Kaitenzushi

Happy Groundhogs Day (I'm a bit early) from over here in Japan. I hope the fury of Winter weather softens into a nice mild Spring.

The title of today's venture is Kaitenzushi which refers to the best low-quality sushi you can find in Japan. Kaiten means revolving and zushi is sushi with the first letter changed because of the n preceding it. Yes, Japanese is a crazy language much like English; and the more you learn, the less you find you actually know.

When I was in training, they gave us a sample lesson in Japanese to give us the feeling of the students learning in our English class. The lesson was actually a great tool to give us humility and show us our challenges through our own ignorance.

During that lesson, we "went" to a Kaitenzushi restaurant and ordered sushi. Making orders in Japanese was the target of the lesson. The funny thing is that you actually don't have to speak at kaitenzushi restaurants (they translated it as conveyor belt sushi). If you look at the picture above, you can see that there are plates on a belt revolving around. This concept couldn't work in the States because our Food Safety groups would go ape-s**t over raw fish sitting out of refrigeration.

Before passing judgement on these restaurants, I would like to draw your attention to the computer screen at the top of the picture. It gives you a taste of the future of fast food dining allowing you to place an order by selecting food items (pictures included). The food is then shipped out on a bullet train and you then push the button currently lit in the picture to send the train back. If you notice, the sushi is still on the train in the picture. My date was so involved in getting the picture, she forgot to take the food before sending the train back. The chef in the back sent it out with the rest of the order we had made.

I didn't go to these restaurants when I lived in Gunma because there wasn't one within biking distance. Now that I live in Kyoto, I make trips at least once per month to enjoy mouth-watering sushi and free hot tea. The best part of it all is that each plate at this particular restaurant is roughly a dollar (a little more now with the weak dollar).

I highly recommend going to one of these places when you hit Japan. There aren't any california rolls, just good (cheap) fish, rice, and seaweed at an affordable price.

Buraku

Touching on the subject of race is a touchy subject that must be handled with kids gloves; however, I will attempt to attack the subject of race relations within the Japanese population. I am referring to the burakumin or buraku people whom the Japanese still segregate against in the 21st century. This comes from a story published by the International Herald Tribue on January 16 (read here). The current Prime Minister of Japan, Taro Aso (whose last name sounds similar to a body part below the waste that also serves as a good description of his personality), was against having a buraku as Prime Minister simply because the man was a buraku.

As the article briefly mentions, no one really knows the origins of the buraku since they are ethnically Japanese, but it is believed that they were the old butcher class in feudal Japan. Buddhist beliefs deemed anyone who dealt in the trades of the flesh "unpure" and thus all of them and their descendants have been deemed unpure by society. This legacy is carried on into the 21st century through the registry that all Japanese citizens belong to that trace their history and their "status."

Prior to a law passed similar to the 13th Amendmant in the U.S., it was common for companies and fathers to check the "status" of their future employees or, in the case of the fathers, son or daughter-in-law. This remains important to some such as Taro Aso, and some fathers that will still hire someone to look into the status of their child's love interest. How depressing would it be to have your family line merged into the descrimination that has followed the buraku for centuries!

The author chose the momentious occasion of Obama's election as the reason for bringing this topic to light. I still don't see the Japanese as being open enough to follow the example of America on this issue though. Especially when considering the fact that they just passed a law recognizing the natives of their land, the Ainu (which look just like our Native Americans), as a race separate from the Japanese race and recognizing that they still exist in Japan (mostly in the northern island of Hokkaido). This is after a long campaign of trying to assimilate them into Japanese culture/society. It's a sad case, but honestly, there isn't much left of Ainu culture in the 21st century. Even if they wanted to give them reservations like America gave to Native Americans, it is way too little and way too late.

But it's not too late to elect a buraku to the role of Prime Ministership. If America can elect a burakku (the word black put into the Japanese syllabic alphabet) President, Japan can elect a buraku Prime Minister, right? Here's looking forward to the day when everyone has a fair and equal chance to achieve their dreams and we just won't divide people by race, sex, Phish-listeners, or any other way we tend to divide instead of unite.

