Mameshiba will melt your icy heart ♥

There are countless cute, animated creatures to make you smile here in Japan. Apart from a long standing affinity for Hello Kitty, however, I have pretty much resisted all of their charms. Normally, Jake also couldn't care less. Then, while innocently learning how to make temaki (below) at a friend's apartment last month, we discovered Mameshiba (above right). With the bodies of various types of beans (hence mame, 豆, as in edamame for example) and the forlorn faces of footless puppies, these tiny treasures sneak up on unsuspecting eaters and drop knowledge anywhere from the edge of a spoon to the side of a dinner plate. We have watched all of the little "words of wisdom" video clips on the site almost a dozen times each. Don't speak Japanese? No worries! All of the cartoons have English subtitles, so you can enjoy them over and over again too. In a surprising turn of events, Jake has been particularly bewitched by their charms. Only thirty days have elapsed since our introduction, and he has already purchased one of their notebooks, a set of drinking cups, and a talking key chain that spouts off some of the series' most adorable quotes at the push of a button.

Sounds fishy

Speaking of warm weather, according to the folks at Atlas Obscura (a kind of National Geographic for utterly random places), the Garden Pond at Roppongi Hills is apparently host to several semi-otherworldly fish. More importantly, it is a pretty, tranquil place to rest in the sunshine after some serious shopping at Roppongi Hills. Let's be honest, that spider is not so soothing.

No more nabe

As the weather continues to warm up, it's time to say goodbye to the semi-weekly nabe parties we've been throwing. Nabemono refers to a one pot dish, in which you can throw just about anything and bring to a boil while you talk, drink and relax. This is one of the easiest examples of Japanese home cooking for foreigners to pick up. All you need are chopsticks, tongs (if you prefer to keep all of your chopsticks away from the raw meat), and a portable electric skillet with some kind of bowl attachment. As things become ready to eat, you and your friends or family can dip your chopsticks into the broth and extract what you like. When the pot starts to look a bit empty, you can always add water and a few more tasty ingredients. This can be a great way to entertain people because everyone is involved in the cooking process. The anticipation of having a great meal usually keeps everyone in good spirits. For our first event (below), we used a variety of traditional Japanese ingredients: chicken meatballs, or tori no tsukune, baby bok choy, buna shimeji , or brown beech mushrooms, carrots, Chinese cabbage, translucent noodles from Maroni, and tofu pouches stuffed with mochi. We used a bag of store bought goma, or sesame, broth to give everything flavor, which was quite salty and required quite a bit of extra water. That was no problem, of course, just more soup for us!

O, beautiful Obuse!

Obuse is a peaceful town whose quaint country beauty is enhanced by its abundant orchards and sweeping views of distant mountaintops. Known for its idyllic setting and artistic sensibility, this tiny geographical gem is only a half hour train ride away from Nagano City. Its folksy charm is immediately evident on the short walk from the station to the center of town. The clean, quiet streets are lined with cheerful flowerpots and many homes and storefronts are crowned with old-fashioned, Edo style roofs.

Though the main square is abuzz with activity, its restrained hum of tourism is a refreshing departure from the frenzied crowds that characterize more popular destinations elsewhere in Japan. Famous for its tradition of superior sake production, even early morning arrivals are welcome to pull up a stool at the tasting bar inside the historic Masuichi brewery (above). Stepping back out into the sunshine, those who take a brief stroll into the courtyard will be greeted by a towering, picturesque pomegranate tree (right). Since several sips are usually all it takes to whet an appetite, the next order of the day would be lunch. Delicious, high quality fare abounds all over town, though a meal at the brewery's excellent Kurabu restaurant is not to be missed. When in season, the meaty kuri, or chestnut, will be the star of any set menu.
Even Hokusai, the artist famous for (among other things) his ubiquitous painting of a gigantic wave (left), fell in love with this place. In the twilight of his life, Obuse became his home away from hometown, and in his memory it has devoted a charming little museum to honoring his life's work (above) . Jake surprised me on my birthday, getting us out of bed at dawn to catch the Shinkansen to Nagano prefecture. I didn't realize what the plan was until we stepped out onto a train platform in the middle of what seemed like an endless meadow. It was a magical day spent in a perfect place for celebrating life.

3月

Happy first of March, or sangatsu no tsuitachi!

Farewell, February!

A public valentine (or vaientine, whatever) wall in a shopping mall just outside of Tokyo. What a great idea!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Our neighbors' collective obsession with gardening far exceeds the amount of property in their possession. As a result, even the curbs in our area are covered with potted plants year round. We never see a single soul tending to any of them. The flowers appear to be magically taking care of themselves.

Japanese Paper Lanterns

On display at a local park, a fantastic community art project for the kids in our city.

