Category Archives: Cultural Resources

Contained within this category are news summaries and commentaries, cultural experiences, and explanations on Japanese culture.

Ryouri o tsukurimashou! Roast Chinjao

Posted on by
Reply

(Note: Please check out the recipes for Yellowtail Teriyaki and Cashew Chicken for more useful Japanese cooking vocabulary!)

More Nintendo cooking, and once again we have a rather Chinese dish, but it’s very well-known in Japan. Next time I will feature something more traditionally Japanese. Any requests? We’ve gotten through a lot of cooking words with the past two recipes, so if you see words here you don’t recognize, check back in the links posted above. With that said, let’s get cooking!

chinjao

チンジャオロース – Roast Chinjao

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

English Japanese
200 g thinly sliced beef 牛肉（網焼き用）　２００ｇ
2 tsp + 1 Tbsp soy sauce しょうゆ　小さじ２＋大さじ１
1 tsp + 1 Tbsp sake 酒　小さじ１＋大さじ１
2 tsp potato starch (corn starch is fine) 片栗粉　小さじ２
1 tsp + 1/2 tsp sesame oil ゴマ油　小さじ１＋小さじ１/２
4 green bell peppers ピーマン　４個
4 cm green onion 白ねぎ　４ｃｍ長さ
1 1/3 cm fresh ginger しょうが　２/３片
2 cloves garlic にんにく　２片
1 Tbsp oyster sauce オイスターソース　大さじ１/４
1/2 Tbsp sugar 砂糖　大さじ１/２
Dash of pepper こしょう　少々
1 Tbsp water 水　大さじ１
4 tsp salad oil サラダ油　小さじ４

Preparation:

De-seed and core the bell pepper, then slice lengthwise into thin strips. Mince the 4 cm green onion finely. Peel the 1 1/3 cm fresh ginger, then mince finely. Peel the 2 cloves of garlic, then mince finely. Set aside.

Cut the 200 g thinly sliced beef into narrow strips. Place the beef in a bowl, then cover with 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sake, and 2 tsp potato starch. Mix well. Pour 1 tsp sesame oil into the center of the meat, then set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together 1 Tbsp sake, 1 Tbsp oyster sauce, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 Tbsp sugar, dash of pepper, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, and 1 Tbsp water. Set aside.

Add 2 tsp salad oil to a frying pan and set on high heat. Add the beef and stir until it’s color changes to brown. Place on a plate and set aside.

Add 2 tsp salad oil to a frying pan and set on medium heat. Add the green onion, ginger, and garlic, then cook until they begin to smell strongly. Add the bell pepper and stir, then add the beef again. Add the soy sauce mixture from before, then turn the heat to high. Stir until most of the sauce is gone, then transfer to a plate and enjoy.

Vocabulary:

Japanese Romaji Meaning
牛肉 gyuuniku Beef
片栗粉 katakuriko Potato starch (very much like corn starch)
ゴマ goma Sesame seeds
油 abura Oil
白ねぎ shironegi Green onion (though literally “white onion” in Japanese)
にんにく nin-niku Garlic
こしょう koshou Pepper (can refer to black or white, but is usually black)
種 tane Seeds; kernels
みじん切りにする mijin kiri ni suru To cut finely; mince
皿 sara Plate; dish
さいばし saibashi Long chopsticks for cooking and serving food
手早くほぐす tebayaku hogusu To quickly loosen or separate (here, used to decribe quickly stirring the meat in the pan)
香り kaori Smell; scent; aroma; fragrance

Fall Foods in Japan

Posted on by
Reply

America has some favorite fall foods like pumpkins and candy apples, and Japan is no different with certain dishes and ingredients strongly associated with autumn. How many have you tried?

