MUST TO KNOW #5: Hinamatsuri in Japan

Hinamatsuri (雛祭り) is a Japanese doll festival.



(c) .foto project


It is held on March 3rd, and families with little daughters celebrate the day by displaying "hina" dolls in ancient court dress of the Heian period on a stepped shelf covered with red cloth. They sincerely wish good health and a blessed life for their growing daughters. 


A set of those ornamental dolls are arranged on a five or seven-tiered stand covered with a red carpet.

At the top are the Emperor and Empress. The next step contains court ladies, followed by five musicians, two ministers, and three servants.. 


There are also customary foods.
Hinaarare (雛あられ), a colored , bite-sized rice crackers flavored with sugar, is a traditional snack on Hinamatsuri.

Also, Chirashizushi (ちらし寿司) is often eaten. It consists of sushi rice flavored with sugar, vinegar, topped with eggs, shrimp, and a variety of ingredients.

Hinamatsuri is very important for families with daughters.


However, it is said if families do not put away the hina dolls quickly after the festival, then she will not get married for a long time.

MUST TO KNOW #5: Haruichiban

Haruichibann blew over Japan last week.

Haruichiban (Haru=spring/春, Ichiban=first/一番) is a strong southerly wind (In Japan, wind speed should be more than. 8m/sec) recorded first time for the year between "Risshun（around 4th February）" and "Shunbun （vernal equinox: around 21st March）.

It  blows on a fine day with a temprerature considerably higher than the previous day.

High speed wind is generated through the formation of low pressure in north-west.


This year, Haruichiban was observed in Tokyo on the 25th of February. On that day, the temperature rose up to 19 degrees (in celcius).

Haruichiban tells us that spring is just around the corner.

MUST TO EAT#12: Ochaduke

Ochaduke (or chaduke) is green tea over rice.
This simple dish is  favored by Japanese as a light meal, or a midnight snack.

Rice is often served with green tea or bonito broth, and some topppings.
Toppings may include salmon flakes, sliced raw fish (red snapper), tsukemono (Japanese pickled vegetables) and grilled bits of rice cake.

One of most popular chaduke is Tai chaduke (red snapper chaduke).
sliced raw red snapper is usually served with white sesame paste.
You put all the toppings over rice, then add hot green tea (or bonito borth) over the top.

Ochaduke is very light, yet tasty.
It can be cooked by using a leftover of rice from dinner. 

There are also Ochaduke restaurants. (only in Japanese) 

One is located at the Narita airport (Terminal 1). You may want to have it for your breakfast if you have a morning flight.

MUST TO VISIT #12: Yurakucho Sanchoku Insyokugai (有楽町産直飲食街）

One of most nostalgic dining spot "Yurakucho Sanchoku Insyokugai"(有楽町産直飲食街）locates under the train track between Yurakucho and Shinbashi Stations.

Even though it has a good retro atmosphere of Showa era Tokyo, this alley was actually built to promote regional specialty food of Japan.

Japan has a lot of good local food. However, small producers often have no knowledge of promoting their food and there aren't still enough distribution channels to send regional food to cities. Therefore, regional food is not directly available in cities and people usually buy them by shipping via online shopping.

The "Sanchoku Inshokugai" delivers such regional specialty food directly to consumers living in Tokyo, by serving them at the restaurants. The menu offers regional recipes that are not available in cities.


In this Sanchoku Inshokugai, there are 5 izakaya style restaurants. Each offers specialty food from different parts of Japan.
  
Uomaru Honten (魚◯本店) - fish (Shizuoka)
Umakabai (馬かばい) - horse (Kumamoto)
Nanbuya (南部家) -  pork (Iwate)
Shinshuu Shunkei (信州神鶏) - chicken (Nagano)
Ushimaru (牛◯) - beef (Hokkaido)

The food are fresh, and taste as real as in regional areas.
They are very popular among Ginza office workers.



Yurakucho Sanchoku Inshokugai (有楽町産直飲食街)
〒100-0006 International archade 2-1-11 Yurakucho Chiyodaku, Tokyo

HP (Japanese only)

Access:
3 minutes from Ginza Station (C1 exit)
4minutes from Hibiya Station
6 minutes walk from JR Yurakucho Station
Mon-Sat : open from around 6pm til next morning
Sun/holidays: open from around 6pm til 0am

大きな地図で見る

MUST TO VISIT #11 : Ameya-yokocho in Ueno

Ueno "Ameya-yokocho"  is one of oldest shopping streets in Tokyo.

Once you are outside of Ueno station (central exit), you will soon see a small street with a lot of people and shops just across the road. You will see the noticeable  arch as in the picture above. This is where Ameya-yokocho starts.

