Jess's Top 5 in Japan: Japanese Foods

It's the return of my Top 5 in Japan! This time I'll be going with food. Now, I have purposefully left out Sushi and Sashimi because as much as I love it it seems uncomparable-and it's my choice anyway. I also left out ramen, I think it's of chinese origin and I love it too but it doesn't have enough character for me. Some of the foods I have included are a bit snacky but that's alright too and some I may have included with personal bias, since I can cook them^.^ But it's might top 5 so this is biased anyway!

Top 5 Japanese Foods

Number 5:

Definatly going with Tai-Yaki. Tai-yaki, more a snack than solid meal, are fish shaped doey goodness that can be filled with anything; azuki, cream, cheese, etc. My personal favorite is when they are filled with cream or custard. So delicious! You can't really buy these from stores, instead you have to find the stalls making and selling them. Not only is it delicious but it smells great and is fun to wacth being cooked. They are best when they've just been made, but are really hot then too so be careful.

Number 4:

For me, Takoyaki was one of the first treats I had here. It is made by putting some tako, or octopus, into the cooking things they have (metal plates with semicircles in them) and then filling that with a mixture of flour, veggies, and other stuff I don't really know. Then, when half the ball is done cooking you flip them. They range in sizes and some have more yaki than tako or more tako than yaki. A warning, the octopus is often chewy and some people don't like it, I do. Usually you also pour a ton of sauce over them too. Takoyaki is pretty is to make and lots of people have the tools to do so here. You also find them at festivals all the time and randomly on the street too. I really like this so it's a definate must.

Number 3:

Okunomiyaki comes in third. This you can find in tons of restauraunts everywhere and there are different kinds depending on where you are in Japan. hiroshima is most famous, I think, though so if you're in hiroshima give it a try! Basically, as I have described before, its like a pancake with a ton of stuff inside. Otoosan makes a mean okunomiyaki and I've made it myself at restaurants before as well. Although simple, it's incredibly delicous! Tokyo is famous for something similar to okunomiyaki only more liquidy. I can't remember the name but if you get the chance to try it, then do! It looks really gros but actually tastes pretty good!

Number 2:

Well, this is Japanese as far as I know but doesnt involve much cooking. Yakiniku is number two, mostly because my favorite restaurant in Japan is this all you can eat Yakiniku place where you cook the meat yourself (which is how it is usually done). Basically you grabs plates of raw meat and then cook it at your table, you can also grab veggies and such. It's a very social sort of meal and I always have fun when I do it. This is definatly for meat lovers though but if you want to try it out there's a great restaurant in Shinbashi!

Number1:

My ichiban suki is most definatly Katsudon. Not too complicated but extremely savory you can get katsudon almost anywhere and it always taste good. It's just rice with tonkatcu (fried pork), onions, sukiyaki sauce, and egg on top. Some places have it sweeter than others and some places have the egg runnier than others but no matter what I love this dish! Manami taught me how to make it so provided I can find all the ingrediants I will be cooking it a lot when I get home. To me there's nothing better than a hot katsudon in my tummy!

^.^

and that's that.

Much Love!

隅田川 花火ーSumida River Hanabi

Hanabi are festivals centered around an elaborate fireworks display held throughout the summer months in Japan. Japan jhas some really famous shows all over the place, Miyajima I think holds one of the most famous.

I really wanted to go to Yokohama's fireworks festival a couple weekends ago but it got rained out by the typhoon. I think they're having another one tonight but I wont be making it. I did, however, go to one of Tokyo's biggest shows at Sumida River (near asakusa jinja!).

Andrew and I got there really early so we could get a good spot. We found a ton of people sitting near the shrine so we thought that must be a good place and grabbed an okay spot. It was close to all the food vendors too so I got to try out lots of different festival foods-for example, I think inJapan they don't eat baked potatoes much because there was a stand with them and it was really popular. In japan they seriously put like a fistful of butter on top and then a ton of salt. It tastes super good but is probably the worst thing for your body Ever!

A lot of people go to Hanabi in yukata and I had planned to but the cheap 300 yen yukata I got in Himeji was too short. No big deal, I think I would have been a little hot anyway. Still, it was neat to see so many people-mostly teenagers and college kids-dressed up in yukata.