satsuma-imo Satsuma-imo (薩摩芋): Sweet potato
These are very similar to yams, though the flesh is softer and the inside is more yellow than orange. The outside is often purplish in color, and satsuma-imo are often used in tempura or candied as a dessert (pictured). In Kyoto, I often heard the loud, broadcasted voice of the yaki-imo (焼芋 – baked sweet potato) man as his truck passed down the street during the fall evenings. A recipe for a sweet potato dessert can be found here.
kuri Kuri (栗): Chestnuts
Though more associated with winter in the US, in Japan chestnuts are very much an autumn food. They can be roasted, boiled, or cooked with rice to make kuri-gohan. The related maron (マロン) chestnuts are mostly used in desserts.
matsutake Matsutake (松茸): Matsutake mushrooms
Matsutake are a type of very expensive pine mushroom in Japan. They usually grow under the fallen leaves of certain varieties of pine tree, which makes harvesting a very painstaking process. As such, these mushrooms, like truffles, are quite pricey. The cost has gone up even more due to a pine nematode decimating the population of the necessary domestic trees in the past 50 years or so. High-grade matsutake grown in Japan can be up to $909/lb, though imported mushrooms average at $41/lb. In comparison, black truffles are usually $127-383/lb and white truffles are $2200-1000/lb (according to Wikipedia). Matsutake can be cooked with rice, put in soup, steamed, fried in tempura, and much more.
kaki Kaki (柿): Persimmon
Japanese kaki are most widely cultivated persimmons in the world. The sweet fruit can be eaten raw once ripe, or dried for later.

Japanese Holidays: Taiiku no hi

Posted on by
Reply

This year, Taiiku no hi (体育の日) falls on Monday, October 12th. Known in English as “Health and Sports Day,” this day commemorates the anniversary of the opening of the Olympic games in Tokyo in 1964. The summer games were held late that year in an effort to avoid Japan’s rainy season, and began on October 10th. The national holiday was moved to the 2nd Monday in October in 2000 so as to give students and workers a long weekend.

Undoukai

Many schools celebrate with an undoukai (運動会), or field/sports day with mini-Olympic events such as races and relays, but also with group events like tug-of-war that can involve teachers and other members of the community acting as a team. At the end of the day, awards are given to groups rather than individuals, and are extremely practical in nature! I remember some of the most coveted prizes at the sports day I attended in Japan were dish cloths and trash bags. I came away with some plastic wrap and tissues, even though my team lost our event. The awards are meant to make sure that everyone is happy and feels like a winner at the end of the day, no matter what the results.

One odd thing any foreigner is bound to notice at an undoukai is the synchronized group calisthenics set to music performed at the beginning and end of the day’s activities. I saw this frequently during gym class at the school where I taught, but some companies in Japan still stretch together in the mornings, and again at 3:00 pm when everyone starts getting sleepy. It turns out that this is the “Rajio Taisou” (ラジオ体操 – Radio Exercise) which has been aired almost daily in Japan since 1928! The current version you can hear today features slow counting set to piano music and was recorded in 1951 by the Japanese government. It airs each morning on NHK at 6:30 am, and according to this article, about 20% of the population still does it each day, along with 76.4% of elementary schools in Japan. Below is a video of Rajio Taisou at a sports day in Japan.

Japanese Grocery Stores in New York

Posted on by
Reply

How can you make Japanese or other Asian recipes without the right ingredients? Large US grocery chains often have an “international” aisle, but the pickings are usually slim. But there are many small Japanese grocery stores in Manhattan and the other boroughs, as well as several online resources available for those who don’t feel like traveling to a brick-and-mortar store. Many Chinese or Korean markets also have a lot of common Japanese ingredients for cheaper prices, so it’s probably best to go to a Japan-specific store when you’re looking for a more obscure ingredient. Blue markers are Japan-centric stores, and red markers are for primarily Chinese or Korean groceries. Just zoom on the map for more details!


View Larger Map

Online grocery stores:

Japan Super
California-based grocery that ships to the contiguous 48 states. A sample order gave me a flat shipping rate of $15 to Manhattan.

eFoodDepot
Lots of different products here with a $4.99 flat shipping rate and free shipping with an order over $75.

Asian Food Grocer
California-based store that ships by FedEx (not a flat rate).

Koa Mart
California-based Korean grocery that also has a fair amount of Japanese foods. Ships by UPS or USPS (not a flat rate).

