Japanese Ties

Sushi Magic... What's Your Going Away Food?

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:53:48 PST

16th August, 2010 - There's one thing that we all enjoy at T-chan's home... great takeaway sushi. Of course, there's great sushi every where in Japan (and I suppose a few dodgy ones as well), but Hokkaido is home of fresh seafood... something for which I'm eternally grateful.

T-chan's parents always manage to organise a good meal of osushi, and especially before we head back home. Always a huge selection... but you can bet there's not much if anything left on the plate after we've finished eating. But the one sad thing about having sushi for dinner (whether take-away or eating out), is that it often signifies the end of our trip. And therefore, each mouthful comes with a slight bittersweet taste of tears to perfectly complement the sweet taste of well as deliciousness.

I thought I'd throw up some totally self-indulgent sushi photos.... hmmmm, I can't be sure that I've got all the fish names in the right place, or that I haven't missed anything out.... but at the end of the day... who cares. Bring on the Sushi! It's hard to pick a favourite - but I think it's hard to go past a good maguro (tuna)... but the aburi (seared) salmon is delicious too... and the ikura (roe) is just devine. I love 'em all!

Front/right: ikura (salmon roe), middle: ebi (prawn), right: saba (mackerel). top/left:, engawa (dorsal fin muscle from the halibut), top middle: kani (crab).

Bottom: Another otoro sake (salmon belly), ebi , maguro (tuna), and uni (urchin)

Bottom left: kani, centre: salmon (yum), top: toro tuna.

Right: toro (underbelly) tuna, left: sake, salmon, top/middle: unagi (eel), top left: engawa and very top left: hotate (scallops).

Left: aburi sake (seared salmon), right: tuna, tuna, tuna!

Now of course, if you've been living in a cave for the last thousand years, you may not know the deliciousness of good sushi... and unfortunately, a lot of the sushi you buy in your local shopping strip just doesn't quite cut it. Actually - to be honest, 10 years ago, I most probably wouldn't know good sushi from a wet sock... I was such a culturally and gastronomically challenged lad. So I don't think it's particularly bad if you don't eat sushi, and the thought of raw fish turns your stomach... I'm a very good example of someone that (given the right push along) can become quite a fan!

Though it is difficult to find really good sushi here... perhaps because it's hard to get the same range of fresh ingredients, and I think difficult to find sushi chefs with the authentic technique. I guess that's one of the reasons we always fill up before coming home. Of course, this is take away sushi ... so I suppose it's fitting as a parting gift before leaving Sapporo... If only we could pack every spare inch of our suitcases with sushi, but I suspect we might not like the welcome home when we arrived back in Adelaide.

What's your favourite sushi, and what dish (if any) symbolises the end of journey to Japan? Or do you have other food for other favourite destinations?

Summer Reflective Thinking and Not-So-Reflective Playing

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:40:00 PST

15th August, 2010 - No... it wasn't the revenge of the killer whales; instead it was one of the great little pools in one of the many good childrens parks in Sapporo. And what better place to spend your summer afternoon (a hot, muggy afternoon at that) than to go splashing in the pool? This wasn't the first time we'd visited here. The park is known as Noushi-Kouen (check the link for a map), and L-kun, T-chan and her parents had visited in 2009. Of course L-kun remembered it very well.

Actually, we were here to meet up with some of T-chan's web-friends (from her blogging days) who lived in Sapporo. Let's just call them G-man (the Aussie) and S-chan (Japanese), with their son S-kun. Actually, it turns out that they were quite good pals of some of our Adelaide Aussie/Japanese couple friends whom had stayed temporarily in Sapporo a few years ago. Talk about a small world! And of course for L-kun and S-kun, none of that mattered. It was just a good excuse to go for a run in the pool.

And lets face it - when you're 3 years old (as L-kun was at this stage), pools are wonderous things.Water... so much water. And you can run around in it without a care in the world. Freedom to do what you want. Free, that is, to stick your head in the pool. Coz that's just the sort of thing that you have to do... though I'm not exactly sure why. In fact, I'm not sure that L-kun knew what he was doing at this point either. Water can be so attractive. Ah, for a child's perspective....

It was interesting to meet this family - for the first time. I have to admit that I'm always envious of people that have had a chance to live in Japan for an extended period (of course, S-chan was a native girl from Sapporo, so she was much more excited about Australia). The longest single stay I've had in Japan was about 2 months. I know it must be a very different experience visiting a city/country with your partner, than living there. And whilst I've spent a good amount of time in Sapporo, I can't claim to really know the city. But it's also a strange environment in Japan for foreigners - especially for mixed families (and mixed, or hafu, children). It sounds like it's a largely un-real experience, which doesn't quite follow the same rules as you would normally expect. And it can be a pretty care-free whirlwind experience indeed. And by the sound of it, after 10 years, it can be very hard to consider leaving. Imagine trying to re-build a normal life after a decade of being abroad without necessarily being able to directly use any of that employment history. It's a hard call - and it sounds like many gaijin in Japan struggle with the both the uncertainty and practicality - and possibly even fear - of returning to the everyday existence in their homelands...

The biggest impediment for us to move to Japan is my career... it's hard to consider putting a career (which you've spent a long time training for) on hold for 12 months - let alone 10 years. Yet, it's a sacrifice my wife made in coming to Australia (and more so, as she left behind her family). International marriages are often built upon such tough choices - where there is more times than not, no one right decision. We each of us have to muddle our way through, not only trying to pick the right course for ourselves, but also for our children. As a I write this, we are expecting our second child in about 5 weeks. More difficult choices are coming our way... but also many more exciting and amazing times. Home, after all, is not just where you hang your hat, but also where you raise a family. Wherever that is... and sometimes, that can be in more than one place....

May The Force Be With You and Your Photographer - Shichi-Go-San

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:26:17 PST

15th August, 2010 - In Japan, there is a celebration for just about everything, and one of the more popular ones (for young families) is the 3-5-7 celebration. Well, it's not so much a celebration as an opportunity to spend some money down at the photography studio (which I hasten to add are not particularly cheap in Japan... but we don't have a price comparison in Adelaide). It is a time when all young padawans must learn to harness the force, and all Jedi parents must learn to suffer the pains of child photography sessions with a smile.

Actually, the celebration Shichi-Go-San (7-5-3) does date back to antiquity (i.e. before I can find any real references - though in reality it was in the Edo period some time, after 1600AD). It comes from Chinese traditions of uneven numbers being auspicious, and also a good smattering of Japanese aesthetics, to celebrate special or sacred years of childhood. From the survival of early childhood (at 3 yo... which was likely no mean feat), to the leaving of infanthood (at 7 yo...). In fact the child's spirit was said to belong to the gods until age 7, at which time the child would formally be added to the "population books" and ujigami-sama. Ok... if it sounds like I know a lot, I don't. This is from Japan: How We Breathe and How Our Hearts Beat.

At the age of 3, the tradition entailed that children changed their hairstyles, wearing it on top. Well L-kun has never had much hair to do much with, so a costume change was going to have to suffice. We took him down to the photography studio - and spent a good couple of hours there. We only went with 2 costume changes (a traditional kimono and a western suit)... though I'm sure there were countless other styles we could have tried.

I think he looked particularly dashing in the suit - with...

Or without jacket....

And he was such a ham away from the professional's camera. But I have to admit that in front of the real camera, it was a different story.... and no, we couldn't bring in our camera to the studio area (just the changing area... which is a little strange). In fact, he developed an instantaneous affectation of sticking his tongue (unconsciously) out the side of his mouth. He'd never done this before - but today, he couldn't stop himself. I guess this was a stress reaction... even though the photographers at the studio were great and very friendly. It certainly is a testament to the professionalism, and the brute inner strength that the photographers (and their assistants) have... and I'm sure that L-kun wasn't the most difficult by a long, long way.

So the following photos are taken from the supplied cd (of I think 9 out of the total of 100 photos that were taken). Speaking of stress - it's very stressful having to down-select photos from a studio (something I'm assuming they are well aware of, and depend financially upon). The package that they offer is a number of photos in an album, a calendar, and a number small photos. All good presents for the grandparents.

Note - I do not hold the copyright to these photos - which is held of course by the studio - but I hope this constitutes reasonable use. Doesn't it?

Anyway - L-kun was 3 years of age at this point... and now he's 4. We're already planning his next visit for his 5th year. May the force (and the savings plan) truly be with us!....

Bon Odori - Dancing Through the Veil

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:01:17 PST

14th August, 2010 - Every year, come the middle of August - at least in Hokkaido - something mysterious happens. It's known as Obon, one of the most important ritual festivals in Japan (outside New Years). It's traditionally associated with the return of the spirits of the departed to the world of the living for 3 days of the year (typically the 13th - 15th of the month, but more on that at the end). It's an important part of Japan, yet, I had not experienced it before... and was kind of curious. The original plan involved going to the city to see the Bon dancing in Odori Kouen, however, it was a big day, so we instead decided to have a look at one of the local dances in the neighbourhood. Disorganised as normal, we missed the start... just...

Now I'll give a quick description of the popularly believed Buddhist origins of Obon (as sourced from the Shingon Buddhist site). I say believed, as obon, like Christmas, is most likely an amalgam of different meanings. The day almost certainly takes its name from the Buddhist Urabon Sutra - which itself is a transliteration of the sanskrit Ullambana and which means to "hang upside down". This sutra tells a story of Mokuren Sonja, one of Sâkyamuni Buddha's disciples whom had supernatural powers (of course) which he used to find his deceased mother... only to discover that her soul had fallen into the world of Hungry Ghosts and was suffering immense pain. He then asked Sâkyamuni for guidance, to which he was told to make offerings to the priests coming back from their summer retreat. Which he did, with the result: - problem solved. [At this point in the story, I do pause and reflect on the commercial acumen of mystics back in those days... nice one Buddha!].

It's actually not that easy to find reliable info on the web [the irony of this statement does not escape me], but according to one of my books ("Japan: How We Breathe & How Our Hearts Beat"), obon's origins were in fact found from a much older seasonal tradition. Indeed New Year and Obon marked the transition between two halves of the calendar, and both involving ancestor worship and the offering of crops for thanks and for prayers. It was supposedly later that this was combined with urabon-e, and combined with the Chinese traditions of filial ties. Yet still, at it's heart there lies the tradition that like the Chinese Ghost Festival, or even Samhain (one origin of Halloween), for a short time the veil that separates the living from the dead is lifted. In this case, thankfully only for the spirits return home, to be honoured by their family. Indeed, obon remains a time when families return home from all over Japan to be together.

The dance, bon odori, originates as a welcome to the ancestors spirits, where the dancers would visit homes of people who had deceased during that year. I've also read that the dance may have originated from the buddhist monk, Kuya Shonin in the Heian period, but really the custom that we now know became popular in the Edo period... in fact was so popular and grew to such extravagance that the dance was officially banned between 1673-81 AD.

