10 Cool Japanese Food

1. Yakitori 「焼き鳥」

Skewered chicken pieces that are grilled over hot charcoals.

2. Sukiyaki 「すき焼き」

Thinly sliced beef and vegetables simmered in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar and mirin.

3. Ramen 「ラーメン」

Noodles in broth garnished with small pieces of meat and vegetables. Check out two of my favourite ramen shops Ippudo Ramen and Kyūshū Jangara.

4. Okonomiyaki 「お好み焼き」

A savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. Okonomi, meaning “what you like”, and yaki meaning “grilled”. My favourite okonomiyaki was at Kiji(in the basement of the Umeda Sky Building) in Osaka.

5. Sushi 「寿司」

Cooked vinegar rice commonly topped with raw fish, or put into rolls.

6. Kushikatsu 「串カツ」

A deep-fried cutlet of meat or vegetable skewered on bamboo skewers and eaten with a tonkatsu dipping sauce. I had some good kushikatsu at a store called Daruma located at the base of Tsūtenkaku in Osaka.

7. Yakiniku 「焼肉」

Thinly sliced beef and vegetables grilled over a charcoal or gas burner and eaten with a tare (sweetened, thickened soy sauce) dipping sauce.

8. Yakisoba 「焼きそば」

Ramen-style noodles stir-fried with pieces of pork and vegetables and flavoured with yakisoba sauce.

9. Tempura 「天ぷら」

Thin strips of vegetables and seafood lightly dipped in batter then briefly deep-fried in hot oil and eaten with a tentsuyu dipping sauce or sprinkled with sea salt.

10. Nikuman 「肉まん」

A steamed pork bun.

New cherry blossom tree blooms all seasons

A new breed of cherry blossom tree that blooms all year round has been created by RIKEN scientists using heavy ion beams at RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerated-Based Science. The new breed blooms longer, produces more flowers and grows under a wider range of temperatures than existing cherry blossom trees, demonstrating the power of accelerator technology in horticulture.

To create the new breed, researchers used beams of carbon ions from the RIKEN Ring Cyclotron at the RI Beam Factory to induce mutations in branches from the cherry blossom tree known as Keiou-Zakura No. 13. The branches were grafted and cultivated to create the new breed, which has been aptly named ‘Nishina Otome’.

Unlike regular cherry blossom trees, Nishina Otome does not require a period of cold weather to trigger growth. As a result, the new tree is able to bloom all year round when cultivated indoors, and during autumn and spring when grown outdoors. Given sufficient exposure to low temperatures, it produces three times more flowers than the regular varieties, and its spring bloom lasts for twice as long.

The use of heavy ion beams to generate new breeds of plants by mutagenisis, an approach to horticulture unique to Japan, is drawing attention worldwide as a powerful alternative to conventional genetic engineering that is capable of shrinking breeding times to only a few years. The second breed of cherry blossom tree to be registered by RIKEN, the Nishina Otome hints at an exciting future for accelerator-based mutation breeding, one which opens the door to the design of plant varieties better able to cope with a changing environment.

Hisago - Tasty tempura in Akihabara

If you want to eat delicious tempura why don't you try Hisago in Akihabara. It is an authentic Edomae tempura restaurant. It is in UDX building which is only 3 minutes walk from the JR Akihabara station electronic town exit.

http://r.gnavi.co.jp/fl/en/g483602

Nice blog about life in Tokyo.

http://www.wordpress.tokyotimes.org/

Mascot of Kebap

Star Kebab/Derebey Co., Ltd.

It seems like nothing is sacred these days—not even the kebab, that late-night post-drinking gut-filler par excellence. To celebrate its 11th anniversary, Akihabara institution Star Kebab (1-8-10 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku; www.kebab.co.jp) commissioned voice actress and illustrator Toromi, famous for devising a manga mascot for a temple in Hachioji, to create a similar character for the Turkish fast food business. The result?Kebabutan, a wide-eyed little girl swathed in a pink belly-dancing outfit, armed with a sword and accompanied by the cutest skewer of meat you’ve ever seen. While Star Kebab reportedly doesn’t have any big things in mind for Kebabutan, eager fans can now rack up points on stamp cards decorated with the mascot

The ABCs of living in Japan

By AMY CHAVEZ

"A is for apple." Every Japanese person learns this when they learn the E nglish alphabet. But couldn't it be, just for once, "A is for antelope?" Or how about "A is for anarchy," "adult" or "aspirin?" Wouldn't that be more helpful? We could also use our own alphabet to teach Japanese culture and language to foreigners. Something like, The ABCs of Living in Japan:

A is for Amaterasu, the sun goddess and Japan's best-known deity. A is also for amanogawa (the Milky Way), Aomori Prefecture and All Nippon Airways.

