Sake from the city of Yonago

I enjoyed some delicious sake at dinner with my family tonight. I found it in a pop-up stall in Matsuzakaya Department store this afternoon.

It's unpasteurized which means it's not heated or diluted. More importantly it is made of very rare sake rice called "Goriki", which is exclusively produced in the Tottori prefecture. Another ingredient is white koji mold.
Most people say that unpasteurized sake tastes fruity but the Goriki sake rice and the white koji mold give it a slightly sour, fresh taste. The aftertaste is also very pleasant.

My eyes were glued to the bulletin board on which every detail about the sake was hand-written. I read "Yonago" which is a city in the Tottori prefecture where my grandparents used to live. Sweet memories filled my heart. I enjoyed a chat with one of the staff from the Inata Brewery in Yonago.
The name of the brewery is Inata and this bottle of sake was named after "Princess Inata" who appears in the ancient legends about Shinto deities.

In Japan sake is produced in a number of places and generally speaking each brewery has established a long history and sense of pride. In each location differences in the spring water and rice used to make the sake and differences in climate make each sake very unique. Each one has its own history and taste.
It's really fascinating to find out about and explore these differences and see how they affect the taste.

 

Does COVIT-19 change our culture?

 

 We are in the midst of the Obon holidays in Japan. 

Obon is a series of Buddhist memorial services for family ancestors which generally takes place on August 14 and on 15. To put it more precisely, when the event takes place depends on the sect you belong to or the local area you live in. My family belongs to the Soto sect and the services of Obon actually start earlier in August.

Every year, this is the time when many Japanese visit family graves in temples together along with family members who usually live apart such as children with families of their own. It’s a big family reunion.

However, this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, things are quite different.

In order to avoid close contact, our temple has decided to minimize Obon memorial services. They have also limited the number of visitors from one family. The other day, at the beginning of the Obon, two people from one family were allowed to attend the service with a mask on in accordance with the service time schedule. The temple main hall used to be full of families coming in and out the whole day, exchanging greetings with one another—but not this year. There was no opportunity for us to talk with the principle monk and his family in person, and no tea service to relax with after the prayers either. We just gave a simple bow in greeting and farewell from a distance.

On August 15th, the last day of the Obon, the memorial service for our ancestors won't be an exception. This time, four members from one family will be allowed to participate in the memorial service in the main hall.
Surprisingly enough, many other temples have also suspended the Obon memorial services in their halls and have decided to provide memorial services via the Zoom meeting instead. We had never expected that IT technology would prevail in our traditional practices at temples and at home.

I know the temples took a drastic measure to prevent us from infection. Yet, it's sad that we are forced to change our tradition. No one can tell what Obon will look like next year.

No matter what, it’s time for us to remember our ancestors, including our parents who left us not so long ago, and to pray to them for protection at our family altar.

 

The girl's death

Let me express how I feel in relation to the recent news of this girl's death.
I feel the same way most mothers do. It is terrible and a nightmare. I hope that the presence of neglect in our society won’t cripple the future of our children.

Whenever the story is aired, it makes me so depressed and angry toward the schools, education boards and police of two prefectures, Okinawa and Chiba, for their mishandling of her case and lack of coordination. The girl could have been saved and would be alive now if the teachers and officials had made more solid attempts at protecting the abused girl.

Gosh, whenever I recall the news, I want to scream at the guy from the education board for carelessly handing over the girl's questionnaire, full of her cries for help, to her sick father. She would still be alive if the education board hadn’t have handed over the questionnaire to her abusive father, who demanded the man show it.

After all, this only enraged her father and escalated his abuse of her.
She was found dead in the bathroom of her house. It makes me so depressed that no one could save her. These days, the occurence of domestic violence is spoken about in our society. Though abuse takes place behind closed doors, it is our duty to protect abused children on a more proactive and social level.

The cutest maching only in spring

It was a beautiful Sunday in the midst of spring.