The dance itself involves a large open space, in the middle of which is constructed a tower or yagura, upon which the musicians (and drummers in particular) are positioned. Around the yagura are a number of concentric circles, along which the participants dance. The dance is slow, rythmical and often based on local traditions... for example in Hokkaido, the fishing song Soran Bushi is apparently popular (though I can't recall it at this bon odori).

The following video is a bit of a grab-bag of the dance. Unfortunately the video is pretty crappy - apologies for that - but you get a bit of a sense of the music and the movements at our local bon odori. Actually, this was about the end of our videocamera, that just died in terms of it's autofocussing. Perhaps the spirits of the dead didn't appreciate my camera skills [insert spooky music here]...WOOOOoooooohhh.

It's a community event as much as a religious one... and indeed it's perhaps moved beyond religion to be just another thread in the fabric of Japanese life. It's also a family occasion with lots of small children with the their parents. And indeed the first part of the evening is dedicated to them with fun and games (and even giveaways to the best child dancers).

It's nice to see the yukata, or summer kimono, which is often worn out to special events such as this (and especially to fireworks for some reason).

Apart from the occasional yukata - worn predominantly by the very young and the very old - this was a fairly casual neighbourhood events. It's not quite to the standard that you will see in some areas, but I sort of think that's not important. Instead it's a occasion to bring community together - and I have to say that the dance itself is not unlike the mass-hypnotic dances that you might read about in tribal areas.. it is quite repetitive (in a good way) and quite rhythmical. The beat of the drum stirs something in your heart - even if your not Japanese.

I'm not sure if this is something new - but there was a fairly large emphasis also places on best costume-style awards. Not unlike a Halloween influence. And I have to admit that most of the theme costumes escaped me... for example the person that dressed up as what I think was a Stonehenge megalith. I'm not sure why, but they deserved a prize just for wearing that on such a hot night. And given that it's in the middle of a hot Japanese summer, there's always lots of beer being consumed. So it's quite a lively social event, at least in the neighbourhood.

And of course - there were other strange costumes being worn. For example some gaijin fool and his child decided to dress up in their jinbei - a traditional summer clothing in Japan, but not the sort of thing you'd see someone wear down the street... let alone in front of hundreds of people. I'm sure most of the people were wondering what the... especially when the two of them started joining in the dance. Ah... what fools... But of course, that's me. And always the shy type, it took a lot of encouragement (yet surprisingly no amber courage) to get me up. Even though we stood out like sore thumbs (even amongst the megaliths) I didn't once feel out-of-place, and indeed I think the festive mood was just positive all around.

Now I have to admit something - until recently (about 5 mins ago) I had assumed that obon was celebrated at the same time everywhere in Japan, but when they switched from a lunar to a solar calendar (way back when...), the nation split on when to recongnize obon - with some areas having a July Bon (especially in Kanto region), others celebrating it in mid August, and even others maintaining the old lunar calendar timings. Supposedly, one of the reasons why obon was held in August was due to heavy farming workload in mid-July that didn't leave any time for preparation. It just goes to show that after many years of going to Japan, that you still can be surprised by things... and no matter how much you think you know, the country defies being defined by any one person.

As the evening wore on, there were less and less people, but as we left, I had the feeling that there was going to be dancing well into the night...

So - obon, and bon odori may not be the flashiest of events once you get into the neighbourhoods... but I suspect that this is where the true heart of bon odori lies. I'm not sure that the veil between worlds was lifted, or that our music and dance welcomed any spirits. It certainly awoke the spirits of those that danced though. And even to this day (over a year later) my son still sings the music (cha-cha cha chan-ko-chan...). And he's not the only one.

Extended Family Lunches In Sapporo

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 05:37:25 PST

14th August, 2010 - One of the fun things about returning to Japan is that L-kun gets to experience more of an extended family... something we don't really have much of here in Australia. And part of that is visiting our T-chan's Auntie-S with her grandchild... let's call him S-kun. I'm not so good on family trees, but I'm guessing that makes S-kun a 2nd or 3rd cousin...

And of course - there's lots of fun to be had... watching TV is a universal enjoyment for children (of all ages). L-kun only takes a day or two to get back into the swing of watching Japanese TV. And it was good that T-chan's parents would often send us tapes of his favourite children's TV programs.

Not to mention playing ball - hiding balls - or otherwise creating havoc. But it's nice to visit, as though we have plenty of friends (especially mixed Aussie-Japanese families) here in Adelaide, we don't have any family with children. So family gatherings are nice to see. Even if they do occur only once or twice a year. And L-kun and S-kun seemed to get along very well (even if there's nearly two years difference between them).

I never get the feeling that L-kun has too many difficulties with fitting into which ever country's children scene. That's the great thing about young children. Doesn't matter where you come from, what language you speak, or what you look like. Children are pretty well much accepting of everyone - until we as parents/society start messing things up.

And the one thing about Auntie-S is that when you go there for a light lunch, you end up coming back a lot heavier than when you arrived. Her lunches are sugoi! Always lots of yummy food - hand-made and much sourced from her own garden as well! And L-kun loves Auntie-S a lot (coz she just lavishes attention on to him).

That's a lot of work Auntie-S... arigatou!

PS - and now we have twin cousins as well... things are getting busy!

Night Stories of Susukino in Sapporo During Summer

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 03:56:43 PST

13th August, 2010 - I thought I'd add a new post with just a few more photos from the evening... starting off with some good old fashioned neon. There's something about Japan and neon. Like BBQs and snags (Aussie vernacular for sausages), or Kath and Kim (another Aussie-ism). Can't imagine one without the other. Neon signs beyond anything else perhaps let you know that you're in the heart of a big Japanese city.

Tankuki-koji is one of the main shopping malls in Sapporo that runs parallel to Odori Koen and goes for about half a dozen blocks or more. It's also a must visit if you've got more than an afternoon in Sapporo. Lots of little shops to visit.

A haircut anyone - not sure why the barber's pole... but the Japanese love symbols. Especially ones that have a somewhat hypnotic feel. Then again, it's amazing what sorts of things - or people - you'll bump into when travelling....

As an example....we were all heading to the izakaya when we came across a young asian woman with a rather large suitcase, looking obviously lost. Well, needless to say we all decided to help her find her hotel. Not so easy as you might think - even with a bunch of smart-phones at the ready when the address was wrong. That wasn't the interesting part though - turns out the girl was from Australia. In fact Adelaide of all places. Not only Adelaide, but only about 5km from where we live... not that we knew each other of course. Adelaide's a bit bigger than that. She was over in Sapporo attending a Christian mission, and whilst we didn't talk long, it was amazing to think of a young person packing their suitcases for the great unknown for their faith alone. There's a lot of people that do however, and hats off to them. Not that Sapporo was quite the deepest darkest Africa (no offence to any Africans). I hope she had a good time in Sapporo.

It was also about that time that we came across this little Buddha, perched high atop one of the buildings. I'm sure T-chan's friend told me some incredible story at the time - but the reality is a little less mysterious. The shop below sells Buddhist religious items such as Butsudan - or Buddhist prayer alters for the home. Just in case, they also sell Shinto items for good measure - part of the complex fabric of Japanese life.

And speaking of symbols - you couldn't get any more a culinary symbol of Sapporo than a GIANT CRAB! Yes, kani is well worth trying in Sapporo - so fresh and delish. Not quite a staple in Hokkaido, but not far off either. It really is a seafood delight. Of course - if crabs really grew this big, that might be a different matter.

The Japanese are renowned in the West for their desire to change - to always be re-inventing themselves. Actually, this is not entirely correct. Or at least not the entire picture. There's a strong element of resistance to change in Japan (Ok - that might not surprise people). But what might surprise people is the extent to which individuals feel empowered to fight development. I'll talk a bit later about Narita Airport (the most startling example of this)... but for now, we see yet another example of progress enveloping, but not destroying, the past in Japan.

Now there are a few things that are odd about Sapporo - for example - why you stick a ferris wheel on top of a building - or why, oh why, do you stick a great big clock in the middle of a busy intersection. I can't quite imagine checking my watch for correct time as I'm driving through... oh, and trying not to hit any other cars or pedestrians whilst I was at it. This is the same Nikka corner that I mentioned in the previous post. I seemed to spend a fair bit of time around here....though I might hasten - not for the food. In Japan, McDonalds is known as Ma-ku-do, or Ma-ku-do-nal-do (very South American sounding... think Ronaldo). That's not the only thing that's a little different. For example - try getting an ebi (prawn) burger in Australia, or having green tea. If you're ever stuck for an idea of what to eat in Japan - don't be too embarrassed or insecure about going to McDonalds... it's a perfectly valid cultural experience. Every now and again.

And for evidence that McDonald's isn't quite the universal constant that everyone thinks... let's just have a quick look at some of their Japanese advertising. Not quite what we're used to here anyhow.

And I mentioned the famous Nikka corner... well, I suppose it's also rightfully known as the Kirin corner. Depends on whether you're a beer person or a spirits person. Not sure what you call it if you're both (or don't drink alcohol). This is looking away from the clock in the middle of the road...

And Japan is a beer country - they have a number of mega-brands. Asahi is one of the more well known ones, though not my go-to-beer if I have a choice. The fact that in the heart of Susukino, Sapporo, their signs are written more in English says more, perhaps, about the investment opportunities they see for their beer than anything else - that and that Japanese actually love to appear international.

And as is often the way of things - we ended up back a Tanukikoji....where we had started. There's an underground shopping district (see the stairs going down) that heads to Odori Koen, and is known simply as Pole Town. Not a pole in sight however... but it's a good place to shop if your in Sapporo. The shops may have closed at this time however, but there was still plenty of life in the city.

And so all good things must come to an end. At midnight (around the time of the last subway from Odori station), it wasn't quite as deserted as this photo makes out. Indeed, the last subway is always a bit popular. And you'll find plenty of people that have had just a little too much good cheer during the preceding hours. But people pretty well keep to themselves, and behave remarkably well considering. In fact, I've never felt unsafe at all in Sapporo at night - though I have to admit that my wife has may stories of coming across MANY unsavoury characters on her way home from the train/subway at night. Being a single woman at night in Japan is not always quite so safe or pleasant... but that's another story.

The Night Out Continues... Cocktails and Cake

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 14:52:09 PST

13th August, 2010 - After a great meal at the rather "themed" izakaya, none of us were quite ready to call it a night, so we headed around to a small little bar that sits on the famous Nikka Susukino corner... if you've been in Sapporo at night, you'll know which corner I'm talking about.

The bar is called....well, to be honest we can't remember what the bar was called. T-chan's friend knew about it, and we were happy to follow along. When (and if) we remember we'll post an update. It was fashionable however - and I might add - a very popular bar, and indeed we were lucky to get a seat. We think it was called Doa or Door or something like that...

