Food: Onigiri (Japan)

Photo: Googlesnatched Onigiri

Onigiri, (Kanji 御握り, Hiragana おにぎり), also known as Omusubi, are Japanese rice balls. They are relatively simple to make, especially once you get used to the basic techniques, but you can also buy surprisingly yummy Onigiri in any konbini (convenience store) in Japan.

Onigiri come in many different varieties. The most common shapes are the little triangles, shown in the picture, and disk-shaped Onigiri. Normally, Onigiri are made of plain, white, sticky rice, and have a single filling in the very center. The most popular fillings are Umeboshi (sour pickled plum) and salmon, although any reasonably dry and strong-flavoured ingredient works well... for example, I have made super-American breakfast Onigiri with sausage and egg. There are also Onigiri that have a topping of fish or ginger instead of a filling, and some Onigiri are formed from rice flavoured with sesame, katsuoboshi (fish flakes), or other traditional seasonings.

A little bit of dried seaweed is wrapped around the rice ball just prior to consumption. The idea of eating seaweed may be a little bit frightening to the uninitiated, but don't be afraid! The flavour of the seaweed is very mild - not even my pickiest friends object to it. The main purpose of wrapping Onigiri in seaweed is to allow you to hold it without getting your fingers too sticky. And, it has a delicious crunch!

Onigiri make great breakfasts and packed lunches. Laura and I started each day in Japan with a nice, filling rice ball or two! Onigiri are easy to eat on the go, although remember that in Japan it is considered rude to eat while walking.

A View of Tokyo

We filled our arms with beer and juice and took the elevator to the top of Mayumi's building. Our tour book recommended several places for a good view of Tokyo - from where I was standing, this one was hard to beat.

We were shocked to be able to see Tokyo Tower (think: Japan's Eiffel Tower) from the little rooftop garden. Laura's sharp eyes also picked out two Ferris Wheels, and Rainbow Bridge, which Mayumi hadn't realized she could see before.

We tasted Japanese beer, saw the electric energy of Tokyo shining in the night, listened to the bugs hum and buzz in the bushes around us. And I wondered; those poor, lost bugs - how did they get here? How did we?

- Journal, 07/17/09

Photo: Tokyo by night, as seen from a rooftop in Toranomon.

Photo: Buddhapada in Kamakura (Japan 2009)

Buddhapada in Kamakura

Where: Kamakura, Japan
When: Afternoon, July 16th 2009

I found this decorated stone in Kamakura's Hase-Kannon Temple. It is a stylized depiction of the footprints of Buddha. In early Buddhist art, it was considered taboo to directly depict a being as sacred as the Buddha, so they alluded to his presence by showing his footprints, called Buddhapada in Sanskrit.

These Buddhapada are covered with a variety of symbols. Look at the most prominent one, which looks like a sun or wheel. If it looks familiar to you, you may be thinking of the Flag of India, which has a similar design in the center. The wheel shown on both these footprints and the Indian flag is a dharmacakra, or a "wheel of law", and symbolizes the Buddha's path to enlightenment.

Japan's many sacred places are filled with items and objects that are often laden with symbolism. Knowing even a little bit about the many cultural traditions that make up Japan can add a lot to a trip through the country.

Late Night Okonomiyaki (Miyajima, Japan)

Miyajima shuts down quickly after the bulk of the tourists leave around 4 pm. The majority of those who spend the night on the island eat dinner in their ryokans or hotels, so when 6 o'clock rolled around, Laura and I found that nearly all the town's restaurants had already shuttered for the night. Luckily, the owner of our ryokan told us that a small Okonomiyaki restaurant a few doors down was open until 8.


I ordered yakiudon with shrimp and Laura ordered yakisoba with pork. As usual with okonomiyaki they put just about a whole head of cabbage in each of ours. It boiled down a lot, but there was still more food on our plates than we could possibly eat. It was good, too - the amount and flavour of the sauce was just right. This wasn't the best food we ate in Japan, but it was definitely a solid choice for a 'late night' meal.

