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,...
Ebara Nakanobu Tagano Tagano is located in Ebara- Nakanobu, a small train station about a 30-minute train ride from Shibuya. This establishment has been getting Michelin stars every year since 2015. Okaasan no Ramen, or“Mom’sRamen,” is Tagano’s specialty and customer favorite. Yoshiko Tagano, the owner who has come to be known as the Ramen Queen, opened a ramen shop with her husband in 1996....
Daifuku Daifuku is a traditional Japanese confectionery of sweet azuki paste covered in chewy mochi. The Daifuku can be traced back to China, where it originated as a light meal called meat stuffing, which was meat wrapped in a skin of wheat. It travelled into Japan in the second half of the 6th century. The Zen priests were forbidden from eating meat, which was...
These days, everybody knows sushi, sukiyaki and tempura, but anko is still relatively unknown. Like sushi and tempura, anko is part of Japan’s culinary tradition, and a type of confectionery made from beans. It appears as black paste, wherein lies its first obstacle to its global appeal (“Ew, black beans in a dessert? Not appetizing.”). And, there are so few Western recipes that call...
THE PORTLAND JAPANESE GARDEN had a fascinating exhibit spring 2018 and early summer about the craftspeople of Japan entitled “Shokunin: Five Kyoto Artisans Look to the Future.” The term “shokunin” translates to “artisan” or “craftsperson,” but the nuances are a little different. Being a shokunin is a way of life. As the Portland Japanese Garden put it on its website: “A shokunin who works...
Photo Courtesy of OH! MATSURi Gion Matsuri is an annual festival of the Yasaka Shrine located in Higashiyama, Kyoto. It’s one of the three biggest festivals in Japan and has an 1,100-year history. July is the most vibrant and festive month for Kyoto. The month-long celebration is a rarity in Japan, and every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists make the trek to Kyoto...
Local Hawaiian fare, Poke Bowl Fresh seafood marinated in an original sauce, then mixed with avocados and onions atop lettuce, and served on a bed of rice, the poké bowl is a healthy and easy meal that’s spreading in popularity throughout the US. We will explore the connections between the poké bowl and Japan. Did you know that the “bowl” in the poké bowl...
Everyone looks forward to lunchtime. At Japanese elementary schools, lunch is full of variety, from fish to curry rice to hamburgers. Meals are nutritionally balanced. And students take turns serving lunch to their classmates. They’ll change into the proper uniform and deliver lunch to the other students. This is how Japanese children first learn about hospitality. Sometimes the servers may sneak a little extra...
Back in the day, cars were designed by those who had a deep feel for the spirit of the times. They were free from convention and unique. Today, computers play a significant role in the design of cars. In order to achieve certain aerodynamic characteristics, cars have taken on a uniform look, and size has been determined by safety concerns. Furthermore, most manufacturers are...
The family car started spreading throughout Japan in the second half of the 1960s. Automakers produced sedans with single camshaft engines that would accommodate a family. Higher-performing cars with twin cams were the rage, but they had more power than most people needed. In the 1970s, twin-cam sportscars like the Nissan GT-R and the Toyota 2000GT started to appear in the marketplace, but they...
