Discover Enka

Eastern music is something quite different from what the west has to offer. With the constant exposure to each other’s cultures, however, the juxtaposition of musical elements is inevitable. Still, it is inevitable that indigenous music remain the same. This holds true to a genre in Japan called enka.

The truth is that enka is used to refer to two kinds of music. The first one hails from way back in the Meiji and Taisho period when speeches were made into music. The idea was to avoid the disapproval of the government towards political speeches by masking the words in music. The second genre refers to music that emerged after the war, during the Showa period. This type of enka is quite popular and has been compared to American country music (not because of the musical style but because of the theme and audience).

Though you might find varying descriptions and definition of enka, I like the one presented in Okada:

Enka is usually singing sad aspects of life, irrecoverable destiny, desertion by the lover. It is an expression of love, but love will never be successful and sorrow and tear follow happy memories. It can also be a song of a woman who is resentful to her destiny as her lover is gone to another woman. Anyhow Enka is song of resignation. Resignation must be sweet so that it is endurable.

Indeed, with that definition, it makes you think of country songs. Want to hear some enka? Visit Barbara’s Enka Site. I learned a lot from it.

Is Sushi Good For You?

I finally satisfied my sushi craving the other day when I went out to eat with several friends. It was actually a funny meal because I had just spent the whole afternoon at the hospital getting some tests done and then met up with my friends for dinner. While gorging ourselves on the delectable pieces of sushi that the chef whipped up, we found ourselves talking about the health benefits of sushi.

Does sushi really have health benefits or is it just good to eat?

Well if you think about it, sushi is simply rice and fish. Of course, different varieties would have vegetables, other kinds of seafood, and sometimes sesame seed. Whether the fish is cooked or not, the fact that sushi has very low fat content remains the same. More so, sushi also has low cholesterol and caloric content. That is good, isn’t it?

In addition to these things, having seafood as the main ingredient implies another healthy reason to eat sushi. Certain seafood have a healthy does of Omega-3 fatty acids. Technical term aside, this simply means that seafood is good for your heart! As such, sushi is not only low in fat and other stuff, but it also has something good for your body!

Last, take a look at vegetables and the seaweed that is used to wrap the sushi in. These ingredients are definitely high in nutrients and other healthy things (notice that I cannot enumerate them). Cheryl Koch over at Yahoo Health says that phytochemicals are present as well.

I guess I have presented my argument quite convincingly, huh? Sushi is indeed good for the health.

Photo courtesy of breezeDebris

Domo Kun

One thing about Japan that catches the interest of many people around the world is anime. This Japanese cartoon art is very unique and the characters are simply more interesting than other cartoons – at least in my opinion. Anyhow, I recently discovered a Japanese character by the name of Domo Kun.

I am not sure that he falls under the anime category but he is one weird and interesting character. Domo Kun looks like a rectangular block of tofu and has a deep brown color. I accidentally ran into this little guy on the Internet and I had no clue as to who he was.

I know better now. He is technically not part of anime but in fact, he is the mascot of the NHK television station. I don’t know what it is about him but he has quite a following – both in Japan and outside of the country! So what else is there to know about Domo Kun?

Well, he was hatched from an egg (weird looking chick, isn’t he?) and he loves to eat meat and potato stew – Japanese style, of course. Make sure you don’t offer him apples as he extremely dislikes them, due to some sort of DNA mystery. And when you know him to be upset, stay clear of him as he is known to pass gas over and over again during these times.

If you want to know more about Domo Kun, visit his official US web site. You can also go to eBay and find tons of Domo Kun merchandise.

Photo courtesy of dailyinvention

Strange Japanese Soft Drinks

There has always been a lot of hype surrounding the eccentricities of the Japanese people but I believe that eccentric is as eccentric does. In the differences between the West and the East, we can learn a lot – even in the most mundane of things. Take for example how different Japanese soft drinks can be. I found this list on Inventor Spot and picked out some of the most interesting items.

Cucumber-flavored Pepsi, anyone?
I am a Coke person but Pepsi will do if the restaurant does not serve Coke. Yet I always stick to the regular kind. How about Pepsi Ice Cucumber, then? I do not know – I like cucumber in salads but in my drink? Uh, I am not so sure about that.

How about Mother’s Milk?
What? Yes, you read that right, they are marketing a drink called Mother’s Milk. Now I am not so sure if it is really milk from a (human) mother but the packaging of the drink is frightening.  It has a suckling baby. Who would want to drink mother’s milk aside from babies?