Ameya-yokocho has been the central of shopping and dining in Ueno, that attracts not only tourists but also local people.

 "Ame" in Japanese stands for candies, and "yokocho" stands for an alley or a small street.
The street was named to have these names as candies were traditionally sold there.

On the other hand, "Ame" also stands for America, since there were also a lot of American products sold at the black market after the WWII. Even though black markets existed in other parts of Tokyo, the Amea-yokocho is the only market which remained today.

Even though Ameya-yokocho is rather old, and there aren't any modern features or shops, there still remains a good lively atmosphere of the traditional market.

There are a lot of stores, where you can buy a variety of thigs from fresh seafood to snacks to bags to jewellery to leather jackets to trainers. There are also restaurants and game archades. Products are sold relatively cheaper than any other areas of Tokyo.

Shops open around 8am, and close at 9pm. Some shops may close on holidays but they mostly open throughout the year.

Ueno Ameyoko (abbreviation for Ameya-yokocho) has been popular among foreigners living in Tokyo, since they can buy imported products at a reasonable price, which is not available anywhere else in Tokyo.

If you ever travel with the Yamanote Line, just jump off at Ueno station, then walk through the Ameyoko.

Explore the old market, you may find something you've never found anywhere else in Tokyo...!

MUST TO EAT#11: Syabu-Syabu

Shabu-Shabu is one of Japanese hot pot with thinly sliced beef (or pork) and a variety of vegetables.

You start off by dipping a piece of thinly sliced beef into the boiled water, moving it for a while with your chopsticks,  then pick up instantly before it get stiff. 

Then, you dip the boiled meat into a special sauce, which are usually Ponzu-dare (Citrus Seasoned Sauce) or Goma-dare (roasting sesami sauce). 

Goma-dare (left), Ponzu-dare(right)

After shabu shabu, Japanese often use the remaining soup to cook ojiya (egg rice soup).

Since the soup contains extracts from meat and vegetables, it is very tasty, and will fill up your stomach.

Shabu-shabu is reckon healthy, because meat fat is partly worn away by dipping into the hot boiled water.

Also, shabu-shabu can be easily prepared at home. You only need vegetables such as hakusai(chinese cabbage) and negi(green onion) etc, and most importantly, thinly sliced beef. You can also use pork instead of beef, which is then called "buta-shabu". ("buta" is pork in Japanese)

It is more enjoyable if you have shabu-shabu with a lot of people.

Shabu-shabu is especially popular in winter, but can be eaten throughout a year.

Price of shabu-shabu vary a lot. But there are some All you can eat Shabu-shabu restaurants in Tokyo. A famous one is Mo-para or Nabezo, which is very popular among students.

Shabu-shabu is one of my favorite Japanese dish as well. 

If you are hungry and want to get warm, and something healthy, why don't you try shabu-shabu?

MUST TO KNOW #4: Setsubun in Japan

February 3rd was "Setsubun" in Japan. 

It is the beginning of spring (in the traditional Japanese calendar), and Japanese hold a custom of bean throwing (mamemaki) ceremony. This is to cleanse away the house of evil spirits out. (It is thought evil spirits are arisen between seasons)


As the beans are thrown towards outside of house , good luck is invited in and bad luck driven. In actual throwing, Japanese people say " Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi! " (Evil spirits out! Good fortune in!) It is usually somebody wears oni (demon) mask and they throw beans at him.


After bean throwing, people eat soy beans as many as their age, that is thought to bring good luck.


Also, Japanese eat a fortune roll called "Ehomaki" on Setsubun. 
Ehomaki is a rolled sushi with seven ingredients for the seven gods of good luck.  All the good luck and good fortune is rolled up  in this sushi.

Ehomaki

Ehomaki is eaten in the evening, with closed eyes, in silence, facing the auspicious direction of the new year.

This years good luck direction was South South East.  


If you are visiting Japan on Setsubun, you may see people throwing roasted soybeans saying "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!".

MUST TO KNOW #3: Four Seasons in Japan

Japan has distinct FOUR SEASONS; pink cherry blossoms in Spring(March-May), blue sky and green leaves in Summer (June-August), red-yellow leaves of autumn (September-November), white snow scenery of winter (December-February). 

　　　

In spring, one of the best-loved symbols of Japan makes a dramatic sweep across the country. Sakura (cherry blossoms) bloom usually from the end of March through April in a kind of wave starting in southern Kyushu and working its way northeast. Cherry blossoms last only 1-2 weeks. 






When cherry blossoms are in full bloom, Japanese often hold a party "Hanami" to enjoy beautiful scenery of cherry blossoms and celebrate the beginning of business/academic year. 
(The business year in Japan begins in April )
People bring lunch boxes and many dozens of alcohols to share, and maybe a karaoke kit.