I could easily imagine that the highway to my mother's was busy with cars--sightseers on their way to see the cherry blossoms. I didn’t want to be trapped in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam on the way. I gave up on driving and took a train instead.

Soon after the train left, my eyes were caught by the breathtaking view of cherry blossoms in full bloom out the window in the distant mountains, along the riverbanks and the railway lines. I was glad that I had made a good decision.

The nearest station to my mother’s is called “Sakura”, namely “cherry blossoms”. I was most happy when I stood on the platform and saw the sign saying "Sakura" with beautiful sakura at their best in the background. The name of the station perfectly matched the cherry trees that bloomed beyond.

A Pair of Muddy Boots

My daughter came home to stay overnight on the way to Ena, a mountainous town in Gifu, which is the prefecture next to ours.

She was on a business trip with her colleagues to a stone wholesale company. Her landscape company does business with them.

Do you know how GOOD it is for a mother to see her daughter home with her backpack?
Besides, she was carrying her helmet and a pair of muddy boots!  Good job.

Summer Sweets

Good friends of my late mother-in-law's kindly visited us to give a prayer before our Buddhist family altar for remembering her on her first death anniversary.　

I served Japanese tea for them and I put some Japanese sweets on a glass plate. Although this summer heat was exceptionally weird, we still keep the nice way to appreciate the season that traditional Japanese confectioners depict using refined sugar and beans.

We really had a good time together sharing nice memories of my mother- in- law.
I believed she smiled on us.

Farewell to My Father

The farewell came to us all of a sudden. 
My dear father left us earlier this month at the age of 91 due to old age. 
He stayed in bed just for three days. He didn't suffer from any pain. 
At the end, he was gone just as a candle flame goes out. 
He looked as if he were still sleeping. I believe that his life of more than 90 years was a fulfilling one. 

Yet I miss him so badly. Even at my age, in my 50s, I was still his child. 
It is harsh to learn that I can't see him, hear him or even reach him any more in this world.
How I wish I could have turned time backward again to talk to him just once before he was gone. 
I know that's a ridiculous idea, but none of us expected that he would be gone that day. 

This was his and our destiny, though. 

Now I recall many stories of my father and experiences I shared with him in my life. 
All of them are so dear to me. 

He personally loved drawing, writing, reading and loved chemistry. Also I loved him playing the harmonica. He was extremely good at Japanese calligraphy — a talent which he inherited from his own father. I luckily take after my father in some of these ways too. I am proud of being his daughter. 

Well I have to go forward for my mother and my own family. 
That is what my father expects me to do now. 
I truly believe so.

all the way from another world

I just walked back from our house grave in the temple with some lit incense sticks which I brought back from the grave altar.  It is believed that the souls of the ancestors come along with me, being guided by some lit incense and a small fire for welcoming at the house entrance.  

This is one of the biggest traditional Japanese Buddhist events to commemorate our ancestors' souls as well as those of all people in the past.  Now they are with us for three days to spend time with their descendants at their homestead. Welcome back.

Obon is the biggest traditional as well as religious event besides the New Year in Japan. We have about a week holiday during the Obon nationwide.  In general many young family living away from their parents  put themselves into hustles and bustles of packed trains with people and roads with cars in order to visit their houses they've grown up.  A happy family of several generations visit the house grave together to pay a respect to their ancestors. Definitely Obon makes it possible for many family members to get reunited to enjoy the holidays.  This way Japanese people are more likely to put an importance on a family unity.

Tomorrow our house monk is coming  to give a sutra for our ancestors in front of the house altar. Then the day after tomorrow,  they are ready to go back to their world of the dead riding on a egg plant cow or a cucumber horse which are standing by on the altar.

Our Obon has got underway just now.

When it is too big to handle,

Our garden is overrun with weeds.

Whenever I visit temples, shrines and even private museums of old Japanese houses,  I feel so guilty for myself not taking good care of our own garden.

