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. 😉

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.

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.

http://www.rocketcontest.org/multimedia.cfm

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.

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

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