New Years Food

One of the things that you are supposed to do for the new year in Japan is eat lots of good food! Here is just a sampling of what was on the menu...

(Family picture before the feast!)

(This is the layout of the table that we set. The black thing in the middle is a sake serving thing. Prior to the meal, everyone had to take a sip of sake, from the youngest to the oldest, served by the "head of household". The sake had some herbal thing in it, and it wasn't very tasty at all. Everyone grimaced when they had to take a sip...)

(Nimono - A variety of root vegetables and shitake mushrooms, simmered in soy sauce for flavor, garnished with green beans. This is one of my favorite dishes!)


(Fresh crab = yum!!)

(From the lower left corner of the tray: Kazunoko - pickled herring row...not a favorite but I will eat it; Sweet chestnut mash thing - it's like dessert!; Kuromame - black beans that have been cooking for days; Tsukemono - picked radishes; Ikura - a cone of salmon eggs wrapped with a picked turnip.)

(char siu pork garnished with kamaboko (fish cake) slices...both were very delicious!!)

There was also a lot of sashimi, but I don't think I got a picture of it. In any case, it was delicious as well! At the end of the meal we had ozoni, which is chicken soup with some spinach and carrots and ball of mochi (rice cake) or two. It is very filling, and it topped off a very good meal. I was very very full for the rest of the day, and I felt like I was off to a good start to the new year =)

New Years Eve in Japan

On New Years eve, while the rest of the world celebrates the new year with fireworks and parties, the Japanese are praying. New Years is a cultural holiday in Japan, with an integration of religion, tradition, and culture. One of the traditions that many people partake in is eating soba as the last meal for the passing year. We did that. =) On New Years eve, another tradition is to go to the temple and say thank you for a wonderful previous year, and pray for a wonderful upcoming year. Since it's a one of a kind event, we decided to take a trip to Kamakura, about 45 minutes away, to go to a temple there to ring in the new year. We left the house at 10, and came back at 3:30am on 01 January 2008. Happy New Year!! =)

(It is tradition for the monks to ring the temple bell 108 times to mark the new year. At this particular temple, people can line up to ring the temple bell. This is a picture of when it was my turn to ring in the new year =) I got a good sound out of it!)

(Dad in front of the temple bell which is underneath the little wooden structure in the background. Many more people after us were eager to ring the bell as well.)

(This isn't the best picture, but we really weren't able to take a lot of pictures. This was taken at another temple, where we waited to climb the temple steps to throw in our donation and pray for the upcoming year. There were a lot of people here waiting to say their prayers for the new year.)

Sites in Tokyo

There are many, many things to see in Tokyo. This is only a fraction of what there is to see in Tokyo...

(There are 34 million people in a 30 mile radius around central Tokyo. It is almost twice the size of New York City. Much of the city had just as many people crowded into an area, just like in this picture near Ueno station. These were people going shopping to prepare for the coming of the new year.)

(Paris has the Eiffel Tower, Tokyo has the Tokyo Tower. We didn't actually go up the tower since the line was about 30 minutes deep)

(Attempting to walk down a busy street in the Harajuku neighborhood. It is an area popular among younger people for trendy fashions and brand name stores.)

(This is one of my favorite stores in Tokyo..Itoya. This is the sign outside the store. It is 9 floors of stationary, office supplies, and office furniture. It is nothing like Office Depot or any of those stores in the US. They have an entire floor dedicated to pens and pencils. I bought a few myself because they were just so cool!! I am such a dork..=) )

(In the Ginza district there is a Nissan Gallery/Showroom. There is no sales...there are just at most two cars on display. This time the soon-to-be-released GT-R was on display. It will also be on sale in the US, and I'm sure people can't wait to drive it! =) )

(A picture of gyoza (pot stickers) we ate in a chinese restaurant in the Ginza district. They were about 3 times the normal size of pot stickers...and soooooo good!!! Not exactly a tourist attraction...but I thought I'd post it anyway =) )

Family in Tokyo

We arrived in Tokyo the nite of 29 December 2007. We spent the rest of our trip in Tokyo, staying til 03 January 2008. It was really great to be able to hang out with everyone after many days of traveling.