If I stayed home all day,   I would have made time to clean up the ground.  Since I have a job,  I make it a rule that I should put a priority to do my chores in a house first.  As a result,  most of the time I end up with indoor chores.   "I just don't have time for our garden."  And what is worse, my husband is away from home  every half a month abroad. He is not here when I really need his help.

Twice a year our gardeners come over to cut and trim all the trees and bushes but that is not enough. Weeds and grasses grow every season and they don't stop  growing  before the gardeners arrive.   Even the gardeners are too busy to spend sitting on the grounds to pick up weeds.  They just cut and trim the trees, sweeping the grounds, loading up all the stuff they cut out  on the trucks and rush to the next job. It still takes several days before they finish our garden.  Its ground is just too big for a housewife to take care of.  Now I am serious about asking a helper from the volunteer gardeners group from the city once a month so that the garden will not turned to be a bush again.

Our house is a typical traditional one.  It has a big garden full of trees around the house.  In the previous generations,  there used to be always someone coming over to clean the ground----but not any more.   Now our old heritage surely takes much time and budget from us  to take care of.  Yet my husband and I never thought  of the idea to abandon  our house and garden.  We like this old house but it is more than old.   Somehow we would like to  preserve it for our next young generation. Some way some how.

January 17

(image from Yomiuri Online)

Seventeen years have passed since then.

The disaster took away more than 6,000 lives ,
which left a great sorrow and grief in their families and friends.

And

we will share the prayers again today at the exact time
when the Great East Japan Earthquake took place last March.

My thought is with them throughout the day today.

also my previous post in 2005

Stereotyped or not?

Here are dozens of sliced rolled sushi called "makizushi" in Japanese. You may be quite familiar with sushi with a sliced piece of raw fish sitting on a top of a small piece of vinegar sensed rice as one of the typical Japanese cuisine.
Next to those sushi, this rolled sushi is very popular too. In my childhood, my mother used to make these for lunch box for a school one day trip or school sports day. So do I. It's one of typical cuisine every mother does here. This is a very popular lunch when you have some festive occasions besides school events such as family picnic at a zoo, at a park and at a cherry blossoms viewing in spring.

These rolled sushi in the pictures above were all made by a friend's husband, which is a kind of surprising for us her female friends. Aren't they nice and in fact they were SO good. This is something beyond my imagination that my husband would ever make it. Traditionally speaking, men were considered not to step into their house kitchen where women worked. We set a clear definition in terms of a man's roles and a woman's roles in a house. Along with the changes of our life style, it's not all true anymore. I see many couple especially young ones cook together or taking turns. It depends on each couple and family to share cooking, I presume. A stereo type of a man/husband is changing in many aspects.

Talking of rolled sushi then, there are two videos introducing how to make a roll sushi and an arranged one called "decoration sushi" or "art roll sushi." Be sure that both come along with music.



Enjoy the second video on how to make a carnation shushi roll.

Our Affection to the dolls

(click !)

Well, Hina Matsuri(Doll's Festival) is coming along tomorrow.
It's my favorite traditional event of all the annual events in our culture.
It's a decorative and colorful display of gorgeous dolls dressed in ancient imperial court wardrobe. Hina Matsuri on March 3 is certainly a sign of an arrival of long awaited spring. In accordance with the ancient calender, I already set up the dolls in the room in advance in February.
Hina Matsuri (Doll's Festival) became so popular among any classes of people in Edo Period (17th to 19th century). Of course it was at first a custom just being limited in the federal families then while the whole nation became stable without any battles, people began to be fulfilled with the same practice that their ruling class had enjoyed for years and years.

Just think. I wonder how come we've been carried away with this custom for centuries. People and dolls------ever since man's civilization, we often connected with some objects which were made to resemble ourselves-----figures, icons, statues, sculptures----and here are what we call "dolls."