You can tell it was fashionable as for some reason they had a thing for chain-mail curtains. A decidedly odd choice I might add, but a good opportunity to try out some chain-bokeh, and manual focus fun.

Ok... now the photo below is meant purely to demonstrate one thing - T-chan's best friend is very much single, so if you're living in or around Sapporo and you'd like to meet a wonderful, intelligent, attractive and very funny Japanese woman... well... drop us a line. [only great guys need apply!]. Ok - my wife's almost certainly going to kill me for that.

And just so you know - this is not my drink. I had a whisky... maybe a triple. On the rocks - and I mean rocks. I scooped a handful of them off the road on the way to the bar. Delicious. And not at all cocktail-ish. Actually, this was my wife's drink... or was it her friends?

And yet another drink that wasn't mine... not sure why I didn't take any photos of more manly drinks... er... perhaps I did, but by that time they were all a little blurry... much like my head.

And it wouldn't be a good Japanese bar if you didn't have something to nibble on...

And the good thing about this sort of bar is that you can quite happily enjoy a dessert with your drink. Not frowned upon at all in Japan... however, I can't imagine strolling into a bar back at home and ordering a mixed cake platter....And this was a great little assorted platter here! Yummy.... but expensive. I can't remember just how much this was, but I know it wasn't cheap. The good (and bad) thing about alcohol is that your judgement about money can be a little altered... and things start seeming much more reasonable after a few drinks.

In fact I was so happy... with my whisky that I had another go at the old chain-bokeh....*hic*... no seriously, this is exactly what I meant to do. Actually, I thought then that we often don't intentionally de-focus our images. Not sure this is a wonder for anyone else but me, but I kinda like that raw 70's noir look to it.

Now - perhaps just one more whisky....

To find the famous Susukino corner, just head down Sapporo Ekimae Dori... you can't miss it. The bar is on the 2nd floor of the Susukino building itself... I think. Good luck. Just look for the chain-mail curtains!

View Sapporo Map in a larger map

Izakaya Dining Through Time In Sapporo

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 23:45:25 PST

13th August, 2010 - One of the fun times we have whenever we go back to Sapporo is when catch up with my wife's best friend, T2-chan. We always try to find somewhere a little different to go. Of course, Sapporo's well known in Japan for having some of the tastiest food... comes from the beautiful farm lands, and wonderful seafood. So dining out in Sapporo's always pretty good. This night we certainly found an interesting new izakaya to eat at - good food, but so much more into the bargain.

Cultural note: izakaya are a Japanese equivalent of a pub, where people go to eat, drink and be merry. It's often associated with the purchase of lots of small tapas style dishes that are shared around amongst the group. They can often be quite raucous affairs, but there's a growing trend for more upmarket izakaya as well for smaller groups and dates.

First thing - off to Suskino. Sapporo's night-time entertainment heart. And if you're a young adventurous guy, this is also the seedy part of the city. At least at night (during the day it's unrecognisable). As for me... No longer young - and was I ever adventurous? Still, there's plenty to do here - and eating's one of those things.

Head to the Hikaru Building - the one with great big Sapporo beer STAR sign, and find an elevator to the 8th floor.

The place we were visiting is called : "Yume ya kyou koi shizuku"... a bit of a mouthful and is hard to translate into English... one translation might be the Falling Dreams of Kyoto Koi Restaurant. Even my wife doesn't know exactly the best way to translate. This is part izakaya, part historical wonderland... as you leave the elevator, and are greeted by a torii walkway, you know you're in for an interesting dining experience.

Inside there's a range of different dining rooms, each leading off a nice open space, with it's own faux bridge... of course. We selected one of the booths.... my stomach had already been alerted by my eyes that it was time to get ready. Juices started flowing.

It may not be quite an authentic edo-era izakaya... but you can at least feel like your definitely in Japan. Even if it's a post-card version.

The menu is very Japanese, and a combination of some more exotic dishes, and some classic izakaya fare. And the good thing is that they cater for English speakers as well. I wouldn't say that this is a tourist-specific place however - so you don't need to worry about hammy-ninja's flying out from holes above your head. It's targetted more as a date-spot than a tourist trap.

Here's just a few of the dishes we selected... yaki-mentaiko (grilled spicy tarako)... tarako is salted roe or fish eggs. This was for me the stand-out surprise for the night... it was really delicious. There was a hint of citrus/lime in the accompanying relish. Really complimented the dish.

We also went some old favourites - chicken was the theme... and whilst the teryaki-style chicken would be familiar... but perhaps people would be much less familiar with nankotsu. My wife calls it "chicken bones"... which may not sound overly appealing, but it's not really bones at all. It's actually chicken cartilage. Ok about now you might be thinking that doesn't sound that appealing either. But this is deep-fried nankotsu karaage, and it's my must-have dish whenever I visit an izakaya. If you haven't had the pleasure, ask for it next time you can. I just wish I could buy it here in Adelaide.

Another dish that we love, that my wife introduced me to, is gyutan or beef tongue. Ten years ago I would never have eaten beef tongue. I was quite a sensitive young man.... ?;-) Now whilst we love gyutan a lot, I have to say this was the one dish that disappointed during the evening. Really too thick, and there's one thing about eating tongue, if you eat a big chunk it's pretty well like you might expect it to be. Chewy. Apart from the thickness of the cut, the taste was nice. Zannen! What a shame.

For something a little lighter, we tried some tempura vegetables as well.

And yaki-soba, or grilled soba noodles. A balanced meal.

So we had a great evening... though this was just the start of the night out. My wife T-chan and I always enjoy our evening escapes into Sapporo when we get the chance. And this is where my lovely wife makes a cameo performance... her hair isn't quite as camera-shy as the rest of her!

And this izakaya was a good evening out. Food wise it definitely wasn't the best we've had, but for an overall experience (something different) it more than met our hopes. If you're a tourist in Sapporo, and you'd like to visit a more stylised izakaya then I'd definitely recommend this one.

Prices weren't excessive, with dishes costing around 300-700yen typically... so a night out for a group of three might come up to 3-4,000 yen per person (if you don't drink much that is). Still, you get to enjoy the ambience of the place for free...

Address:

Sapporo Central South West 3-1-1 4 3, Hikaru Bldg, 8F

Tel: 011-522-1650

Opening hours: 5pm to 11:30pm

View Sapporo Map in a larger map

We'd love to hear any dining experiences you've had in Sapporo... so drop us a line, or leave a comment!

This is my submission for the November's Japingu J-Festa Theme... it's been a little longer than expected between contributions! Enjoy the other contributions when it goes live, and check out some of the older themes.

Sapporo's Mighty Beer Festival of Beery Delights

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 03:51:55 PST

13th August, 2010 - Now the one thing about Japan is that they love to drink. And I mean drink. Yet for all that you rarely evidence of drunken violence or aggression. Unconscious salary-men that didn't make it home from "working late" the night before yes. Hooligans no.

The one thing about Sapporo is that come summer-time, it's also the home of the Beer Festival. What was that I hear you ask. I know that the Japanese love festivals... but one dedicated to beer? Where do I sign up? Well... not only is it a festival (of sorts), but it's also a month long. And it's epicentre is right smack bang in the middle of Odori Koen in the city centre. Now I had gone with Otousan (and the rest of the family) into the city with the thought that we'd share a few drinks whilst my wife and Okaasan did some shopping. I had brought in my camera gear thinking that I'd take some nice shots of the park and of the beer tents. Indeed each of the major Japanese brewers has a large open air tent, or Odori Beer Garden, situated in the long Odori Koen where you can find beer and food ready to be sampled.

Before I had managed to even warm up the camera, otousan and I had found ourselves ensconced in the Sapporo Beer Tent... pitchers in hand. Well... I'll have just the one - not to be rude. I did have serious photos to be taking after all. And food to be eating (though a word of warning - the food is best consumed after copious amounts of alcohol, as it was definitely not up to usual Japanese fare).

Speaking of copious amounts of alcohol.... we quickly set about improving our appetite. And tried our hand at making good old, "half and half" - half standard half dark ale. This is of course also known as black and tan... or just a ripping good drink. Though for the two of us, we seemed to be ordering one for the table too. The table became our instant best friend.

Mental note - after having consumed large amounts of alcohol, expect to be deleting most anything you took a photo of. And for crying out loud - don't give your DSLR to the waitress whose idea of a camera sits on her phone and expect a good picture. Life's lessons.

Actually - beer is a good socialiser. There's no doubt about that. And there's things that can be talked about that often never otherwise find a place in the conversation. I heard a lot more about otousan's youth, and we were able just to chew the fat. However - all good things must come to an end. And we had our wives to meet. Somewhere. Courageously we made a move... to find the next nearest stationary object (a park bench) upon which to wait. Looking ever so much like we hadn't just downed half a bathtub of beer each.

And we waited... and waited. I am sure at this point, we were wondering if there was enough time to head back for just one more, when T-chan and okaasan arrived with L-kun. I suspect that when T-chan took the above photo that she was already smelling us (from 100 paces).

It was however a very nice day. Hot (like a good summers day should be). And designed perfectly for drinking beer. Even if your thoughts of capturing it in pixels didn't quite go to plan. By the way - it may be a festival, but the beer and food is not cheap cheap. It is however abundant - although I understand that there's been a drive to constrain the festival more and more... now with the last drinks sold at around 10pm. Well... I do suppose you have a whole month or so to come back and fill up with more.... The dates around the 20th July through to the 20th August (or thereabouts). Check tourist info for more precise dates.

Alas - my time in Sapporo was coming to an end... again. But I will always remember that afternoon fondly. Arigatou otousan!

Nuts Cafe Trip - A Not So Crazy Night Out

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 05:35:56 PDT

12th August, 2010 - Tonight was a bit of a special night for us... we were having one of our fairly infrequent date nights which have been very difficult to organise since L-kun. Still, grandparents can be a life-saver in many respects. Tonight we were heading into the city to visit a great little cafe known somewhat Japanesey as Nuts Cafe Trip. Don't ask me why.

First off, it was off to the city by train, arriving into Sapporo Station, which is a great place to start any evening (can do a spot of shopping, or indeed, can even find somewhere to eat up on the 7th floor of Daimaru). Sapporo Station may lack some of the architectural pop of Kyoto Station, but it's a well integrated station and perhaps a little less controversial.

There are a few nice architectural touches however... like the elevator mechanism exposed almost as one might do a grand-father clock or watch. Actually - it also reminds me a lot of a pipe organ (but from memory, no tunes get created out of this elevator).

Public transport is big in Japan... but so are taxis. A form of transport that is perhaps often overlooked by tourists. And when faced with a sea of taxi's, it's perhaps not surprising. One day... one of these days - the signal will be given and the revolution will begin. And I can't say that I've seen too many "eco" taxi's in Japan... unlike the move to changing the fleets to hybrids that I've seen elsewhere in Australia. I wonder if that's true elsewhere in Japan?