Salad and water in one
If you are in a hurry and you don’t have time to eat even a quick salad, then you should go for Water Salad. I can’t believe that Coca-Cola even dreamt up this drink. Was this a reaction to Pepsi’s cucumber drink?

My kid should learn how to drink early!
Give him Kidsbeer! It’s non-alcoholic but your kids will feel like they are adults as they drink their own version of beer. Bizarre, to say the least. I think I’ll give my kid root beer instead.

Experience Japan With Your Senses

What do you do when you visit a foreign country? Do you merely drink in the sights and sounds or do you prefer to be a hands on traveler? I would like to categorize myself under the latter group. Seeing and hearing is most definitely part of any travel experience of mine but actually tasting, touching, and living the local culture raises the experience to a whole new level.

Japan is definitely on the top of the list of worldwide tourist destinations and what better place to experience its culture than Kyoto? This city is arguably the best place to experience the real Japan. Jane Singer actually wrote a very inspiring article about this. She shares:

For these travelers, visiting Kyoto, the 1,200-year-old cultural heart of Japan, without experiencing the culture is too much of a virtual experience. Why restrict yourself to the sights alone when you can feel the smooth embrace of silk kimono, taste the bitter froth after whisking up a cup of powdered green tea, or hear the reverberation when you pound on a taiko drum?

For these experiential travelers, Kyoto offers a growing menu of taiken hands-on tours in English, and I recently sampled a few. The first was at Shunkoin temple, one of 48 sub-temples in the sprawling Myoshinji Buddhist temple complex in western Kyoto, where the affable young English-speaking vice abbot, Takafumi Kawakami, leads a tour of the temple and gardens and two 15-minute sessions of Rinzai Zen meditation.

The next time you plan on going to this part of the world, you should try what she tried. Even if it is not your first visit, you just might return home with something new.

Noodle Robot Coming Up!

The Japanese have always been at the cutting edge of technological discoveries, and they haven’t failed to impress. Try visiting one of their ramen shops in Minami-Alps, Yamanashi and you will yet again be impressed; this time, with the juxtaposition of great food and robots.

What do they have in common? Well, this ramen house has its own robot chef, which takes care of the assembly of the noodle bowl. While the human chef still makes and cooks the noodles, the task of putting everything together to create the perfect bowl of hot steaming noodle soup is left to the robot.

Customers merely have to input their orders on a computer, and the robot takes care of everything. If you think that this might affect the flavor of the soup somehow, then you are right – but only in the best possible way! The robot can customize the flavors depending on the preferences of the customer. It can measure the different spices and flavorings – up to 40 million different permutations! From the amount of salt, soy sauce, and down to the richness of the soup, you can be sure to have a perfect bowl to match your tastes!

The shop owner, Yoshihara Uchida, is quite proud of his achievement. He worked on this robot for quite a while, meeting a lot of hurdles along the way. Finally, after five years of working on the robot, Uchida was able to launch his creation in December of 2008. He dreams of mass producing this robot and making a name for himself.

Martial Arts: Koryu

I am sure we all know about karate – perhaps thanks to the Karate Kid series of movies. We know about aikido – thanks to Steven Segal. We know a lot of Eastern martial arts. Yet have you ever heard of koryu?

Koryu is the Japanese word used to refer to the ancient Japanese martial arts. Trust me, this is the real thing! Basically, if you translate koryu to English, you will get “old school”. Now that sounds tough, doesn’t it?

Koryu typically refers to the Japanese martial arts schools that focus on the techniques that existed way before the Meiji Restoration. That is, before the year 1866. As you can see, koryu is a very old Japanese tradition.

This term actually covers a lot of ground and even encompasses some of the better known schools of martial arts today. This includes judo and aikido. However, the latter two are modern day versions of koryu. More so, koryu includes both armed and unarmed fighting techniques.

To give you a more comprehensive background on koryu:

Although systematic training in the use of weapons, and methods for employing them in warfare existed long before, it is generally believed that the development of martial traditions, schools, or styles (ryu-ha) did not arise until after the end of the Heian period (794-1185). Central to this training was study of the bow (yumi), the sword (tachi), and the spear (yari). Initially, these weapons were not studied in separate arts. Rather, since the need was to prepare for battlefield combat, many different weapons and strategic and tactical skills were taught as part of comprehensive systems (sogo bujutsu).

