Bamboo Shoots

While leaving school the other day I received a freshly dug bamboo shoot! It just so happens that the previous day I had been looking at recipes and guides on how to cook bamboo shoots online, and wishing that I could go dig my own or at least cook a fresh one. I couldn't believe it when the very next day the students were doing just that!  As I was walking out, a group of students were returning from their little trip to dig bamboo shoots so I stopped to admire their crop. To my delight, one of the teachers gave me an extra one to take home. Which I quickly boiled up and turned into three different delicious dishes!

Bamboo shoots are a quintessential spring time vegetable in Japan. I have heard that many Japanese crave bamboo shoots around this time and that many don't feel like it is truly spring until they have had some to eat.

To prepare bamboo shoots you must first strip the many layers of husk off. This reduces the size of the shoot by at least half. After that the shoot is boiled to remove the bitterness. Then you store it in fresh water and add it to whatever dishes you choose to make with it!

Stir fry

Brown rice and bamboo shoots

Miso soup

Recent Gems

Spring is here and the weather is warming up finally! The peninsula I live on is covered up in nature and is absolutely beautiful, especially in the summer time when we can go to the beach. I spend a lot of time outdoors, either going on hikes, running, or exploring the coast for new secret beaches. Here are some recent lovely things I've happened upon recently.

 Koinobori, "flying fish flags," set up for Children's Day- a May festival celebrating the growth and happiness of children...

French Almond Cake...

Cherry Blossoms by the sea...

Maki zushi rolls...

Found these flowers during my evening run the other day...

Food and fun times from a recent trip to the big city in our prefecture...

haiku

A haiku is a famous style of Japanese poetry that consists of three line verses with a 5-7-5 syllabic formation. Recently at one of my elementary schools, there was a school wide project for all the students to write their own haikus. The principal asked me if I would like to write one as well, since he thought the students would be very happy to read a haiku written by me. Of course, I gladly accepted the challenge! 

The topic for our haikus was to be "summer," and I received the invitation to join the project right after my wonderful weekend at Yama Matsuri- so I knew exactly what to write about! I wrote my haiku about Asa Yama, which is the 2 a.m. segment of pulling the yama wagons around town during the festival. As I sat down to write and my first thought was the sounds- beating taiko drums, chanting, and laughter. Next I thought about the sights- flashes of brightly colored hapi coats as we ran up and down the streets. Last, I thought of the chilly April air, it was so cold and yet we all had a blast pulling the yamas around all night. It surprised me how quickly I was able to write my haiku, the images just came spilling out. Japanese festivals- what an inspiring event! I wrote it first in English, then was able to translate it into Japanese with no problem and the syllable count even worked out fairly easily! 

太鼓のどんどん、

法被が青と赤、

夜涼し。

Hear the taiko's boom,

Blue, purple and red hapi,

Through the chilly night.

Taiko and Cooking!

Yesterday I had my third taiko performance! We played at a little shrine on top of a mountain in honor of the Noto Kirishima Matsuri. Kirishima is a red flower that is apparently the town flower of Noto, and this little shrine is named Kirishima Shrine after the flower which grows around the staircase leading up to the shrine.

After our group gathered and loaded our seven drums into a car we headed to the shrine to set up. We drove into the countryside then took a narrow, steep, and winding road and found the shrine on top of a little mountain. There were about forty people present, some waiting to watch and the event organizers standing behind a row of tables where they were selling snacks and fresh vegetables for just 100 yen per bunch (approximately a dollar). I even saw five of my students, who gave me excited shouts of encouragement, "がんばれ、オリビア先生！" ("Do your best, Ms. Olivia!")

After the shrine priest completed the opening ceremonies, there were at least 8 opening speeches given by everyone from the mayor to the community center leaders. With that, it was time to play. We filed up and crouched behind our drums to start the show!

After our taiko event was finished, I spent the rest of the day with my taiko mom and her husband who is one of my judo coaches. We hung out at their house watching videos of taiko performances and judo competitions and chatting the afternoon away. They invited me to stay for dinner so I got to help cook and learned so much about Japanese home-cooking!

Chopping nagaimo in sengiri style

She had received a freshly caught fish from one of the other taiko ladies, so I watched her as she filleted it and sliced it up for sashimi. Then we prepared the other dishes. In Japanese cooking there are many different ways of cutting food. For the sunomono, she taught me how to chop the vegetables in sengiri which is like very fine julienne strips.