And a Happy New Year to you too

With promises come disappointment, and as Obama reminds everyone that he will save the economy, he also adds that there may be some "false starts." I too will use that excuse in explaining why I have not written a blog entry for my few readers over the past few weeks even though I promised at least one entry per week.

Since I last posted, the world entered 2009, over 1000 people died in Gaza, hundreds of thousands lost jobs in the U.S. alone, and I finally fixed my bike's front break. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone with my attempt at dry humor, but aren't we all guilty of being self-centered and caring more about our daily challenges than the world's problems. In my study of politics, I've found that global affairs can never beat the economy in opinion polls and in the hearts of the people. With that brief editorial on why I'm wasting my life studying something that will never be number one in your heart, I wish the best to all of you around the world and hope 2009 will bear you a first-born son (old English for good fortune).

How did Kintama spend his New Year's Eve is actually the true topic of this entry although I haven't touched it yet in this long commentary on nothing. In order to not break my second promise of keeping my entries short, I will be brief.

As expected, Japanese people have their own way of bringing in the new year. In the case of most of the Japanese people I know, they didn't go to some bar or open public space to countdown, but rather watched the musical competition on NHK, the Japanese equivalent of the British BBC, with their families. They then got dressed up and visited shrines to pray for good luck in 2009. They continue to file into the shrines for a few days after the new year actually begins. I was surprised by the number of people going to Kiyomizu Temple since it is a temple and not a shrine. I'm not sure if this is because they were here in Kyoto and wanted to see it or they actually believed they were going to a shrine when it is called temple.Another tradition is to eat soba on New Year's Eve. This toshikoshi soba (crossing over into the new year soba) is a Japanese favorite.

However, I did not partake in any of this. I spent the day doing work in my one room apartment and slowly crept out and returned to civilization a couple of hours before midnight. In typical western fashion, I attended a gathering at Kyoto station for the countdown. The Japanese people that were there were mostly there for the free live concert by a Japanese band I still don't know the name of (and don't really care to). Following countdown, the band played one more song and everybody dispersed. So much for partying into the new year. I also tried to go to a shrine, but the number of people visiting was actually greater than the suffocating amount that were here in Kyoto during the peak of "red leave viewing" season.

Below is a short video of that NHK program I tuned into from my cellphone. I recorded it to show you what the program was like, but also to show you how advanced my cheapest-I-could-get cellphone is far ahead of the tech in the States. Watching TV is free which is a good thing for someone living a Spartan lifestyle with no internet or TV in my one room "mansion." Happy New Year and enjoy!

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from Kyoto Japan. I hope everyone enjoyed whatever festival they celebrate at this time. I of the breed that celebrates Christmas celebrated a humble Japanese Christmas. What does that mean?

I went to class at one in the afternoon and finished my last class at six in the evening! Christmas in Japan really is like any other day in Japan. I can remember working at AEON and having to request Christmas day off. I usually connected it with the holiday on the 23rd (Emperor's birthday) to make a long holiday. It became longer with the New Year's holiday and weekends attached. I was able to spend a whole 10 days in the U.S.

Of course, everyone else in Japan is doing the same thing at the same time, so plane tickets were more than $1500 at a time when gas was still relatively cheap.

So, this year, Kintama the student did not go home for the holidays. This is the first time I have never taken a trip at this time, but with school work piling up and no income, it makes sense to stay put for once. What will I see in the next couple of days?

There are lots of different traditions carried out during the holidays. One of them is the eating of Osechi. It is a meal consisting of very Japanese looking things including anchovi-sized fish, sweetened egg (similar to the sushi variety), and much more. People used to make it with their families (girls help their moms while dad and brothers rest), but now it is cheaper and simpler to buy it at a supermarket.

After countdown on New Year's Eve, people will be heading to their local shrine to wish for good luck in the new year. I will be taking pictures...or trying to...