Although it was summer... in Japan that can mean quite stormy weather. This night looked a little ominous... and we were prepared for some rain - like we'd been caught in previously.

The cafe can be found by just a short walk east of the main Sapporo Station exit.

View Sapporo Map in a larger map

The doorway's a little non-de-script, but just look for the big ball up above with Nuts Cafe Trip written on it. Once through the door, it's up the appropriately "what the..." stairway to the first floor (noting that Japanese count the ground floor as the first floor, unlike in Australia where the first is always above the ground floor).

And voila... you're here.

Perhaps because I was still getting used to the new DSLR Canon camera... or just the fun of being out in an adult environment (no, not that kind of adult environment...). I just couldn't resist taking photos of just about any old thing. And those bottles did attract my eye.

And just to show that I'm not totally insensitive to the needs of my wife...he says, making sure that no one thinks that I would order a cocktail for myself...

Actually, the think I like about Japanese cafe's is they often have a very good feature or style that can capture the imagination. I know it's totally off the wall, but I can't get out the feeling of being in the famous Liverpudlian club, the Cavern (of Beatles fame).

And we had quite a nice meal there too... but I only took a photo of an absolutely scrumptious pizza. And of course - pizza in Japan seems to be synonymous with Tabasco Sauce. Back home in Australia, I don't think I've ever seen anyone put Tabasco Sauce on pizza. It's funny how tastes differ. I can honestly say we had a wonderful meal and can thoroughly recommend this place.

The ambiance was fairly simple in the main area - however I believe they've re-modelled the decor. The interesting story was that as we left the cafe, I was taking a few photos of place (with blog in mind), when I noticed the table of foreigners (gaigokujin) on the right were looking at me as if I had two heads. I always sort of wondered why I was getting that attention. Are foreigners so rare in Sapporo that any new faces were a source of much curiosity... or was it the more likely answer that they all felt that "here's another totally hopeless tourist... [cringe]... how embarrassing". I will never know, and perhaps for my own ego's sake, I may not want to.

The other thing to mention is that the cafe has a wonderful lunch set... and cheap to. You might not get full on the amount, but the taste and variety is good. If you're in that neck of the woods, check it out.

For Tasty Times... Its Tonkatsu Time

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:50:15 PDT

10th of August, 2010 - After a long, very long day out (ok it most probably seems longer when it takes me a couple of weeks to write it up in a blog), we were all very tired. Otousan and Okaasan were all ready for an easy meal... and a convenient place on the way home was a nice tonkatsu restaurant... tonkatsu is simply pork schnitzel - but done in a very Japanese style. And it's delicious. Which is odd, given that before I met my wife I didn't enjoy eating pork at all. Tonkatsu was one of the dishes that turned that around (and of course my wife's love and dogged persistence). Don't ask me why, but almost always served with shredded cabbage and a special tonkatsu sauce.

Actually, this place is called Tamafuji, and whilst it's a chain shop, it's a great place to relax. As far as I can tell, this is a Hokkaido only company...

And it's always interesting when you get such a great view inside the kitchen. Ok, it's not like you're going to see any miracles of culinary creativity here, but it's nice to see your food being made, and more importantly, the state of the kitchen!

Another good thing we like is the fact that you can make your own topping/sauce. It's been a while since I've seen a meal being served with a mortar and pestle! L-kun's here grinding up some sesame seeds to be added to soy sauce to make a nice dipping sauce for the tonkatsu.

So whilst it may not be haute cuisine, it was a great (and relaxing) way to end a very big, but completely enjoyable day. Thoroughly recommend it. And if you wanted a recipe for tonkatsu, check out my other blog Raising Adelaide.

Itadakimasu!

Beautiful Biei - Breath-taking Brilliance

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:48:17 PDT

10th of August, 2010 - After a stop at the Hill of Zerubu, we came to the place that T-chan's parents had been looking for. A wonderful part of paradise known as Shikisainooka - the Colours of Four Seasons Hill. This is about 6-7 km south (as the crow flies) of the actual town of Biei and is definitely one of the must see places in the area. The map below shows you how to get there from Biei itself (you may need to zoom in). The farm is free - however they do request a 200 yen donation for the up-keep. The following link also shows the calender of flower blooms throughout the year across Biei.

View Hokkaido Map in a larger map

Shikisainooka is a cross between a working flower farm and a tourist attraction, and shows just how well such multi-purpose industry can work. The farm sits on about 7 hectares , and is open all throughout the year. It also happens to be home to the obligatory hay bale giants. At night they come alive and devour any stray tourist that mistakenly finds their way onto the farm... it's tragic, but what a great place to be eaten by a straw monster.

The garden - earlier in the year - has a lot of lavender, but like most such places the season for lavender had already passed us by. Still, whilst there wasn't much in the way of lavender available, the farm more than made up for it in terms of sheer colour. And I won't even pretend to know what all the flowers are.... but instead, I will let the photos do the talking. I most probably should try culling down the number of similar photos - but for the life of me I just don't know which I can take off.

The one thing I will say however is - this was one of those moments as you come over the rise that you just can't believe how beautiful the flowers are....

There's just so much variety... even in the uniformity!

This is not the only such farm in the area - in fact Biei and Furano are famous throughout Japan for such beautiful vistas.

And another feature of the area - other than the hills of flowers - are the trees (though I didn't shoot any good examples). They have a fetish here for the unusual single tree (or clump of trees) set against the hillside. An example is the famous Ken and Mary Tree.

And once again, the landscape of Hokkaido is a fantastic supporting star in this production... looking more like the sweeping tree-covered European plains than a Japanese countryside. Unfortunately we arrived quite late in the afternoon... hence the long shadows of our family in the foreground. On the downside we only had about 30 mins to look around before it was due to close - but on the upside, the lower sun had started to cast a wonderful light over the fields. Another highlight that really didn't come out in the photos was the giant of a mountain, Daisetsuzan that loomed amazingly over the landscape... unfortunately there was too much cloud around to get a good pic of it - but it made me want to pencil in a driving trip through Daisetsuzan National Park on one of our up-coming trips back to Japan.

Here's one last one for luck. Beautiful... and that has nothing to do with the photos either.

Of course - L-kun was having fun, but there's only so many flowers to examine. A tractor however is a source of endless joy and curious fun. Of course, I'm not entire sure that this was meant to be part of a play gym (and thinking back on it, we were perhaps lucky the he didn't find the key and start it up and go for a late afternoon drive through the flowers - one way to get on the news).

And I mentioned that the farm also has a strong lavender connection. Well, that extends to the favourite tourist item in Japan - the seasonally flavoured ice-cream. In this case, lavender soft-serve. Whilst the flavour is not designed to knock your socks off, it was most definitely lavender.

And just to show that I don't let my wife do all the stunt work, here I am getting stuck into my own.... but hold on... what's that moving in the background. Oh no! The boy hay monster has come to have it's own just-woke-up-and-have-a-horrible-gnawing-hunger-pain satisfying snack.

Will I escape?... you'll just have to stay tuned for the next post.

Meanwhile... at least someone with a camera drove back to Sapporo that night (it's about 2+ hours). The driver was Otousan, who had done a brilliant job throughout the day - despite repeated requests to share the driving. It was definitely a long, long day... and yet it was beautiful to watch the passing scenery as the sun set - the hot humid summer mist rising from the fields.

Then again... maybe I never left that field of flowers...

Journey To Biei - A Breath of Fresh Air

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:12:34 PDT

10th of August, 2010 - After a very long (and a bit turbulent) day at Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa (to the north of Sapporo), we were on our way back home when Otousan decided to take us through Biei. Now Biei is a small town, notably on the way to the much more well known area of Furano. What's the area well known for? Well come Spring/Summer, it's famous for flowers - and in particular lavender fields. Well - it was too late in the year for Lavender (which is harvested and the hills are left decided unadorned), but we were hoping to see a few flowers anyhow.

Actually - the area between Asahikawa and Biei were quite remarkable for their open pastures and distinctly non-Japaneseness... though that's perhaps being a little too stereotypical. The openness of Hokkaido is wonderful. Despite the fact that Okaasan had suffered a strong bout of heat-stroke, she'd recovered well enough to indulge us (and here I mean, me) by stopping occasionally to get out the car to enjoy the scenery.

I hadn't really had much of an expectation of Biei... I knew they grew lots of flowers, but that was about it. Then we came across a small field on the way to Biei and we pulled over to have a better look. The place was called Zerubunooka (The Hill of Zeruba... for some reason).

View Hokkaido Map in a larger map

We jumped out of the car, and I was a little excited at this point... Not sure what the flowers were below, but they seemed to sign-post a flower field. That was good enough for us - though it was clear that T-chan's parents thought we might have better luck down the road. Still, it was late in the afternoon, and as they say - a bird in the hand...

Now this is very much a tourist location - and you can buy all sorts of gifts and go for quad-bike rides. The real reason to come here is the flower fields - and we found that the Lavender fields had definitely gone (beware, I've read a lot of English literature that suggests the Lavender fields are open till the end of August... I'd suggest that July is the latest you'd want to leave it). Still the flowers were nice, and there were a wide assortment there.

The name doesn't mean a whole heap to me - however, they seem to think it's important to announce the proper coordinates: latitude: 43°35'13" and longitude: 142°28'13"... Good ol' Google Maps tells me it's 43.60674° (lat) and 142.47102° (lat). Does any of this matter? Well, most probably not unless you were planning to attack the flower field with Cruise Missile. Not perhaps the most likely thing... all things considered.

The flowers were quite muted, and I have to admit that I was a little disappointed (after hearing of the famous flower fields). Still, you have to make the most of what you've got, so we had a bit of fun walking around enjoying the blooms (and the tonbo, dragonflies).

And it was a good time to just relax in the late summer evening... and I think Okaasan enjoyed the fresh (cooler) air. It was nice to be able to spend some time together just walking around talking and enjoying the scenery.

And the scenery wasn't just "flower fields"... but there was sunflowers (ok, I know, they're flowers too), and some more of the open pastures. As I said, not an image that I would normally associate with Japan. I could have stayed around a lot longer taking photos... and enjoying that fresh country-pure air.

But Otousan was getting a little frustrated with all of the dawdling - he wanted to get a move on (as he something else to show us... ). We all jumped in the car and headed off for our next destination. Biei.

But you'll have to wait for the next post to see what we found... and to give you a hint, we finally found what we'd been looking for.

Asahiyama Zoo Pt 2 - Snacks and Snackees

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:06:18 PDT

10th of August, 2010 - This is the second instalment from Arashiyama Zoo - and we'll see how I go in terms of finishing it off. Still getting over a cold and a heavy bout of working for a living. The first thing I'll say is that Japan is not the first place I'd think of for watching penguins - however that's most probably far from the reality. Indeed, Japan has a somewhat natural affinity to these strange birds of the ice - you just need to google penguins in Japan to see things like the famous Penguin Parade in Noboribetsu Marine Park Nixe in Hokkaido.