(Going around the table...my cousin Hiroshi, grandma, Auntie Ryoko, Mom, Dad, Marie, Uncle Masaharu, cousin Isao, and Auntie Fumiko. We are at the table getting ready to pig out and eat our new year meal =) )

(Mom, Dad, Uncle Masaharu, me, Marie, and Auntie Fumiko...Hiroshi took the picture...we were all in downtown Tokyo near Tokyo station admiring the christmas lighting display along two blocks of the city)

(going around the table...grandma, Auntie Ryoko, Dad, Mom, Marie, Uncle Masaharu, Auntie Fumiko, and cousin Isao...we were sitting down to eat our first home cooked meal (potatoe croquettes) of our trip. It was delicious!!)

(This is my childhood friend Rie, who lives in Japan now. She and I have known each other since we were babies, so we're basically family! Apparently we're a little older now... =) )

Food in Kyoto

On our last day in Kyoto, we went to a restaurant called Ganko in Kyoto Station. (There are about 50 restaurants in Kyoto station. The place is huge, and we got lost trying to find this place numerous times!) We had a wonderful meal, and here is what we got!

(Tonkatsu (breaded and fried pork cutlet) and fried chicken)

(The mega meal! It was wonderfully presented, and included sashimi, some cooked veggies and fish, and a make your own tofu thing to the right. Basically, they light a little light under the soy milk, and you're supposed to let it boil, then add some salt solution to make it more solid. It had an interesting taste, and I thought it was ok, but it didn't taste like tofu I'm used to cooking with. The presentation was the best for this meal, and it was almost too pretty to eat!)

(Ikura donburi - salmon eggs over sushi rice. Salmon eggs are soooooo good!)

(An assortment of sushi. This is the meal I actually ordered. I had better sushi while I was in Saga, but it was delicious...can't complain!! =) )

Temples in Nara and Kyoto

After Hiroshima, we went to Kyoto and visited the nearby city of Nara on 28 December 2007. Nara was the capital of Japan in the 8th century, and was known to be where Buddhism and japanese art had flourished. We were able to see some very old buildings and sites here.

(Dad, me, and Marie in front of Tohdaiji Temple. This is a huge building that housed a gigantic metal Buddha. It was raining a lot this day, but this was definitely worth walking through the rain for!)

(Unfortunately, because of the lighting in the temple, it was extremely difficult to take a picture of the Buddha while capturing how massive it actually is. I am pretty sure it was at least 5 stories tall! The lotus leaves alone were taller than most of the people visiting!)

(Another very nice temple in Nara is Kasuga Taisha Shrine. It was sort of in remodeling stages, but it is known for having these hanging lanterns all around the temple)

(This is the 5-story pagoda in Kofukuji-temple grounds. It is featured in a lot of postcards and photos of Nara)

After visiting Nara for the day, the next day we had a little bit of time to spend in the city of Kyoto, so we decided that we had time to visit one temple. We decided to go to Kiyomizu-tera Temple, one of the more famous temples in Kyoto. Marie and I have been there before, and this time there were tons of tourists out visiting the grounds. It is one of my most favorite temples in Kyoto.

(The main building of Kiyomizu-tera over looks the city of Kyoto.)

(The supporting structure underneath the main building is amazing. It is mostly wood, and it is cool to see the way that everything criss crosses underneath the building into the mountainside)

(The main building as well as the surrounding buildings and the pagoda in the background. The grounds to this temple are very large, and the main building is just a small portion of the overall temple. It is like walking through a park!)

Yumminess in Hiroshima

Hiroshima is known for an excellent dish called "okonomiyaki" (literally means something cooked the way you like it). It is basically a pancake looking thing that is anything but a pancake. It is filled with lots of veggies, noodles, egg, and any meat you want. We went to one place in Hiroshima, and this is how they made their version of okonomiyaki

(She spread cooked yakisoba noodles onto a hot cooking surface and spread it out into a flat "sheet" of noodles)

(On another section of the cooking surface, she poured a very thin flour based batter and spread it into a circle, almost like a crepe. On top of that she sprinkled some sort of seasoning)

(She then took a handle each of cabbage, bean sprouts, meat, and other veggies and piled it on top of the pancake thing)

(Once the crepe was crispy, she flipped the whole mountain of veggies over so the veggies and meat could cook. It was amazing that veggies didn't just spray out everywhere!)

