**NOTE: This has been crossposted (with some slight modifications) from jibTV.com, where I also write. I wanted to share it with those of you who do not read content at jibTV.**

Winter is cold. Winter is especially cold when you live within a culture that still doesn’t prioritize home insulation. Heaters of every variety – electric, gas, oil – are purchased in droves throughout the season and mountains of sweaters, coats, and woolly socks go out for sale. While I take advantage of all these winter survival strategies, I also like to integrate something that warms me from the inside out rather than from the outside in: food. In America, winter food consists of roasted meat, sweet pies, mashed potatoes, and chicken soup. Here, what has quickly become one of my favorite cold-weather dishes is a food with many variations that is known by just one name: nabe.

In a nutshell, nabe is Japanese soup. Stick a bunch of ingredients in a pot, add some water, put it on some heat for a while, and eat it when it’s done. There’s not much more to it than that. There seem to be no real rules for nabe (unless you’re a stickler, I guess), but there are variations in nabe names based on the ingredients used.

The ingredients pictured above include tofu, Chinese cabbage, chicken meatballs, cabbage, thinly sliced pork, kimchi, and suiton, a coin-shaped piece of doughy stuff.

There are plenty of different kinds of nabe. There’s yose nabe, where you can literally choose anything you like and put it in the soup. Then, there’s kimchi nabe (shown pictured), which uses Korean kimchi as a base. This makes a spicy, warm soup, and you can choose your preferred level of spicyness as you go. Additionally, there’s chanko nabe, which has traditionally been eaten by sumo wrestlers. This is typically a high protein, high calorie soup. There are many different kinds of nabe – everyone can create their own favorite.

The cooking pot itself is called a nabe. Typically a heavy ceramic pot with a lid, it’s filled with the ingredients and placed over a burner. The burner is often a portable one that can be used in the middle of a table. Once steam begins emerging from the hole in the lid of the pot, your food is probably about ready to eat.

Nabe is eaten by taking the bits you want to eat out of the pot. This means that everyone gets to choose their personally preferred pieces. Each person has their own individual bowl and can take whatever they like. It’s very much a communal dish.

Leftovers (of which there were many, with this particular pot) can be refrigerated and reheated. The pictured kimchi nabe was reheated with a little water the next morning. Egg and rice were added to make a tasty breakfast!

Nabe is fun and easy to make. It’s a wonderful winter dish that is great for sharing. There are many, many different recipes to try, or you can simply make your own! Regardless, enjoy – you’re in for a treat.

When I think about children, I tend to think of noisy, moody, grabby creatures that pick their noses ferociously and consistently smell questionable. They do have their good moments, yes, but I am still at a point in my life where I am less than enthused about spending long periods of time with them. Of course, due to the nature of my work, I am regularly put into rooms with children for 40 to 50 minutes at a time. After a while of this, you start to notice things about the kids you spend your weeks with. As an American, I tend to draw frequent comparisons between Japan and my home culture. Kids do not escape this. There’s one thing in particular I’ve noticed (or haven’t noticed, I suppose) that has made lessons a lot more tolerable than they could be.

Farts.

Yes, that’s right. This blog is about farts, or lack thereof. When I think about American kids and my own childhood in the states, I remember things as being much smellier than they are here. Kids in class at school would silently smell up the room. There were kids who were known to be more gaseous than others, and classmates would giggle when/if someone broke wind audibly. Boys even used flatulence as a weapon; helpless individuals could be the victim of a drive-by-farting at any time. It was a natural (though embarrassing at times) part of growing up. Young children are typically not particularly practiced when it comes to containing their own noxious fumes.

Here, however, I rarely experience this. My school-age students range in age from 5 years old to high school aged, and in about two years of teaching them I can confidently say that I can count on only one hand the number of times an unpleasant smell has mysteriously arisen in the room or a surprising outburst has been released from a student. I’m not complaining, by any means. My classrooms are pleasant-smelling learning dens.

