"Yes, I can use chopsticks: the everyday 'microaggressions' that grind us down" - Japan Times

This is a fantastic article passed along my a friend (who has been here 25 years, speaks Japanese, has a Japanese child, and owns his own company) about how foreigners will never be able to fully assimilate into Japanese culture.


http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120501ad.html

花見 (hanami) - Flower Viewing

Kids hanami parade

Blue tarp required

桜

Cherry Blossom Time

“Just wait until the first week of April.”

“Sakura time is the best in Japan.”

“It’s the best 5 days of the year.”

The only time I’ve ever heard a group of people speak with such anticipation of a 4-5 day period, I was 10 and discussing Christmas Break with my friends at recess.  I’ve been here 5 months now and have never mentioned my October arrival time without a local or foreigner immediately bringing up the topic of sakura, or Japanese cherry blossoms. 

I know spring is exciting.  It’s warming up.  You’re on the brink t-shirt and/or skirt season.  The world becomes lively and colorful again.  However, in my home state of California, not much changes.  Surfers switch to spring wetsuits to mark the occasion, but that’s pretty much it.  Japan is different.  Few countries in the world have such distinct seasons.  Fall is beautifully painted red, orange, and yellow.  Winter is bitterly cold and dry on the east coast and a constant snow bombardment in the west.  Summer is infamously hot and oppressively humid.  Spring, I’m told, may be the closest human beings get to experience some kind of paradise in a lifetime.  Yellow canola flowers pop up along rivers and roads early on, bringing much needed color to the bare winter landscape.  Next come the plum trees with their deep purple and dark pink blossoms.  I am, by no means, passionate about flowers (sorry Mom), but the plum trees are awe inspiriting to say the least.  As exciting as they were to me, the Japanese seemed surprisingly uninterested.  All they continued to talk about were the sakura. 

Plum Blossoms in March

Americans know these blossoms well.  Washington DC has embraced them as their own for much of the past century.  It should be said, to knock DC off of its high horse, that these were actually a gift from Japan.   In 1912, the mayor of Tokyo presented the trees to Washington as a way to symbolize the growing relationship between the two nations and the hope for peace in the future (oops).  Either way, the blossoms have since become a world icon.

In Japan, this week has been more exciting that Christmas and New Year combined.  Always kind and polite, my host population has suddenly become happy and outgoing.  “All of this for some little pink and white flowers,” I thought.  Pictures only make me think of the popcorn tree art project my friend Steven and I made in kindergarten.

Cherry Blossoms

I was wrong, these aren’t just flowers.  Every single naked tree in Toyokawa, Shinshiro, and Toyohashi is a cherry tree patiently waiting for these 5 special days when they can play peacock for our enjoyment.  Lines of trees turn to blossom tunnels that hang gracefully over streets and riverbeds.  Parks are framed in pink, school yards are hidden behind walls of flora, and your eyes are finally distracted from the bland concrete architecture for which Japan has become famous.  They’re everywhere, and I’m feeling really excited as well.  I guess Scrooge has fallen to the happy epidemic sweeping the country.  

More blossom pictures to come soon!

Culinary Endeavors III

I'd like to take a moment to share with you Japan's single greatest contribution to the world: takoyaki

These delectable little treats are made with tako, or octopus.  Yaki usually means fire or grill so I'm confused about its use here.  Either way, these are fried octopus balls (and by balls, I refer only to their orb-like construction.  No Rocky Mountain Oyster jokes here, please.)  This particular batch was a homemade mix of octopus and shrimp topped with two different sauces.  The topping pictured is a mayonnaise-based mixture of Japanese flavor.   Upon arrival, it will take about 4.5 minutes to realize that the Japanese are obsessed with mayonnaise and use it like both ketchup and ranch dressing in the US.  The other is made with the unique yuzu fruit that smells like an orange, but is as sour as a lemon. This little gem requires a more time in the countryside to learn to love.  They are used in everything from sauces and garnish to winter solstice bath fragrances.  It's contribution to my takoyaki, was simply the most recent of my many yuzu-enhanced experiences.

If you are ever lucky enough to have a chance to try any of these uniquely Japanese tastes, please feel free to dive in head first.

Anniversary - March 11, 2012

Remember 3/11

I think it appropriate to at least mention that today is the anniversary of the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami combo that caused so much devastation in the north of this wonderful country.  What is perhaps most shocking is to see how little progress has been made to rebuild the towns that were hit hardest.  Recent BBC articles report that as much as 19 years worth of garbage continues to sit in massive debris piles that will take years to dispose of.  Here’s a link to a great article and video that give you an idea what much of the coast still looks like and how survivors attempt to move on.  Please keep the Japanese in your thoughts.

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/09/10622601-slimy-salty-but-tasty-seaweed-brings-life-back-to-japanese-village#.T1o7Gmdltdk.email

Trying Seaweed..

Sefu-sensei Tries Seaweed

Here's a video link to watch my first seaweed experience.