I have never ordered from any of these online stores, but I have seen Japan Super recommended quite a few times on forums and blogs. The NYC Google map is far from exhaustive, so please let me know if you have any other stores to recommend (especially ones outside of Manhattan)!

Ryouri o tsukurimashou! Yellowtail Teriyaki

Posted on by
1

In addition to hitting the books, a fun way to learn new Japanese vocabulary is by making a Japanese dish. While I lived in Japan, it was tempting to resort to Cup Noodle or instant curry every night, but I eventually bought a video game called しゃべる！ＤＳお料理ナビ (Shaberu! DS o-ryouri nabi) for my Nintendo DS when it was released in 2006. This game—which will work on Japanese and American systems alike—is a portable, interactive cookbook with 200 common Japanese recipes. Sadly, an English translation of the game was never released, though an American version with mostly Western recipes called Personal Trainer: Cooking can be bought on Amazon.

A little animated chef walks you through each recipe, timing steps as needed and providing helpful videos regarding cooking techniques. As such, it’s perfect for beginner chefs, and all the often-repeated cooking vocabulary makes for great language study!

Some of my favorite recipes are some of the easiest such as teriyaki fish/beef or sukiyaki (a one-pot meal where almost anything can work as an ingredient). Though cooking authentic Japanese food in the states can be difficult because of a lack of ingredients, NYC has ample resources for international chefs, which I’ll soon cover in a future article. In my opinion, one of the biggest differences between Japanese and American cooking is the relative subtlety of flavors in Japanese dishes. Flavors tend to be balanced, but understated compared to some American classics like spicy BBQ or hamburgers with spices folded into the meat. That and traditionally, much Japanese food is cooked using very long chopsticks instead of a wooden spoon for sautéing. I cheated and used a spoon most of the time because I was tired of clumsily dropping and ruining my food.

Anyway, here is a simple recipe translated from the DS game that you can make yourself! Most of these ingredients can be easily found in most US grocery stores, but there are a few such as pickled ginger and mirin that might be a little more difficult to locate. I’ve included the ingredients list in English and Japanese, and more useful cooking vocabulary is listed below. Enjoy!

ぶりの照り焼き – Yellowtail Teriyaki

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

English Japanese
4 yellowtail fillets ぶり（切り身）　４切れ
Flour (as needed) 小麦粉　適量
2 Tbsp salad oil サラダ油　大さじ２
40 g pickled ginger しょうがの甘酢漬け　４０ｇ
4 Tbsp mirin みりん　大さじ４
4 Tbsp soy sauce しょうゆ　大さじ４
1 Tbsp sugar 砂糖　大さじ１

teriyaki04_sm

Preparation:

In a small bowl, mix together 1 Tbsp sugar, 4 Tbsp mirin, and 4 Tbsp soy sauce. Set aside.

In another bowl or plate, add some flour. Coat each side of the fish evenly.

teriyaki05_sm

Add 2 Tbsp salad oil to a frying pan and set on medium heat. Place the fish in the pan skin side down. Cook until you see a nice brownish golden color and flip over (a few minutes per side). Turn the heat to low. Soak up the excess oil with some paper towels.

Add the soy sauce mixture to the pan. Cook until the fish looks nice and coated.

Put the fish on a plate and add the ginger on the side for garnish. (I also cooked up some rice to make this more of a meal.)

teriyaki06_sm

Vocabulary:

Japanese Romaji Meaning
ぶり buri Yellowtail
小麦粉 komugiko Wheat flour
適量 tekiryou As needed
しょうが shouga Ginger
しょうがの甘酢漬け shouga no amazutzuke Pickled ginger
しょうゆ shouyu Soy sauce
砂糖 satou Sugar
タレ tare Sauce
計量カップ keiryou kappu Measuring cup
計量スプーン keiryou supuun Measuring spoon
入れる ireru To put in (an ingredient)
混ぜ合わせる mazeawaseru To mix
まぶす mabusu To cover (smear, sprinkle) (with)
熱する nessuru To heat
中火 chuubi Medium heat
弱火 yowabi Low heat
焼く yaku To bake or grill

Prime Minister Hatoyama Leaves Japan for the First Time

Posted on by
Reply

In early September Prime Minister Hatoyama and his party the DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan) won a historic election. For the first time since the second world war, the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) is no longer in power, and the DPJ is now in the driver seat in the Japanese government. How things will change, and what this means for Japanese diplomacy, has yet to be seen.

