River Time

Mino Waterfall in Osaka Prefecture Part II

In walking along the river, I can feel much cooler air than around my house.

People enjoy being in the river or by the river or above the river.

I dedicate this post to Water World Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday.

Shinto Purification

Time flies. June 30th is the last day of the first half of the year. And in Japan there is a unique custom held in many Shinto shrines. (Shinto is the indiginous religion of Japan.)
A big circle made by pampas grass is placed in the Shinto shrines. People pass through the circle to wish for purification and coming good luck.
I took these pictures at Heian Shrine. You can see the big circle placed at the gate. The red architecure covered with a green roof was modeled after Emperor's palace of the 11th -12th century in 5/8th scale.

Wooden Tools

These are wooden tools used for sake production in the late 18th century in Kyoto. Wooden backet, tub,... Today these are displayed to let us know how to produce sake in an old style.

Here are more "wooden" things in Thursday Challenge.

Mellow Yellow Monday...Paper lantern

Thid is part of Mellow Yellow Monday. http://mellowyellowmonday.blogspot.jp/

 These are the shots I took a few days ago. I love the mellow yellow light of the candle.
You can see the hanging decoration of small pink and white balls, which is made of rice cake.
I've never lived in such an old-style house, but I feel a pang of nostalgia for this room.

This flower arrangement was placed just by the front door. Every one is welcome.

In the yard I found several small statues. The left is a raccoon dog  and the right one is a Chinese-style old man doll.

Pit House Cafe

old barn on the way

Today I went out for driving in the mountain with my friend M. We headed for a certain unique cafe, following the indication of the car  navigation system, but we were lost. Sometimes the navigation  system seems crazy to me. We made a detour to the cafe. The cafe is "Madama Village" located in the nothern part of Ibaraki city, Osaka.

the entrance of the cafe

Why did I say a "unique" cafe?  Because it is a round "pit dwelling" cafe made by old trees and reed. It is 12m in diameter and 11m in height with one room. On the earthen floor, there are several homemade tables and chairs. We tasted a good chestnut cake and a cup of coffee in a dusky light.  From time to time, various concerts and lectures are held here.

covered with thick reed

It was so ancient but really cool!  Fantastic time.
You can see more information and pictures here. http://madamamura.com/

diamond-like light

Precious Cup of Coffee

today's cup of coffe at my favorite cafe

Hello, lovely friends

Do you like coffee? I'm a coffee lover and I used to drink two, three, sometimes more cups of coffee every day until several weeks ago.

About two months ago, I came to feel very nauseous when I got up in the morning. I happened to have a once-a-year medical checkup and received barium exam for stomach. Luckily no problem was found. My doctor gave me some medicine to get better, but my sickness remained.

So I thought and thought what I should do to solve my problem.  Then I decided to change my eating habit for my health. It is very simple.
That is:  Eat food by eight o'clock at night and stop eating later except tea or water.
              Have only ONE cup of coffee a day.
        
Surprisingly my condition improved and now I'm in good shape. Now I can enjoy a cup of coffee more than before. Strange feeling.

My conclusion: I guess I ate and drank too much.  I ate and drank much more than my body needed. Plus my body is aging, including internal organs.
Anyway, I love coffee!!

January 10th Business Success Festival

Today, January 10th is '10th Ebisu Festival' which means 'January 10th Business Success Festival'.

Ebisu is believed to be the patron deity of business and fisheries. Many people come to the Ebisu shrine to pray for happiness and business success. There are a number of Ebisu shrines in Japan, and especially in Osaka, they are very popular  because Osaka used to thrive as a commercial center of Japan in Edo period (1603～1867).

At the festival, people buy a good luck bamboo branch which is a highly popular charm for business prosperity. It is decorated with lots of lucky items such as oval gold coins, sea bream and rice bales. Many merchants return the old bamboo branch of the last year to the shrine and get the new one for this year.

This festival is held at many shrines, especially in Kansai. Imamiya Ebisu Shrine in Osaka city is the most famous one, but I don't want to go to too crowded place, so I visited a local Ebisu shrine in Ibaraki city. I  feel the people's strong hope for business success in the long-lasting economic slowdown in Japan.

beautiful shinto maiden praying for happiness and prosperity

Rice Porridge with Seven Spring Herbs

Seven Spring Herbs

Japan is proud of various customs based on seasonal changes, but today some of these customs are disappearing. So this year, I want to try to experience these traditional customs as much as possible in my daily lives.

at the supermarket

Today, January 7th is the festival of eating rice porridge with seven edible spring herbs.(As the Japanese calendar was changed from the ancient lunar-based calendar into the Gregorio calendar in 1873, there exists a gap of the days. Old January 7th is today's end of February. Ancient people could find spring herbs. But today, thanks to modern technology, we can get spring herbs at the supermarket.)