Since the tiny okonomiyaki restaurant we ate at isn't shown on the map, the best thing to do would probably be to follow these directions to the Ryokan Kawaguchi, and follow the road it's located on a few storefronts north. If you're going there at night, it should be one of the only places open, so pretty much impossible to miss.


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Photo: A Sushi Feast (Japan 2009)

A Sushi Feast

Where: Tokyo, Japan
When: Evening, July 16th 2009

After a day trip, I returned to Tokyo to find an unbelievably delicious feast waiting at Mayumi's house. The sushi was much better than any I'd ever eaten before. There was sweet eel and egg sushi, chewy squid, flavorful salmon roe, and chewy, translucent squid alongside more familiar varieties. Every bite was amazing.

Food: Japanese Shave Ice

Snow Cones can be refreshing on a hot day, but I'm usually disappointed by hard, course ice that lets all the syrup slide straight to the bottom of the paper cone. In Japan, I found Kakigōri (かき氷), or shave ice - a fabulous dessert which made me reconsider the potential of the snow cone.

Photo: Melon shave ice with ice cream topping. (Kanazawa, Japan)

Served not only at carnivals and roadside stands but also in nice restaurants alongside ice cream and cakes, most of the shaved ice in Japan is similar in texture to American snow cones, if a bit softer and more like, well, fresh snow. But at least once, in Nikko, I found shave ice that seemed to literally have been shaved from a block - it was as smooth as ice cream, and had a delightful crispness.

The syrup that tops Kakigōri is not unlike that used on American snow cones, with familiar flavours like strawberry, lemon, and grape alongside melon, sweet plum and green tea. It is also common to pour condensed milk onto the ice, adding additional sweetness and richness. Many Japanese also like to add mild sweet bean paste, mochi rice cakes, or even ice cream to their shave ice.



Photo: Laura and I found this incredible Kakigōri in Nikko. The texture was totally different than that of an American snowcone, or even the other Kakigōri we had tasted. Served with strawberries in thick syrup and condensed milk, this was the most delicious dessert I have ever eaten in Japan.

Kamakura's Tsurugaoka Hachimangu

Basic Statistics:
What? Shinto Shrine
Where? Kamakura, Japan
Why? It's the most important shrine in Kamakura, which used to be the capital of Japan. It's painted with bright colours and filled with fields of waterlilies. Kamakura, including Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, makes a very convenient day trip from Tokyo.
How Much? Free

The entrance to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu is a short walk from the Kamakura train station. Most guidebooks recommend approaching the shrine via Wakamiya Oji, a very long and old ceremonial road that's lined with lovely cherry trees. In the spring it is blooming and beautiful like in this googlesnatched photo:



When I was there, it looked like this, which I also liked:



This Tori means you're in the right place:


Don't forget to wash out your hands and mouth with the water here:





Follow these stairs to reach the main shrine, but notice the large Ginkgo tree on the left.



I found myself drawn to this tree for some reason, even though I couldn't read any of the sign posted in front of it. I later found out that it is more than 1000 years old, and that Kugyo Minamoto hid behind it before stabbing and killing his uncle Sanetomo Minamoto, the Third Shogun, in 1219.




Most of the shrine buildings are painted a brilliant vermilion.




Don't miss the fields of waterlilies. I had the good luck to be rushed through them by a crowd of adorable children as the shrine's school was letting out.

Photo: Sunlight Through Tori (Japan 2009)

Sunlight Through Tori
Where: Fushimi Inari-Taisha, Kyoto, Japan
When: Afternoon, July 24th, 2009

We visited Fushimi Inari Shrine's long tunnels of famous tori as the afternoon sun hung low in the sky and shone across the covered paths. I love this picture because the black and sunlit vermilion remind me of the wings of monarch butterflies.

Photo: Rainy Day in Kamakura (Japan 2009)

Rainy Day in Kamakura
Where: Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Kamakura, Japan
When: Morning, July 16th, 2009

It was raining - it was perfect.