As we cooked she told me little tips and tricks for each dish we made. She laughed as she poured a splash of vinegar here and a splash of soy sauce there, saying "適当!" since she doesn't measure anything, but rather adds ingredients by instinct. I was not surprised by this since my mom cooks the same way. Its a skill that all great home cooks eventually acquire as well as the ability to cook tasty food without a recipe. Some things are the same no matter what culture you are in.

While we used different seasoning ingredients for each dish she explained to me what flavors they would create and which dishes to use them in. During each stage of preparation she would take a spoonful to taste and then draw out a spoonful for me to try, then we would add another ingredient and taste it again to see how the flavor had changed.

After a couple of hours in the kitchen we laid out a feast on the low table in the living room where everyone sat to eat dinner together. Our menu for the evening was sashimi, chirashi zushi, vinegared vegetables, clear broth soup, chicken stuffed tofu pockets, and tofu tart for dessert. Our food was colorful with a variety of shapes and textures and balance of flavors.

Young yellowtail sashimi and chicken stuffed tofu pockets

Chirashi zushi

酢の物 is a style of side dish that is frequently eaten with Japanese meals, it is some variety of chopped vegetables with sweet vinegar.  We used nagaimo, cucumber, and carrot here.

For dessert- Tofu Tart! While taking it out of the pan it cracked, but it still tasted great and the five of us ate the whole thing!

Hiking in the Deep Noto

Yesterday I headed up to the town north of my own to join a community group who went out for a hike up Suzu's tallest mountain. We gathered at nine in the morning and after a briefing on the day's plan, led everyone in warm-up exercises. Our first stop was to go see a hidden waterfall! We had to use a rope to go down and back up a slope since it was so steep and completely made of mud but at the bottom we found a creek from the 15 meter waterfall pouring out of the cliff! I was very impressed with our group since most of the members were housewives who are in the their sixties or older! Japanese people constantly impress me with how active they all stay through old age. 

After leaving the waterfall we began our hike up the mountain. It was good exercise and a pleasant day out in the woods. At intervals our route opened up to give us spectacular views of the countryside, sea, and even distant mountain ranges. During our hike, the ladies were constantly pointing out different plants that either give beautiful flowers or are edible. Several of the ladies even gathered some wild vegetables to prepare at home later. After finishing the hike, we went back to the retired school where we initially met to have a little barbecue lunch. We were served a great lunch of soup, yakitori, grilled rice balls, and lots of mountain vegetables that were hand picked and prepared for our lunch. 

山祭り

It's festival season and I couldn't be happier about it! I have been waiting for the festivals to start again since last August. Summertime is when the countryside of Japan gets really busy with various festivals held in different towns almost every weekend, but even in Spring there are a few festivals held, such as this one that I am going to tell you about.

This past weekend one of the villages in my town had their Yama Festival. A yama is a two-story wagon that the yama teams spend a month building by hand. Also yama means mountain in Japanese. During the festival crowds of people come out to pull the wagons up and down the streets of town with much yelling and singing, the whole time the yamas are crowded full of children along for the ride. There are two yama teams for this village, and membership is based on the district you live in. Festivals have such a fun atmosphere because everyone works together as team to pull their yama around. I wonder sometimes why they do this. Why get drunk, forego sleep, and pull a monstrously huge and heavy structure around town for two days? But it's for the joy of community spirit, and also traditionally it has religious reasons. I even asked my friend if there is a meaning behind the festival, and she who grew up here was not even sure of a specific meaning!

At 3 p.m. I headed into town, my excitement for the festival building each moment. I met up with my friend and we headed out to see the progress of the yamas, then on their first run of the festival. After stepping outside of the house, we merely had to listen for the sounds of yelling, singing, and beating drums and follow them to the yamas parading down the streets. We spent the evening walking around with the yama and chatting with people who had come out to participate or watch the festival. Small town festivals are so much fun, because everyone knows each other and everyone turns out for the event. 

At 9 p.m. the yamas were stopped so everyone could take a break. I returned home with my friend's family to eat dinner and sleep for a couple of hours before asa yama (morning yama) began at 2:00 a.m. The teams gathered again and departed towing their yamas down the streets. My friend and I joined at 3:00 a.m. after waking up to the sounds of their drumming and yelling- two or three streets away from the house! This time my friend gave me a team hapi coat to wear and I joined in- yelling and tugging on the huge rope to help pull the yama along for the next four hours!

