Sumo

Sumo in ancient times was a sacred event to foretell an abundant harvest and to predict the will of the gods. The oldest bout of sumo recorded in history was 642 AD and it was adopted as ritual in the Court in the early 9th century.
After the 12th century, when warriors began holding real power in politics, sumo acquired a characteristic of a practical martial arty to be used in the battlefield.
In the Edo period (1600-1868), sumo bouts began to be performed as part of a show in festivals at shrines.
It was not until the end of the Meiji period (1868-1912), when sumo was mentioned as the national sport for the first time, as the Emperor was deified under the nationalism and sumo, a Court ritual, was accepted by the government.

The winner of sumo is decided when the opponent is forced out of the ring (dohyo) or when any part of his body touches the ground.
In order to become a sumo wrestler, one has to belong to one of the sumo stables. The stables take care of every aspect of the newcomers' lives including food, clothing, and housing, while training them to be a strong wrestlers. It is a man's world except for the family of the stable master.
Wrestlers are ranked according to their ability. The lowest rank is called "jonokuchi" which is the starting point. There are 9 other ranks such as jonidan, sandanme, makushita, juryo, maegashira, komusubi, sekiwake and ozeki. At the top of the ranks are the yokozuna, or grand champions.
Wrestlers above the rank of juryo are called "sekitori" and receive monthly salaries. What the other wrestlers get is just a small amount of incentive depending on their record in tournaments.

Tea Ceremony

Tea ceremony has been a traditional Japanese art form since the 15th century. It is much more than just serving and drinking tea - it's a deeply aesthetic experience.

Maccha (powdered tea leaves) is used in the tea ceremony. As one of the ceremony's most fundamental elements, the host is to follow various rules in every procedure of tea making, from making the fire, adding hot water to tea cups, stirring tea with a whisk until it gets foamy, to serving it.

Another important element is shared sense of communication between the host and the guests throughout the ceremony. To entertain the guests, the host takes utmost care in every step of the preparation processes, such as choosing everything from tea utensils, to a hanging scroll, flowers, a vase and other amenities to go with the environment.

The guests, in return , are expected to express their understanding of the host's consideration and gratitude toward the host's efforts.　

The level of formality may depend on the particular school of tea ceremony we follow. And, in a way, serving tea in our home to family or guests may be considered an informal extension of the ritual Japanese tea ceremony.

Delicious Kobe beef restaurant in Kobe

Kobe beef is known refers to cuts of beef from the black Tajima-ushi breed of Wagyu cattle, raised according to strict tradition in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The meat is generally considered to be a delicacy, renowned for its flavour, tenderness, and fatty, well-marbled texture. Kobe beef can be prepared as steak, sukiyaki, shabu shabu, sashimi, teppanyaki and more.

Kobe beef is a special kind of cow's meat taken from the Wagyu cattle, which is raised in Japan. Kobe beef is known for its full flavour, tenderness, and its well-marbled texture; with polyunsaturated fats well distributed within the meat that's much healthier compared to saturated fat.

Kobe can be prepared as steak, sukiyaki, sashimi, shabu-shabu, teppanyaki etc.

Here is one of my recommended nice restaurant of Kobe Beef in Kobe where I had ever enjoyed:

"Wakkoqu"(wakkoku) in Kobe:

I had 200g Tenderloin Course Set (incl. 200g beef, Appetizer, Coffee (Bread or Rice) ): 9,500 yen

At Wakkoku, the chefs cook Teppanyaki-style, on an iron grill in front of us. (There are also grilled prawn and abalone seafood with a great wine list.)

The chef brings the meat over on a wooden tray and places salt, pepper, and a dollop of sharp mustard near our plates.

Then he slices off a strip of fat to coat the grill and roasts fresh garlic chips in it. Next, he dices the beef with a sword-sharp knife, lays it on the grill in front of us, and salts it as it sizzles.

According to our request, he slips the cubes of rich steak onto our plate. As we feel each chunk literally melt in our mouths, he starts to roast the vegetables: (carrots, crips bean sprouts, deep-purple-fleshed eggplant, mushrooms, etc)

Last comes the rice, cooked in a small portion of left-over fat, salt, chopped garlic, and the remaining flavors on the grill.

In many steak restaurants in Japan, this is one of my favorite one because of very nice beef are served.

Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki is one of the most famous Japanese dishes. Beef is cooled in Japanese style - the beef and vegetables are cooked in the sukiyaki sauce in a flat iron pot.
We will cook the food by ourselves - It is fun to cook and eat together form one pot - normally one pot for 4 people.

The below is recipe of Sukiyaki:

Sukiyaki Sauce (= warishita)

1/2 cup (100cc) of Soysauce

1/2 cup of Rice wine (Sake or cooking sake)

1/2 cup of Sugar

Ingredients (for 4 people)
Sliced beef  400-500 g (above photo)

Shiitake mushroom 100g  

Long spring onion   2-3 pcs  : to be sliced in 2cm size

Chrysanthemum leaves  100-200g

Shirataki (konnayaku-potato starch).   200- 300g 

Greater burdock root 80g  : to be thinly sliced and quickly boiled

Firm Tofu (Yaki-tofu)  1 block

Sukiyaki Sauce(warishita) 

Procedures

1. Put the lard in the heated pan and cook beef. When beef is cooked, add seasonings for sukiyaki sauce (warishita: soysauce, sake and sugar).

2. Move the beef to one side of the pan and add other ingredients such as shirataki, white cabbage, long onion, onion, tofu and mushrooms etc and cover the pan. (Only part of the ingredients will be soaked by sauce but they will shrink.)

3. When the ingredients shrink, mix them (among their portion of the pan) so that those on top will be soaked as well.  Cook for 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Taste and adjust flavor by adding sukiyaki sauce ingredients if necessary.

5. Dip the food in the egg in your egg bowl  and eat it. (egg should be beaten while you are waiting for sukiyaki cooked)  The egg makes the taste mild, and it also cools the food so it won't burn your tongue.

Eat it with rice or udon which you can add in the remaining soup after you finish eating meat and vegetables!

Note)  It's very important not to overcook the beef. (if overcooked, the beef gets hard)

The best season for sukiyaki is especially in cold winter - now!
Let's enjoy the Japanese best dish.

Festival for children - traditional event

3 and 5 years old boys
3 and 7 years old girls
Having Chitose ame

November 15th is the day of the Seven-five-three festival in Japan.
This is a traditional Japanese event to celebrate children's growth and pray for their future health and well-being.

On the day of the festival, boys aged three and five, and girls aged three and seven, are taken to a shrine.

3 years old girl
 in lovely kimono

At the shrine, Shinto priests perform a brief purification ceremony.
Many children are dressed in lovely kimono. Boys wear a two-piece boy's kimono, "haori" and "hakama".
After the ceremony, children receive long red and white candy sticks called chitose-ame. "Chitose" means "one thousand years".
The length of the candy sticks represents parents' wishes for their children's longevity.
However, recently fewer and fewer young parents are following this custom and interest in it is gradually declining.

Due to the weekday on Nov 15, many people visit the second Sunday in Nov. (this year, it was today(Nov 14))

Autumn Color in Japan

Ankoku-temple in Toyooka, Hyogo

There are four seasons in Japan. Each season is nice and people enjoy the change of seasons. 

Now is autumn when the weather is nice as well as spring.

We can enjoy the beautiful foliage. Changes in temperature and light affect the color of leaves.

Above photo is the red colored azalea in a famous temple in Toyooka, Hygo Pref. 

The ancient capital of Kyoto has many good spots for viewing autumn leaves, such as Kiyomizu Temple. Some of these spots will be illuminated from mid-October to early December to allow evening viewing of the trees.

Autumn leaves in Kyoto

Light-up in Kyoto 

Rush hours in Japan

Japanese rush hours are very always crowded, especially urban areas.
Trains begin to fill just after 7:00 am and the peak is 8:00-9:00 am. Key train stations and their platforms are filled with people.

Since the trains are so crowded, it is called as "Packed like sardines".

Train staff push people to get into a train

At some stations where there are many commuters, station staff routinely help the passengers get into the train by pushing them through the doors from behind.
The evening rush hour is 17:00-18:30, of which conditions are much better than in the morning.

A foreigner who visited Japan may be surprised to experience the packed train - people are packed in so tightly that they don't even need to hold onto anything. (on the other hand, no danger of falling - because of too packed)

The roads are very crowded, too - especially 8:00 -9:30am. But even after this rush hour, the roads of urban areas are always crowded. Because there are just too many cars for limited roads.