 This long-standing Japanese custom is believed to remove evil from the body and bring longevity and health. Since there is little green at this time of the year, the young green herbs bring color to the table and eating them suits the spirit of the New Year. And it is also a stomach-friendly meal after overeating New Year's festivities.

Seven Spring Herbs are water dropwort (seri), shepherd's purse (nazuna), cudweed( gogyo), chickweed(hakobera), nipplewort(hotokenoza), turnip (suzuna) and radish (suzushiro).

Generally this rice porridge is eaten for today's breakfast , but I forgot to get this set yesterday, so I'll make it for supper.  It'll make a  good diet for the stomach.

Today's Shots

These two shots are New Year's beautiful decoration I found today. It's the largest flower arrangement I've ever seen outside the house. 

 You can see the straw ornament on the gate wich is called "Shime-kazari". It is a decoration of twisted straw rope with fern leaves, an orange, and other items of good fortune.  It is placed over the entrance of a house during the New Year holidays.

another Shime-kazari

I found a blue heron and several ducks in the nearby river. They were trying to find something to eat.

Today was very cold as yesterday and there still remained some snow on the place out of the sun.

It's amazing to find these white flowers standing a frigid winter. They give me courage.

http://www.trulyjapanese.com/

 

Nabe- Japanese-style Hot Pot Dish

Today is January 4th.  Most Japanese companies start business from today, but schools start on 10th.
It was very cold and we had a little snow here today. Generally we have one or two snowy days in a year in Osaka. On such a cold day, we have "Nabe" dish for dinner. We had "yosenabe" for dinner which is one of my favorite hot pots.

Nabe is the most popular and social Japanese food to eat during the winter. It's a hot pot full of all sorts of fish, meat and vegetables. It's served with a heater underneath it so that it bubbles and cooks at the table while you keep serving yourself and adding to the pot.

I'm sure Nabe is an ideal dish. Why??
The reasons are
 #1 Easy and simple: Preparation is very simple. Get various vegetables, tofu, meat, seafood as much as you like. Cut them and just boil them in a pot. You can eat them dipped in your favorite sauce, such as soy sauce with citrus juice or sesame sauce. Tasty!
#2 Delicious and Nutritious: After eating boiled ingredients, you can put boiled rice and eggs to make special porridge. Or you can put noodles. Both are really tasty and nutritious.
#3 Sense of Closeness: The last point is the most important. We strengthen our sense of unity through eating from the same pot.
Tasty, easy cooking and make unification. It's a perfect Japanese cuisine!

New Year's Postcard

A Happy New Year to You and Your Family!

This is a Japanese-style New Year's postcard which depicts the animal of the year. This year 2012 is the "year of the Seadragon   DRAGON" based on the tweleve Chinese zodiac signs. 

This postcard is a lottery. The winner will be chosen on January 22nd. The first prize of this year is a luxurious TV or travel coupon. However the sales of New Year's cards have been decreasing since 1999 because of the popularity of e-mail.

Still, I love to read the postcards from my friends on the New Year's Days and try to keep this custom forever.

My Osechi!

These are today's shots.
This red three-tiered container is used only for this season to serve the Osechi dish. I bought it when I got married 28 years ago.

This is my Osechi.  In the top box, I put boiled shrimp and grilled yellow tail fish. In the second box, pink and white fish paste, sweet fried egg, cooked black beans, small fish, and kelp. And the bottom one includes various vegetables. And another container has vinegared dish of white radish, carrot and mackerel. They are all regarded as auspicious food in Japan.

Tomorrow we're going to have a New Year party. My two sisters' families will come to my house, so in total twelve people will join the party. They are looking forward to meet Rintaro.

Rintaro on his mother's back

A Happy New Year to you and your family!

Cook & Taste

Today's morning. Went to the grocery store and the supermarket to get something missing. There were already many people who came to buy for the preparation of the New Year.

decoration for the front door

Then, I felt I need a break to make a strategy for the Osechi Preparation. Osechi is a special dish for the New Year. And for me, to make Osechi special feast is a challenge once a year, so  I thought I should make a plan to do at first, including a coffee break, of course.

Then, I started to cook at last.
First make fish- base soup. Then mise en place, cut, cut, cut various vegetables and other auspicious and typical for the New Year's Day, simmer, simmer, simmer for each ingredient, not all together at once. I cooked each ingredient tasting how the seasoning was. COOK and TASTE repeatedly. Finally I became almost full and got lost with the taste. Anyway, I've made it half now.  After a little break, I 'll start cooking again.

cherry-blossom-shaped carrot

Tomorrow, the New Year's Eve, I'll pull out a three-storied special container for Osechi and put the feast into it with special care.(I try to do).  I'll post it later.