At the halfway point of that run, both teams stopped their yama and circled up for some nourishment. One team had prepared huge pots of miso soup for everyone to eat. Eating the hot soup was a great break since it is still quite cold here at night. After a 30 minute break, we picked up the ropes again and heaved on down the road. Even though it was around 3 degrees Celsius and well before dawn everyone was full of energy and excitement- laughing, joking, and passing around beers and sake!

4 a.m. break, eating soup and standing around a fire to keep warm, next to the wharf and fish market.

Turning onto the main street of town, just after sunrise.

They stopped for a ten minute break, right on main street! When it's festival time- the yamas have right of way!

Every year the decorations on the yamas change, but they always depict a scene from an old Japanese tale or historical event.

At 7:00 a.m. the yamas finished that run and came to their next stopping point. This time, the other team had food prepared- steaming hot bowls of udon noodles ready as soon as the yamas arrived. Everyone filed into the tent to get a bowl of food and after eating and chatting for a bit, most people went home to recover before the last segment of the festival began later on Sunday afternoon. 

I returned to my friend's house with the intent to sleep, but her four year old daughter had just woken up from a solid night of sleep and was ready for the day. I tried to convince her that it was night time- but she said no and yanked open the curtains to exclaim "It's morning, it's playtime now!" So we cleaned up, ate breakfast, lounged around, and played with the kids for a couple hours before walking back to the place the yamas were stopped. We were early so I took the chance to climb the yamas and beat on the taiko drum nestled inside. 

Soon the crowds started to gather again so departure preparations could be made. Promptly at 2 the singing, and drumming started and off we went for the final segment of yama matsuri. I helped pull the yama as we started off, but then broke off after about 30 minutes so I could prepare for my taiko performance. I met up with my taiko team and we waited for the yamas to arrive outside of the city hall where we would play. As soon as the yamas arrived we set up our taiko drums, hundreds of people gathering around to watch.

Performing taiko for the hundreds of festival-goers, the huge yama stopped behind us

After we finished playing, the yama teams rested for about 15 minutes before taking off again. Finally free from my pre-performance nerves, I downed a corn dog and a crepe from the festival vendors and then ran off to rejoin the festival! I continued to help them pull the yamas the rest of the day until about 9:30, an hour before they reached the end of their routes and the festival ended. 

Departure for the final yama run.

My friend's husband- tuckered out from no sleep!

Over the weekend I spent time with both teams. Team Hakusan had several people I know on it, from work and Judo. I had only a few acquaintances on the other team, but it had more people and were much rowdier than team Hakusan. Every time my friend and I walked over to the second team we had a blast with people coming up to talk to us and make jokes. The two teams were even good-naturedly squabbling this weekend over who I would pull with! For Asa yama, I had joined the Hakusan team (with all the people I know) and wore a team hapi coat the whole night. So before the 2 p.m. Sunday departure, the men from the second team (who I had met the previous day) demanded to know why I joined team Hakusan instead of theirs! They told me I may have "friends" on the other team, but their team would be family! During the last run on Sunday when Nahoko and I joined the second team again, one of the men said that they had been later informed by somebody that I was only allowed to pull with Hakusan! It was so hilarious!

I'm so happy I was able to spend time celebrating the festival with my friends as well as meet so many new people from my town. It was a great weekend and a great way to start off the festival season for the year! 

桜

Spring is arriving here in Japan, heralded by the blooming cherry blossom trees! Cherry blossom trees really are everywhere here. I had no idea that so many of the trees in Japan are indeed cherry blossom trees, going incognito with their plain green leaves for 11 months out of the year. There are many gorgeous parks that are all cherry blossom trees which are quite spectacular to walk through. But even just driving around, so many of the roads are lined with cherry blossom trees, they are also dispersed throughout neighborhoods and even in the woods. It has been really neat this week to see (at every turn!) trees full of white blooms that I used to think were just regular green trees!

Last weekend, I joined some friends in another town to go to a little community hanami. We arrived to find long low tables set up on top of bamboo mats which were spread out in the yard, with a single cherry blossom tree on the side. They had grills set up where they were preparing yakisoba, takoyaki, yakitori, and miso soup. Upon sitting down we were brought several plates of food to share among the people sitting around us.

After eating lunch, one of my friends joined his taiko group to give the entertainment for the afternoon. The group members took turns beating on a single drum for their carefully choreographed set which they closed by coming together to play on the drum all at once. It was really neat to watch since it is a much more casual and playful style than what my taiko group does. 

In the evening we headed over to a local park to enjoy more cherry blossoms! This park is on top of a small hill and is covered in cherry blossom trees. Walking along the paths is so lovely because you are walking under a gorgeous, thick canopy of white blossoms.