Beginnings of Summer

Summer has begun. With only 4 more days left of work, the fact that it's here has finally started to sink in. SUMMER!! Yes please, and thank you!

This weekend my good friend Lolo came down from Nagano-ken and we adventured down to Kyoto to see the Gion Matsuri.  A great way to kick off the warm hot weather! After relaxing in Minakuchi for a couple of hours, we made our way to Kyoto. As soon as we got off the train we started to see people in yukatas (the summer equivalent of a kimono). Gion is a festival that takes place for the entire month of July, but culminates on the 17th (Tuesday) with a large parade. On the days leading up to the parade, giant floats (like in the picture above) are carried out to be displayed and many of the main streets are blocked off for pedestrian traffic. We went on Saturday the 14th, also known as Yoiyoiyoiyama. If this is what it's like three days before the parade, I can't imagine what it'll be like tomorrow! It was crowded. 

The blocked off streets of Kyoto. This is as we were walking away, so we weren't fighting against the crowds. 

As we walked through the area with the floats we saw tons of stands with festival foods. They smelled delicious. Some common ones are fried chicken, ice-cream, roasted corn, frankfurters, shaved ice, and candied apples. It reminds me a little bit of the fair without the rides. There are even the same type of games that you can play! This is a stand for bacon egg and cheese sandwiches in the shape of fish! Usually they have sweet custard filling. 

Here's another favorite. Grilled squid!! Delicious. 

I snuck this picture of some women wearing traditional summer clothing, yukatas. A yukata is very similar to a kimono, but it's designed to be cooler and easier to wear in the heat. They aren't worn in everyday life, but people will often dress up in order to go to special occasions such as summer festivals. Learning how to dress in one and wear one is a skill that has to be "properly learned" and some people take classes in how put them on. 

All in all, it was a very exciting adventure. Most towns have their own unique festivals during the summer. Going to one of Kyoto's was lots of fun, and I'm looking forward to (hopefully) going to a whole lot more!! 

So many exciting things are happening and will be happening soon. Traveling great places, relaxing with great people. Having a break from work to recharge and spending time with my family and friends! Summer has definitely begun, guys.  I am pumped!

Adventures in a "Mansion" Kitchen

Earlier last week I went to browse in the grocery store with my good friend Ann. Late at night lots of the pre-made food goes on sale and it's a good time to pick up delicious, but otherwise expensive, foods. Ann picked out a salad, and later while tasting we decided it was very strange and probably wouldn't buy it again. It looked like the picture below.

As usual, I had no idea what I was actually eating or what it was made out of. Strangely enough, the same salad appeared in my school lunch later in the week! It's been haunting me. But now, at last, I could figure out what it was. By looking at the kyuushoku menu I deduced that it's called "okara ni", or vegetables mixed in something called "okara". After some further internet research, I discovered this article about Okara, the byproduct of making soymilk from tofu. Basically, this is the fibrous part of the soy bean. Now that I realize how healthy it is I have a new appreciation for this salad. (It helps to know that it's not made from the intestines of small kittens. Or raw fish eggs.)

So today I set out on a mission to find okara in my grocery store and attempt to make okara infused bread. I used the recipe from the linked article, making a few adjustments for my own cupboard. They were cheap and easy to make, and taste like a mix between banana bread and corn bread.

Banana-Okara Muffins, adapted from Just Hungry's Recipe

• 1 cup dried okara
• 1/4 cup (50g, or 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup light brown or raw sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk or soymilk
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 3 tsp tahini
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 cups all-purpose bamboo flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

Directions: 

Pre-heat the oven to 175°C/250°F. Grease and flour a loaf pan. (I used muffin cups). 

Heat up a non-stick frying or sauté pan. Toast the okara, stirring frequently, until it's a golden brown in color. Let cool.

Mix together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and milk or soymilk, almond extract (I added tahini for NUTTY deliciousness) and lemon juice. Add the mashed bananas.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, mixing just until it's combined. Fold in the okara.

Put the batter into the loaf pan. Bash the loaf pan hard on your work surface - this settles the batter and gets rid of any large air pockets. Bake for about an hour, until it's toasty brown in color and a skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean. (Because I used muffin cups I ended up cooking the muffins for about 12-15 minutes at 200 C.... but because my toaster oven is wonky I kind of make things up as I go, generally. Her directions are probably better.)

Take out of the loaf pan and let cool before slicing.

And there you have it!! The productivity that was my afternoon. This is probably not interesting to most people, but I was fascinated to be able to make something with ingredients scrounged from my local supermarkets. Truthfully, a lot of foods are more expensive here, but I bought the okara for 30 yen. It's an adventure to make things with completely new ingredients and to find new ways to enjoy my favorite foods (BREADonmonmon). 

Kyoto Higashiyama Hanatouro Festival

It has been a beautiful weekend, and yesterday I went to Kyoto to see the Higashiyama Hanatouro Light Festival. In December and March, parts of the city of Kyoto are illuminated with lanterns and lighting fixtures that create a path through the city. It's a picturesque walk through the city that stops at shrines and parks. You can see dancers and performers, eat festival foods from little carts, and even have a little picnic and sip a beer. My friends and I went together to wander along the paths with the hordes of Japanese families and couples. It was quaint, cozy, a little cold, and a lot of fun!