So we waited in our spot for hours and finally the fireworks got started. Leave it up to Japanese people to wait in a spot that you can't see the firworks from! I was bummed since we'd been there for hours and we couldnt see a thing! Still, Andrew and I got up and followed the crowd making our way, slowly, to a really good spot in the street where we could see. The fireworks were excellent, soooo cool! and the crowd was really good at oooing and aaaaing. It was neat.

Now, Andrew and I did not stay for the whole thing. This is because, as I hve probably not made clear, despite being i the rather large area of asakuse we were packed into tons of people. Apparently there are supposed to be something like 10000 people at this festival. So, imagine 10000 people trying to get home once it is over all at the same time at the ONE station in that area.
Yeah.

Manami said once when she went she had to wait two hours from the front of the station to get onto a train.

So, andrew and I skipped about half of the fireworks in an effort to beat a bit of the rush. We did okay but it was still super crowded and really unpleasant.

This is what I have to say about Sumida river's fireworks festival:
As cool as it is, and Im really glad I went, I would rather climb Mt, Fuji twice in a row (in the off season) than ever do Sumida river twice in a row.

I'll put pictures up later but Andrew has them right now!
Love you!

Kyudo Goodbye Party!!!

So last friday night I went to two goodbye parties! All spare you the details of one (which was a Toga party at a friends place-very interesting, you should have seen Yukari's face!).

But on Friday the Kyudo peeps invited all the foreign students that were leaving out on the town!

First we went bowling and I have to say that I had tons of fun! They were competitive but in a friendly way. Exactly what I like^.^ I didn't bowl terribly but didnt do that well either...in the competitive games you bowl one frame and then the next person goes so you don't have as much control on how well your team does. Then the team that looses has to eat something gross...although, it smelled bad but tasted really good! (these wierd pineapple chips).

After bowling we played around in an arcade for a bit. I tried to win a crane doll and got really close so then everyone tried until we got it and gave it to me.

We went to dinner at a do it yourself okunomiyaki place which was fun. Okunomiyaki is like a pancake with veggies and randomness in it. I love it! it was all you can eat plus all you can drink so I was stuffed by the time we were through. There were a lot of interesting kinds of okunomiyaki like pizza, and mochi and others. That was a good dinner, lots of picture taking and talking in mixed english and japanese.

After that we hit up karaoke. I could only stay for anhour and half but almost all the songs were in Japanese! Most of the people in kyudo can sing really well! particularly one of the senpai sang this boy band song and his voice was amazing. All the girls were swooning, it was pretty funny. I sang a couple japanese songs but I find it hard to read the hiragana that fast. Still, I really enjoyed it^.^

Before I left the first year girls gave us foreigners some gifts they had made/bought. One was a fan with my name on it and messages from almost everyone in the club! I loved that the best I think. After that there was a phone dangly with a kyudo target and bow on it and a clip for a glove with the message "shoot with your heart and you'll succed"-in japanese of course. And the last present was our name plates from the board with our name on it (there's a picture of it in my kyudo entry). I almost cried and hugged everyone a lot.

I still think joining a Japanese club is the coolest thing ever to do. So do it!!!

by the way, they paid for everything...I wanted to pay but couldnt!

Much Love!

...

Okaasan, Kumiko Ogihara, passed away early Saturday morning. It turns out, I was right about everything I thought I understood. Okaasan had a stroke on wednesday night. It must have been late because I slept through an emergency helicopter coming to pick her up. The stroke had caused an inoperable aneurysm, I believe anyway unless it`s the other way around and the aneurysm causes the stroke. I visited her twice in the hospital on Friday though she was in a coma. On Friday they had to stop giving her medicine because although it would help her to live longer it would start to make her body worse. After they stopped the medicine it was only a matter of time, though I learned that everyone else knew she only had two or three days from the beginning. That is the only thing I had failed to catch. On Saturday the funeral process began which is as both Otoosan and Manami say, mendokusai and taihen, very tiresome and tough. Okaasan is in the house, in her room and will be until Tuesday. On Tuesday they will hold the actual funeral and on Wednesday they will cremate her. So, for awhile, I wont really have much to post. I`ll play catch up next weekend.

Much Love, and if you can continue to pray for her family then thank you.