Prime Minister Hatoyama left Japan with his wife last night for the United States, and for the G20 summit. Each Japanese newspaper reported something different about what policies and goals the Prime Minister would have on his first diplomatic mission.

Asahi “Prime Minister Hatoyama Leaves for the U.S. for his Speech at the G20” The Asahi describes in their first paragraph how the Prime Minister sees this trip to the U.S. as his chance to really make an impression on world leaders. With this historic change in power, he wants to give the impression of a positive diplomatic change for the heads of state of China, Russia, and the U.S.

The Asahi focused on the ambitious goals for climate change that the new prime minister has. The former Prime Minister, Aso of the LDP, had placed a target of reducing greenhouse gases by 8% in comparison with 1990 levels. Prime Minister Hatoyama has placed a 25% reduction target, representing a change in focus for diplomacy going forward.

“I would like to have everything go smoothly. If possible I would like countries to gain our trust, even if just a little bit.” They also mentioned the theme of his presentation would be “friendship.”

Nikkei “Gaining Trust is our Number 1 Priority” The Nikkei’s theme of “gaining trust” is a large contrast to the Asahi’s “winds of change.” As a whole, these themes are probably representative of how the Asahi vs. how the Nikkei sees the change in political power. The Asahi welcomes change, and focuses on how the first diplomatic mission of the Prime Minister will hopefully demonstrate positive changes. The Nikkei focuses on how the Prime Minister will try to “gain trust,” insinuating even possibly that the Prime Minister will have to gain the Nikkei’s trust.

The Nikkei also mentions Hatoyama’s purpose of discussing global warming, but they also focus on issues such as Nuclear Proliferation, and of course the American / Japanese relationship.

Yomiuri “The Prime Minister Leaves for America” The Yomiuri surprisingly paid little attention to the Prime Minister’s first diplomatic mission. While both the Nikkei and the Asahi had the Prime Minister’s trip as front page and headline news, the Yomiuri stuck an article of 3 sentences towards their backpage in the political section. It was also like the 5th one down, below a political traffic scandal, an article on changing medicare policies in Japan, etc. The Yomiuri did mention one thing the other newspapers did not, and that is the Prime Minister will be visiting a nursing home during his trip to the U.S.

Japanese Prime Minister Just Says NO to Yasukuni Shrine

Posted on by
Reply

Background: Yasukuni Shrine is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) diplomatic challenges that Japan has with its neighbors. The shrine exclusively celebrates the Japanese war dead, so naturally when an anniversary of a war comes up the prime minister needs to look patriotic and pay homage to fallen soldiers. The problem is that those fallen soldiers, to neighbors such as China and Korea, also include Class A war criminals that tortured and killed their people. Every prime minister in recent years that has visited the shrine has ended up getting key diplomatic missions cancelled, and on a more extreme level countries will shut off economic and political negotiations entirely.

Prime Minister Aso today commented on Yasukuni, in the background of the anniversary of the end of WWII coming up on August 15th. Each newspaper had a different take on the event.

Nikkei “I’m Against Visiting Yasukuni While in Office” On the evening of August 10th at the Prime Minister’s residence, Prime Minister Aso stated in regards to the anniversary on the 15th of WWII: “It’s a mistake to mix up the confusion of the election and paying homage to fallen soldiers. I think politics and the media should be placed far away from this process. I would like to pray in a quieter spot.”

The second paragraph states Aso’s intentions since the budget meeting last year in October. The Nikkei claims that although the Prime Minister said, “I don’t have to answer if I will go to Yasukuni or not,” sources from the Nikkei claim that his advisors around him stated he had decided he wouldn’t go during his term in office.

So for the Nikkei the Prime Minister is following his past promises. Although they did mention that one of his cabinet members had paid money to the shrine this year in April.