B is for Buddhism, bo-san (Buddhist priest) and bon dancing — now take a bow. B is also for batsu (literally "X"), the Japanese gesture of crossing your arms in front of you — an alarming way — to indicate something "can't be done."

C is for cheezu! (Cheese!) said when taking a photo. And C is forconcriito, a virile form of concrete that grows everywhere in Japan.

D is for dame (no way!), daijobu (OK) and Disney.

E is for Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh?! — an expression of disbelief, such as at theeki (train station), when you realize you've gotten on the wrong train.

F is for futon, fufu (married couple), and furin (to cheat on your spouse).

G is for gaijin (foreigner), and proud of it! G is also for the gakusei(students) you may teach at the gakko (school). And when your students do well, be sure to say "Goo!" (Good!)

H is for hai! (Yes!), the answer to all questions in Japanese, whether you understand them or not.

I is for itadakimasu! said out of respect before eating a meal. Iiiiidesu ne? (Isn't that nice?)

J is for "Japan as No. 1," the country your family thought you went to.

K is for kawaii (cute!), kewpie dolls, konbini (convenience store) and Kitty-chan . . . the real Japan you've come to.

L is for lice (foreign rice) as distinguished from kome, Japanese rice, the staple food in Japan.

M is for the mama-san who serves you miso soup in the minshuku."Mooooiii desu" (Enough already!) M is for maru, appended to all boat names.

N is for natsukashii, something you fondly remember from long ago. N is for natto (fermented beans). No, not natto!

O is for ohayo! (Good morning!), onsen (hot springs) and "Oh no, I'm still wearing the toilet slippers!"

P is for pachinko chocolate and Pocky, those cylindrical frosted snacks. P is for "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea."

Q is for Q&A, especially the questions that may never be answered about Japan.

R is for Rosu (Los Angeles), Roson (Lawson's), Rasu Begas (Las Vegas), and "I rabu you." (I love you.)

S is for shochu (Japanese distilled spirits), sake and the Gods who beckon you to toast them at 7 a.m. Shinto ceremonies. So desu yo!(It's true!)

T is for taihen (difficult) and tatemae (a form of flattery) that the token gaijin may at times endure. T is for "taoru," (towel), especially those you receive from local businesses with advertising on them. And T is also for takoyaki (octopus balls). Tee-hee.

U is for U-tan (U-turn — people moving back to their hometowns), something you may do yourself some day. But don't be like Urashimataro, who returned home only to find himself hundreds of years old.

V is for the bwee-sign, that gesture given when Japanese pose for photos. You may have thought the V was for victory, but it is really the visual sign for peace.

W is for wan-chan (dogs) who get carried around in their owners' bicycle baskets. Wan-wan! (Arf-arf!). W is also for wairo, the wonderful world of bribery.

X is for Tokyo's X-rated Kabukicho, XX-rated movies, and XXX-rated cabaret clubs.

Y is for yokozuna (the highest rank in sumo), Yoko Ono and making lots of yen!

Z is for zen, which not surprisingly, rhymes with yen.

Something good in Japan

nice blog about Japan...

40 great vintage Geisha Photos

Chocolate-flavored soda by Suntor

Chocolate-flavored soda by Suntor

Japan is home to the weirdest drinks in the world, like for example the Pepsi Cucumber. A brand new chocolate-flavored soda has been recently launched to the market by Suntory. Today before coming to work I stopped by at the conbini (abbreviation of “Convenience Store”) and bought a bottle of Suntory’s newest product called Sparkling Chocolate.

The thing that disturbs me the most is that it has almost no bubbles and looks like still mineral water, but when you drink it tastes like chocolate.