Arashiyama Zoo's exhibit is a lot less 'exploitative' and features some novel experiences, such as the underwater glass tunnel that allows you to view the penguins in their almost natural environment. The water. Unfortunately for us, when we were there, only a single penguin (out of quite a few) felt the need for a swim. Which was surprising given how hot it was. Did I mention the queues. You have to wait a long time in queues to see any of the main exhibits such as the polar bears or the seals.

Now penguins have a certain grace - especially in water. Baby penguins however are a different story. They just look tragic in their over-sized-mum-knitted-70's-sweaters. I can imagine however why they might be a tasty morsel for sharks, orca and polar bears (who must look somewhat ruefully over at the penguin pen) if only polar bears lived in the southern hemisphere - the penguins natural habitat.

One of the other major exhibits is the seals... where their area features a remarkable underwater tube through which they can swim and observe the visitors as if we were the animals in the cage. Unfortunately the queue for that was about 30 mins or more, and we'd reached our limit. I was satisfied enough to watch the seal show on the surface. It's a hard life being fed a diet of fresh fish every other hour. This brings up one word of warning. Like most Japanese attractions, there's a squillion people there and all waiting in line. In summer time it can be oppressive.

Changing tack slightly... but no less un-Japanese, we then visited the Lion area. This was a good area as it let you get all sorts of different views of the Lion (from close up to long distance views from above).

I had the very distinct feeling that he was looking right down my 250mm camera lens.... just hoping and praying that I'd fall into the Lion's Den and make an early lunch.

Time too cool off... with a taco dispenser. Actually - it was a VERY hot day, and we did have one serious event during the afternoon. T-chan's mother suddenly got quite sick, and we ended up having to go to the first aid centre. Heat stroke. It was something that was afflicting a lot of the people that year all over Japan. And it suddenly became a very real problem. Thankfully, rest, fluid and some time laying down in the air-conditioned first aid room was what was required. Scary.

Whilst Okaasan rested, the rest of us had a quick look around the rest of the zoo (though less waiting in lines). Now as you might remember from my post on Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo, I have a somewhat uneasy relationship with zoos. Even when we go to the Adelaide Zoo, I have a few qualms. I especially feel uneasy when I see the primates in the zoo. We came across the orang-utan enclosure, and there on the outside (I'm not sure if this was intentionally separated) was the big male. There was a look of total resignation and sadness in his eyes. It really did make me start questioning my position on zoos again...

Then again, when we went inside, there was another moment that seemed to wipe away any feelings of sadness. The young orang-utan was in fine form.... and I have to admit that I was totally captivated as was L-kun and T-chan. Whilst the grumpy old Dad may have been a little less than inspiring, the child was just a bundle of life.

It's also interesting to see how similar the relationships between our hairier cousins and our own families. I'm sure T-chan has felt like this on many an occasion. Not entirely sure what's going on, but having the sense that something bad was about to happen at any instant.

Outside, we checked out a few other animals enclosures... the deer were nice, and I'd not see impressive horns like this up close before. Of course, if you've ever been to Nara you would have experienced enough deer to last a lifetime.

Now we come to the final sorry tale of the day... T-chan and I had taken L-kun to visit the giraffe or kirin which is also the name for the mythical asian animal that adorns the beer of the same name. Well - we were quite surprised to find that the enclosure was designed in such a way that the giraffe could literally bend over the fence and grab branches from the crowd. And do you think that they were lapping it up. The kids were going crazy.

And I have to say that this is one father who let the love for his son make him do something he knew he shouldn't have. I joined in. And yes, lifted L-kun up so that he could feed the giraffe which was one of the things that really excited him. He just wanted to do it more and more. Now I am a sensible, well educated adult that knows that captive animals most probably aren't adapted to eat any old vegetation... so feeding them isn't such a good idea. I know this - but still I let L-kun try.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder... and a rather agitated Japanese man was telling me that it wasn't safe... to which I rather foolishly replied that it was ok, I was holding my son well. To which he replied that he wasn't talking about my son. The penny dropped... he was criticising me for feeding the animal. At which point I had to think - well, yes, it was something I would have agreed with (if I hadn't been touched by the glowing smiles of my son). But I also felt a strong sense of anger. He hadn't said anything to anyone else that was there. Just the foreigner. The person that he felt that he could chastise... though I will be careful not to ascribe too many cultural stereotypes to this. Of course, my indignation might have been more vocal if it wasn't for the fact that I knew he was most likely right. I do wonder however about the zoo's clearly tacit approval of the behaviour... I can't believe that this was the first time that feeding the giraffe has happened.

Japan is very friendly - but in a culturally restrained mono-culture, I sometimes do feel that it's very easy to stand out. I'm sure every foreigner that lives in Japan feels the same way, but most probably have much more disturbing stories.

Changing the subject... you never know what you'll find in a zoo. Interestingly, mushrooms (of fungi more broadly) do not belong to the plant kingdom (or the animal kingdom for that matter). Rather they come from same sort of family that spawned (pun intended) yeasts and moulds. Japanese mushrooms are well known for their psycho-active qualities... but I'm sure they're also know for their ability to be mistaken with poisonous mushrooms. One of my favourite dishes to make is mushroom risotto - not sure what the reaction would be to these sorts of ingredients however.

Well - we come to the end of the Arashiyama Zoo story... it's a great place to visit if you're in Hokkaido and either have a car, or willing to catch the train up to visit Asahikawa (there price's a little expensive however ranging from 4940 yen for a discounted "free seating" ticket - with half price for children). The train take just over 1.5 hours from Sapporo. For me, it'd be cheaper and more enjoyable to hire a car for the day if there's more than one of you going.

But remember - it can get quite hot (and humid) in summer, and the queues can be extraordinary. Take plenty of liquids (especially water / sports drink) and be patient. Asahiyama Zoo is one of the most popular in Japan - and the enclosures are nice - and much nicer than in some Japanese zoos that I've seen. It is however a zoo, so if you don't like animals in captivity, it may be one to avoid.

If you go up however, be sure to pop in to at least Biei on the way back to Sapporo if you're doing only a day trip.... which leads on to my next post....

Asahiyama Zoo Pt 1 - Polar Bear Fun In The Sun

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:52:06 PDT

10th of August, 2010 - Well it's a special day - we're off to the zoo... Asahiyama Zoo. Now - this is where I think I might lose people a little, so I'll try and explain slowly. Asahiyama is a mountain in Sapporo. That's not where the zoo is. Asahiyama Zoo in fact isn't even in Asahiyama. No. It's in Asahikawa. That's a large-ish city to the north of Sapporo (see below), about 137 km from Sapporo / 2 hours drive (by tolled expressway) or 150 km / 3 hours drive by untolled roads. Once you get into the city you'll see plenty of signs for the zoo - and just be aware that there's at least two entry points.

View Larger Map

Now it was a reasonable drive, so we all got in the car nice and early to get there for the opening of the zoo, around 9:30 am in summer, or 10:30 in winter. Tickets are 800yen per person - or if you pay an extra 200 yen, you can visit for as many times as you want (for about 6 months). The zoo itself was first opened in 1964 but had pretty well started to die (like many Japanese tourist parks) in the early-mid 90's. Around that time they took a brave step in 1997 to re-invest a lot of funds into making the exhibits more immersive - no, thankfully not interactive! It worked. Asahiyama Zoo has one of the reputations of being one of the best Zoos in Japan, and is always very popular. Indeed it has been battling head to head with Ueno Zoo in terms of the total number of visitors per year (and is now around 3.5 million!). That's a lot of people, and whilst we didn't expect they'd all chose this day to visit the zoo, it was still going to be busy. The drive up to Asahikawa is quite nice - although cloudy in part. Still it's a bit of countryside that I hadn't experienced before.

Now I've split this post over two (as I'm essentially lazy) and I won't go into too much detail on the history of the zoo of the animals. Most are not that unique. In fact I'd have to say that I'm not so keen on Japanese zoos in general as the exhibits tend to be a little cramped and dated - and a bit of a throwback. Asahiyama is however quite different, with lots more vegetation and natural environs as well as a number of special viewing spots.

One of my favourites were the wolves. You'd be surprised how hard it is to spot a black wolf (though you might wonder looking at the photos). When prone in the grass they were hard to see. Once you do catch hold of those eyes you never lose them again. They're powerful and mesmerising set of peepers.

Actually, despite the grey look about the day in the photo above, when we got to Asahikawa it was mostly fine, and I have to say HOT. I felt particularly sad for the wolves. Black thick winter coats. Still, I'm sure they would have liked to help me get out of my flesh-coat... if givne have a chance.

Then of course there are other slightly less imposing wild dogs. It's hard to look menacing when you're scratching behind your ears.

One of the stranger animals here - or at least I thought it was strange - is the Capybara, from southern Americas. Now when I first saw this animal I thought - awwwww isn't it cute. It kinda looks like a cross between a Guinea Pig (hamster) and a hippopotamus. Ok, I'm not evern going to try and imagine how that could happen. Ewwwwgh. Still, they're a an odd animal in that from one angle they look quite handsome.

From other angles they seem to better fit their title of the world's largest rodents. Weighing typically around 50 kg, these are large. And thankfully they very much are herbivores. Still... the rodent instinct is likely buried in there somewhere. By the way - did you know what makes a rodent a rodent? Apparently it's the fact that these mammals have continuously growing incisors that are only kept under check by constant mastication. That's right - I said MASTICATION. Chewing.

The other animal that I was particularly sympathetic to was the Red Panda, or as it's otherwise known - the Lesser Panda. It was really looked like it struggled... but the interesting thing about the Red Panda enclosure is that there's actually two that are separated by the footpath... with only a log allowing the Panda to walk over everyone's head to move between the two. Still today, the poor Panda didn't do a whole heap of moving.

It did however give us all an honest appraisal - and the verdict wasn't good.

The real attraction for me was the Polar Bear show. I have to admit that these massive animals are one of my favourites. Why - well if you've ever seen a Polar Bear swimming under water you'd understand. They're amazing things to see under water, freed of their huge weight. Of course - above water they're pretty awesome too. In a BIG way.

Forget about the Angry Birds - you would definitely not want to make one of these babies upset with you. I thought it quite disturbing to have the windows so close to the bears. They seemed to have an unhealthy interest in us ~~snacks~~ visitors behind the glass.

Now the main attraction is the pool which is opened up regularly - however - there is often a very long queue to get into the observation area. And I mean a long queue. It took us maybe over 30 minutes of lining up (actually, at least this amount). The thing is that they let people in for about 10 minutes at a time, and then you get moved along. It does feel a little like a conveyor belt at times, but I suppose there's few things that can be done given how popular they are.

And it is worth it. It's amazing seeing these great creatures being so flexible and yes graceful under water. And there's always plenty of fish being thrown in to keep the Polar Bear interested.

