Clik here to view.
Momiji-gari in Noboribetsu
Momiji-gari means “making an excursion to see the leaves changing.” Noboribetsu is a famous hot-spring town in Hokkaido where the streams run milky and warm. The Ainu word “Nuplpetsu” means the “white...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lambikin! Lambikin!
Sapporo is a culinary paradise of ramen alleys, Genghis Khan (lamb grill), amazing crab, beer, and sake. Photo: The unforgettable giant-tuna-head-and-four-sake lunch followed by a long nap. Photo:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mori’s Bakery
A Culinary Guide to Taura, no. 1 Some background: Taura is technically part of Yokosuka City, but it has a village feel. The village may be old (there are some temples and shrines from around 1500...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I’ve been known to shout about things I know nothing about
It’s a chilly evening. I’m here drinking some Knob Creek bourbon and clicking around the electronic universe. I read Bob Lefsetz’s blog “The Lefsetz Letter” and found a post about Walt Wilkins. Lefsetz...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ehoba no shōnin are cruising the back streets of Taura
Photo: The abandoned house in Taura. It’s 4:30 p.m. and the light is fading fast. I descend from my hilltop neighborhood—full of blinking Christmas lights and overly clean cars—via the bamboo grove...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Donde Hiro: Peruvian restaurant in Oppama
Donde Hiro is run by Peruvians of Peruvian-Japanese extraction who have returned to Japan (Hiro is the chef/owner). The large TV is always blaring Latin American MTV. The decor includes Andean indio...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shin-hirayu onsen and Takayama sake
There are certainly a great number of symbols in the sake world; images and things that evoke perfectly Pavlovian pangs for a glass of good sake. It might be a blue dyed curtain hanging in front of a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Akemashite omedetō gozaimasu!
Happy New Year! My flower lady put together an arrangement for my genkan (entrance hall) of pine branches and nandina berries (above). Some Japanese New Year decorations include: Shimenawa, the straw...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hatsuhinode in Minatogaoka Park
We joined an impromptu group of our neighbors in the park to see the 2008 hatsuhinode (first sunrise of the year). Our picnic of hot chocolate, cheese, bread, and nuts. More and more people arrived in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A lotus grows in Takayama: blogging about Japan
A rich buttery soup is not better as such than a broth of wild herbs. In handling and preparing wild herbs, do so as you would the ingredients for a rich feast, wholeheartedly, sincerely, clearly. When...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Edmund Hillary wuz here
Photo: Garden view from a guest room in the Nagase Ryokan, Takayama. From the NYT: Edmund Hillary, First on Everest, Dies at 88 A toast in honor of Hillary and Tenzing Norgay (who may have been first,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Off-limits and private worlds in Kamakura
Last Sunday, we enjoyed an exhibit of ukiyoe paintings at the Kamakura Museum (Katsushika Hokusai’s “Drunken Beauty” was only one of the many delights). Then after the temptations of the floating...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A mold spore, a yeast cell, and a Shinto priest walk into a bar…
Photo: Day 1, dinner at Sasagin, my tasting notes on the evening’s five featured sakes. The John Gauntner Sake Professional Course experience: 70 sakes to taste over three days in the classroom, about...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Snow snow snow snow
Obviously, we don’t get a lot of snow in this area. One big blizzard makes us all giddy and we run out out out to play play play in it. The park was full of kids and parents throwing snowballs, making...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ume ume, oh no we gotta go
The best among blossoms is the red plum, whether light or dark in color. As for the cherry, the blossoms should be on slender branches, the petals large and the leaves deeply colored. —Sei Shonagon,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Unfolding pink plum blossoms
Baby, sweet baby, you’re my drug Come on and let me taste your stuff Baby, sweet baby, bring me your gift What surprise you gonna hit me with I am waiting here for more I am waiting by your door I am...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Playing (authorized) hooky in Kamakura
There’s really no such thing as playing hooky in the U.S. Navy (unless you mean to move to Canada, change your name, sell polished stone jewelry, and live off the land), but Carlos took Thursday...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sake play group: Kinpou Shuzo
Photo: Kinpou Shuzo (sake brewery)/Niida Honke (main house). March 15, 2008: We four otaku members of the Tokyo Sake Meetup Group got off the shinkansen in Koriyama (Fukushima Prefecture) and caught a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cherry blossoms, of course
Van Morrison was singing “Madame Joy” as I walked among the cherry blossoms in my neighborhood. I’ll leave you to it…
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sakura sakura yayoi no sora wa miwatasu kagiri
Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, Across the Spring sky, As far as you can see. Is it a mist, or clouds? Fragrant in the air. Come now, come, Let’s look, at last! — “Sakura,” verse 2 Joined some lady...
View Article