If we need to arrive on time, we will use trains or subway which run very punctual, instead of car or taxi.

Packed like sardines

Tipping in Japan

NO tip is expected at a restaurant 

Different from the practice in western countries, tipping is not customary in Japan. We Japanese don't tip waiters, hotel man or cab drivers etc. These people are paid for just their work; they are proud of doing a good job, and they don't expect any extra from the customers.
But some employees at western-style hotels are used to get tipping from westerners. They don't refuse the tip, BUT they don't expect it. (some hotels originally add a service charge to the bill.)

We may give tips to Japanese staff in special occasions -. If somebody provide something special for us, we tip to show appreciation.

But no tip is expected for standard good services in Japan.

UFO Catcher

UFO Catcher

Prize gotten by UFO Catcher 

In a game center, there are various kinds of games we can play. For example, there are computer games and car-racing games.
One of the popular games is "UFO Catcher"(as above photo). We will pick a prize with a mini crane. The playing fee is about 100-300 yen. The typical prizes are stuffed toys. It is very difficult to get the prize because sensitive operation of the crane is needed. Many people spend about 1000 yen (means 10 times of play) to get a prize. But some trained young people get several prizes at one play - because people are hooked!

100yen shop

100 yen shop

100 yen shops (100 yen = about 1 dollar) are popular in Japan. In most shopping areas, there are 100 yen shops.
Everything in the shop is sold at 100 yen - from stationary, kitchen goods, cosmetics, food and etc.

The quality of some items is not so bad even if it is 100 yen.

As they are very cheap, we tend to buy many items.

  Those items are one of examples - all are 100 yen!

Japanese religion - difference Shinto vs Buddhism

Buddhist Statue

Shinto and Buddhism were mixed and combined a long time ago. People whorshipped gods and Buddha together at temples and shrines.
Shinto and Buddhism were only separated from the Meiji Period (around 1900). The Meiji government protected Shinto as a national religion, but suppressed Buddhism. Shintō was needed in order to unify the country around the Emperor as the process of modernization was undertaken with all possible speed

In 1945(after World War II), the State Shinto was abolished. The State and religions were separated after World War II.

Today both Shinto and Buddhism are important religions in Japan.

Difference between Shinto and Buddhism:

                           Shinto               Buddhism
Worship              Shrine                    Temple
Gate                  Gate (torii)    
Statue               No specific statue    Buddhist statues
Praying style       Clap your hands      just put your hands together

Temple

Shrine - torii (gate)

Japanese religion - Buddhism

Horyuji-temple in Nara

Buddhism was born about 2500 years ago in India. It was founded by the Indian Prince Siddharatha Gautama.
Though China and Korea, Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the 6th century.

Zazen

The goal of Buddhism is to reach the state of nirvana.(= a state of enlightenment which exists beyond all pain and suffering). People who attained enlightenment are called "Buddha."

In Japan, there are 13 Buddhist sects- one of them is "Zen".
The focus of Zen is to achieve enlightenment that comes from within. Enlightenment is achieved by emptying our mind and giving up earthly desires.

Tea Ceremony

Zazen is a method to calm our minds through meditation which is performed in the lotus position.

To study Zen, you can go to a Zen Buddhist temple. You can stay for a few weeks or a few months, depending on the temple.

Zen gave great influences on various cultures - ex. tea ceremony, flower arrangement.

And we Japanese often prefer quiet reflection when people from other cultures might talk a lot. Maybe that's why we say Japanese culture is Zen culture.

Japanese religion - Shinto

In Japan, there are two key religions - Shinto and Buddhism.

Pray for a field god

Shinto alter

Shinto was born in Japan. Shinto literary means "the way of the gods", of which faith is based on animism. Once upon a time, people believed there were gods in nature. (ex. in a mountain, there was a mountain god, in the field, there was a field god.) People whorshipped god as a divine being and prayed to gods to receive blessings.
People also looked up to their ancestors.
In short, Shinto is a combination of nature and ancestor whorship.

Shinto - Ise Shrine

Shinto is part of Japanese cultural heritage. The Majority of Japanese who conceder themselves religious would say they are both Buddhist and Shintoist. Shintoism as a belief system doesn't exclude other loyalties.

Shrine for the mounting

Many Shinto shrines are noted for the great natural beauty of their surroundings.