Food: Koya Tofu (Japan)

Does freeze-dried Tofu sound appealing? How about intriguing, at least? If you're anywhere near Mt. Koya, you'll probably have the chance to taste this regional specialty. I personally tried it as part of the vegetarian dinner I ate while staying at Sanboin temple. It's interesting, to say the least.

While many foods can be described as spongy, Koya Tofu could easily be mistaken for an actual sponge. It absorbed an immense amount of liquid, has little flavour by itself, and the texture is exactly what you'd expect from a synthetic bath sponge. I was somewhat surprised it didn't taste soapy.


Picture: Some Googlesnatched Koya Dofu.

Kyoto's Sanjusangendo

Even one of Sanjusangendo's statues of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, is impressive. Each one stands life sized and is covered in gold leaf, has eleven faces, and twenty one sets of arms to symbolize the goddess's thousand. Can you picture one Kannon now? Good.

Now imagine 1001 of them, each one unique and hand carved from Japanese cypress, crowded into Japan's longest wooden building. A giant statue of the Thousand-armed Kannon sits in the middle of the hall, with 500 smaller (merely life sized) Kannons on each side. The youngest of the statues are almost 700 years old. The effect is mind blowing.



As if the Kannons weren't enough, the hall also contains the statues of 28 Guardian deities and of Fujin and Raijin, the terrifying Japanese Gods of Wind and Thunder.


The temple's exterior, painted a striking vermilion, is worth a look as well.











Don't hurry off once you've seen the statues, or you'll miss the fascinating story of the other side of the hall, which has been used for the Tōshiya archery tournament since the 1600's. A small but fascinating display lists the truly awe inspiring records of Japan's best archers.

In the Oyakazu competition, for example, archers shoot as many arrows as they can within a 24 hour period, hoping to 'clear' - shoot the length of the hall without hitting the roof, floor, or pillars - as many arrows as possible.

In 1686, Wasa Daihachiro shot 13,053 arrows in Oyakazu, clearing 8,133 of them. This averages out to nearly 6 arrows a minute for twenty four hours straight.

Sanjusangendo is in Kyoto, Japan.

Food: Tofu

Sadly, in America many people are afraid of Tofu. This may have to do with a strong association of Tofu with a vegetarian diet - the idea of a "Tofurkey" served for Thanksgiving sounds to many Americans like an unholy violation of their traditions. Still, I say sadly because Tofu can really be delicious.No one should try tofu only once and decide it's not for them, because it simply comes in so many different forms, with vastly different textures and methods of preparation. I will update this list of featured Tofu types and dishes as I write more about this versatile foodstuff.

Types of Tofu (or closely related products):

Yuba: "Tofu Skin" (Chewy)
Koya Tofu: Freeze Dried Tofu (Spongy)

Food: Yuba (Japan)

Yuba, also known as soybean skim, is a Japanese food made from the skin that forms on the surface of boiling soy milk. The result is a bundle of thin, rubbery layers of a firm, tofu like substance. Yuba can be shaped in order to texturally resembled other foods, such as chicken breasts, and is often fried to give it a firmer skin. You can even deep fry yuba, like in this googlesnatched photo!



The first time I ordered a dish with yuba, I didn't know what it was. This is common in Japan and probably for the best. I would have missed out on many culinary adventures had I been afraid to eat some Japanese dishes based only on their not always appetizing English names! My first yuba experience was a clam chowder, and I almost mistook the yuba for incredibly tender clams. After this I took every opportunity to order yuba.

As with other Japanese Tofu dishes, my advice for yuba is to give it a try. Don't think about past experiences with soyburgers or tofurkey back home. Japan has many soy products in it's cuisine, and they vary widely by texture, taste, and application. You are not guaranteed to enjoy yuba, but it deserves to be given a chance.

Japanese Yen

When in a foreign country, even looking through your spare change can be new and exciting!

The currency of Japan is the yen. In Japan it is represented by the Kanji 円, and abroad by the symbol ¥.

If you use the USD, it shouldn't be hard for you to make sense of the value of your yen. It takes 100 yen to make a dollar, so just think of each yen as a single cent. I found it helpful to mentally add a decimal point to values.