From the middle of the Muromachi period (ca. 1480) to the beginning of the Tokugawa period (ca. 1605) people gradually began to specialize in a particular weapon or system, particularly the bow, spear, sword, grappling and horsemanship. Warriors gathered in family-centered groups or trained with other members of their local domains. As the techniques and methods of these groups became more and more individuated, or as teachers gained particular insights into the essential nature and principles of combat, there arose discrete martial “traditions” or “styles” or “schools” (bujutsu ryu-ha). This began happening at the beginning of the Keicho era (ca. 1600), picked up impetus throughout the Tokugawa period (1600-1868), and has continued even into the twentieth century.

So are you interested in learning koryu? Are you thinking of training for koryu? I found a very informative and comprehensive site about koryu. Head on over there to find out more.

Photo courtesy of Meguro-jin

Inarizushi: A Different Kind Of Sushi

It seems that my sushi kick is not totally over yet – will it ever be? I have never heard of inarizushi before. I accidentally read about while browsing the Internet and it made me want to try one.

So what is inarizushi and how is it different from the “normal” sushi that we eat? Gale Fox describes is really well:

Inarizushi is a form of sushi that stuffs the vinegared rice into teriyaki-seasoned pouches of deep fried tofu. It was invented by a Tokyo chef in 1848 who advertised his creation with the emblem of the Inari shrines. Inarizushi is great for hikes, as the vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and sake preserve it from the bottom of the mountain to the picnic at the top. It’s a plain-looking dish, on the sweet side, but you can dress it up with colored cross-cultural condiments of the season. Every batch features ofukurononaji, the taste of home-cooking, because each chef seasons it just a bit differently.

I think it’s the tofu that makes me really want to try this dish. I love tofu and am always willing to try different ways of cooking it but deep fried, in my opinion, is the best. Combine that with vinegared rice and you simply can’t go wrong!

This kind of sushi is even better for those who have qualms about eating raw fish or any other kind of seafood. More so, for those who have allergic reactions to seafood (like me), inarizushi should provide an alternative. I wonder how I would like the sweet taste to it, though?

Photo courtesy of panduh

Mind Power In The Works

This is the stuff that science fiction is made of. Just think of a command, and an electronic gadget will execute it for. Need to open the garage door? Just think it. How about moving an object? Think it.

This is what the people over at Honda are working on. Japan Today has a story on it:

Honda Motor Co has developed a way to read patterns of electric currents on a person’s scalp as well as changes in cerebral blood flow when a person thinks about four simple movements – moving the right hand, moving the left hand, running and eating.

Honda succeeded in analyzing such thought patterns, and then relaying them as wireless commands for Asimo, its human-shaped robot.

In a video shown Tuesday at Tokyo headquarters, a person wearing a helmet sat still but thought about moving his right hand; the  thought that was picked up by cords attached to his head inside the helmet. After several seconds, Asimo, programmed to respond to brain signals, lifted its right arm.

I am sure that you still remember Asimo, the human robot that we have been seeing a lot. There are some issues with the technology, however. For one, thought patterns are different for each person. As such, the electrical signals emanating from one person’s scalp may differ. This would mean calibrating the device for each single user.

Still, this is a very good start to what we used to think would be only seen in movies and books, don’t you think?

Japanese Men Look To Ikebana For Stress Relief

What do you do when you feel that the stress of your every day life is getting to be too much? Some men turn to sports: basketball, soccer, football, etc. Others sit in front of the TV to watch shows, movies, or play video games. I know some men who would hit the gym. And there are those who go to the kitchen and cook up a storm.

In Japan, the trend is for men to do something quite different: ikebana. If you’re not familiar with this term, it is the Japanese word for flower arrangement. The literal English translation of ikebana is “the way of the flowers”. Obviously, this art has been dominated by women and dates back to more than half a century ago.

As with most everything, though, the tradition is slowly changing, and more and more Japanese men are turning to ikebana for some stress relief. Actually, let me correct myself – this art started with male artisans but became dominated by women. This new trend then is actually a going back to roots sort of thing.

The idea behind ikebana is simple: to establish harmony and the sense of being one with nature. The styles are minimalist and the activity itself is conducted in silence. You can easily see how stress-relieving the whole thing can be. It is thus no wonder that more Japanese men are practicing the traditional art of flower arrangement these days. And more than busting all that stress away, you get to have a beautiful home!