I have not been able to find a lot of information about this in English, and my Japanese is not good enough to decipher technical writing, however I thought this was very interesting, and I have tried to fill in the blanks with some research. Daigo-Ji Temple in Fushimi, in Kyoto, is a very, very … Continue reading Zen in Space…
Yokoso, ようこそ, means "welcome" in Japanese. The Sunday before last, the 17th January, we enjoyed being welcomed to "Japan in Melbourne". The City of Yarra, through a grant scheme, had enabled a group of Japanese restaurants, musicians, dancers and market stall holders, (and Dylan, from Chotto Motto's mum) to create an excellent opportunity for Melbournians … Continue reading Yokoso – Welcome to Japan in Melbourne?
When I started travelling to Japan, I knew precious little about Japanese art. Despite studying art and art history through school and at university, my exposure to Asian art in general was very limited. My knowledge of ukiyo-e, woodblock printing, was limited to famous images such as Hokusai's The Great Wave (actually called Under the … Continue reading Ukiyo-e, a picture of Japanese art history
Omou means, literally, to think, the verb. This is not uniquely Japanese, although maybe thinking is different in different languages and different cultures? It is however the root of many other Japanese words and several of them are unique to the Japanese language. I decided to write about omou first, so as to completely understand … Continue reading Uniquely Japanese- Omou 思う
It has been nearly a year since COVID put a big, fat STOP sign on nearly all international travel. Being obsessed Japanophiles, Super Sake Boy and I have tried to take the travel ban graciously, while feeding our need for Japanese food, sake, culture and connection with the language. We were last in Japan in … Continue reading The Enduring Exploits of Super Sake Boy and Nihonshu Girl
My last post was about ramen. How much I was missing it, and how I was unable to obtain it within my 5km lockdown zone. Then with the easing of the 5km restriction to 25km, I was still unable to make it to any of my favourite ramen restaurants, and was feeling very disenfranchised about … Continue reading Lockdown Ramen Obsession
To say I like food is somewhat of an understatement. A million years ago I trained as a chef, then I studied nutritional medicine and now I teach cooking in a primary (elementary) school. I love everything about food, and when I teach, I teach the culture, the history and the social aspects of food, … Continue reading For the love of RAMEN!!!
Yoshoku is Japanese western style cooking. In my experience, every dish that the Japanese adopt and alter ends up being more delicious than the dish they started with. Yoshoku translates literally as "Western style cuisine", as opposed to Washoku 和食 which translates to Japanese style cuisine. During the Meiji period (1868-1912) after more than 200 … Continue reading Uniquely Japanese- Yoshoku 洋食
The first two times I visited Japan I was a pesce pollotarian. I ate fish, but not meat and so I had never tried many of the iconic Japanese dishes because of this. When Super Sake Boy and I started seeing each other, I had recently begun eating meat again. I had been dreaming about … Continue reading Hamburg Steak (hanba-gu sute-ki) ハンバーグステーキ
Kanreki is the Japanese word used to describe someone's 60th birthday celebration. In Japan, this particular birthday has a lot of symbolic significance and meaning, beyond our Western idea of an age of retirement. It is quite a magical time and is as much a beginning or rebirth as a completion. Kanreki literally translates to … Continue reading Uniquely Japanese- Kanreki 還暦