A Request

Last night Okaasan went to the hospital. when I went to bed she was fine but when I woke up her parents were here and Otoosan was cooking breakfast. He told me that she was in the hospital in ICU and said something about what happened but I didn't quite understand. Today I got home and his family was here (I had to wait in my room since his father doesn't like to meet us). After they left Manami explained to me in more simple Japanese what had happened. If I am understanding correctly a blood vessel bursted in her head and she is still in ICU and not doing too well. I think she is in a coma. They can't operate either but I didn't quite understand why.

If everyone could just please pray for her. I mean, even if you don't usually pray if you could sort of keep her in your thoughts please.

Thank you

Jess's Top 5 in Japan: Temples and Shrines

So for my next top five list I will be listing my favorite temples and shrines out of the many that I've visited. I have to put a slight disclaimer, since I have yet to visit Nikko there are many major temples and shrines I havn't seen. It's also important to note that there are plenty of smaller neighborhood and village temples and shrines all over Japan which are worth looking for if you have the chance to just explore. The less famous ones are always charming, with a less touristy air about them of course, so I have a high appreciation for them. Still, in my list I have included larger temples and shrines.

Top 5 Temples and Shrines:

Number 5:

I've chosen Yasukuni Jinja, a shrine, for number five. It's not too spectularly different from most shrines but it's rich history and deep involvement and a load of Japanese politics and conflict is of enough importance to me that I think it warrants the list. When going to the shrine make sure to stop by the war museum to the side so you can get an interesting perspective of the war. There are plenty of statues dedicated to victims around and if your lucky you might see a politician or some sort of war veterans group paying homage. This is also a very popular spot for cherry blossom viewing and the shrine has its own festival so if your there during the spring make sure to see it.

Number 4:

Number four goes to Asakusa Jinja, meaning both the temple and shrine (since you can't tell where one starts and one ends). Yes, it's touristy and will probably be crowded no matter what time of year you go, but you can't beat this place. I've been there more than three times and always find something new. The main street in front with all the shops is reason enough to go, cheap items you'll probably never actually need are in abundance and it's fun for people watching. There are plenty of events here too, and some of Tokyo's most famous festivals happen here.

Number 3:

In Kamakura the large buddha is most famous. I have to say, although I thought it was lovely and a spectacular sight I think my favrotie visit in Kamakura was the Hase Kannon Temple. A smallish complex to the South (I think), it had a lot of interesting things that I hadn't really seen at any of the temples I had been to. To start with there was a beautiful garden leading up to the temple area and I am a sucker for the gardens here in Japan. the main hall contains the statue of the Hase Kannon, who, "unlike other kannons, holds a tin cane in its right hand and a lotus plant in a vase in its left hand." I'm not sure of the significance but I'm sure it associates with the Lotus sutra and the saving the kannon is supposed to provide. My favorite part of the temple was the Benten-dou hall, basically a cave that you walked through (bent over for the tall). It is filled to the brim with small carvings left behind by visitors (I think having to do with the health of children). Another interesting building was the Sutra Archive, Kyozou. It has this rotating wheel that if you push around once earns you the merit of reading the massive amount of sutras collected there.

Number 2:

This is more a whole area rather than one temple but for number two I pick the park in Nara. You can easily spend a day here exploring and visiting the various temples and shrine, including one of Japan's two biggest buddha (and my personal favorite). When you see the buddha make sure to go round back and climb through the hole in the pillar, supposedly the size of his nostril, and you'll be granted long life or a fortunate one, or something. The deer here also really make this area for me, they're funny to feed (but hold on to your maps tight). Also, there are lots of students waiting around to give you a free tour. Don't be shy, make a friend and let one of them show you around, they get to practice their english and you'll probably learn something along the way. I was lucky when I went to the Shinto shrine because they were having a wedding ceremony. The second time I went a baby was being blessed. Two Shinto events (though not as traditional as you might think) that are pretty neat to witness.

