2013 Sakura Festival in Kumejima
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Posted by Benjamin Martin, a 5th year JET on Kume Island in Okinawa, publisher of the blog MoreThingsJapanese.com and author of the YA fantasy series Samurai Awakening (Tuttle).
January 26th marked the beginning of the 2013 Kumejima Sakura Festival. Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) are an important symbol marking the change of seasons in Japan. As the weather begins to warm, cherry trees sprout beautiful flowers in a range of colors from white to red. Since Okinawa is so far south, cherry blossoms begin to arrive in January. They work their way north through April. During this time, people flock to areas with cherry trees to picnic, drive, and see the beautiful flowers and wildlife.You might have noticed the new header, a compilation of 3 shots taken of a Mejiro (Japanese white-eye) in cherry trees I caught the Friday before the festival along the Ara Forest path.
The Festival
As part of the sakura season, many locals often have festivals to support tourism, create entertainment for locals, and to simply celebrate the beautiful surroundings. This year the Kumejima Sakura Festival took place on January 26th, a day of sun and generally great weather (I got sunburned in January. It was also a little windy.)
On Kume Island, the festival takes place at Daruma Mountain Park in the western/central part of the island. The festival was set up in a clearing surrounded by cherry trees. After an opening ceremony, new cherry trees were planted for the future. Arrayed around the clearing were many tents with local restaurants serving specialty foods. This year, the restaurants competed in a competition to see which one had brought the most popular item.
There were several live performances from local groups including Nankuru Sanshin and the “Super Bridal Band,” as well as karate demonstrations and other entertainment. The band I play with (Super Bridal Band started up a few years ago to play at my boss’s wedding, I joined a bit after moving here) just after the opening ceremony. There’s a compilation video below of our set.
After we finished our set, I quickly jumped over to the 89.7 FM Kumejima radio booth to do my weekly Haisai English! show live from the event. It was a lot of fun despite a few technical snafus from going on location.
For more on Sakura and this year’s Festival, visit MoreThingsJapanese.com
I’ll Make It Myself!: Vegetarian Curry Nabe
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Leah Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, she also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan, and The JET Alumni Culinary Group in LinkedIn.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to Leah at jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
Curry nabe is combination of two of Japan’s great comfort foods: curry-rice (karê raisu, カレーライス) and nabe (鍋). Curry-rice is a Japanized version of Indian curries via Britain: served with rice, this dish is a thick, brown sauce, more sweet than spicy, combined with onions, carrots, potatoes, and chicken or beef, which are sauteed before boiling in the sauce. If mac ‘n’ cheese and spaghetti are the epitome of basic American home cooking, curry-rice tops Japan’s list.
Most curry roux in Japan contain meat extracts (beef, pork, or fish are the most common). I am found of Sokensha‘s vegan* curry “flake type” roux (植物素材の本格カレー), which is sold in health-food stores like Noppo-kun but can also be ordered online. I like the “spicy” one (辛口), even though it’s not all that spicy.Haiku Girl recommends S&B’s Torokeru (とろける) curry roux blocks, and this“Curry for Vegetarians” by Sakurai is also vegan, though I haven’t tried it.
Then, of course, is the staple of Japanese winter cuisine: nabe, from nabemono, which refers to foods cooked in a (clay) pot. Nabe, like curry-rice, is completely adaptable to taste: use whatever tofu, vegetables, and/or meat you like and boil them in a broth of your choice. It’s like non-committal soup, and it’s great for casual dinner parties. You can purchase broth in a variety of flavors from soymilk to kimchi at any grocery store, but I prefer to make my own, and it’s really quite simple. (How did you guess?)
I’ll Make It Myself!: Café Dumbo (Veg* Out in Kanazawa Series)
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
Café Dumbo
Location: Kohrinbo, Kanazawa
Type: Café, lunch
Veg status: vegetarian friendly
Languages: Japanese and English (menus, staff)
I’ll Make It Myself!: Kitchen Library: What I Ate on New Year’s Break, Part 1
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
We stayed local with friends for the New Year, and after we exhausted our list of our favorite cafes one by one as they closed for the holidays, we holed up in the apartment and cooked up a storm. [Featuring korogaki, fuku-ume, nabe and more delicious Japanese dishes!]