For example,

200 yen - 2.00 dollars - 2 dollars.
10000 yen - 100.00 dollars - 100 dollars.

The Japanese use coins more than Americans do, so you may have to get used to the idea that a pocketful of change might actually be worth something!

The biggest Japanese coin, and yes, it's very commonly used, is the 500¥ coin. It's big, heavy, gold coloured, and worth a little over 5$! As the highest valued regularly used coin in the world, I daresay it's worth picking up if you should drop one.

The smallest coin is the 1¥ coin. It is tiny and made of 100% aluminum, so it's incredibly lightweight and almost feel like play money.

Another thing to notice is that two of the coins - the 5¥ and 50¥ pieces, have holes in them. The 5¥ coin is particularly notable. While only worth five cents, it is mostly copper and quite lovely. Unlike every other Japanese coin, it lacks any roman numerals. It is also considered to have a special value because the Japanese words for "Five Yen" - "Go-En" are the same as the honorific word for "Fate". Therefore, the 5¥ coin is very commonly given as a donation in Shinto shrines.


All pictures taken from Wikipedia.

Kamakura's Daibutsu

No visitor to Kamakura, or even to Tokyo, should miss this Great Buddha. Housed in the temple Kōtoku-in (高徳院), it is a popular destination and so easy to reach on foot or by bus. Most maps of Kamakura depict the Daibutsu visually, so you need not read Japanese to find your way.

Cast in 1252, this Buddha was originally housed in a wooden temple. Notably, it was built completely with donations - no government funding whatsoever. A 1498 tsunami destroyed this building, and crushed hundreds of Samurai who were taking refuge inside, but left the huge bronze statue standing. Some repairs were done in 1960, particularly to strengthen the statue's neck, but otherwise it has been standing out in the open, in it's present form, for more than five hundred years.

The statue is made primarily of copper, with a large component of lead and tin. Even today we are not one hundred percent sure how it was put together. Originally the statue was covered in brilliant, shining gilt, but over the course of 700 years it has worn almost completely off. Specialists have said that that statue's balance, intelligence, powerfulness, and dignity surpass that of the Todaiji Buddha in Nara.

Among those impressed by the statue's longevity and serene demeanor are Richard Cocks, who after visiting in 1616 said that the Daibutsu must be larger than the Colossus of Rhodes, and Rudyard Kipling, who, after seeing the Daibutsu in 1892, mentions it repeatedly in verses throughout his novel Kim.

O ye who treated the Narrow Way
By Tophet-flare to Judgment Day,
Be gentle when "the heathen" pray
To Buddha at Kamakura!

If you go around to the back, you can see that this Buddha in fact has windows! It is hollow inside and in fact for a time it was a den for gamblers and the homeless.

Now you can go inside for only 20¥ - about 20 cents.








Mentioned in: Japan's Daibutsu

Sources:
http://themargins.net/anth/19thc/kipling.html
http://www.kamakuratoday.com/e/sightseeing/daibutsu.html

Food: Sukiyaki (Japan)

鋤焼 (Hiragana すき焼き, romaji Sukiyaki) is a type of Japanese hot pot. Thinly sliced beef, jelly noodles, and other vegetables including cabbage or mushrooms are cooked slowly in a salty-sweet mirin and soy sauce broth. When eating Sukiyaki, each person breaks an egg into a serving bowl and dips what they take from the pot into the raw egg before eating. (This is safe to do in Japan, duplication can't be recommended everywhere.) There are many Sukiyaki restaurants in Japan, and Sukiyaki is also very popular in homes, especially at winter parties.



My friend's grandmother made us this Kyoto style Sukiyaki the night we arrived in Japan. The textures were certainly different - especially the jelly noodles and the raw egg - but it all tasted delicious. The flavour was a unique mixture of sweetness and umami.

Food: Japanese Curry

カレー (romaji Karē, also known as Japanese Curry) is a type of curry with a rather interesting history. During the Meiji era (1869 - 1913), curry was first introduced to Japan by the British. At the time, India was under the control of Britain, and the British navy often ate meat stews seasoned with curry powder. Most curry served in Japan today comes from this originally British mixture. However, in more recent years many Indian restaurants have also opened in Japan, so it is possible to get Indian curry there as well.