Number 1:

Far and away the most beautiful temple complex I visited was Kiyomizu. Situated at the foot of a mountain and in the midst of a couple of very traditional looking streets in Kyoto, I was immediatly in love with it. It's famous for the posts that hold up some of the building (supposedly built without the use of a single nail) as well as the spring water that you can drink from for a healthier life. I also really like the small shrine behind the main hall, it's devoted to love and this is where those two rocks are; the ones you walk between with your eyes closed. If you manage it your garunteed luck in love. On the other side of the complex is a small pagoda devoted to mothers with unborn children for a healthy birth...or either abortion, or both. I'm mad at myself because I had a small book ono this complex that I bought and can't find! I have to mention that this temple also offers a breathtaking view of kyoto. Definatly my favorite over all so if you're in Kyoto then make it here for sure.

and here's a tidbit:

Most disapointing temple or shrine-Rokuon-ji temple or the Golden Pavillion

This place is neat but not nearly as cool as I had hoped. Sure the temple is nice, with it's gold plating or whatnot but you can't even get that close and aside from the golden temple there isn't that much else to see. I wouldn't tell anyone to not go see it but don't be expecting something extraordinary.

So that's my top five list for temples and shrines. Hope you found it interesting and sorry if you disagree^.^

Much Love!

Jess's Top 5 in Japan: Vending Machine Drinks

Well, I was thinking about it, and since I'm busy with finals and homework it's a little bit hard for me to do interesting things during this week and the beginning of next. So for about a week I will be doing Daily Top 5's, of course based on my own opinions and limited experiences but I still think it could be useful for anyone maybe planning to study abroad, visit, or just wanting to know about Japan.

So the first one is Top 5 Vending Machine Drinks! As many of you know, or should know, Japan is a country where it is never hard to find something to drink because every five feet you've got a vending machine right there! Offering you soda, water, tea, or juice of all varieties! Now, when I came to Japan I expected to find vending machines giving out other "sorts" of things but it seems those are hard to find (except cigarette ones) and now Drink machines are the common machines.

In any case, in my list I've left out and drinks I can find in America (like Coke, sprite, Dr. Pepper, etc) except Fanta. This list is also according to my taste, there are many other great drinks in vending machines that you might prefer and might actually be more popular: Pocari Sweat, Royal Milk Tea, etc.

Top 5 Vending Machine Drinks

Number 5:

I'm going with Fanta for number five. Yes it is Available in the US but Japan, and from what I've heard so do other countries, treats Fanta quite differently. In America Fanta generally means orange or grape soda but here you can get all sorts of flavors, there are even monthly limited edition flavors. A common flavor for soda here, and for Fanta, is Melon soda. They've also got melon cream soda, a slight but important difference. Another flavor I liked was strawberry creme.

Number 4:

For number four I've chosen Calpis. Calpis is a lot like Pocari sweat, but I happen to like it better. It's hard for me to describe the flavor, it's not quite carbonated, like a coke, yet it is definatly a soda. It has a chalky white appearance which might throw you odff but it's pretty good for a soda. I particularly like Calpis orange, which kind of tastes like orange creme to me, like flinstones push pops. I don't think this is a permanent flavor though so I'm not sure it'll be around forever.

Number 3:

It was hard to decide to put this as two or three but since I'm more of a juice person Real Gold goes in thrid place. Real gold (or pure gold, power gold, or any of the other names I randomly call it) is a yellow soda. I'm not sure why I like it so much, it's kind of like mountain dew and sprite only a million times better. The bottles are really small though, so unless you can find a cup vending machine you might feel cheated. Real gold also isnt very common, so it may be hard to find.

Number 2:

Although I like Qoo and Real Gold about the same, like I said I'm more of a juice person. Qoo is juice, not soda, but it's really sweet so I imagine it is about as bad for you as soda. I love it though, and they have a wide variety of flavors (as do most Japanese drinks, foods, or candies) including, orange, apple, mixed fruit, muscat, etc etc. I of course also love the cute characters on all the bottles. Qoo aren't always easy to find in vending machines, so if you never come across it then look for it in a conbini!

Number 1:

Hands down, Ichigo Ole, or strawberry milk, has been my favorite drink this entire year. Sweet, delicous, cold, and yummy basically describes this little carton. There not as common as some other drinks but seriously, I can't imagine anything better than strawberry milk. Also, my host father makes some mean homemade strawberry milk and there are plenty of brands to choose from in stores, some with actual strawberries in the drink.

Well, that is the end of my Top 5 list. If you're in Japan then keep an eye out for these drinks.

Much Love!

So long, Kyudo!