How do you plan to ring in the New Year? I'm going to hold a home party like every year. We'll drink a lot and have wild time. Hope you all have a nice time.

red berry at the kitchen window

Flower Arrangement

I arranged these flowers for the New Year's decoration in the living room. I've never learned flower arrangement, but I like it in my way. Pine tree branches, red berries, a white chrysanthemum. Plus two white rose-like flowers are real cabbages! But ornamental cabbages. They are often displayed to celebrate the New Year, both in the outside planter and in the flower vase.

Winter Solstice

Yuzu Japanese citrus

The Winter Solstice falls on December 22nd this year.It is marked by the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

In ancient times, people had difficulty finding enough food in cold winter because most plants died and many animals hibernated. And with shorter days, they could not fully enjoy the blessing of the sun, causing them to worry about their well-being. As a result, they began to perform rituals to encourage prosperity, which is the origin of the modern Midwinter traditions.

pumpkin cooked with soysauce, sugar and sake

At this time, many Japanese people take yuzu bath in an effort to stay healthy during the cold winter. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus rich in refreshing aroma. We put some yuzu in the bathtub and soak in hot water filled with rich aroma. I'd like to add one more thing. We have pumpkin dish on this day because it has vitamin A and carotene to protect against cold and cerebral problem. This is the Japanese custom on the Winter Solstice.

I'll bring this cooked pumpkin to the Cristmas party today.

Christmas Decorations

These are Christmas decorations I found today. Although most Japanese are not Christians ( only 1 % ), we love Christmas.  We hear Christmas songs in the shopping streets and see many Christmas decorations here and there.

 As for my mother who goes to the local nursery care center once a week for day service, she's also looking forward to the Christmas party held in there on Christmas Eve.

In Japan the most popular Christmas food today is not turkey (We have no turkey in the shop),but Kentucky Fried Chicken. And the unique custom is eating Christmas cake decorated gorgeously with Santa Claus. Gifts are given to children. Happy time for many people, especially for kids.

I'll go to my friend's home for Christmas party tomorrow. We'll enjoy Christmas dinner (probably special hotpot) and exchange presents each other.

Soon after Christmas, Japanese change the mood to prepare for the New Year. The busiest time of the year.

Sarubobo Doll

Have you ever seen this figure? This is called "Sarubobo". Saru means "monkey" and bobo means "baby" in Hida area, which is surrounded by steep mountains located in the northern part of Gifu Prefecture.

  Sarubobo is a red human-shaped doll with  no facial feature in a black hood. It is a typical souvenior of Hida area. In the past , sarubobos are made by grandmothers for their grandchildren as dolls, and for their daughters as a charm for good marriage, good children and to ensure a well-rounded couple, by using left-over clothes.

Sarubobo may be a famous Japanese figure appeared in some guidebook about Japan. I remember a nice American woman I met in Kyoto a few years ago. When I finished showing her around some famous tourist spots,  she said to me, "I've wanted to buy a red and black doll with a round face. Where can I buy one?" I didn't know what she meant. After a while I realized she was talking of "Sarubobo." She had wanted to get one as a charm for her sister. We visited and visited many shops and department stores in Kyoto but we couldnt't find one. I got a call to some tourist organization asking where to buy one and found that we can buy these dolls mainly in the typical area of Hida such as Takayama, not in Kyoto.
 But I think today she can get one using shopping services on the Internet.

Yesterday I bought this doll during my trip, but you can make it by yourself.  This website will help you. http://mairuru.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-make-sarubobo-plush.html

Tsumago, Authentic Post Town

the main street of Tsumago post town

Yesterday I had a wonderful time in the beautiful day. I made a one-day trip to Tsumago old post town in Nagano Prefecture. Tsumago is about 270km away from Osaka in the east and it took about four hours by bus.

the entrance of Wakihonjin

Tsumago was a post town on the Nakasendo route between Kyoto and Edo (present-day Tokyo). It is known today as one of the best preserved post towns in Japan. The town and its residents go to great lengths to recreate the ambiance of the Edo Period(1603-1867). Cars are prohibited on the main street in the day and phone lines and power cables are kept concealed, allowing visitors to imagine they have slipped back to an earlier time.
Tsumago was first designated as a "protected area for the preservation of traditional buildings" by the Japanese Government in 1976. The authentic scenery is being maintained by continuing preservation projects.

natural light's beauty

 hanging white raddishs and persimons

Tsumago also recreates the post town atmosphere by maintaining its Honjin and Wakihonjin. In all post towns, the Honjin was the principal inn and served government officials who were traveling through. When more lodging was required, the Wakihonjin served to accommodate the travelers of lower status. Tsumago also maintains the office where laborers and horses were rented to aid in travel.

serene atmosphere

living room with the hearth

I felt like I turned back to samurai world 300 years ago. Good place to visit. I'd like to come again in white winter.




http://www.trulyjapanese.com/