I notice that even in crowded public spaces like trains I rarely notice anything farty (drunken salaryman breath/sweat, however, is another matter). Overwhelmingly, the Japanese just don’t seem to be a very stinky people. This may be part of the reason foreigners like myself can be somewhat paranoid of being regarded as a smelly gaijin.

I’ve thought about why our cultures seem to have such distinct differences on the smelliness scale, and believe it can be traced back to diet. Research shows that foods like dairy products, high fructose corn syrup, cruciferous vegetables (like cauliflower and broccoli), and wheat tend to produce gas when eaten. Additionally, red meat can also produce gas – not from the enzymes in it, but simply because it takes longer for the body to digest, which allows gas to accumulate in the digestive system. These foods are also typically more prevalent in American diets than Japanese diets. While Japanese meals incorporate cuisines and ingredients from all over the world, foods do not rely as heavily on fart-inducing substances. Rather, the Japanese diet utilizes elements like rice, fish, tofu, and non-cruciferous vegetables, which tend to produce less gas.

Behold, the onigiri. An essential part of the Japanese diet, it is simply a ball of rice wrapped in seaweed. This one has meat in the center. Others have fish, fish eggs, and mayo inside.

Of course, this could all just be hot air. While diet may play a role in the gaseousness of an individual, there are a number of other factors that could determine a person’s fartiness. Some people are lactose intolerant. Others may swallow more air when they eat, or chew a lot of gum (during which air is swallowed). People may drink varying amounts of carbonated drinks (those bubbles have to go somewhere). Additionally, anti-gas medicine may play a part. We have remedies available stateside; names like Beano and Gas-X were mocked openly throughout junior high school for being related with excessive amounts of flatulence. Products like this are available in Japan, too. In addition, there are also products used to negate smells in the bathroom. These are sprays; users spray the surface of the toilet water before use to neutralize any smells that may result. I’m guessing that gas stopping products are used more often in Japan because toilet humor just isn’t as widely giggled at among adults. American life is riddled with bathroom jokes, rude noises, and a litany of impolite phrases. Japan is a little better about not openly sharing bodily functions.

Whatever the reason may be, I’m grateful that my classrooms and my life are, for the most part, smell-free and pleasant. If anything, I am probably the smelliest person in my lessons by default because I’m foreign. That’s OK…until the day one of my students blames me for one of their farts.

Happy new year! I’ve just returned from a two week vacation to the United States and am back at work in Tokyo. It’s good to be back, but lots of changes are taking place for me this year. I’m looking forward to it.

To start off the new year, I wanted to share something with readers I’ve been meaning to do for a while now. Every night when I walk home, I pass a shrine. There’s a signboard posted in front of the shrine where I assume priests post a message for passerby. The message is always written as a haiku. As I walk home at night, I read it and try to guess what it means. It changes fairly often, so I thought it would be fun to share with you, readers. This is the message for the new year:

It reads “Kyokujitsu ni/mayoi no kumo wo/harau asa.” I’ve translated this as “In the morning sun, hesitant clouds are swept away for dawn.”

I thought this might be a nice message to start off the new year. Of course, if you have an alternate translation of the above haiku, please let me know.

Hope you’re all off to a great start in 2012. I’m looking forward to an excellent year.

Food is awesome. Food is great. Food is fun. Anyone who says any differently is probably someone I can’t associate myself with. We need food to survive. We eat it every day (hopefully), and we’ve all had good and bad experiences with it. Everyone has their own preferences regarding tastes, cuisines, and cooking techniques. Most techniques are apparent throughout the world, and good old BBQ is one of them. Japanese BBQ is a little different from what Americans might think of as grill-cookin’; Japanese barbeque is very meat-on-a-stick friendly, and the Japanese will grill things you couldn’t even imagine before wolfing them down (in some cases, raw is cool too). As a result, there’s not much grey area in terms of preference for some Japanese foods: either you like them, or you hate them.