Asahi “The Prime Minister Expresses Thoughts about not Going to Yasukuni” The Asahi had a more critical approach to the events on the evening of August 10th. Unlike the Nikkei, the Asahi skipped the Prime Minister’s commentary, and instead decided to focus on comments made to the newspaper in the year 2006. At that time the Prime Minister said, “Giving contributions to Yasukuni would set a bad precedent. It would politicize this process of praying for the war dead.”

They then drilled the Prime Minister on this issue, stating that he had given contributions earlier this year to Yasukuni in April. His reply was “I think politics and the media should be placed far away from this process.”

The Asahi’s trying to paint the Prime Minister as a flip flopper, who could possibly go back on his word again and maybe even visit the shrine this August 15th. The Nikkei however tried to show the Prime Minister as following a policy that he had instituted last year in October.

Yomiuri “Buried by a mudslide in Oita Prefecture” The Yomiuri didn’t have any political commentary on the Prime Minister’s speech and instead decided to focus on the mudslide in Oita prefecture. Japan has had record rainfall, at 69.5mm in one hour on August 10th. At about 7pm a mudslide buried 5 cars, one car was sent into a river, and four drivers are currently attempting to be rescued from their cars covered in mud.

Plane Crash in Bangkok…What Really Happened?

Posted on by
Reply

It’s sometimes difficult to report on an international incident. Stories get conflicted, newspapers have to follow leads, and they’re pressed for time to release something to the public as soon as possible. Today’s crash for of a Bangkok Airways ATR72 showed how each Japanese newspaper can create a different story.

They did agree that the accident happened earlier today about 2pm Bangkok time, 4pm Tokyo time (although exact estimates are all different). The crashed happened on the island of Samui, with 72 people on board.

Asahi ”Landing failure in Thailand, the pilot dies, over 40 people injured” The time was 4:10 Tokyo time. As the plane was landing at the island of Samui, it went off the runway, and crashed into a building within the airport. 42 people were injured, including 4 people who were seriously injured, and the pilot was killed.

The passengers on the plane, according to the Asahi who heard this from the airline, were 80% foreigners. After checking with the Japanese embassy, it’s been confirmed that none of the passengers were Japanese.

Nikkei “Bangkok Air landing failure in Southern Thailand” The time was 4:20 Tokyo time. The plane separated from the runway and crashed into a building that was near the control tower. One pilot was killed, another pilot was seriously injured, along with 10 passengers being seriously injured. The Nikkei ‘s estimate for passengers with serious injuries was three times as many as the Asahi.

The passengers on the plane, according to the Nikkei who gets their information from the Thai Airport and Transportation authority, were all foreigners. The Nikkei also mentioned “passengers whose name looked Japanese were not aboard.”

Yomiuri “Thai plane crashes into the control tower, killing the pilot, and seriously injuring 6” The time was 4pm Tokyo time. The Yomiuri estimated that 6 people were seriously injured, less than the Nikkei’s estimate, but more than the Asahi’s. The Asahi claimed “the plane crashed into a building in the airport,’ the Nikkei said “the plane crashed into a building near the control tower,” but the Yomiuri took this one step further by stating “the plane crashed into the control tower!”

The Yomiuri also was the only newspaper that offered reasons for the crash. “Due to low visibility during the rain storm, the plane slipped off the runway.” They also were the only newspaper to say the airport shutdown after the incident. At least the drama of The Yomiuri’s account makes for a good story.

In case you’re interested in reading more about these happenings in the target language, you can look at Thai Online Classes or Thai Classes held in NYC. We hope that everything turns out okay.

Record High Suicide Rates Suspected in Japan

Posted on by
Reply

The latest victim of economic recession in Japan is people’s lives

During an economic recession news is usually filled with how corporations are posting losses, or how smaller businesses are filing for bankruptcy. On a more personal level news stories are filled with how the unemployed are finding new means of income, and how families might deal with parents having to work night jobs. The social impact as a whole during a recession is rarely commented on, probably mainly because there are no easily interpreted indicators that measure social well being. Deaths could possibly increase, but usually in America this is due to murder rates.