Speaking of the Japanese people in olden days, they started the Doll's Festival with the belief that the dolls should take places of their little daughters and bring every evil , disease and bad luck away from their little ones. Parental wish to their children for healthy, wealthy and happy marriage life is universal regardless of time and places.
Dolls are so special and precious for the Japanese in the way that they take our places wearing all the evils and diseases. This is true to any other common practice when we decorate the dolls at home. Not only Doll's Festival for girls but also dolls for boys displayed on Children's Day of May 5th.
Dolls are not simply toys for the Japanese but effigies so to speak. This special sentiment towards dolls explains that people just hesitate throwing them away as a trash when they get too old. 　So we bring them to the temples and the shrines where monks and priests bless the abandoned dolls and eventually burn them with prayers of gratitude. This is what people and dolls are all about in Japan. Dolls are so dear to us as if we were seeing ourselves in them. I believe there should be the similar stories somewhere in other countries, for sure.
Human traditions are indeed worth being cherished and admiring.

Thank you for reading a long post ;)

You may go back to my previous posts on Doll's Festival if you want to.

2010

2009#1
2009#2
2007

Changings in Japanese female names

(ranking names for babies for 2009-2010 reported by the Insurance Company)

According to the annual survey conducted by one of the big insurance companies in Japan, a girl's name ended with the Chinese character(kanji) “子”(ko) has risen to 2nd in ties on the list for the first time in 27 years. This name was "Riko" which was marked the 55th in the previous year.
Why is this topic featured? You may be wondered.
In Japan, traditionally the Chinese character(kanji) for female names such as "子"(ko) is added to the end such as in Mitsuko( famous for Guerulan perfume named after Mitsuko Coudenhove-Kalergi, the wife of an Austrian diplomat in the end of 19th century) and as in Michiko (our loyal Empress）. I would say roughly up until 70s, this general rule are very much reflected in ranking. I remember when I was a student, almost all the girls names I found in the classmates list were ended with "ko" like Mariko, Kyoko,Yoko, Kimiko and more. Most parents were likely to follow this traditional fondness because for one thing the origin of using “子” had a long historical value back to the ancient era through samurai period to the modern era. “子” had been used for women whose families were socially influential and powerful. Adding ”子”(ko) is a prestigious style of naming. The tendency has been then gradually changed since 1980s, parents have been more likely to prefer unique and only-one-name in the world for their girls. “子” has been gradually put away from their choices as being out of date or out of fashion. So here are some from the recent ranking, Sakura(cherry blossoms) Haruna(an image of popular young celebrity on TV?), and Yume(dream)------whew it's sometime so hard to read these names in kanji even for many Japanese like me since young parents trying to dig out so many uncommon kanji that makes us difficult to read.
Now then people come to think “子”(ko) is not as bad as ever? That might be a good reason for "Riko" ranked in the second this time. Yes, history may repeat in naming too.
Oh by the way, my daughter has no “子” in her name and -----curiously enough, me neither.

Have a nice weekend!

I didn't see him for two weeks. It was so hard to see him off at the time the Internet was not so widely used in our daily life. Oh, it was just a story about 10 or 20 years ago not an old story of half a century ago, I'll tell you.
Thanks to the arrival of the new technique, I don't have to send an air mail in care of the hotel front desk, nor make a call, nor ask the hotel front to hand out a fax document to him while he was out.
Anyway, we've been doing this for years and years since we got married. Now I don't have to worry too much anymore. I can get him on the mobile phone, send him a message to it and to his PC anytime. The world is surely getting much smaller and so is our bloggers' friendship over the webs.

I've been busy for this past week what with visiting new friends from OWOH on the net and what with my daily life. Now he's back and the things in the house are going around a bit faster.

Have a nice weekend to all of my friends.
Is there any plan over the weekend?
Whatever it is, have a restful one. Another Monday will be with us so soon.

We throw beans today!