Much to the chagrin of some tourists, a lot of Japanese food is seafood. Japan is, after all, an island, which means that much of its resources come from the ocean. Fish you never knew existed can be eaten here, crustaceans of massive size captured and cooked, and even shellfish are regularly harvested from shores and reefs to be added to bowls of ramen and grills. In the foreground of the above photo are sazae, a mollusk commonly eaten as somewhat of a delicacy here in Japan. In this photo, the mollusks were still alive; they occasionally squirted water out, and recoiled when shop staff added ice to their container. In the background are large prawns already speared on sticks. The photo comes from a recent matsuri, or festival, here in Shinjuku. All of these foods (and more) were prepared for grilling on a barbeque like structure in clear view of all pedestrians walking by. Not pictured are various clams, chicken meatballs, pork, and a variety of vegetables including green peppers and onions. All of these foods are encompassed under the same word(s): yakitori (literally, grilled chicken), and kushiyaki (skewer grilled). These phrases can, mostly, be used interchangeably, but they both refer to the same thing: food on a stick.

Japanese BBQ can be spotted at festivals like these, but there’s also more personalized barbeque settings you can find. The popular yakiniku (literally, grilled meat) is essentially the Japanese version of a barbeque party; however, it’s in restaurant form. Yakiniku restaurants are everywhere in Tokyo. Inside the restaurant are usually several large booths, and in the center of the table there’s a hole. When you sit down with your party, one of the staff will bring over a portable grill already lit with hot coals and place it in the hole; voila, your own personal barbeque. From there, it’s up to you to choose your choices of meats/veggies/tofus from the menu. You cook everything yourself, so be confident in your preparation skills. Prices for these places range from reasonably cheap to pretty expensive.

Americans like myself likely feel a certain sort of nostalgia for homestyle BBQ. Maybe we all have fun memories of Dad cooking hamburgers on the grill in the backyard in summer. Small, home grills are available at some stores in Japan, but be careful where you use them. I’ve heard tales of a hamburger-grilling, unsuspecting foreigner getting the fire department called on him for using his own grill on his own balcony. Sounds like a terrible thing for neighbors to do, right?

As readers (hopefully) know, Japan has a long history. This is a country that’s been around for a while. There are a lot of people here, too. As a result, cities get crowded. Buildings are very close together, and people have to expand up rather than out if they want to find new living/working spaces. This means that fires have the potential to be extremely, extremely destructive forces. A fire from one building can move easily to another in a very short period of time. While some may argue that modern architecture and technologies can help prevent these disastrous situations, the threat still exists. As a result, home BBQ in Japan may be frowned upon.

But fear not! There are other options for you, BBQ enthusiasts! Some public places, like parks and campgrounds, have facilities just for you.

This image was taken this summer at a campground on a little island several hours to the south of Tokyo. These fish were caught, cleaned, prepared, and cooked within a matter of hours. If you’re the type who wants to build your own fire and prep your own food just the way you like it, seek out a public use place. These areas are typically far away from any buildings, and are first-come, first-served.

Keep in mind that wherever you go, there are a lot of options available for your grilling pleasure. Everything from chicken to sea urchins to cow tongue can be cooked up. Give it a shot! Trying new foods is a fun and exciting cultural experience. I’ve tried some things I would never have imagined to like that are now favorites. Conversely, I have a whole new repertoire of foods I will pass on every time. Do you have any experience in the magical world of Japanese BBQ? Horror stories? Success stories? Must-try foods? Make sure to share, so I can taste them myself!.

Go forth, and eat. If you can find it, the Japanese will grill it.

If you haven’t seen the video associated with this post, head over to the video’s page and check it out, or just watch it below. The video is a little peek into the world of one of Japan’s writing systems, katakana. Katakana is used in Japanese much in the way that italics are used in English. Italics are used for writing loan words (words that come from other languages), and they may also be used to emphasize a word in a written document. Japanese uses katakana much in the same way. For example, an English word like “Banana” is written “バナナ” in Japanese (the vowel sounds are the only thing that change).

