most famous are Amao (translates to: the King of Sweet!) as seen above.

Strawberry season is now over but the mailman brought us the new seasonal fruit today!

Enter: the biwa (loquat).
My mother in law in Nagasaki sent us a box full of the fruit...

Yummy!

Indian food in Kobe....Chalte Chalte*

Yesterday I had lunch with friends at an Indian restaurant in Kobe.  It was a small place but the interior decorations were fabulous.  The chandelier above might seem like an odd piece to have there but it actually pulled together all of the bright colored tapestries that were hanging from the ceiling and walls.  

Oh, and the food!  The lunch set we had was 1,050 yen.  There was a vegetable curry soup (with a second serving)  and a masala dosa (with chutney sauce and coconut sauce on the side).
The inside of the masala dosa...

...it was stuffed with a "potato curry mash" type filling...I don't know what it is really called...but it was very good!

There are quite a few Indian restaurants in Kobe.  When I first moved to the Kansai area of Japan I was very surprised to see the wide variety of us "foreigners".  The Chinese population in Kobe is rather large (I will try to write about China Town someday) but the Indian population is also very large and has a long history in Japan too. 

I am not very familiar with the details so here is an interesting article in The Japan Times that will give you the outline of the history:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20020120a2.html#top

*Chalte Chalte : a nice diner that specializes in dishes and beautiful smiles;-), from Southern India...

Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish

Japan is well known for breeding "quality" goldfish in a wide variety! The Telescope Eye Fish is unique as well as popular and sometimes expensive!
Now, if you are thinking...what different types of goldfish are there? There is a neat site in English about that...
http://www.your-goldfish.com/different-types-of-goldfish.html

Fish in general in Japanese is "sakana". There is a very annoying fish song that used to be played constantly at almost all the grocery stores....

"sakana, sakana, sakana, sakana o taberuto~, atama, atama, atama, atama ga yoku naru~" MEANING "fish, fish, fish, fish, when you eat fish, your head(brain), head, head gets smart."

You don't hear it so often now (thank goodness!) but it used to drive me up the wall because it would get stuck in my head!  Ay, I've done it to myself now...

Phobias you don't want to have when you live in Japan...

Hope you aren't afraid of fish....

Xenophobia: the fear/dislike of people or things from foreign countries

I looked but couldn't find anything on specific fear or hatred of Japan... The "closest" one I found was Sinophobia: The fear or dislike of China...

Either way, it is sad to know that there is such a phobia.  I can understand the fear of the unknown and can only imagine that the two mentioned above stem from the same root.  

(I couldn't find anything that specified on phobias of the unknown in general...everything was explained as xenophobia, which I guess means my point is somewhat correct....)

Unfortunately when you live in Asia, you hear a lot about past wars and no matter how much I might hate to talk about this, what happened in the past carries a lot of weight too. 

Traumatophobia: the fear of war or physical injuries.

As I was looking for a phobia of raw foods, I came across the phobia of cooking : Mageirocophobia.  I won't go so far as to say that I have this... but there are times when I am afraid of my kitchen!

Omophagiaphobia: fear of eating raw flesh. There are places in Japan where you can eat raw beef and raw horse meat...so beware!

Ichthyophobia: fear of fish.   This too could be a BIG problem since Japan is an archipelago, and the main source of protein has been fish for a very long time.  

This is the land where, if you can afford it, you will be able to eat sushi, or sashimi (raw fish) while the fish nerve system is still moving..... The first time I saw this I nearly fainted!  

(Oh, and two years ago, I went to a dinner with my husband's side of the family and they had raw blowfish....the fish's tail was flipping about...and the 'loving' aunt kept pushing the dish towards me.... The conversation I had with myself, in my head, at that moment was NOT healthy or fit to post!)

The fear of fish would also be sad because then you wouldn't be able to enjoy the beautiful koi.

Here is a picture of some poor koi at a small shrine in Kyoto....I hope they get to go for walks...

                                              

Spring is here?

Originally meaning "the time in between seasons", SETSUBUN now  means "the beginning of spring"..and in Japan that is today. 

February 3rd is the Setsubun festival day and in many shrines across the nation, handfuls of beans are thrown at people to ward off evil and welcome good fortune.  At homes with children, the father often wears a mask of an "oni" (goblin dude) and the children will go wild throwing beans at the oni while screaming "oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi" (goblins go out, good fortune come in).

I don't have any children, but I am contemplating whether or not to start throwing beans at my husband....

If you have been to the grocery store in Japan lately you would have seen bags of roasted soybeans like this...you can eat the beans, they make for good tsumami (snacks that go good with sake or beer).  I do not recommend eating the ones you've thrown around the house...

             

pickles anyone?

I went to go buy a birthday present for my mother in law.  Every year, so far it has been flowers.

Then, last year the unthinkable happened... 

They have some sort of flower-shop association in Japan where they will send flowers from the nearest flower shop of the receiver.  You don't get to choose which flower shop will be doing the actual sending, but it is still a fairly reasonable deal.

HOWEVER, last year the flower shop that delivered the bouquet turned out to be the funeral home that we used when my father-in-law past away.  (He was a sweet old man.) The funeral home has their own flower shop, and although they don't specifically -specialize-only in funeral flowers, that is still the majority of their business...I OBVIOUSLY had no idea that they would be sending the flowers.

My m-i-l is a former flower arranging teacher.  When it comes to traditional flower arranging in Japan, it is an expensive art to learn and to teach.  The teachers are very strict and have a lot of pride in their art....and if she is a m-i-l, well then, double the pride.  

So, my m-i-l asked the delivery girl what flower shop she had come from...and the answer (understandably) made her "raise her eyebrows".  (I wasn't there but I can see it all happening.)  

We had a chat that night over the phone.  I really would rather not remember it but I do....I was in a pickle, that was for sure.

So, this year, instead of a bouquet of beautiful flowers, I sent her a package of packed pickles.

$50 worth.  

(The pickles in the picture are what I bought for my own consumption....they were about $4 each.)  There are thousands of different kinds of pickles in Japan.  Each region has its own specialty.  I live in a region called Kansai (famous areas include Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe).

Kyoto has the most popular pickles in this region so it is a nice thing to send to anyone, not just a m-i-l.  Some are sour, some are sweet, some are flavored with miso....The ones I bought today are standard salt pickles...I love pickles so much that all I need for a nice lunch these days is a bowl of rice, a cup of hot green tea and of course, some pickles.

Oh, and while I was at the department store I found three people trying to get on the wrong escalator ... I would try to get off the escalator and someone would be facing me and trying to get on it...three people...in one day... They all looked terribly embarrassed but for some reason so was I!

Umibudo (Sea Grapes)

Last night we went to an Okinawan Restaurant.  I had the glorious experience of enjoying Umibudo (Sea Grapes) also known as Caulerpa Lentillifera or Green Caviar.  They are a type of seaweed with no distinctive taste.  There are many different ways to eat Green Caviar but the most simple way is to dip strands of it in  vinegar sauce.  With each bite the tiny grape-like lumps pop and spread a light wave of salt and vinegar in your mouth.  It was one of the most delightful sensations my vegetarian taste buds have had in a long time!  

I hope the oceans in Okinawa stay clean and beautiful so that we can continue to enjoy delights like this!  There is some news that the US Marines want to build another air base right on top of Okinawa's coral reef and of course the Japanese government is doing what it does best, pretending that nothing is wrong...  It goes without saying that the consequences are disturbing not just for the immediate surroundings (and my appetite for Sea Grapes) but on a global scale as well.