Category: Japan

Learning new recipes

We are now in Hakuba for the second stop of our little Japanese road trip. Staying as usual at La Neige Higashikan where we are pampered as usual. We spend our days hiking and visiting the surroundings, which are very different from the winter. It’s the first time ever I go to the mountain in the summer (I am more of a sea person) so seeing all the lifts, and the lush green pasture is very new to me and going up the mountains and hiking among the streams and the flowers was a great experience!!! 

What was really great is also to have dinner at our favorite Hakuba restaurant: the humming bird. The chef and his wife received us like kings! They opened the restaurant just for is and cooked us some delicious local cuisine, like awabitake: some delicious mushrooms from Nagano area, rhubarb compote… and some home made pickles that tasted very different than what we usually eat. The secret of such sweet taste was very simple but new to me: to pickle it they used plum syrup!!! 

Pickles in plum syrup: 

– plum syrup in enough quantity to cover the vegetables

– cucumbers

– 1 dry red pepper (togarashi) 

Wash the cucumbers, remove a bit of the peel to create stripes. Cut the red pepper in thin slices. Add the red pepper in the plum syrup. Dip the cucumbers and wait a few hours to one day. Remove the cucumbers, wash them briefly. Cut and serve.

Have a beautiful month of August!!! 

Chichibu – 秩父

Two years ago we went to see an exhibition of meisen kimono and I totally felt in live with this new technique to make more affordable kimonos. I like how it is linked with the societal changes that were occurring at that time, freeing women,  and the cultural changes with Japan in between western and traditional cultures. The vibrant colors, the rough patterns are characteristics of meisen, but not only. In the 1930’s there were several regions that were producing meisen. Hachioji and Chichibu are two close to Tokyo. A few month ago, one of our friends moved to Chichibu so it was the perfect occasion to visit her and check the meisen museum and visit the city.

Chichibu is about two hours by train or car from Tokyo in Saitama prefecture. It is a small city nested in a valley where the Arakawa river passes, and surrounded by mountains. The city expanded significantly with ghe meisen industry and a lot of buildings from the Taisho-Showa periods remain. The meisen kan 銘仙館is a former factory. The wooden buildings are really nice and it explains simply the history of meisen and the techniques used to make meisen. They still make meisen with new contemporary patterns. What attracted me to that place was that it is possible to make some meisen: there are three activities cutting-dying-weaving. I really wanted to dye but it was not possible that day so we weaved, and it was fun. Strolling in the city that has many cafes and craft shops was also great. I came back to Tokyo with second hand kimonos and wood furniture… and pumped up with greens and mountain air!

Done!

Today, the first exhibition I curated opened at my university museum. It’s a small museum, with a lot of local visitors, and exhibitions about the work done at the university in the present and past, and its history. Having a 3 months exhibition about human and robot is a new thing. It was very exciting preparing it and I was more than happy today for the opening event to see the museum full during the whole time with crowds waiting to try the interactive exhibits we prepared. I am feeling proud and happy to have been able to setup this exhibition with my colleagues. And even more when A. came to visit it. Thanks!

Oh! By the way, last night I didn’t cook. It is not often, but once in a while, we order pizza. .. oops…

Little getaway: Bise

In the end of winter when spring is coming but too slowly, there is nothing such as a little getaway to the southern islands for a bit of real spring, with temperatures above 20 degrees and the ocean around 22 degrees. And with my parents visiting we all took off to Okinawa main island for the weekend. It’s only 2h30 flight away from Tokyo, but it’s a totally different world! This time we headed to Nago and enjoyed the sea, the nature, the culture of the Ryukyu islands. Very typical architecture, pristine blue water, lush green of the tropical forest… Swimming, marine sports, hiking are probably the main activities. The biggest surprise of our trip was probably Bise. A beautiful small village by the sea with alleys of trees that create a magic atmosphere, and where for some reason we’ve not been before. We stayed in a house just by the sea and surrounded by these beautiful trees. We also enjoyed some local food of course, the delicious tofu from Okinawa, with a different mode of preparation than tofu from the mainland (they keep it warm in the supermarket instead of having it in a fridge!); the umi budo; the gusuku seaweed; the pork long cooked and all melty; the natural black sugar; the shikwasa and the tankan citrus fruits to count only a few. The best to visit the island is to rent a car, it’s very easy to drive around. To stay in Bise try Ocean Blue or Chanya for a unique beach side experience. The huge marine park near Bise has a beautiful exhibition about the Pacific islands culture that I warmly recommend.

Other things to do in Okinawa main island: Shuri-jo and a walk in the narrow streets around; Nakamura house; Gyokusendo caves; beach, beach, beach

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