There are only 5 vowel sounds in the Japanese language: a (like the “a” in “father”), i (like the “ee” in “see”), u (like the “oo” in “moon”), e (like the “e” in “elephant”), and o (like the “o” in “post”). All Japanese syllables are just a combination of a vowel sound and a consonant sound. If you can get used to saying the five vowels this way, you’re set.

Katakana, unlike the infamously difficult kanji, has only 48 characters. This sounds like a lot, but it’s surprisingly easy to get them all down. If you’re very ambitious, you could learn them all on a flight to Japan from the United States. If you’re coming to Japan, though, I’d recommend studying them a little bit every day for a couple weeks and then giving yourself a little reading practice. It’s almost like playing a game. The pronunciation of the loan words is often a little goofy, and it’s like you’re trying to figure out a pronunciation puzzle.

In the video, I named six items from my refrigerator in katakana. To refresh your brains, they were:

１．トマト
２．コーヒー
３．アイスクリーム
４．プロセスチーズ
５．パルメザン
６．キャベツ

Did you make your guesses? The answers are written below!

1. Tomato
2. Coffee
3. Ice Cream
4. Processed Cheese (cheese slices)
5. Parmesean (cheese)
6. Cabbage

How’d you do? I hope it wasn’t too difficult.

Let me know if you guys enjoyed this katakana challenge. It was easy and fun for me to make the video, and I think katakana is arguably the most useful thing a tourist in Japan could know. Leave your thoughts in comment or email or twitter form for me to see! Happy studying!

P.S. – Take a second to vote in the poll on the home page! It’ll help me when I’m making new content. Thanks!

Teacher’s log, day 28, month 9, year 2011.

Started with madness, as all Wednesdays do. Manager had to chat with the five year old boys and promise stickers for good behavior. 15 minutes later they’re alternating between giving each other horseback rides and screaming “I love you! I want to kiss you!” while running circles around me. The sounds still echo in my brain, along with the sting of my continuous face-palming.

Girls’ class came next, joined by two new test-accomplices who looked at me like I was a brown unicorn; somehow magical and different, but probably best left untouched. New boy hacked, coughed, and picked his nose incessantly. High fives stopped immediately. Got punched a few times. Littlest one is still the smartest. Maybe we learned something today.

Older, private student talked at length about her vegetable garden and seasonal foods. Together we discovered “typhoon” comes from the Chinese “Tai Fung,” and we suck at Chinese.

Also, I discover I can't draw Lotus Roots.

“Interviewed” a 7 year old girl. Kid hid behind her Mom the first 10 minutes. Refused to look at me. Can’t wait to teach her in class tomorrow.

Elementary twerps next. Newest one still in haze. Whiniest one won’t admit his English has actually improved. Strongest one struggles to stay awake. Controlling class schedules to coincide with ability levels would be nice.

Pubescent boys class horrible, as expected. 50 minutes of deafening silence and four teens “sneaking” looks at my chest. Worst kid had his last lesson today. Nobody surprised. Maybe if I threw a pile of boobs at them they’d be interested.

Last two kids exhausted and funny. Studying for tests they’ll do well on next week. Two weeks from now they’ll complain about their A- scores.

No casualties today, though another teaching object was lost into the void (a gap between a wall and a desk bolted to it). Tomorrow, we go again!

I’m writing this post as an attempt to both provide information to readers and to rant. I’ve recently had the experience of attempting to connect to the internet out in public here in Tokyo, and it hasn’t been the easiest thing in the world. The majority of my problem stems from the fact that the battery on my computer is apparently shot, and so I have to carry my charger everywhere and plug in my computer if I want to use it.

I digress.

In a city as famously technologically advanced as Tokyo, you’d think there would be Wi-Fi on every corner of the city. People’s heads radiate with it (maybe that’s just the cesium), and you can beam a coffee straight to your cup in the station. But alas, no, such magic does not exist here. The reality of the internet sitch in Tokyo is that most people connect to the internet via their phones. Japan has nationwide 3G, and most folks connect to the internet to check their email, download music, etc. using their fancy handsets. As a result, there isn’t such a strong demand for a nation-wide (or even city-wide) wireless network.