Job: Writing Opportunities for What Can I Do with a B.A. in Japanese Studies?
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Thanks to JET alumLeah Zoller. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
————————————————————————————————————
Position: Blog Contributor
Posted by: Shinpai Deshou
Type: N/A
Location: N/A
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Overview:
What Can I Do with a B.A. in Japanese Studies? (Shinpai Deshou) is looking for writers! Shinpai Deshou is a blog aimed at students of Japan Studies and related fields to provide resources and advice for their next steps after graduation as well as tools for language and cultural study. We are looking for new contributors, particularly to write posts about professional development, careers, and networking.
Ideally, we’d like to have 1-2 regular writers to contribute posts on a monthly basis, though a single article or series of articles would also be very welcome. In addition to writing about professional topics, we also would like posts on linguistic and cultural resources, language study, Japan-related blogs, fun links, book announcements, scholarship/funding opportunities, study abroad opportunities, and outreach events.
For example, I’ve written about working as a JET CIR, reviewed Japanese design blogs, and supplied posts on job openings and Fun Link Fridays. We’ve also done series on studying at the InterUniversity Center (IUC), finding a home stay, working as a JET ALT, and the job hunt. Some specific examples of topics we’d like to cover are Middlebury Summer Language Schools (after the campus move to Mills in 2009-), other language or postgrad programs, working in the travel industry or study abroad programs, and writing a rirekisho. If you have an idea for a topic not listed here, pitch it to me!
Thank you!
Leah Zoller
leah.zoller@gmail.com
L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
Noppo-kun (のっぽくん)
Location: Nonoichi (near Kanazawa)
Type: Café, Lunch
Veg status: all vegetarian; vegan friendly
Language: Japanese (but most of the dishes are on display on the counter)
I’ll Make It Myself!: Best of 2012
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
Happy New Year, everyone! 明けましておめでとうございます！
Since I bought my own domain name, I don’t get WordPress’s year-end stats for my site anymore, so I thought I would round up some of my most popular posts and my goals for next year as a 年末年始 (new year’s holidays; lit. year-end-year-beginning) exercise.
I’ll Make It Myself!: Curried Cauliflower with Tuna
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
I used to refer to cauliflower as “broccoli’s sad cousin.” Years of veggie trays at family functions taught me that dip does not make raw cauliflower taste good. A month of a “let’s try new vegetables” experiment in high school taught me that no amount of cheese will make me touch boiled cauliflower. (Seriously. There are some things even cheese can’t fix.)
At some point last year, everyone on the Internet seemed to having a foodgasm about using mashed cauliflower as an alternative to mashed potatoes, and as I was snarking away*, my husband revealed that he likes cauliflower.
Whoa whoa whoa. Back up there.
I’ll Make It Myself!: Avocado Almond Cookies
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan.
Downtown Kanazawa is experiencing its seemingly annual winter butter shortage. The grocery stores I frequent have signs that read “one package per customer” and explain that the shortage is due to conditions in Tohoku, where much of the nation’s dairy is produced. My friends in other cities report that they’re having no issues finding or buying butter–maybe the shortage is from all the bakeries in town making Christmas cakes?
As a result of butter’s becoming increasingly expensive and hard to find here, I’m trying to cut back. I have a collection of recipes for muffins, quick breads, and pastry crusts that take yogurt, oil, or applesauce instead, but all my standard holiday cookie recipes take butter. This year, I’ve decided to work on some Japan-friendly non-butter cookie recipes in hopes of saving my wallet and my holiday spirit.*
I’ll Make It Myself!: Whole-Wheat Ginger-Squash Muffins with Chocolate Chips
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
One last(?) squash purée recipe for the season!