Japanese Curry is usually served with rice, eaten with a spoon, and called カレーライス (curry rice). The most popular meats are beef or pork, depending on the region of Japan, although chicken and duck curries are also available. Common vegetables are onions, carrots, and potatoes. Another common form is カレーパン (karē pan) called curry bread or sometimes curry dougnut, which is dough wrapped around a bit of curry and then deepfried. Karē soups are also popular.

Karē restaurants are one of the cheaper options for eating out in Japan. Karē is also very easy to make at home, since many instant powders and blocks are available. If you like, you can easily try it yourself in the United States, since many grocery stores carry the instant varieties Vermont Curry and/or Golden Curry.

Food: Yakitori (Japan)

焼き鳥 (hiragana やきとり, romaji Yakitori) is a type of kebab popular in Japan. Literally, the name means 'fried bird', because most yakitori dishes are made of chicken. Yakitori-ya are some of the cheapest restaurants in Japan, and are found throughout the country. There are two main ways to season yakitori. One is with sea salt and lemon, and the other is with tare sauce (a sweet and thick soy sauce).

This googlesnatched photo shows yakitori with mushrooms and chicken together.

If you are picky about your meat, yakitori may not be for you. When you order your kebabs, you are literally asking for the part of the chicken that you want. For example, kokoro (chicken heart), sunagimo (chicken gizzard), kawa (chicken skin), bonjiri (chicken tail), shiro (chicken intestines), and nankotsu (chicken cartilage).

Less intimidating varieties include toriniku (white meat chicken), atsuage dofu (deep fried tofu), and enoki maki (mushrooms wrapped in pork slices).

Japan's Daibutsu

Japan is home to a number of fabulous Daibutsu, literally, 'Big Buddhas'. These statues vary widely in terms of size, material, personality, and style, from the 120 meter tall Ushiku Amida Buddha, shown on the right, to the Kamagaya Daibutsu, called "Japan's Smallest Big Buddha," which in my mind borders on the oxymoronic.


The first Daibutsu I'd like to showcase is the Ushiku Amida Buddha. At 110 meters tall, it is the third largest statue in the world, and more than three times the size of Brazil's Christ the Redeemer. Although I haven't seen it myself, it certainly looks impressive in this Googlesnatched photo.

However, the Ushiku Amida Buddha has two things going against it. Firstly, it's somewhat out of the way, compared to many of the Daibutsu which are in famous cultural centers. Secondly, and this one's a killer, the Ushiku Amida Buddha was completed in 1995, making it a whopping 14 years old.





Next up, The Great Buddha of Nara. This is the world's largest Buddha Vairocana. Work began on this bronze Daibutsu in 747, however, it has been repaired numerous times and had it's head replaced in 1692. It's nice and shiny, but it loses some of it's grandeur since it's crowded inside of a building.

Still, it's a must see if only for the sake of this building: Todaiji's Great Buddha Hall. It is, as it stands today, the largest wooden building in the world - and it's only 2/3 it's original size.









Last but not least, here's The Great Buddha of Kamakura. Although he can make no superlative claims, he is listed among Japan's official top 3 Daibutsu for good reason. Cast in 1252, this Daibutsu is more than 750 years old. He towers over the buildings around him while retaining a peaceful, otherworldly presence. Originally covered by a building like the Nara Buddha's Todaiji, his temple washed away in a tsunami long ago, leaving only the Daibutsu.

He is located in Kamakura, just a short train ride from Tokyo. This town features dozens of temples and makes a great day trip.

Still, the best thing about the Kamakura Buddha is that it's hollow in the middle, with windows on the back... and for 20¥, or about 22 cents, you can go inside.