As a person without a fancy smartphone (my phone is a dorky pre-paid model because I’m cheap), this can present a problem when trying to work outside the home.

I’ve come to realize that I suck at working from home (at the moment, at least). My apartment is furnished with only a crappy futon and a refrigerator at the moment, so I have no comfortable place to sit and work. My ass can only handle so long sitting on the hardwood floor of my kitchen. In the past, when I’ve written blog posts, etc., I write everything down on paper in a notebook at a cafe or restaurant, bring it home, and type it up. I still like to do this, but I’ve got some new projects in the works, and being able to be mobile with my computer is becoming increasingly desirable.

While Wi-Fi in Tokyo isn’t everywhere, it’s at least somewhere. There are, of course, internet cafes that are designed for internet connections. You pay a designated amount for the time you anticipate using the facilities, and you have access to a computer, a comfy place to sit, and often times a shower and reading material! Some even use internet cafes as makeshift hotels when they’ve missed the last train. Handy in a pinch, but the stereotypical user of an internet cafe does make me cringe a bit (apologies to all non-stereotypical users of internet cafes). Besides, I already have my own computer.

Another option is to purchase a service from one of the big electronics shops in cooperation with cell phone providers like docomo, softbank, or AU. It’s a small device you can attach to your computer via USB. Once configured, you can use your computer to connect to the nationwide 3G (rather than Wi-Fi). Some new laptops even come bundled with this service. Handy. This is not a free service – usually, a small monthly payment of $10-$20 is required, depending on the company. For those who require mobile internet on a very regular basis, this may be a good option.

Other options include signing up for one of the many Wi-Fi providers. Again, the major cell phone carriers have plans you can sign up for (that include a monthly payment similar to the one above). Alternatively, I’ve discovered one plan (HOTSPOT) that I’m using today to bring you this post! HOTSPOT is a pretty simple plan – you can either choose to subscribe to their monthly service, or to use what they call their “1 day passport.” This passport can be purchased at any Family Mart convenience store at a green kiosk known as the “Family Port.” 500 yen (roughly $5-$6) gets you 24 hour internet access at any place that has access.

I know, sounds stupid.

Before I went out to get my pass, I looked up online the places with HOTSPOT access. Interestingly, most of the places are at station entrances and exits. There are also, however, many cafes on the list. So, I took a 10 minute stroll from my apartment to the Tully’s Coffeee near me, found a place close to an outlet, and set to work. When you purchase the pass, you take the receipt you get from the machine and bring it to the counter to pay for, like any normal item. The cashier will then give you a printed sheet of paper with the information you need to login written on it like this:

(If you’re reading this post within 24 hours of the time it was posted and at a location within Tokyo that has HOTSPOT, congratulations, you just got free internet!)

I created a new wireless connection on my computer with the WEP key and the ESS-ID (which, for me, was just the connection name). When I finished that, I opened a new browser window, where I was automatically taken to the HOTSPOT homepage to input my username and password. From there, I was connected! I had one small hiccup where I had to tell my laptop to automatically update the IP settings for the connection, but other than that, zero problems. I don’t anticipate using my laptop too much more outside my home for the next month, otherwise I think I’d go for the monthly plan.

As a last option, you can also look up a place with free Wi-Fi access. Yesterday, I tried out the “Wired Cafe” chain. There are a couple here in Shinjuku, and several more throughout the metro Tokyo area. Cafe patrons have free access to their Wi-Fi, but sadly, as I found yesterday, there are very, very limited numbers of sockets for computers. I’m guessing this is to prevent people from taking up space for hours after purchasing a coffee. If you’re feeling daring and want to find a free wi-fi place of your own, I found this Google Map – it supposedly shows all the places in Tokyo where you can get free Wi-Fi access. Use at your own risk!