I live in a country where the only cold cereals available at regular grocery stores (Tokyo Metro, you don’t count) are frosted flakes and cocoa puffs.* As a result, I’ve learned to make a variety of breakfast foods. I’m actually not sure how I only ended up with one muffin recipe on the blog onsidering the frequency with which we eat them at home. Muffins are the ideal food for the Japanese kitchen: their size means they cook through easily, unlike some quick breads; silicone muffin cups are easy to find; and the infinite variations you can make means you can adapt them to whatever flours (including gluten-free), milk, or seasonal fruit you can find in your area. Plus, they’re just fun to eat.
Hibari-sensei: 2012 Japan-America Grassroots Summit
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Jen Wang (Miyagi, 2008-09) is a lab tech in Dallas and a writer for the Japanese music sites, JRock247 and NekoPOP. Her love of cosplay and her junior high school students inspired the name for her own blog about Japan, Hibari-sensei’s Classroom.
Last August, I had the opportunity to be part of a great opportunity for cultural exchange. The skills I acquired came in handy, as North Texas hosted a delegation of over 150 Japanese visitors for the 2012 Japan-America Grassroots Summit. The Summit was inspired by the friendship between John Manjiro Nakahama and Captain William H. Whitfield, which would lead to official relations between the United States and Japan and a 171-year-old bond between the two families. The John Manjiro Whitfield Commemorative Center for International Exchange and the Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth worked together with fifteen cities (which included my hometown) to give the visitors an unforgettable experience.
Click here to read about my experience with the Summit.
I’ll Make It Myself: “Kitchen Library – 2012.11.26”
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
Thanksgiving Part 2 (at a friend’s house) went smashingly! I made Naturally Ella‘s Twice-Baked Butternut Squash (with quinoa and Gorgonzola) as the vegetarian main dish. With the exception of the turkey, which was expertly cooked by the hosts, all the other dishes were vegetarian: mac & cheese made with Cougar Cheese, a sharp canned cheese from Washington State (glorious); vegetarian cranberry-mushroom stuffing; fresh green-bean casseroles; vegetarian bean gumbo (spicy!); root vegetable purée; bourbon cranberry sauce made with reconstituted dried cranberries (and arcane magicks); and lots of pie: pecan, pumpkin, and chocolate.
I’ll Make It Myself!: “Cornbread”
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
Are you guys sick of kabocha and kabocha purée yet? I never am*, but let’s change it up a bit today.
My first encounter with a vegetarian cookbook of any sort was my dad’s copy of Anna Thomas‘s The Vegetarian Epicure, a memento of a few months in the ’70s when he dabbled in meatless cooking. I have no recollection of my dad (or my mom) ever using VE for anything but the cornbread recipe that we brought with us to every Thanksgiving dinner. I find vintage (sorry, parents) cookbooks really fascinating from a social-history standpoint, so perhaps I’ll peruse the book again when I’m home next.
“Privy to Mysterious Loos” by New Zealand JET Tania Butterfield
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A recent blog article by current JET Tania Butterfield that recently appeared in New Zealand publication Marlborough Express. (Thanks to Jessica Tisch for posting on the JETAA South Island Facebook group):
Last weekend I discovered something I should have known since I arrived here – toilets are not my friend.
If you know anything about Japan, you know it has some unusual toilets.
No, I am not referring to the squat toilets, which I quite happily use at school.
I am referring to the insanely automated toilets with a billion buttons that do everything under the sun so you never have to touch that part of your body again.
Some of the buttons make sense – like the button to ….
Click here to read the full article.
I’ll Make It Myself: The Word of the Day is Spatchcock: Thanksgiving 2012
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
“I’m going to spatchcock the turkey.” “Excuse me?”
“If I spatchcock the turkey–WHY ARE YOU BLUSHING?”
“So, I’ve decided to spatchcock the turkey.” “Is that some sort of fandom thing about Benedict Cumberbatch?”
Despite its unfortunate name, spatchcocking is simply a way of butterflying a turkey so it will cook faster…
Click HERE to read more.