Before I started my post tonight, I just checked my past posts and learned that I hadn't posted on this topic ever since 2005. Wow, that's quite a long time ago.
It's probably because it is not a family event anymore with my children growing old enough and being reluctant to throw food. Well, who on earth ever feel happy about throwing food on the ground?
However no matter people would say about the Japanese throwing food, as long as it's Feb.3, it is just OK. We throw beans inside and outside the house! Young parents who are usually determined to discipline their children to be good, will hand out some roasted soy beans to them and tell them to scatter all over! They all start throwing while shouting, "In with good luck. Out with bad luck." After all, this is one of our traditional events which has been enjoyed for years and years.
So maybe you'd like to know more about this event. Let me link my past post in 2005 here.
By the way, though my children grow old, I already prepared some beans from several shops. Even at the bakery shops, they sell some yummy buns in the shape of a cute goblin.
So tonight in the evening I will throw some beans on behalf of all of my family for our happiness shouting as "softly" as my neighbors won't hear me but as much "softly" as good fortune can hear me.

Two shots of the day

Yesterday my husband took me to the dealer's garage to show me his new car which had just landed all the way from PGO across the ocean. It will take some more time to go through an automobile inspection.
He gave himself a big belated birthday gift for himself.　He decided to renew his car. What a big buy! But I know he had been planning it for these past years and I believe it was perfectly considered. Man's shopping sometimes costs a lot at one time. On the contrary, I'd rather enjoy shopping throughout a year including eating out. So as he was content with his new car, we stopped at his favorite Japanese restaurant to have this grilled eel with heavy sweet soy sauce for lunch. Perfect Sunday! Now I have a good reason to get a new spring dress next time. Don't you think so?

Japanese Daddy long legs "Tiger Mask"

　　

It started at the end of the year when every Japanese household is busy getting ready for having the very first day of the New Year.
Ten school backpacks were found in front of the entrance of a children's welfare facility on Christmas in Gunma Prefecture by the name of "Tiger Mask," a great Japanese cartoon(manga)
hero that every one knows for more than 30 years. After the director of the welfare house consulted with the police, they have decided to accept the knapsacks.
Ever since this news, there are more and more anonymous "Tiger Mask" being inspired by the first one, send the brand new "randoseru" to children's welfare houses across the country.

Well, I was not the great fan of this "manga" when I was a kid yet I know some basic information on "Tiger Mask" since he is the great hero of the day. He himself came from the foster home and after he became a famous professional wrestler, he kept sending his money to his foster home as the anonymous sender till he died by accident.
This news means so much to us especially when today's economy is not so healthy that there is less good news in our society.

Sending a knapsack to a child has a special meaning among any Japanese adults. A knapsack, a school bag or a backpack, whatever you may call it in English, we name it "ra-n-do-se-ru," which originally came from "a ransel" in Dutch.
A compulsory education starts in Japan when children reach the age of seven in spring. It's a happy event for any parents and grandparents to celebrate their child/grandchild's beginning of the school life and getting a first randoseru for their child is such a welcoming and rewarding gift that they proudly make.

Every day we get the news that some more "Tiger Mask" appear by way of sending not only "randoseru" but also some other gifts such as books, toys and what's more, tons of rice and vegetables!!! One of "Tiger Mask" left the message "Children are the gifts from the heaven. So we've got to take care of any children with all our might."
Well, we're so thankful to every "Tiger Mask" but then, how the government understands this, I wonder. It's not the only charity to children but also the big caution to the government for their good policy to the citizens.

As of today, 96 anonymous "Tiger Mask" left 171 "randoseru" and other items in all the 47 prefectures in the nation.

(all the imges from the web news and the backpack online shop)

First visit to the Shinto Shrine

Most Japanese make the first visit to shinto shrines and Buddhist temples on the very first day of the New Year. This is the biggest annual event for us throughout the year. We visit there to pray for good health and good luck for the newly coming year. Actually the visits start at midnight. There are many families and groups of friends and relatives who leave home for their destinations before the clock strikes the change of the year at midnight. At many shrines and temples across the country are ready for welcoming the crowds of people. We see many policemen are on duty for our safety at the sites. 　Every year it is reported that millions of people pay visits to shrines and temples during the first three days of the year.