Light show on the back of the Chionin Temple

Storefront on the path up to Kiyomizu-dera

Lighting fixtures in the garden

Kyoto Nightscape from Kiyomizu-dera

As the weather slowly gets warmer, the people in Kansai are out and about, and I'm glad to be one of them. 

On a different note, today (March 11th) is the one year anniversary of the Tohoku tsunami and earthquake. Japan is still feeling the affects of the disaster and it is a continuing struggle for recovery. I can't pretend to know too much about politics or to be an expert on this topic, but I do know from living here that it was an event that touched every person in Japan. The country pulled together emotionally and practically to support each other, and they continue to honor that today in remembrance ceremonies and continuing relief efforts. 

Japan Times -- 3.11 Anniversary

Weekend of Food

This weekend was filled with tons of delicious food and various "end of the year" parties. I had a great two days spending time with some people that I'd like to get to know a lot better. I have been taking aikido classes once a week for the past couple of months and I joined some of the other members to eat nabe for lunch on Saturday. Nabe is a hotpot dish that is commonly cooked in Japanese households in the winter. Each table had a separate broth and a pile of vegetables and meat. As space allowed, we put the uncooked food into the broth and let it stew. Once it was cooked, we used our own chopsticks to serve ourselves the food.

The nabe that we ate on Saturday is a special type that sumo wrestlers eat to gain weight. Although it's a healthy dish (or so I'm told), this specific type contains a lot of high protein ingredients such as meat and fish. These are also higher in calories than some other nabe dishes, which contain more vegetables and low calorie noodle substitutes. 

The awesome-est Nabe Table of them all

Later that night, I also attended my finally Japanese class party. Talk about a lot of food. I made a pie from persimmons that I wanted to use before Australia (!). I'm so glad I didn't go empty handed! 

It was a good time, and I got to talk more to the teachers and students in my class. Pretty much the reason why I am motivated to learn to speak Japanese better: to make friends like this! 

And today... I made Christmas cookies! I hope to give them to my co-workers tomorrow. Making this many cookies in my apartment was an adventure in itself. They turned out all right, and I decorated them with chocolate icing. They're nothing fancy, and my co-workers might think I'm a little bizarre for bringing them in, but I figure it can't hurt to try.

(Pictures will be added once my computer stops being dumb.) [...and it has!]

Backlog

It's been a while since I've posted on here. Almost a month again. That's pretty bad on my part, but I completely know the reason for it. In the end of September I lost my camera. Usually these blog entries end up going up when I have pictures with a story behind them, and it's been a while since I had any to share. Not that my life isn't full of events and adventures... (ha). 

Regardless, I was able to get some pictures off the camera that I'm borrowing from my friend, so here are some incredibly backlogged photos from the month of October and November.

This is pretty self explanatory. I already posted Halloween photos, but I thought this was worth sharing. I went to a Halloween party held for kids in the Koka City area. It was organized by an international organization in the area and the English ALTs volunteered to help. On the left is Jessica, as Pikachu. I am Doraemon. We are some angry (cute?) characters! Happy Halloween!

This is a Doll Festival that happened in mid-October. It was a small local shrine that's nearby an ALT who lives a town over. A few times a year they hold a festival to cleans the spirits and life forces from old dolls and toys before they are thrown away. All of the dolls in this picture once belonged to someone, but are now "dead". After the priest finishes the ceremony the dolls are up for grabs. I grabbed a few for safekeeping. 

In the beginning of November I attended the Yuru Chara festival in Hikone. Many of the geographica areas in Japan are represented by their own character. This tradition began in Hikone with Hikonyan, Hikone Castle's cat mascot. This festival is held at least every year. You can walk around Hikone Castle park and meet all of the mascots, see shows, by souvenirs, and generally be enthralled by the sheer number of people in costumes. This Bear melon headed thing was one of the more ridiculous ones. 

Another major event in early November was my school's Bunkasai Festival. 文化 ("bunka") means culture, and the Bunkasai is a day in which the students and teachers do not attend regular classes and instead hold a singing competition, present artwork, and hold club demonstrations. For a few weeks leading up to the Bunkasai, the students and teachers spend a lot of time practicing and preparing for the performances that will occur. Each homeroom class performs a song in front of the entire school and an outside judge assesses and grades the students based on various aspects of their performance. Everyone takes it very seriously, and enjoy showing their artistic achievements to the parents who attend. This picture is of the brass band performance that took place in the afternoon. 

As always, purikura happened.... 

And recently, I got an oven! It's handy, and I've already made a few things this week. While my first batch of cookies wasn't as successful as I would have hoped, this quiche and the muffins that I made the night before were delicious. I love being able to bake! 

Today I had the day off to celebrate 感謝祭, or Japanese Thanksgiving and Labor Day. Since the Japanese don't celebrate same type of Thanksgiving that we do in the US, my friend Ann and I took the opportunity to make a bunch of food, watch movies, and listen to music. All in all, not a bad thing to do on a Wednesday. It's going to be strange going back to work tomorrow, let me tell you. 

Speaking of, it's time for me to get some sleep. Elementary School calls tomorrow!