Last week was my last kyudo practice. Because it was the last kyudo practice several things happened: I got to take pictures, so I can remember everything and everyone! I got to try an a hakama; as I explained before, you have to past the test to be able to wear hakama and shoot regularly. They let me shoot in the hakama at the target (although I have been shooting at the target occasionally, never in a hakama! And finally, I had to give a sort of offcial goodbye speech. I was really quiet while I was talking because I was so nervous but I think I got my feelings across. I basically talked about how much I had wanted to join a kyudo club, how hard it turned out ot be but what a great experience it was. I also talked about how everone was really nice and helpful, and how even though I messed up all the time I felt like I learned a lot. I also mentioned that I'll probably never ever forget all this. They seemed to like it^.^

Oh, and at the last meeting everyone sat in a circle and talked about all the things they thought they did poorly...it was really interesting and confusing.

I really do beieve this club, as frustrating as it was at times, was one of the best things I've done. I should be going to karaoke with the other first years, and because of this club I've got anohter small handful of Japanese friends, even if I didn't manage to get super close to them, I know I can keep in touch! (mixi-the japanese myspace!) The last meeting was really fun because I was taking pictures, some of the girls are really silly. I like them alot.


In any case, I'm going to show you around the dojo via pictures and such:

Most importantly this is the shrine. You're not supposed to turn your back to it when your sweeping and we have to replace the water in the plants every day, three times a day. I hope I mentioned that Kyudo is related to Shinto practice....of course, its also related to zen, which is a buddhist thing, so don't ask me^.^







This mirror is bascially right in line with the people when they shoot. People can check there posititon during practice to make sure arms are strait and shoulders are down. During competitions, mock or real, they have to close the curtain.






This board has all the names of people who have been in the club. The bottom row are the current members, separated by year. My name is on here in the first year section! how cool! they did spell my last name wrong, but I didn't feel like telling them^.^




Shoes and arrows. I like these pictures though they may seem silly to you. The arrow baskets are moved depending on what we're doing during practice. First years also have to make sure the shoes are all lined up properly. Also, we can't put our shoes all the way to the far left because if a sensei shows up that wear their shoes go.









The Top black board is for keeping score. That's my favorite job. I enjoy drawing circles, writing the numbers and kanji, etc. And then you get to call out certain things during kakunishmasu. It's really fun job. You also have to say something specfic before you clean the board. The bottom board is for people to write notes (under their names) or if they can't make practice and for general things like that. I never wrote anything(-.-;


Here's a couple of shots of people doing "kakunishimasu" or calling the arrows. I nearly always make some sort of small mistake, and once I said that none were in the target even though there was one-I hadn't seen it. I never made that mistake again! Depending on what kind of practice is going on, the words and phrases are different but no matter what the second person always sits whule the first calls out. You hold up the number of arrows in the target and call it at the same time. If there are none you hold up a fist and if all the arrows shot are in you use "kaichu" as opposed to a number. I like this job but I tend to get flustered when I do it.









The final job of every practice is to repaste targets. this is my second favorite job because I was the best at getting them completely flat. I guess it's easy to enjoy jobs you're good at.




Here's me and some other people during normal practice:


and here's me in hakama with others!




and...here is the sequence for shooting:


ashibumi (positioning the feet)



dozukuri and yugamae (which includes torikake, tenouchi, and monomi-basically the positioning of the hands and body, as well as the arrow)



uchiokoshi (simple, you raise it while keeping your body stationary and your shoulders relaxed)



daisan (I like this part, you move your left arm and the right follows, but if I do it wrong I can't do the full draw because my shoulder pops out of place!)



kai (a full draw-this was the hardest part for me, shoulders must be relaxed, arms strait and pushing outward, back tight, left elbow twisted in the right direction, and you can't be using power in your wrists or upper arms or shoulders but rather in your back and lower arms-I did get pretty good at it though^.^)



hanare and zanshin (the release and then basically what is considered followed through; waiting after the arrow hits the target and keeping position)

And that is essentially kyudo. I was really sad to leave, and I kind of wish I had thought about doing school in japan so I could be in the club longer but I don't know if I could be away from home for so long. There are a ton of pictures in my photobucket under the album name "goodbye kyudo"


In any case, I had a ton of plans for this weekend but they were sort of blown away byt he typhoon, unfortunatly the typhoon didn't hit so hard so here so I coud have done some of it but it's alright...I'll get it done soon!

be ready for a heavy stream of updates^.^
Much Love!