Nigauri (苦瓜)

This vegetable is Nigauri. (苦瓜) It is so bitter taste. It is one of special products in Okinawa that an island or other islands in south area of Japan. We also call it "Goya" that is a dialect in Okinawa. Goya was not well- known and eaten in mainland a few years before, however, becomes popular now. We can usually buy it at any supermarkets.

Goya chanpuru is Okinawan cuisine and becomes popular among us. I sometimes cook it and so delicious. It is also very healthy food.
I recently heard that planting Nigauri at home is one of natural prevention for global warming. Vine of Nigauri is like a green curtain to prevent sunshine from getting in through window. It is strong plant and not difficult to nourish. We can eat the fruits. It is isseki nicho
(一石二鳥). 一石二鳥 means "kill two birds with one stone".
　
I like the bitterness of Nigauri. Goya champuru is a essential food for me in this season.

Firework 花火(Hanabi)

Rainy season is over in Tokyo and hot summer began at last.

Firework is one of essential entertainment for us in summer season. A lot of firework festivals are held in July and August around many areas of Japan. These festivals usually take place near the waterside. Most traditional and biggest festival in Tokyo is Sumida River Firework Festival . It is held on July 25th this year.
Sumida river is located on east area in Tokyo. We call this area "Shitamachi" 下町. Shitamachi is historic place in Tokyo and a row of Japanese traditional houses subsist there.

A lot of people go to the big event every year and enjoy dynamic and beautiful fireworks. Hanabi competition of this festival is a feature. 10 Hanabi companies compete this year. Various and original rockets 打ち上げ花火 (Uchiage hanabi ) bloom like flower in the sky.
Wearing yukata 浴衣, kimono for summer, is Japanese style. Yukata is remarkable Japanese item for young people now.

Uchiage hanabi is gorgeous, in contrast, sparkler 線香花火(Senko hanabi) is very tiny and not gorgeous, however, I like the small sparks and sound. (線香 means incense stick. However, this hanabi has no smell.) When I was a child, I used to play Senko hanabi or small hanabi near my house.

Hanabi disappears soon. We can never see same beautiful hanabi in the sky. Hanabi teach us the present and moment is very important.
If you visit Japan in summer, I recommend to see Hanabi festival and try to play small hanabi.

島国 (Shimaguni) Island country

There are some battles of various nationalities in the world. I read or see about these world news in recent days. I feel sad when I know these facts.
Japan consists of a lot of small islands as you know and we sometimes say Japan is 島国 (Shimaguni). I think we can live happily without these conflicts.

However,culture or custom is subtly different by two areas, east and west, or 47 prefectures in Japan. Dialect, food culture or various customs as each districts etc.
There is a TV show that introduces differences of each prefectures. I like to see it.

秘密のケンミン show

I can know various difficulties and am surprised at them every time. It is like 47 nationalities live here though Japan is a small country. Especially there are a lot of different food cultures in Japan.

Your impression for Japan might be different by places you visit in Japan. This diversity is our feature.

Off The Wall

I was surprised at a big news yesterday morning. It is that Michael Jackson died. He was an American pop music icon in Japan. There are a lot of his fans and special report for him was reported in TV news yesterday. Now his albums are sold out after his death.

I wasn't an ardent fun, however I used to listen to his songs when I was a junior high school student. "Thriller" , "Bad" or "Billy Jean" was big hit song in our country. His dance was special and fantastic in his music video. I listen to his album "Off the wall" before he became big star and it was one of my favorite albums.

I listen to his songs now. My favorite songs, "Rock with you" , "She is out of my life", "Human nature" , "Man in the mirror" and so on. I think they are good songs and evoke memories of my school days. Also I feel fresh when I listen now.

I can't believe his death, however his songs go down in my memory.

Teru Teru Bozu and Snail

It has been humid and muggy in resent days. Rainy season in Japan is very humid.

Teru teru bozu is an essential item for children. It is used as a kind of charm to stop raining. It is a paper doll and easy to make for them. When a child wishes that it becomes sunny next day, he or she makes teru teru bozu and hung it in front of the house. I used to make it before I went to picnic. I believed my wish came to be true.

Snail is symbolic animal of rainy season. It crawls on leaves of Ajisai in raining day. I didn't be scared of snail when I was a child. I could even hold it. However, I dislike it now because it is slimy.

Now I don't like rainy season in Japan. However I didn't feel unpleasant, when I was a child. Teru teru boze or snails is an good memories in my childhood.

Teru teru bozu

和洋折衷(Wayou Setchu) Compromise between Japanese and Western styles

I think we can eat a lot of foods that have variety. Also we like to research new and original tastes. We are creating many foods that are taken over other countries’ taste. Japanese word, 和洋折衷, means things that compromised between Japanese and Western styles. We have made some foods of 和洋折衷. These foods express our originality.

For example, Anpan あんパン is very standard food for Japanese. It is a bun filled with bean paste and sold in almost bakeries. It is so delicious and one of my favorite foods when I was a child. Anpanman is an anime character that is known well for Japanese children. Bean paste (餡) is Japanese traditional food. However, bun is western food.

There are cakes that is used powdered green tea (Matcha). They are so delicious. Cake is western food, but Matcha is Japanese food. Western and Japan culture grow into one.
Tarako (たらこ) spaghetti is a kind of pasta in Japan. It is mayonnaise and soy sauce based and so delicious. Tarako is ovary of cod and tastes salty. It is Japanese typical ingredient. We normally eat it with hot rice. If Italian eat tarako spaghetti, they might say it is not Italian food. It is certainly not Italian food. It is Wayou Setchu food.

Some Wayou Setshu foods take root in our food culture. They are not traditional, however, another kind of Japanese foods.

Hydrangea あじさい

Many beautiful , pink, blue, white or violet hydrangeas あじさい (ajisai) blooms in Japan. It is typical flower of our rainy season.