While it would be more convenient for me to have city-wide internet access, I think it’d be more convenient for me if there were just more places with publicly usable outlets. Of course, I understand the reasons why they are so limited. Now that I’ve found a way to get my out-of-home access, though, I think I’m set for a while.

Though I do now find myself wishing for a shiny new phone or computer.

(If you have any questions about the companies and plans introduced here, use your Google skills. I’m feeling lazy. You can do it!)

We encounter packaging everywhere. We complain about it, but we need it, to some degree. Much of our packaging is designed to be eye catching and exciting to attract the eyes of consumers, but there is an added element to this in Japan.

Japan is notorious for politeness and a rigid sense of formality. This applies to work life, home life, and everyday interactions. Observing the proper rules and customs in a given situation is important.

These two concepts come together in the practice of gift giving. The picture below is a small gift (earrings) I bought for our receptionist as a thank you/goodbye present on her last day of work with us last month.

I would have been content to just use my words to thank her, but she gave me a nice, designer handkerchief, so I was obligated to reciprocate.

I went to the department store and chose the earrings, then told the cashier it was a gift. She had me pick out a ribbon color, and then went to work while I waited.

She removed the earrings from their display and put them in a small plastic bag, which she taped shut. Next, she assembled a small box (the one in the photo) and put the bag in. After that came the addition of the ribbon. She then presented me with the smaller paper bag (to “give the gift in”) and a larger plastic bag to carry everything in. To recap: that’s three bags and a box for a pair of earrings the size of my thumb.

Interestingly, there is no extra charge for gift wrapping. Department store staff may ask you to choose a color or style, and then, voila, it’s done! Many times I’ve purchased sweets for friends and family, and every time the staff automatically adds the wrapping.
While I think this is a neat and aesthetically pleasing service, I could do without the excess. One small box with some ribbon would have been more than sufficient for the gift I purchased.

I suppose there’s always the option of telling the staff you’d like something different, but the confusion that often results from staff being asked to think outside the box (forgive the pun) just isn’t worth it. That topic alone is a post/rant I’ll save for another day!

With the advent of summer comes a flurry of beverages. Many of the drinks you can find in Japan are seasonal; they are only available at certain times during the year (much like egg nog in the U.S. in December).

This summer brings a variety of new flavors with bright, interesting designs. This wouldn’t be a problem, but because the drinks contain alcohol, I do find myself somewhat concerned for the welfare of unwitting tourists.

Take a look at the picture below. These are four drinks available all across Tokyo. All of these drinks contain alcohol (about 3%-4%). They’re all in eyecatching cans in a variety of designs, and if your Japanese kanji knowledge doesn’t include the word for “alcohol,” you might end up surprised (and a little silly) after purchasing any of these.

The leftmost can says “apple” across the side, and is apparently supposed to be an apple juice-like drink for summer. The blue “lifeguard” can gives consumers the impression they can enjoy alcohol and an energy boost in the same can. The last two are mild, tasty fruit mixtures – perfect for a day at the beach.

One thing they all have in common is the Japanese word for alcohol: “sake,” or “酒.” If you see this on a beverage, outside a restaurant, on a menu, etc., this connotates an item (or items) that has the potential to make you intoxicated.

Yes, for those wondering, “sake,” the word we use in the west for Japan’s rice wine, is actually the word for alcohol. The word for “sake” as westerners are familiar with it is “nihonshu” (knee-hone-shoe) or “日本酒.” It literally means “Japan alcohol.”

Now, armed with this knowledge, readers, go forth, taste, and send me your recommendations for tasty summer beverages!

This blog post has been entered as a part of the Japan Blog Matsuri for July, hosted by NihongoUp!

Hi readers, I’m using this post as a test to check out WordPress.com’s mobile blogging feature. I don’t have an exciting smart phone, so I have to blog via my phone’s email.

I have some new content prepared (regular content) that I will have up soon, but also thought quick blogging on-the-go would be an interesting experiment.
If this is working correctly, there should be an image of an adorable turtle I drew last week somewhere in this post.

Looking forward to some real updates soon!