Find out more in: Kamakura's Daibutsu

The Culture of Japanese Warning Signs

First, for comparative purposes, your good, old fashioned, everyday CAUTION sign:

I think most American's would agree that this is a fairly standard, unextraordinary CAUTION sign. A simple stick figure, a very abstract representation of a human being. It is genderless, faceless, emotionless. Devoid of all context, he trips and falls in a vacuum.

The signs I saw in Japan were noticeably different. They seemed to say, "You are not the only person in the world - take care not to forget it". From etiquette signs to warning signs, attention is drawn to the human situation, to the emotions involved. Emotional bystanders are depicted as almost as important, if not as important, as the central figure, who failed to heed the warning. This figure, too, takes on a persona: in the case of coming into some harm, he looks horrified, embarrassed. In the case of being a nuisance, he looks self absorbed or wicked.

I spent a lot of time on subways and trains, staring at advertisements, people watching (as carefully as I could), and trying to puzzle out the Japanese writing on various things. But my eyes kept coming back to these posters, to what they seemed to say about Japanese values.

Exhibit One:

I didn't take this shot myself. I actually took regrettably few shots of these signs, considering the awkward implications of using flash photography on a crowded train. Still, this serves as an excellent example.

The central figure here is a young woman who, being in a rush, decides to try and dash onto a train that is leaving. Well, this is discouraged for a number of reasons. It may delay the train, and it's not very safe for anyone involved. Predictably, the woman gets her foot stuck. As she screams, those in and outside of the train look horrified, anxious, embarrassed, and a wide range of other negative emotions.

The message: You are not the only person in the world. If you do something stupid, you will get hurt, you will cause a commotion, and you will draw attention to yourself. Are you sure you're in that big of a hurry?

I am not the world's most graceful person. I've lost track of the times that I've missed a step, or slipped, or otherwise embarrassed myself by not being careful enough. Most of these times, I turned bright red when it happened. The pain on the bottoms of my hands or even a skinned knee couldn't compare to my shame at having drawn attention to myself. When people came to ask me whether I was okay, I knew that they meant well, but I wanted to disappear.



Exhibit Two:

Sadly, this is the only one of the three pictures here that I took myself. It was a bad choice, too, as this is the one that popped up most often when I tried to do a Google Search for others I remembered! But it's a classic for a reason.

Uh oh, looks like someone didn't set their phone to manner mode. If the central characters phone was merely ringing, he might merely have been cast as the thoughtless, forgetful half victim. As it is, he is shamelessly, no, wickedly talking loudly into his phone on the crowded train! This goes beyond disregard for others as he seems to be taking pleasure in assaulting their ears. I for one wouldn't want to be sitting next to someone like that, especially with the red lightening bolts coming out of his shoulders!

The message: You are not the only person in the world. Only evil people who hate old women and pretty girls would talk on their phone in the subway. Are you evil?

-------

Exhibit Three:


I saw this sign many times while in Tokyo, but I did take this photograph of it off of Google.

Two women have been out shopping. They simply can't help themselves and start chatting and comparing purchases on the subway, with their things strewn out around them. Although they are very obviously bothering those around them, as evidenced by the huge white eyes of the bystanders, they evidently are living in their own little bubble and don't care.

The message: You are not the only person in the world. Don't take up more space than you're entitled to.

----

Exhibit Four:

This exhibit, unfortunately, exists only in my memory and your imagination. If someone has an image of this sign, please let me know! I would love to have it.

The central figure in this image is riding a long distance train. She neglected to sit securely enough - perhaps she wasn't leaning back, perhaps she wasn't wearing a seatbelt. At any rate, when the train stops suddenly, she goes flying forwards.

This being about one week into our trip to Japan, I turned to my friend Laura and said,

"You see? The girl coming out of her seat looks frightened and anxious enough, but also look at the reactions of those around her."

The passengers in the other seats, who had been more careful, looked similar to the bystanders in Exhibit One.

"Even the seat is reacting," said Laura, and I realized it was true. Each seat had been personified with eyes, eyebrows, and a little mouth. They were all looking towards the hapless girl, and they, too, looked horrified, anxious, embarassed.

The message: You are not the only person in the world. Fasten your seatbelt... for everyone's sake.