Before coming of summer season, Japan experiences a rainy season "Tsuyu".  Japan's rainy season is caused by the seasonal rain front which stays above Japan between tropical high pressure and Siberian cold high pressure. 


Japan is also hit by Typhoons during the Tsuyu season.
Although tsuyu is a gloomy time, the rain is very important for rice cultivation . Also, there are many pretty flowers blooming at this time. One of them is ajisai (hydrangea) which is a symbol of the rainy season in Japan.

Asisai

When the rainy season is over, Japan is experiencing a summer. Japanese summer is often characterized "hot", and "humid". But high pressures stay most of the season and the temperatures may rise up to 35 decrees/celsius. During summer, there are a lot of festivals(Matsuri) all across Japan.

　　　　　

Changing color of leaves indicates the beginning of Autumn. 
Many of trees turn color in autumn in Japan, especially maple trees, and people love to enjoy viewing brilliantly-colored autumn trees. (Momijigari)


Kyoto is a famous Momijigari destination for Japanese. During Autumn, Kyoto is very crowded with visitors and hotels or ryokan experiences their busiest season. Viewing red, yellow colored leaves behind nostalgic scenery of temples in Kyoto is absolutely breath-taking.

After trees shed off their leaves, winter comes in Japan. In northern parts of Japan, it already starts snowing in the beginning of December and many people go skiing or snowboarding on holiday. By this time, temperatures have dropped to around 0-10 degrees in Tokyo and people cover themselves in thick winter coats.




The coldest month in Japan is January (or February), and temperature starts rising towards Spring season.




If you stay in Japan for a long term, you would experience some of four seasons.
I would say the best time to visit Japan is Spring - Summer. 
Temperature is comfortable, and there are a lot of events and festivals to be hold around these seasons.

MUST TO EXPERIENCE #7: roten(street stalls) at festival

Roten(露店) are open-air stands or street stalls that are set up during the days of a festival.

A scattering of small food stalls are erected on the temple grounds, and each one serves up its own specialty: okonomiyaki (savory griddle cakes), tako-yaki (octopus dumplings cooked in iron molds), yakisoba (fried noodles) and yaki-tomorokoshi (roasted corn) are regular mainstays. The smokes from food stalls make lively atmosphere of festivals.

Other popular stall foods include ika-yaki (grilled squid); ringo ame (candied apples); baby kasutera (small baked sponge cakes); crepes; jaga bataa (steamed potatoes with butter); and choco-banana (chocolate-covered bananas). Longtime favorites also include watagashi (cotton candy) and anzu ame (candied apricots).

Other traditional ennichi fair entertainment involves toys and games such as omen (character masks), shateki (shooting at targets), kingyo sukui (scooping up goldfish) and the ever-popular yo-yo sukui, where colorful water-filled balloons are fished from a pool. These games invariably attract clutches of enthusiastic children who happily spend their money to fish for small prizes.  (Reference: Kikkoman Corporation food forum)

Food usually costs around $3-5. 

There are hundreds of festivals during summer seasons. 

Festivals are often associated with temples or shrines, but there are also fireworks festivals etc.

Also during new year season, dozens of stalls are set up on the  temple grounds waiting for people's first shrine visit (Hatsumoude).

You should really experience lively atmosphere of Japanese street stalls at festivals.

MUST TO EXPERIENCE #6: Onsen (hot springs)

Onsen
Japan is a mountainous country with numerous number of volcanoes. Hot springs are found anywhere near volcanoes and Japanese call these natural hot springs "Onsen". Onsen are highly popular across Japan. 

It is said there are more than 3000 onsen across Japan. Every region of the country has its share of hot springs and resort towns(Onsengai), which come with them.


There are many types of hot springs, distinguished by the minerals dissolved in the water. Different minerals provide different health benefits, and all hot springs are supposed to have a relaxing effect on your body and mind.

Hot spring baths come in many varieties, indoors and outdoors, gender separated and mixed, developed and undeveloped. Many hot spring baths belong to a ryokan, while others are public bath houses. An overnight stay at a hot spring ryokan is a highly recommended experience to any visitor of Japan.

Here's a guide to some of best Onsen in Japan.

There are lost to choose from, but Ginzan Onsen, Yamagata, is one of the most nostalgic onsen area in Japan, that opened back in Taisho Era. (about 100 years ago)  Graceful three- and four-story wooden inns stand in rows on both sides of the Ginzan-gawa River, with its steaming crystal clear waters, giving the area an air of a hermitage village. This hot spring town makes you feel as though you have strayed off into a movie scene from a Japanese period adventure film.

There are many english Onsen guide on the internet. 
If you ever travel to Japan, I strongly recommend you to take a further step from cities to have this relaxing experience.