The Bluebird, a prototypical Japanese family car, was in production for 53 years starting in 1959. The last Bluebirds came off the assembly line in 2001. One model that stands out is the third-generation 510, released in 1967. The new engine was a water-cooled 4-cylinder with a single overhead camshaft. There were 1.3-liter and 1.6-liter versions of this engine. The 1.6-liter version, the L16...
Tucked into the Ukyo Ward of Kyoto is a movie studio called Uzumasa Eigamura. It’s used a lot for period dramas. When no one is filming, though, it turns into an amusement park and is popular with children and families. The largest set on the lot, known as Edo Sakaba, is the location for a two-night festival every year. Edo is the old name...
Kitchen knives play an important role in Japanese cuisine, helping the cook create tasty and aesthetically pleasing dishes. Cut a piece of sashimi with a dull knife, for example, and you’re apt to lose a lot of the fish’s inherent flavor. That’s why chefs and housewives have kept their kitchen knives razor sharp for centuries. During the Edo Period (1603 – 1868), the heyday...
Japanese people have always loved the unique and ever- changing colors of moss. It brings a feeling of tranquility and austerity to Japanese gardens. Some gardens in Japan, known as koke niwa, are breathtaking for the way moss covers the ground, rocks, and trees. Kuma chose Oriental Carpet as his partner to create the Koke rug. The company is home to traditional Japanese textile...
If you like fluffy pancakes, this is your dream pan. Have you heard of tamagoyaki, a traditional Japanese treat? Eggs are mixed with umami-filled dashi broth and cooked into the shape of a rolled cake. Despite the liquid ingredients, tamagoyaki needs to be airy and fluffy. The Tamagoyaki Pan was developed solely for this purpose. The pan is made of copper because tamagoyaki is...
Celebrate 90 years of business Former Uwajimaya CEO TOMIO MORIGUCHI remembers the day his dad found a spot for the family grocery store in the 1940s. Fujimatsu was incarcerated at Tule Lake during World War II and he had to rebuild the Uwajimaya business from scratch. While walking up Main Street in the International District with 10-year-old Tomio, he came across a dilapidated store...
Blue Bottle Coffee started in the early 2000s in Oakland. In its early days, the coffee beans were roasted with a tiny six-pound batch roaster. Those freshly roasted coffee beans were then hand-delivered to customers. Almost 15 years later, Blue Bottle Coffee, now considered one of the major third-wave coffee roasters, has been so successful it opened a number of cafés in California and...
Tosenkyo is a ravine in Ibusuki City, about an hour’s drive from Kagoshima City. It is known for the pure spring water that rushes through the canyon at the rate of about 100,000 tons a day. City-run outdoor restaurants use this pure water to serve a rare dish called “somen nagashi.” Somen is a noodle dish specific to Japan made from wheat kneaded with...
Every year, one evening in late July, the intersection is transformed into a Bon Odori stage. The surrounding roads are shut down, a stage is set up in the middle of the intersection, and a massive crowd donning yukata robes dance around it. This is only the second time this event has taken place and not many Japanese know about it. A one-day event...
About 40 kilometers away from the heart of Kagoshima Prefecture at the southernmost tip of the Japanese island of Kyushu is an old neighborhood where samurais once lived. The living quarters and the little town have been largely left untouched since they were inhabited by the samurai class 300 years ago. The area is surrounded by beautiful hedges. There are no telephone poles here,...