Whilst I might not have been getting good photos (the windows can be deceptive for the autofocus on cameras, and manually focusing proved very hit-and-miss with emphasis on miss).

Still hopefully you get some feel for how they go... lots of fun (if you can stand being like a sardine...with the human press).

One of the funny things was that we gave one of the cameras to Otousan to take photos whilst I used the DSLR and T-chan used the video camera. It was interesting to see some of the photos - but much appreciated Otousan!

Some of the photos were just a little too - er - personal however. Although I do have to admit that Polar Bear bottoms are very cute. Or is it just me?

Of course, if you want to get really up close and personal, there's always the rather obliging (and stuffed) Polar Bear out the back. They're a beautiful animal however, and I'd always search out Polar Bears wherever I go. Although I wasn't that keen to wait around as much as we did - especially in the heat which had started to get quite oppressive.

Now we're about halfway through the visit to Asahiyama Zoo... and L-kun was getting just a little trigger happy. So I'd better call it quits for the moment, and finish off this post over the next day or so. Until that time... go ahead, make my day!

Sudako and Temaki Zushi... Why I Gain Weight in Japan - Again

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 05:38:45 PDT

9th August, 2010 - Well I was in for a treat again tonight. Two dishes. Sudako and Temaki zushi - or simply put, hand-rolled sushi. I'll start off with some gratuitous entree diversion known as "sudako", or pickled octopus. First off - get yourself an octopus... then it's pickled in Japanese rice vinegar, sugar, and most likely a good helping of MSG (yes folks, it's not just chinese food that loads up on the good ol' monosodium glutamate). Still - I'd be more interested in knowing how they manage to get this colour!

Slice and dice said octopus (purchased already pickled). Hmmmmmmmm.... tentalicious! This isn't necessarily for the temaki zushi, but it's a great side dish. Any time. Of course - this is not raw... and it's not just eaten by itself.

Instead, it's nicely served up with a big old dollop of Japanese mayonnaise, soy sauce and shichimi spice, or seven flavoured chilli spice. The octopus is simply picked up an dipped into the mayo. Simple and stupendously yum. Who said great food has to be complicated?

Now most people when they hear sushi, their thoughts turn to the small shop-bought sushi from their local (healthy eating fast food). Alternatively, there's the image of the crusty chef who's been perfecting the art of making sushi for decades and whose sushi melts in the mouth. Finally there's those of us foolhardy enough to go and buy a sushi rolling kit and try and do it ourselves. The results of these attempts are normally fraught with stress at getting a decent looking sushi roll.

Now here's the thing...We finally come across (possibly - surprisingly - for the first time in my blog) Nattō. Yes. Nattō. Doesn't sound too bad, does it? Looks kinda like baked beans... but trust me, if computer technology had advanced enough to communicate sheer ickiness, then you'd get the right impression. Nattō is a fermented soy bean... or as we call it, rotten beans. It comes with it's own bacterial growth for crying out loud (Bacillus Subtilis... which by the way, apart from generating rotten beans, can do interesting things such as decompose some forms of explosives. Even I have to admit that's pretty cool) . Nattō 's pungent, highly sticky (and stringy) and has a very sharp nutty flavour. The Japanese love it, and I guess it's one of the reasons they are Japanese after all. So this ingredient is for T-chan and her family. I regret to say, that L-kun loves it as well.

Now you can't have temaki zushi without some nori... seaweed sheets. Love it. This is just cut into quarters, perhaps about 10 cm square (or slightly larger).

The secret of making sushi rice is vinegar... and Japanese rice vinegar in particular. You can buy sushi powder as well (to provide a more authentic flavour - and which is a common additive in Japanese homes) - or failing that you can make your own extra flavouring by adding sugar and salt to the vinegar. A simple recipe is: for 3 cups of rice you will need to add 1/2 cup of vinegar, 2 tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix the vinegar, sugar and salt, and then gradually and gently paddle the mix into the cooked rice. Add to taste - and be careful not to add too much vinegar. T-chan's parents do it the easy way with sushi rice powder.

It's also good to add in some prawn or ebi. Ebi are one of L-kun's favourite foods, and it's usually the first thing that he'll look for or ask for.

Now for the main ingredients for the sushi. We simply use raw tuna (maguro), salmon (sake), mackerel (saba), cucumber, salmon roe (ikura) - or as we did this night, you can use something like flying fish roe (tobiko), cooked egg roll cut into strips - and of course, freshly cooked rice. Don't forget, you're the chef so you can put in whatever you want. There's few if any rules, other than what can be comfortably held in a roll.

So here comes the part where you'll think - hmm, I think I could do that. No need to roll anything... just put your nori flat in your hand (or on the table) and then grab a rice spatula and push the rice onto it. Then simply pile up whatever ingredients you want... ok, including the Nattō, and then when you're done, just grab one corner around (as you would if you were making an icecream cone).

And yes, you can most probably roll them better than this... but don't forget, this is for preparing and eating at the same time. The thing to concentrate on is that you don't want your ingredients falling all over the table. You don't need to get hung up on the perfect conical roll. Not unless you're preparing them earlier or inviting over the Queen. That's one reason why we never buy temaki zushi when going to a restaurant... for us, the fun is in the making!

Bon appétit, and itadakimasu!

Sapporo's White Water Hassamu Action

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 05:50:45 PDT

9th August, 2010 - It was a hot hot day. And back home it would have made for perfect beach weather. Being in Sapporo, that's not so easy. We did however have one alternative. The river. Hassamu river to be precise. Now T-chan had taken L-kun to the river before for some respite from the hot sultry summer weather back in June, further up stream along Hassamu River. I'd never experienced it, so Otousan took L-kun and I to have to some white water action. Sporting some sandals from Otousan we set out to brave the cool waters from the Hokkaido high-lands... and I couldn't wait.

The river is fairly accessible all along the banks, but like beaches, everyone has their favourite spots. T-chans's family used to bring her and her brother here when they were children. I wish I had some photos of that time. We had originally gone to the same spot as the June visit, but there'd been some heavy summer rain and the river was running too strong up there. This place was apparently safer for L-kun.

View Sapporo Map in a larger map

The river wouldn't win any scenic beauty awards - then again - much the same could be said of most Japanese rivers, especially those running through cities. They tend to be quite manufactured / concreted waterways. I guess here in Australia we'd tend to be making these river-sides into well manicured parklands - but I always get the feeling that Japan's rich soil is just too fertile for much in the way of controlled gardening. We're not that far from the wilds after all...

And one of the things you notice is the water regulators and salmon ladders as they're known. Salmon spawning season's from late August to October, and I have experienced it once before. Alas, it was too early in the year now to see Salmon making their way up river. I can't imagine going for a swim in the river then. Just a little creepy.... just my luck to come across the Jaws of the Salmon world. You do however see plenty of children fishing in the river, though their looking for finger-sized fish. Not fish that could take your finger.

And yes, L-kun enjoyed his second trip to Hassamu river (though I think he had more fun with Mummy). Still, when it was this hot (around 36 degC, with high humidity), any water is a relief. I know a lot of people come down to the rivers for picnics. Next time we're in Sapporo during summer, we'll have to make a day of it.

Until then... L-kun, just sit back and let the cool river of life's relexation flow over you...

Sapporo's Gotenzan Park Playground - B&W Style

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 05:13:52 PDT

9th August, 2010 - A return to Gotenzan with Daddy. The thing about our holidays to Japan is that invariably, there's a part that I'm not there. That's generally not a problem, but it does mean that I tend to miss out on a lot of experiences. So there's always an opportunity to catch up when I arrive. Such a case was when we re-visited Gotenzan Kouen; which L-kun had visited with mummy last year. Last time was in colour... this time it's glorious B&W.

The park hadn't changed that much... yes, it was still dominated by the huge pyramidal edifice (Gotenzan). It wasn't such a fine day this time around though.... but at least it had Daddy. And Daddy really enjoyed sharing these play times with L-kun too.

Of course, L-kun is always willing to offer a helping hand. It's amazing to see how readily children offer their hands, both to help others, and to be helped. Where do we lose this skill?

I wonder what L-kun thinks of his parents taking countless photos? I know he loves sitting with Mummy and Daddy nowadays and looking through the photos, so I guess it's also worth it. I know he's one over-photographed child however.

One of the things you get used to in Japan, is that there's an over-abundance of interesting sculptural designs. Even in children's playgrounds. It's a good experience coming across some new weird and wonderful play equipment design, and definitely makes me feel a little disappointed when we go back to Adelaide, with our standard slippery slide, swings etc. Then again, I'm not sure kids really care...

And here's a cheeky T-chan shot.. The umbrella's there against the heat, not the threat of rain. It's hard to gain a feel in these pictures just how hot it was... but it would have been in the mid 30's with high humidity. Very strange for a Sapporo summer. Or so I'm told...

Well, this has been a bit of a different post. I promise I won't do too many of these B&W specials... but every now and again doesn't hurt.

Drinks Anyone - Japanese Drink Vending Machines

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 21:05:08 PDT

8th August, 2010 - It's time's like that you need a nice cold refreshing Coca Cola... (advertising commission is in the mail, I'm sure). Well, this is just a short post about another typical part of Japanese life. Vending machines. Especially drink vending machines. You can tell this photo was taken in summer as all of the drinks are cold (blue lights). One of the best part of Japanese vending machines are the hot (er - red light?) drinks. A great winter's treat to grab yourself a hot can of coffee from a vending machine as you're negotiating the snow outside. That's a long way away now however.

I'm constantly amazed how these vending machines are not vandalised. Then again, there's very little apparent vandalism or graffiti in Japan in general. I'm also curious about just how ubiquitous these vending machines are. They're everywhere - in fact there's one sitting on the street about 50 m from T-chan's house in Sapporo. In the middle of nowhere. I can't even say I've ever seen anyone buy a drink from it, so I wonder why it's there. If nothing else, I suppose it's a tempting advertising method...

One of the other differences you can notice is the range of drinks: coffees (lots of different styles), teas, coke, sports drink, green teas, fruit juices (still or carbonated), and of course water. And all pretty cheap (from 120yen for the smaller drinks to about 150yen for the larger). And did I mention the beer vending machines? Hmmmm.... beer vending machines... it's a hard life.

Sapporo At Night With Cars and Camera

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 21:04:08 PDT

8th August, 2010 - I went out for the evening, and took my camera along. The night was still quite hot, and for some reason I was attracted to the bright lights of the food places. Lots of food places. The Japanese tend to spend a lot of time eating away from home.

Anyway - where was I - that's right. Eating out. Well, of course that's a really bad segue to the photos of cars parked out the front of eateries. Not the most amazing photos, I know, and they had more to do with me seeing what my new camera would do than anything else. But it does allow me to talk about cars. Well, the one thing about car ownership in Japan is that it's actually quite cheap - certainly compared to the cost of buying a car here in Australia (Note - with the current high Aussie dollar, that's getting better). There are two exceptions to this - getting a drivers licence is hugely expensive for Japanese, and the life-time of cars is ridiculously short.