Also around this time, little kids are receiving monetary presents from their relatives. I would love to get a monetary present...

Shops offer grab bags. $100 a pop, but the value of the contents is guarenteed to be more than $100. You could luck out and get a lot of things you really wanted or you could be left with things you don't need. You won't know unless you put that $100 down.

Everyone will be relaxing. When I say everyone, I mean everyone. I will not be able to withdraw money from an ATM from the 1st until the 3rd because the banks are not open and no one will be available to maintain the ATMs.

It's a busy time of year, but I hope my first New Year's in Japan goes off well...

Happy New Year to all my few readers.

Mottainai: Purely Japanese?

Before I begin this entry, I would like to note that this is not an anti-Japanese Op/Ed by any means, but rather an examination of a concept that is overly repeated in Japanese society. This story matches quite well with a joke Michael Green, the Japan Chair of CSIS in DC told at a conference.

Three men, an American man, French man, and a Japanese man were asked to write a book about elephants. A year later, the American comes back with a book entitled, "How to Make Money Off Elephants with No Money Down and No Interest." The Frenchman's book was entitled, "How Elephants Make Love." The Japanese man's book was entitled, "What Elephants Think about the Japanese."

In the Japanese language and society, there is a word, mottainai, which roughly translates into the word waste in English. I say roughly translate because waste does not exactly equal this concept.

When Japanese people are young, just like most Americans, their parents make them eat every last bite of food on their plate. In Japan, the parents say that not doing so is mottainai. In America, people of my generation were told that they should eat their food because there were starving children in Africa and China (nobody would include China today...). The meaning of both stories is, "don't waste food."

This concept translates into other aspects of life in Japanese culture whether it is turning off the water when brushing your teeth or turning off the lights when you leave a room. If this sounds familiar to you, then you understand why I question whether this concept is purely Japanese. Our grandparents who lived during the depression reuse paper plates. When I say this to Japanese people, they respond by saying, "yeah, but do you have a single word for it like mottainai?" My response is, "do we need one?"

Upon a closer examination of Japanese lifestyle, there is nothing to be proud about as far as conservation. I don't have statistics, but their per/capita waste is right up with Americans and the rest of the Western "developed" world. That fact is true even though they use a lot of nuclear power which cuts down on CO2 emissions.

However, they have a fascination with individually packaged things. I bought marshmallows that were individually wrapped. When you go out to eat Japanese fastfood, you use disposable wooden chopsticks called waribashi. You walk down a block and you are likely to pass 2-3 convenience stores each stacked with food that will be thrown out at the end of the day. My Japanese development teacher here at school reminds students about that fact. Japan throws out enough food from convenience stores alone that could feed countless people. It's just the same as how bagel shops in the U.S. throw out all the unsold bagels after business hours...

I am not here to criticize Japan and its wasteful practices because, as an American, it would simply be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. It is also true that they have this universal concept wrapped up in one word.

Still, I think it is better to lead by action and not by word. It doesn't matter if you have 10 different words for snow if snow doesn't fall, so does it matter if you have a word for conservation when you don't conserve?

My hope for the next few years is that this latest financial crisis will lead to a new sense of what it means to conserve; that Americans, Japanese, and all of the developed world alike learn the value of each grain of rice or breadcrumb. Global warming and feeding the hungry go hand and hand in this regard. I hope we are able to make headways into each problem through conservation.

This video was a commercial that aired on MTV this year. They made a bad choice in songs (All I Need by Radiohead has nothing to do with child labor!!!), but the commercial is nonetheless touching.

Tako Balls 'till you drop

Yesterday, I took a day trip over to Osaka to do nothing in particular. I've been to Osaka 3 or 4 times in my life and have enjoyed every time I've been there. This time was no exception.

What is different about Osaka from other cities in Japan?

I usually describe the difference between the two places with one word: people. Anyone who has ever been to Tokyo will remember the zombie-like stares from people as they head to their next destination (probably some place related to work if not work). The stand orderly on the left side of the escalator as it carries them to endless humdrum of their life.