Take a society like Japan, and unfortunately one of the easiest indicators to measure happiness in the country as a whole is the suicide rate. Today the newspapers each reported differently on the news that Japan this year has had record suicide rates.

Nikkei “Suicides break 17,000 in the first half of 2009” According to data collected by police stations, from January to June of 2009 17, 076 suicides were reported in Japan. Compared to last year, the Nikkei claims these numbers have grown 4.7% , or close to 800 people. Experts in the field are now concerned that 2009 could be the highest recording of suicides ever in Japanese history.

According to the Nikkei, an overwhelming majority of suicides were male: 71.6%, or 12,222 people. The areas with the highest rates of suicide are Tokyo (number 1), Osaka 2nd, and Saitama 3rd. It’s probably no coincidence that these areas also have the highest concentration of businesses and employed salarymen.

The amount of people committing suicide has also grown percentage wise. The most extreme case is Okinawa, which grew by 51% compared to last year.

Yomiuri “Suicides Reach 17,000, the worst pace ever” The Yomiuri claims that the pace of suicides this year is much faster than last year, and close to the worst year on record, 2003. In 2003 34,000 people committed suicide. This year, the worst months according to the Yomiuri were March and April, with 3,084 people committing suicide. Since then the numbers have come slightly down.

The Yomiuri claims that the pace of suicides this year is the worst since data began to be collected in 1978.

Asahi “Suspected Tornado Injures 20” The Asahi actually did not print an article about the suicides, but instead for their headline wrote about the recent (suspected) tornado in Gunma Prefecture. Tornados are very rare in Japan, but this incident seems to prove that a tornado did occur. The wind was recorded to be strong enough to rattle the roofs of houses, turn 10 cars over in a parking lot, and shatter windows of nearby shops and offices.

Dealing with Disasters in Japan

Posted on by
Reply

Background: For most Americans, more specifically Americans who come from states not on the Pacific Coast, the most frightening part of living in Japan is an Earthquake. Most people when they travel to Japan experience earthquakes for the first time, and wonder just how fragile the land they’re standing on is. The biggest Earthquake I experienced was a 5+, and it shut down the subway for about 2 hours leaving 2-3 million commuters stranded.

Earthquakes and natural disasters are ubiquitous throughout Japanese media and movies. Dealing with disasters is part of their lives, in particular earthquakes, but also from today’s news articles other disasters as well. Each newspaper wrote about a different tragedy Japanese people are working to overcome.

Asahi “Mountain Expedition Leads to Disaster for 17 Climbers” On the night of the 16th of July in Japan 16 climbers got stranded on the Tom Rush Mountain in Hokkaido. They were part of an expedition being run by the Amusement Travel Company from Tokyo.

According to a police report, about 3pm the police received a distress call from one of the climber’s cell phones. Due to the heavy snow and cold, the party became unable to continue their descent down the mountain. Contained within the party were 10 50-60 year olds. 2 people were reported to have split from the party and made it down the mountain to get help.

The authorities attempted to do an air rescue but couldn’t get the helicopter off the ground. When the Asahi went to press they were currently attempting to do a ground rescue.

Yomiuri “Save the Passengers on an Emergency Landing! Drill at Haneda Airport” Yesterday the authorities conducted a drill where a plane crashed near Haneda airport, and passengers had to be rescued. In light of the US Airways crash into the Hudson River, the Japanese authorities are making sure they won’t be caught off guard. Speaking from his experience at the plane crash in 1982 at Haneda airport, Doctor Takahashi said “we need to prepare for the worst.” 700 people took part in the drill, where firefighters, doctors, fishermen, and other members of the community had to rescue passengers who had sustained injuries.

Nikkei “We have hope from rebuilding our past – Niigata Earthquake” Two years ago on July 16th in Niigata and Nagano an earthquake erupted that killed 15 people. Today a memorial service was held where people in Kashiwazaki City remembered that tragic day. At 10:13 am, when the earthquake began, a prayer was given for the ones who lost their lives.

A mother who had lost her eldest son during the earthquake said: “Not just today, but each new day we try to approach our lives in the best way we can.”