Suisen (水仙)

The daffodil is known as one of the first flowers of spring. At a tea ceremony last week, the lovely hostess brought out a tray of amazing wagashi designed to resemble various flowers. I chose this suisen for its beauty, not knowing how seasonally appropriate it would be for these unseasonably warm winter days.

A sweet surprise

Fun and tasty Shingen Mochi from Yamanashi prefecture, a sticky (thanks to the accompanying flask of syrup) hidden treasure buried beneath an inch of kinako powder. Named after the fierce warrior Takeda Shingen, a little wooden stick (reminiscent of a samurai sword) helps to dig out the chewy ball of dough. It is just as messy, and far more delicious, than it looks. I love it when my coworkers take trips on the weekends because they always come back with something new and interesting for the rest of us!

Japan, the land for Fuji and freebies

Japan maybe famous for its superior customer service, but many foreigners are pleasantly surprised when they discover another, equally fascinating aspect of the country's commercial culture. When it comes to promotional gifts, the Japanese just might be the most generous marketers on the planet. Though I have accumulated more memorable goods than I could even begin to remember during my time as a gaijin, here are some of my all time favorites.

Take some tissues

During the warmer months of the year, it's difficult to walk through a public space without a total stranger enthusiastically pushing packets of tissues. Most people I know manage to amass quite a collection by the time cold season hits and these practical pocket-stuffers start to slowly vanish. Taking the tissues at the height of summer might seem counterintuitive, but when viewed from the perspective of a squirrel stockpiling acorns for winter, the logic can hardly be denied. Usually, the packets themselves are purely functional, but one year I began to notice a pattern forming among the handouts from a particular cell phone company. After a few months, I was the proud owner of a little zoo of zodiac animals. They proved too cute to actually use and remain intact to this day.

Cool calendars

It is my belief that Japanese companies give out cost-free calendars the way cheaper enterprises pass out fliers. At work this year, there is a huge box brimming with brand new calendars that nobody can use because nobody has any more space on their walls. In a nod to the nation's reputation for impeccable scheduling, it has become impossible for me to forget what day it is. One might assume that they are all junk or, at the very least, unimaginatively designed. That may be the case for some, but I have been lucky to get my hands on some impressively artistic versions. The most iconic of these was a souvenir from my first sumo tournament in Tokyo. The loveliest one of all was produced by a cosmetics company that made use of bright watercolor images to represent international standards of beauty.


Charming charms

Even if you believe that a cell phone is merely machine, a useful tool that does not require special jewelry or sparkly stickers to express its individuality, you have to admit that these free Rookies'-themed Hello Kitty charms are rather adorable. Affixed to the top of an instant coffee can a while back, these tiny treasures emulated the entire cast of the popular baseball movie. Though small in stature, I found them twice as cute as those dangling stuffed animals that dwarf the size of the very phones they exist to enhance.

Stylish stickers

For the arts and crafts crowd, these lovely three dimensional decorations were an unexpected treat attached to a certain green tea bottles last year. Representing aspects of traditional Japanese culture, they made use of a soft color palette to highlight the refined aesthetic of the old days. They were the perfect punctuation to cards sent abroad, and provided pretty accents for my Kyoto scrapbook.

So, these are just a few of my favorite (free) things. Have you gotten anything interesting handed to you lately?

ふたりで for February ♥

Baby's first ikebana

What a lucky, lucky day! My dear friend Kumi invited me over to learn some basic ikebana stylings from her grandmother, a distinguished sensei with licenses in all manner of Japanese cultural education. Now I have a much better understanding of why it is so time-consuming and awe-inspiring to people in the know. It is very difficult to manipulate nature in a beautiful way. Carefully bending slender stems and branches to and fro can create surprisingly smooth, yet wholly unorthodox structures, evoking the spirits of budding Tasmanian Devils and King Cobras frozen in time.


An incredible amount of slicing and snipping is involved in order to achieve the right angles, lengths, heights and widths. The vase was placed on a spinning platform, so that the work could be observed from various vantage points. We even took time to peer down on it directly from above. I was truly amazed by Obaachan's mastery and the way she was able to reshape my various attempts at floral architecture, teasing out delicate arches and curves that I might have never envisioned. In the end, she let me go a little bit crazy with the decorative blooms, stressing the importance of pure joy above all else.

XOXO

Kakigori

So sweet and so, so cold, Japanese shaved ice is the unlikely winter favorite for which Asami Reizo, this cute shop in Nagatoro, is famous. With an array of syrups available to flavor your bowl of frozen flakes, you and your friends can have a hundred desserts at once. The base of these liquid concoctions is usually condensed milk, so don't even think about going to bed without brushing your teeth.