(Back to the noodles...she made sure that they were crispy, and then folded the noodle pancake in half.)

(She then fried an egg on the cooking surface, and while it was still cooking, she transferred the veggies on top of the crispy noodles. She then took the whole veggie, meat, and noodle mountain, and transferred onto the egg.)

(She then flipped the whole thing over, egg side up.)

(In the end, the okonomiyaki is served with okonomiyaki sauce, some green onions and greens on top, and tah dah!...dinner is served!!! This was one of many wonderful meals we had while in Japan. The crispy noodles and veggie and meat and egg combo made for a very filling and yummy meal!!)

Sites in Hiroshima

We were in Hiroshima on 26 December and 27 December 2007. On the first day, we went to the island of Miyajima. The weather was beautiful!! The island is about a 30 minute train ride and a 10 minute ferry ride away.

(There were a ton of deer roaming around the island, especially near the tourists. They are known to be messengers from God in Japanese culture, so the townspeople take care of them and make sure they are safe and don't hurt any tourists.)

(The 5-story pagoda in Miyajima)

(Marie and Mom inside of a very old building in Miyajima, next to the 5 story pagoda. Everything in there was made from massive trunks and pillars of wood. It was very impressive!)

(Dad, Marie, and me in front of the shrine gate to Utsukushi Shrine. This shrine is known to be "floating in water" because when the tide comes in, it makes it look as though the whole thing is floating on water. We were there during low tide, but it was still very beautiful and impressive. You can see the gate in the background on your approach to the island as well.)

(Dad, Mom, and me inside the shrine with the gate in the background.)

(Miyajima also features the world's largest wooden rice scoop...I have no idea why they did this...but they have it on display...)

On the 2nd day in Hiroshima we went to the atomic dome and peace memorial museum. It was a very sombering place, and it was a little bit depressing. But the whole park and museum is devoted to peace, and making sure that something as horrible as nuclear warfare and weapons never gets used on anyone again. It was a very educational experience, and the museum was well done. It showcased the history of the city of Hiroshima prior to and during the war, and then explained why the bomb was researched and made and why Hiroshima was chosen to be one of the targets. The exhibit then went to explain what happened at the exact instant the bomb went off, including the 3000C core that explored 600meters above the city. The exhibit then showed the current state of nuclear weapons and which countries have them and the peace agreements that have been signed by various countries not to have or test weapons. It then went on to talk about the aftermath of the bomb, including some artifacts that survived the blast as well as an area explaining the effects of radiation on the human body. It was all depressing, but also educational.

(A memorial honoring those that died due to the bomb. Each year more names are added as those victims die from radiation effects.)

(The atomic dome at the entrance of the Peace Memorial Park)

(The Peace Memorial Museum)

(The Children's Peace Monument. It represents all the children that died because of the bomb. In the little rooms there are 1000s of origami cranes, folded by children around the world. It is based on the true story of Sadako, who died of leukemia after the war, but folded 1000 cranes because of the folklore story that says that if you fold a 1000 origami cranes, you will be happy and healthy again. Sadako eventually died, but finished folding all 1000 cranes.)

Mom's old stomping grounds

The main reason for visiting Fukuoka and Saga was to see Mom's extended family, as well as possibly visit the area that she was raised. We definitely got to see her old stomping grounds! =)

(The temple that Mom played outside of, along with the other neighborhood kids. Apparently the monks always yelled at them for making too much noise)

(Mom's elementary school. It was mostly wood construction when she went there, but it's basically still there.)

(The monkey bars are still there...the same as when she went to school there. They look kinda short...)

(Back when my mom was growing up, she said she basically lived in a slum/ghetto. The houses were tiny and put up as quickly as possible. The area isn't that much better...it's safe...just shabby, but she wasn't able to find her exact home.)

(The creek that ran behind the house. She used to play here with her friends!)

(A stone carving of a "kappa"-river god/mischief - climbing over the bridge going across the creek now. My Mom said that the creek seemed a lot wider and bigger when she was younger...but then again, she was also much smaller =) )