Japanese have to attend a driving school as a prerequisite of getting a licence, and this can be quite an expensive exercise (I've heard of fees exceeding 300,000yen). Amazingly expensive. Then of course there's always the tests. The written test sounds like it's just a formality (10 multiple choice questions), but the driving test is where it gets serious. From all accounts, it's common to take 2, 3 or 4 tests before passing - of course paying a fee each time. Of course, if you're a foreigner you can drive on an international licence for up to a year. You can "exchange" your normal licence - and if you come from Australia, UK, Canada, New Zealand or most of the European countries you can even avoid the written and driving tests. Sweet. If you're unlucky not to have lived in any of these countries, then sorry, you've got a more painful process to go through. There's some more info about the process - at least in Sapporo to be found here, and a couple more here and here (this is a good one).

The thing about cars in Japan is (apart from them tending to be quite boxy IMO) they tend to be relatively new. New cars are comparatively cheap, but second hand cars are VERY cheap. The reason is that as cars get older in Japan, they become harder/more expensive to register. They have to undergo regular (every 2 years) road fitness tests (called Shaken) which gets stricter the older the car. That's why many people tend to off-load their cars once they get to around 60,000 km. And don't expect to get much when selling an older car... it's more likely you'll have to pay to get it scrapped/recycled. Coming from an Aussie experience, this is a very strange system. It does however have the advantage of ensuring much cleaner, cheaper, and safer cars. Of course, it also keeps the auto-industry cruising along very nicely, thank you.

By the way - you may notice in Japan that there are different coloured number-plates - yellow plates indicates a smaller category car (for commuting around town), and white plates which indicate larger (more expensive) cars. Costs for things invariably depend on whether it's a yellow or white plated car.

Just quickly - the other thing about driving in Japan - or at least Hokkaido - is that (1) speed restrictions seem to be not even a suggestion - most people seem to drive 20km/hr over here, (2) radar detectors are almost universal (hence point number 1), (3) people hardly ever parallel park - perhaps for efficiency, (4) when perpendicular parking it seems many more reverse as compared to front-first (which is more typical here in Australia), and finally (5) the exception to number 1 is that if you come across a police car, no one seems to dare to pass that police car - on even multiple lane roads - no matter how slow it's driving. This last point can be very frustrating!

In retrospect, I'm not exactly sure that this was such a good idea to be standing outside taking photos of people's cars. I suspect there may have been at least a few people thinking "What the hell is that silly gaijin doing taking photos of our cars. Let's go punch him in the head... after we finish this wonderful dinner... if he sticks around.... for another 20-30 minutes more." Ok. That's a very un-Japanese way to think. But people should be a little careful to respect the privacy of others - and whilst being a foreigner in Japan does tend to lend you a lot of licence to do "strange things", it's not a right.

Sapporo's Yummy Night In and Wet Night Out

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 01:36:08 PDT

7th August, 2010 - Well, after all that shopping earlier in the day, we were well primed for a quick dinner before heading out for the night. Okaasan had made a fairly typical meal for us - simple but delicious. We had a chicken meatball soup... (above).

Some tempura beans from T-chan's auntie's garden... very fresh and delicious way of eating them.

And we also had some baked Hokke, a fish (related to mackerel) that you'll find up to the north of Japan... and especially Hokkaido. This is often written as Hoke in english, and shouldn't be confused with Hoki which is a more common fish (especially around Australia and New Zealand). The fish itself is quite nice, a firm white fish meat that is very nice no matter how you cook it.

After having eaten dinner, T-chan and I went out... and I have to admit, we don't get much of a chance to do that enough these days. The outing of choice? To go see a movie ("Inception" - don't forget this was last year) down at the Sapporo Cinema Frontier at the JR Tower, Sapporo Station. Going to the cinema isn't cheap in Japan... the normal price is 1800yen per adult (about 22.50AUD) - or down to 1000yen for children. It used to be that going to the cinema was cheap in Australia, but those days are gone. We often pay about 18AUD these days here...no wonder the cinema is struggling these days.

Now in Australia we tend to have one cheap day per week (here it's "tight-arse tuesday")... but things are a little more complicated in Japan:

First day of the month
Menzudei (wednesday special for males only)
Ladies Day (thursday special - you guessed it, for femails only)
Late screenings (after 8pm)
Mornings during the week
Over 50s - 1000yen

Very complicated indeed... and whilst we caught the 8:30 session (ok, we're tight), and even though it was a Saturday night there really weren't that many people there. Still, we enjoyed our date out, and we enjoyed Inception. Not quite as cerebral as I was lead to believe, but still a good movie with plenty of action with the Kubrik-esque style. As for the movie-going experience, it was quite enjoyable, and JR Tower's a convenient place to watch a movie. Strange to go to Japan to watch a Hollywood movie.

On the way home the weather took a turn for the worse. Summer time in Japan is synonymous with rain, and whilst less so in Hokkaido it was still pretty bad. We thought we could out-walk it from the subway line... alas with only one umbrella (which T-chan had except for this photo when we got back home), we were always going to struggle. I can't remember the last time I got this wet.... actually, this is most probably why I don't (as a habit) enter wet t-shirt competitions. Good taste and possibly local laws prevent it. Or at least should.

Next time we'll definitely taxi it back!

The Food Chain... Shopping at a Sapporo Supermarket

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:59:14 PDT

7th August, 2010 - Well, this is the third and final in my sequence of eating and shopping in a typical Sapporo shopping centre. Here we step where only about a million people a day dare to step. Inside a Sapporo Supermarket. Now to be honest I've not spent a lot of time in supermarkets outside Hokkaido, so I don't know if there's many differences. As you might expect, differences are pretty obvious when you compare with a typical Aussie supermarket. Yes - prices in yen is a bit of an obvious one. But also, the big obvious one is to see the extent to which seafood replaces red-meats.

It's when you see huge freezer section after section filled with all manner of seafood delights that you appreciate just how dependent Japan is on the ocean for it's food.

And the range is quite impressive too... we're not talking fish, squid, prawns, lobster and maybe baby octopii... but a whole range of different beasties - many of which I've never seen before. Certainly not here in Australia. One of the more unusual things you find are Ascidians, or known as hoya (ホヤ) in Japanese - these are more colloquially known as sea-squirts.

Of course, there's not just whole fish for sale... you can even buy them disassembled! I have to admit not the most attractive (or appetizing) to my eyes, but still, to a country that lives of fish stock, you can't go passed some yummy fish-bits.

And it's not only seafood that you can buy - I mean, an entire isle of free-made sushi packs - and pretty cheap too! I can't actually recall us ever buying pre-made supermarket sushi, but it's definitely a convenient lunchtime or quick dinner option.

I guess this is the part of the post where I say that it's actually - despite general belief - quite cheap to eat in Japan. In fact, T-chan was quite amazed when she first came to Australia as to how expensive food shopping was here. That's only got worse here of late with the huge spike in fruit and veg prices after the spate of disasters in Australia.

Here's a wider look at just a small part of fresh-seafood section... It's huge, and just goes on and on.

The other area that tends to be bigger is the dairy food section - at least here in Sapporo. Milk is prevalent here, and I have to say it's delicious... one of the reasons why Hokkaido soft-serve ice-cream is loved by many. And for a city that has so much snow in winter, it's amazing how much ice-cream is consumed.

And strangely enough, the red-meat section is quite a good distance away from this seafood section (actually it's with the veg - but I'm not sure if you can read anything into that or not). I know Aussie beef is seen as a bit of a cheap-meat in Japan. Comparatively so at least. Here's some good Aussie Beef... 780 yen per 400 grams (or about 25 AUD per kg)

This price is not that far from the price we pay here in Australia for a good scotch fillet steak in the supermarket... and you'd pay about 15AUD per kg for the same "sizzle" thinly sliced meat. Although Aussie shops tend to look for leaner beef in these health conscious times. So red-meat is definitely not cheap in Japan.

Now this is where we do a return to stereo-type. Fresh seasonal fruit is where a lot of people get the impression of it being ridiculously priced in Japan. For example, a box of 6 peaches comes to a cheap 1980yen - or 25AUD. That's a little on the pricey side, even if they are individually wrapped and boxed.

Watermelons were not that bad... 1580yen each (or just under 20 AUD).

Ok - this is more expensive...3980yen (50AUD) melons... at least their local Hokkaido produce (though for that price, I might have wanted them to have been flown in from somewhere a bit exotic).

But by the time we get to cantaloupes (or rockmelons as they're known in Australia), you start getting a little pricey...at about 5,800yen (72.50AUD). That's starting to get a little pricey indeed.

And these are just ordinary supermarket prices. You can spend much more than that... such as shown here for 42,000yen (525AUD) or the record for two Yubari melons that went for 2.5 million yen (just over 31,000AUD) for the first pair of the season. Now why is it that the Japanese are willing to pay this much for fruit? The odd thing is that in Japan, people don't pay that sort of money for fruit to eat for themselves. No - they buy expensive fruits as gifts for family, friends or associates. And there's nothing that says I love you than buying your beloved a pair of $30,000 melons!

Interesting but almost unrelated fact:

Yubari is a small city of about 12-13,000 people to the east of Sapporo - but out in the middle of no-where. It is now famous for at least two things - it's ultra-expensive melons, and it's monumental debt. It certainly needs all the help it can get, as the city (an ex mining town) went into complete bankruptcy in 2007 under extreme debt incurred from national government borrowing to build up the city. Like many places in Japan during the late 80's and early 90's, they thought that lending vast monies from the government to build subsidised amusement parks (and other attractions) would inspire local industry. Instead, it progressively impoverished much of the Japan's rural areas that had succumbed to the loans.

Actually Yubari is sort of well know for a third thing... having the youngest mayor, Naomichi Suzuki aged only 30 years of age. Having fallen into bankruptcy, the city of Yubari was the centre of considerable remedial action by the central government. Suzuki was part of that Tokyo-led government intervention for two years, when he decided he'd try his luck at politics. He won the mayoral position in April 2011 - the youngest mayor in Japan in the most financially struggling municipality with the most expensive melons. Interesting combo.

So - whilst in the West we see mega-expensive fruits for sale in Japan and wonder at the meaning of it all, there is a sort of sense to it... but that doesn't mean that the Western media don't go crazy every time they see these high prices. It's always good to reinforce a stereotype after all - and the one which shows Japan as being mega-expensive is a good one. On the whole, my experience is that there are many fresh vegetables that are cheaper in Japan - and seafood is a no-brainer. You just have to be wise in shopping, and avoid the trophy fruit abd vegetables.

