Chocolates are delicious snacks for all ages. Whether you like it really sweet or slightly bitter, Meiji Chocolates have something in store for you. Their chocolates are interesting. They have Apollo, Choco Baby, the Meiji Chocolate bars that come in milk chocolate and dark chocolate and they also have samplers of their chocolates, the fancy ones. They are exported so you could try finding them in your local shop.
Meiji Chocolates really experiment on their varieties of chocolate. Apollo, for example, is a sweet concoction that is popular for its strawberry-choco variant. It has a conical shape with ridges. It is also available in chocolate-vanilla.
Chocobaby is neatly packaged in a plastic dispenser with a flap. And it has little chocolate beads in it. Think something like Tic-tacs or mints. And the nice thing about the container is that you could actually use it for other things like placing your pins there and other little things that you would not like lying around. (Make your own container from this!)
One time there is a feature on Pocky. Meiji happens to have Yan-yan. They are not as thin as the Pocky biscuits but the fun thing about eating them is that you are the one who will dip the biscuit sticks in the chocolate, peanut butter or whatever dip your Yan-yan has.
It seems like Meiji Chocolates are not just popular in Japan. They are also known internationally. Who could resist the yummy snacks and the cute packaging they have? Eating them could be quite an experience. If you could find a sampler of Meiji chocolates, that is good for you so that you could figure out which ones you like a lot. And if you happen to like them all, you could have a little bit of all them as you wish.
Posted July 30th, 2010 by geisha | Comments Off
Unbeknownst to many is the Tosa Inu, the star if an age-old Japanese tradition of dog fights. Dog-Fighting has been a popular sport in Japan since ancient times. Like Sumo wrestling, it was an elaborate, ceremonial affair, a sport conducted mainly by the Samurais, and the fighters, especially the winners, were feted and accorded much prestige.
The Tosa Inu is also known as the Japanese Mastiff or Japanese fighting dog is probably the only dog in the world which is still used quite legally to this day for dog fights. However, the Japanese developed a type of fight according to their mentality that bears no comparison with the notorious pit dog fights held illegally in other parts of the world. Considered a National Treasure in Japan, the sight of a Tosa Inu arrayed in full ceremonial fighting regalia and traditionally brought into the fighting arena by two handlers, makes an impressive and unforgettable impact.
The Tosa Inu is a massive, regal dog, standing well over 30 inches at the shoulders and weighing up to 150 pounds; the much larger Tosa Inus, weighing 200 pounds and more, are now extinct. Females are somewhat smaller than males, and they are never used in fighting.
Despite their notoriety as fighting animals, the Tosa Inus make incredibly affectionate and loving companions. They are devoted to their families and are very patient and tolerant with the children. Extremely intelligent, with excellent guarding instincts, they are dogs one can depend on. Apart from guarding, they have been successfully used as Search and Rescue Dogs and in Therapy Training.
Posted July 21st, 2010 by geisha | Comments Off
Japanese tattoos are called “irezumi” or “horimono”. These days tattoos are becoming more common again with the young set, although for years it was considered as something used only by the lower dredges of society, or worse the Yakuza or Japanese mafia. In fact, many public bathing houses around the country won’t let you in if you’re an “illustrated man”.
Irezumi are tattoos which cover large areas of the body, like the back. Historically, the tattoo has been around Japan for a while.
The Ainu people, Japan’s early settlers used facial tattoos. And more reports around 1700 years back talk about the Japanese having whole bodies covered in tattoos.
When Buddhism was brought from China to Japan and with it a strong influence of the Chinese culture, tattooing got negative connotations. Criminals were marked with tattoos to punish and identify them in society as the higher developed Chinese culture saw tattooing as a barbaric act.
From around 1603 to1868, known as the Edo period when Japan closed its doors to the world, Japanese tattoo art became a part of “ukiyo-e” also known as “the floating world culture”. Prostitutes or “yujos” used tattoos to increase their attractiveness for customers.
In 1827 the ukiyo-e artist Kuniyoshi published the first 6 designs of the 108 Heroes of the Suikoden. The Suikoden were honorable bandits. The richness and fantasy of the Japanese tattoo prints designs shown by Kuniyoshi are used by some tattoo artists up to this time.
The Imperial Meiji government banned tattooing as something considered a barbaric relict of the past. During the first half of the twentieth century, horimono remained a forbidden art form until 1948, when the prohibition was officially lifted.
Posted July 14th, 2010 by geisha | Comments Off
Pickles are to Japan what cheese is to France. Each region uses local produce and traditional processes of fermentation to produce distinct varieties of pickles that are closely identified
with the area where they are made.
To eat Japanese pickles is to eat a piece of Japan–its soil, climate, history, andculture—with all the specificity that comes from local knowledge. Like cheese and wine, pickles are a “cultured” product.
Rice, soup, and pickles are the three basic elements in a classic Japanese meal. Many pickles are traditionally made at home and are the test of a good cook, particularly in rural areas.
Families will keep the same rice bran pickling “bed” alive for generations, passing it, as well as their pickling utensils and techniques, through the family.
Extending the abundance of summer into the harsh winter, pickling locks the fragance of the season into a delicious package that can be savored all year long.
But the term pickle does not quite capture the meaning of the Japanese term tsukemono, which refers more broadly to steeping food–for as little as an hour or as long as several years–to alter its texture and flavor.
Bracken, radish, turnip, cabbage, eggplant, cucumber, onion, mushroom, plum, cherry blossom, chrysanthemum flower, kelp, and wasabi are traditionally treated with salt, vinegar, rice bran, sake lees, koji (a mold), miso, and shoyu.
The result is a stunning array of colors, textures, shapes, and flavors that offers an intense contrast to the plain rice with which pickles are generally eaten and a rich source of vitamins,
particularly during the winter when fresh vegetables were once in short supply.
Posted July 7th, 2010 by geisha | Comments Off