The only zombie I saw in Osaka was a crazy man that could speak a little English. He yelled at me as I was rounding the corner in my search for a good place to eat an Osaka favorite, kushi katsu.

Kushi katsu (whatever you like skewered and fried), takoyaki (octopus balls (it's ok to giggle)), okonomiyaki (flour, egg and various ingredients of your choosing) are some of the favorites that people have to eat when they go to Osaka. It is all summed up in the word kuidaore or eat till you drop. Kuidaore symbolizes the love for food that Osaka-ins possess. You're constantly reminded of it as you eat and eat in Osaka until you are about to drop.

I followed in this tradition by eating all the takoyaki I could going from my favorite place in Shin-Saibashi all the way to some place near Namba Station, hitting various places on the way. I topped it off with okonomiyaki from this place that always has a line everytime I go to Osaka. After a few hours of windowshopping, I was looking to cap off my day of Osaka eating with the aforementioned kushi katsu. We ate pork, bacon and asparagus, cheese and potato, cheese and mochi, some sort of fish, and squid. Each one cost around a buck, but the total was increased by the "table charge" since we ultimately chose an izakaya (pub that serves Japanese-style finger foods and the like).

The day was completed with a trip back to Kyoto and some Japanese fastfood. All-you-can eat white rice with a ginger stirfry, miso soup, tofu, and cabbage salad for $6 isn't that bad of a deal.

kouyou and Genteihin

Black Friday has come and gone with only a couple of shopping related deaths. I suppose it was all worth it if the people that took those two lives got the deals they were searching for. In all likelihood, the items they wanted were limited to only 5 products in stock and they were all gone by the time they raced to the back.

On a lighter note, I went off to the mountains that surround Kyoto for a little R&R. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get R&R in the mountains during kouyou or the period of Autumn leaves. As you can see from the picture, last weekend was pretty much the perfect time go see the leaves. Everyone has been piling into Kyoto for the last month waiting for this moment to come. Every weekend someone says it is the "peak" for travelers, but to those who try to navigate the streets of Kyoto or use its mass transit, it doesn't matter so much whether this week or last week was the peak because you are constantly inconvenienced.

This type of mass frenzy over something is very typical in Japan. I believe there might be a list drawn up and taught to kids when they are young about what they are supposed to do during certain times of the year. Just as certain as Japanese are to have a picnic under the Cherry Blossoms (called hanami) in the Spring, they go out in the Fall to check out the leaves.

These are just two of the many things that Japanese people must "enjoy" during the year. Just as you must go see leaves in the Fall, you must eat apples and chestnuts (chestnut fried rice is a common dish).

And if that is not enough for you, you have to indulge in the genteihin or products limited by space or time. Sorry if that sounds like something from Physics class; it's really not that complex. All it means is that you can only get takoyaki flavored snacks in Osaka (or in Ueno if you forget to buy something on your trip for your officemates) or rum-raisin flavored ice cream in the Fall.

For a country like America that wants everything right now, this sort of masochism is hard to comprehend. I for one am in love with kinako mochi. Kinako is a powder made from soy and mochi is almost of dumpling texture made from pounded rice. It may not sound good, but once you have the limited edition, only sold in the Fall, kinako mochi chocolates, you'll never get enough of them.

How can they only be sold in the Fall? What am I supposed to do in the Spring and Summer when I get a kinako mochi chocolate craving?

I guess I'm just going to have to wait. Like Fall leaves and Cherry Blossoms, I can really appreciate kinako mochi chocolates even more after the wait. Maybe there is a lesson to be had in genteihin and kouyou...as well as Cherry Blossoms and everything else....or maybe it is capitalism working at its best by creating frenzies and then marketing off of them. Kyoto can expect a huge payout from the crowds coming in to "see the leaves" and buy up all the genteihin to take back to their schools, offices, family, and/or friends. Not to mention the meibutsu, which is a related topic, but for another time.