Now melons aren't the only form of gift-giving, and I think that I will end here. The perfect gift for all occasions. A beer pack. I'll just put my order in for a slab of Sapporo Draft shall I? Now, what's the occasion? Well, it is after 6pm somewhere... isn't it (ok... I don't mean to sound like a complete slosh here).

My final advice... when travelling to Japan, don't be afraid to venture into a supermarket. It may not be the first thing that you'll think of when you're planning your holiday. But it tells you a lot about the common things, and the points of difference between two places.

PS - it was most probably a bit silly me taking so many photos in the supermarket... and I'm surprised I wasn't told not to. Still, I'm glad that I could show a bit of what it's like to shop like a normal person rather than as a tourist.

Other Food Findings... A Story on Filling Your Stomach Through Your Eyes

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:13:47 PDT

7th August, 2010 - Continuing our adventures in the local Aeon shopping centre... there's one thing that I that I do love about Japan. The range of food places that you can find. And one of my favourite foods is Yakitori. Ok - when I think yakitori-ya, I'm normally thinking a dingy dive somewhere in a side street somewhere, or a seedy place filled with cigarette smoke and the smell of beer. But there's also a very refined version of these stores - very family friendly.

And whilst they may lack a slight texture (not to mention palpable ambience), they're a good place to grab a bite to eat during the day. I love the boys expression above... reminds me of the stereotypical dog staring at through the butchers window - unable to get what he most desires. Aren't we all a bit like that?... the grass is greener on the other side, the taste sweeter beyond the glass?

The other thing I love about Japanese food are the bakeries. Now a lot of people don't get Japanese baked goods, but for me they're brilliant. Not too sweet (unlike most similar places here in Australia), and always a great variety of flavours (some of which are a little weird), and shapes. And comparatively cheap.

I know I often sound like a paid advertisement for Japan - and I'm sure that many people that have moved to Japan have well-and-truly got over the whole difference-thang.... but for me I'm still a convert. I still remember from my first trip back in 2003 being totally blown away by the breads that you could buy. I especially love the thick sliced breads that look and feel more like wheaten cloud pillows than bread. And I'm also a big fan of the corn-oil margarines... very tasty - though I admit to having no idea how (un)healthy they are. And don't care.

Now this bakery, the Bread Factory, is not necessarily a favourite amongst our family, but it's got a good range of foods. Part of me wonders about the hygiene aspects of having all this food out in baskets, and sometimes Japan can be a complete bucket-load of contradictions (as compared to the individually wrapped biscuits that are every where).

The other thing you'll find an abundance of is kawaii, cute foods. Panda anyone? Coming from Adelaide (who are current custodians of Funi and Wang Wang) I should be upset by this blatant attack on all that is good and true about Panda-hood... but for the life of me, I just want to bite their heads off. The cake ones that is.... (lick lips)... honest.

Kameron (カメロン) anyone?... but before you answer... whilst kame is turtle, this means Cameron. I don't like it when my food has a name. A person's name that is. Even at 140 yen.

I much prefer generically named things - like donuts. Hmmm - getting hungry. And that's after a HUGE meal of KFC tonight. Ok - so obviously healthy diet is not top on my list of priorities at the moment.

Speaking of KFC (actually that's not a bad segue to this photo), the other thing that Japan has a love for is the Colonel in drag. Ok - it may not be a woman's drag, but it's not unusual to see the man in all manner of dress. Any occasion is good enough to put him in a coat, armour, or bear suit. Sometimes a happi coat is enough to get the message across that whilst he's sporting the appearance of a white colonial plantation owner, he's just as comfortable in the local digs.

Food Faux Pas... Or Just Faux Parfait?

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 01:47:27 PDT

7th August, 2010 - My family had popped into one of the Aeon shopping centres in Sapporo, and were thinking about having lunch - and that's always a pleasant though at times confusing task. Always so many options - especially when you stand outside a row of shops each with their foods on display. And it got me thinking of why is it that Japan seems to be largely unique in this tradition. And reminds me of when I first came to Japan, in 2003, and didn't have any idea about anything. It's embarrassing, but I didn't know it was all fake. At least most of it is... I can still recall going past one little cafe which had some pasta dishes out... and T-chan was explaining to me that it was all fake. To prove it she stuck her finger in the dish to show it was plastic. It turned out to be real... oops. Now that's embarrassing - a food faux pas? Maybe, but it's also a rare exception.

Most cafes have displays out the front, which are known as shokuhin sanpuru or food samples. They pretty well tell you all there is to know about the dish, and are a god-send for foreigners who are unfamiliar with Japanese (or Japanese food for that matter). Though most make ordering easy, some can also be a little harder to interpret such as spicy hot (karai) foods.

It always amazed me how much attention to detail there was in these food displays. Most of them literally look good enough to eat. All they need is to invent the perpetual smell, and it would be perfect. But one question kept coming into my head - why? Was this really about making foreigners lives that much easier? Actually, it's quite an interesting tale; which I can't hope to justice - but will try. [Note: the best sources of info I found on the net was from an Asahi Shimbun article by Chisato Yokota, a really good post by Steve Edwards on SeekJapan, a great newsletter from Yoko Howes , and an interesting expose by Japan Times by Yoko Hani - drop us a line if you know of others].

Now the story goes something like this, the practice of creating fake or display foods originally started around 1917 in Tokyo, with the fake foods being created out of wax. By the mid 1920's these wax creations were being used by a restaurant as a means of cooking up some extra business (bad pun I know). Apparently, it worked. Then along comes the manufacturing entrepeneur Ryuzo Iwasaki, who developed a technique for producing fake omuraisu in Osaka in 1932. Strangely he had been initially attracted by the anatomical models that were being made from wax around that time... I'm just wondering how differently things would have turned out if he'd remained fascinated by the anatomical models - choosing doctors by the organs they displayed out the front of their surgeries? Er... food was definitely a good commercial move Ryuzo! Indeed, the popularity of food displays is often attributed to the sudden influx of foreign foods into Japan, and the need for a universal language... the WYSIWYG of the early twentieth century. That may or may not be true, but I don't think that it's something that modern day Japanese would give a second's thought to.

It was a great success, and started the Iwasaki fake food company. From those humble beginnings it turned into an industry worth billions of yen per yer. With cash in pocket, Ryuzo returned to his hometown of Gujo in Gifu prefecture; where a significant gathering of fake food companies have been established. The question remains - why? And more importantly, why don't other cultures use the same methods? According to one Japanese writer, Nose Yasunobum, this comes from a Japanese trait to eat first with the eyes... the reality however is that if you were to ask most Japanese why, they would shrug their shoulders as if you were asking why the sky is blue. Whatever reason, it is now a cultural norm - and one which is convenient for so many travellers to Japan.

It's hard to conceive of just how many of these displays are made - I mean after all, the sheer number of restaurants/cafes in Sapporo alone are countless... then if you consider the main cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya - it's hard not so see how big the industry has become. Yet for all of that, this food is designed to achieve one thing only. To make the shops food look more appetising than anything else you're going to see. I guess it's also somewhat of a status symbol... the nicer the displays, the nicer the impression of the shop. Of course, if the food doesn't taste as good as the advertisement looked...that's a different story. And yes, over-sell definitely occurs in the food-display business as well. But that's a testament to the power of suggestion, and the desire of the normal punter to want to believe in finding the perfect hamubagu, tonkatsu, omuraisu or parfait. Don't we all deep down want that?

Apparently these faux food displays are not only used in shop-fronts, but also in advertising... as they allow a higher degree of photographic freedom and "consistency". They don't melt. Not the best advertisement I would think if people realised that the fake version looked better than the real thing. The thing is, that these fake foods often have to be assembled with the same sorts of skills and techniques as the real things... and often the best makers have strong cooking backgrounds as well.

You can buy fake food displays off-the-shelf (see below), but the best ones are customised in terms of how the shop actually makes it's food, from the dishes, to the ingredients and style employed. This starts with moulds being made of actual dishes produced by the shop... though how this happens without the food turning into indistinguishable mush is a trade secret. We know that silicone is an important step - but the more important part is the artistry in the painting, glazing and especially in the manufacturing of those semi-transparent ingredients. This not only adds to the time taken to develop, but also means that it's harder to change your menu at the drop of a hat. It also means that the displays are going to cost a whole heap more. Indeed a shop can spend many 1000's of dollars on complete menu display.

Now many people that travel to Japan end up wanting to see if they can get their hands on examples of these faux foods - as they tend to make for quirky souvenirs. Now I've not personally done this, but the best place to find these goods is in the area known as Kappabashi-dori, or more commonly Kitchen Town - in Tokyo. This is often said to be accessed from the Asakusa area, but can also be reached from Ueno (see below). But be prepared - whilst I've not been there myself, I understand that it's pretty awesome in a non-eating sense. Not only will you find an almost infinite variety (ok - infinite may be stretching it) of goods/utensils used in the restaurant trade, you'll also find the shokuhin sanpuru. Though it doesn't come cheap - and indeed you might end up paying far more for the sample than you would for a plate of the real food. You can expect to pay around the 800-1000 yen mark for the simplest/smallest of food displays (and here I'm talking key-chain size). For more substantial dishes you could be looking at over 6000yen per dish. If you've still got a hankering, you can check out some very nice images of fake food displays over at TokyoTimes.

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At the end of the day - there's little value in trying too hard to dissect the cultural histories that generated this famous food tradition in Japan. Instead, we should just be thankful that it has held firm against the constant threat of homogeneous globalisation. Indeed, the Japanese are exporting the idea to Korea and China. I wonder how many decades it would take before it reaches the shores of Australia. Hopefully not too many...

If you want to see more, please check out this LuStation YouTube segment on the fake food industry in Japan:

(Source: LuStation, used with permission)

It may take a bit of getting used to - and some might be worried at the faux pas in confusing the fake from the real thing... but for me, it's about making the dining experience as much about engaging both the eyes, mind, tongue into a truly complete experience. And there can be nothing embarrassing or socially awkward about that. Can there?

This is one of my entries for the August 2010 edition of the JFesta theme-based blog. Whilst it may not be "edible" in terms of food - anyone that has travelled to Japan would know that it an essential part of the Japanese eating experience. Stay tuned however, as I'm also about to post on a typical supermarket experience (in Sapporo at least)... another important part of any food experience.

Fireworks are a Family Affair

adelaide.ben1@gmail.com (AdelaideBen) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 05:25:49 PDT

August 6th, 2010 - Summer, in Japan is a time for fireworks (as I've mentioned before). And coming from Australia, where fireworks are typically not a home-based experience, we made the most of it. L-kun loved them... and was always wanting to go out to light a few more of an evening.

I guess that whilst fireworks are synonymous with summer, family is just as important a connection. There may be a good many years, and a great many kilometres separating them most of the year; but it's great to see Okaasan and L-kun sharing these important moments of Japanese family culture together.

Of course, always take care when using fireworks.... but enjoy them while you can!