(three pictures are from the website)

So this year too, my family visited one of the big shrines downtown in the first morning of the year. We passed the tall shrine archway at the entrance, which meant that we stepped into the sacred area. Usually the path which is covered with pebbles leads to the inner shrine where we make our respects to the shinto god.
In front of the altar, we make some donations by throwing some coins into the large alms box and now it's time for praying and making some wishes!
Every year I never forget to pray for happiness and good health for my family and make some more extra wishes such as "Let me accomplish my desire to lose my weight this year" or "Please let my husband and I have lots of fun together."------making endless wishes until I hear my husband laughing "How can you be so greedy with a small donation? Let's go."
Along the side way, some free hot drinks such as sweet rice wine and specially sacred rice wine are provided. Sweet rice wine is my favorite. It's so good to have such a rich drink of very mild alcohol on a wintry day.

Along the way, we enjoyed drawing fortune lots. We made a small donation and got each fortune told on a small stripe of paper. It was really fun and thrilling until I opened the folded small paper to find a largest letter which described the general luck of the year. Here you see the "omikuji(fortune lots)" I drew that day in the above picture, it said "Chu-kichi," which means "middle blessing" out of 7 or 12 levels. Great! "Chu-kichi" is the top second. My daughter got "Kichi," which means just"Blessing." It's still lucky enough. We both kept them in each bag and brought these good blessings back home with us. If we got results of less blessings, then we were supposed to tie these stripes of paper to a tree or a wall of metal wires so that bad fortunes would remain in the temple or shrine grounds. In general we just enjoy this for fun. Even if I get a bad luck, I just take it for a good reminder that I will be able to make this new year much luckier if I take care of things a little more attentively.

Getting ready for the first day of 2011

The last several days before the New Year in Japan is super busy, non-stop and restless for every housewife to get prepared for the New Year's celebration. Every man, no matter what position he's in in his business world, is happy to help his wife at home, as far as I know.
Hope every one has a happy and peaceful New Year Eve tonight.

Autumn color Kyoto

The city of 1.5 million residents called Kyoto is now as busy as it is in spring.
Many visitors from abroad and home come and visit to see the dramatic changing colors of the outdoor scenery in and around the city. The maple trees are just amazing and so impressive. Kyoto is just like the city sitting at the bottom of the big valley surrounded by moderately high mountains.

More than anything else, it used to be the imperial city for more than 1,000 years and people has been blessed with its rich culture. It was quite natural that Kyoto being the center of the county, has a great number of Buddhism temples and Shinto shrines all over the city. (approximately 1,600temples and 400 shrines)
What is more amazing is that most temples and shrines have their own gardens of small and huge, surrounded by tidy hedges or simply walls or some are just surrounded by the low hills, which add a unique beauty to each ancient heritage.


Now I'm so lucky to live close to this marvelous city, just 30-minute-train ride distance.
Yet, it is not a local train but a super express train called a "bullet train". Fare-wise, it is not a frequent choice to make a visit. But why not in this season. I can't miss it especially since my daughter lives there and it would be the last school year for her in Kyoto.
I rented a bicycle and we enjoyed the warm autumn air without being annoyed with the traffic jams everywhere inside the city.

We visited one shrine near her university and two temples. The scenery was just charming and breathtaking. By the time we headed for the last temple, the day turned into the night. While the colorful leaves of all kinds are at their best, several temples open the gates to the visitors by spot-lightening the gardens of moss and colorful trees. The reflection gives us some fantastic and different images from the daytime faces. Kyoto is always busy with tourists but it never makes us disappointed. We can feel with all our senses the wonderful heritage of the long history on every corner of this city.

We enjoyed a girls talk as usual during the dinner, then we left each other and I　hopped on the late train back to Nagoya. The cars for non-reserved seats were almost full with tourists and businessmen heading back to Tokyo, the terminal stop next Nagoya.

Here are some more images.