On: From Kyoto with Love

I am no expert just opinionated based on my limited observation, but I believe there are no better symbols for love and matters of the heart than the cherry blossoms and tea ceremonies.

Both take care and the proper time to make the ordinary into the extraordinary.

In Japan, cheery trees are spread out across the country and bloom in their own time and at different times from late February and March.

To your left is a is a picture of the cheery cherry tree outside where we are staying

Like love, both the cheery cherry blossoms and tea require patience in order to appreciate their beauty and all that they have to offer.

It is the measure of our details applied, the care and focus and patience which squeeze out every drop of tea or matters of the heart which make the experience from ordinary to the extraordinary. After all, is this not what extraordinary is, just adding extra to the ordinary!

This is what I believe and what I observed in this ceremony and what I will continue to believe about all of life!

carpe tea-um (seize every drop of tea)! 🙂

The tea ceremonies are also, time sensitive. Precise measurement of tea, water temperature and many other details are necessary to extract the full measure of its flavor and properties to perfect the whole experience.

While in the United States, we may be in such a rush that we’ve little time to prepare or even enjoy our teas and coffees, but this is not how tea is approached in Japan.

Whoever coined the Land of the Rising Sun, or thought of Japan as a country of extremes or opposites, I would like to suggest that it is a people and a culture that does so much with so little. To perhaps state this differently, they strive to maximize what they have with as little wasted as possible – time and resources.

Japan is an island country formed by volcanoes and in their cooling; Japan is full of mountains almost everywhere. It is my understanding that Japan is 70% mountains which leaves 30% for land and its people to live on. So in this, it is not quantity that matters most, but quality and to acquire quality, it takes time.

Instead of extremes, I have come to think of Japan as a country with a culture of contrasts. This is beautifully illustrated by tea or tea ceremonies. To understand this more fully, we westerners need to understand taste.

The sensation of taste can be categorized into four basic tastes: sweetness, sourness, saltiness, and bitterness. A fifth, umami, must also be included. Umami uːˈmɑːmi, a savory taste, is a loanword from the Japaneseうま味 Umami can be translated “pleasant savory taste”. This particular writing was chosen by Professor Kikunae Ikeda from umai うまい “delicious” and mi 味 “taste”. The kanji 旨味 are used for a more general sense of a food as delicious. People taste umami through receptors for glutamate, commonly found in its salt form as the food additive, monosodium glutamate (MSG).For that reason, scientists consider umami to be distinct from saltiness.

But taste also requires our sense of smell, sight, sound and touch. Actually, all of our senses, if focused like a magnifying glass focuses light and produce fire, will not only enhance the enjoyment, but will aide in digestion.

With this in mind, we enter a tea house of tea and tea ceremonies, in Kyoto Japan. There is tea, good tea, great tea and the best of the best tea. Our recent experience was with the best of the best.

Extra fine, delicate and fragile green tea with something sweet for contrast

Color and texture and beauty

Everything has a reason and a purpose.

Our particular tea was a fine fresh cut tea. Its color was an intense and vibrant rich green. Sufficient quantity is placed into the tea pot. Hot water is poured into an empty cup and allowed to cool for about a minute. This is around 85 degrees Fahrenheit and then it is poured into the tea pot for about 20 seconds. Then it is poured into your cup with a strainer and the last drop has much of the flavor!! Too much heat for too long can burn and ruin this fragile tea.

The tea is to be drunk slowly and along with the contrast of something delicate and sweet that you cut with a wooden knife and with a bite on the knife, you raise this to your lips and eat slowly. This continues until you have consumed your tea and sweet or until you have had sufficient.

The other type of green tea is crushed to a fine powder and is actually ingested. It is believed to have many health benefits as antioxidants and something that I am highly interested in, its possible ability to reduce and regulate blood pressure.

Because of its somewhat bitter taste, this tea is also served with contrasting sweetness made with the tea itself baked inside little cookies or some other soft and chewy sweet.

Green tea cookies Green tea soft and chewy sweets — Green tea cookies with candy pink cherry blossom designs

But everything done is all to enhance the flavor of the tea.

Tea of this quality and experience can be quite expensive. But the experience is not common, but rare, so cost is not that great when compared to the infrequency of the experience. Like love, or fine wine, it is all about the quality of the experience, not the cost or the time required perfecting it. But at the end, there is a cost. For three people our bill was about $60. In the United States, I have no doubt that this would have been around a hundred or one hundred and twenty dollars. And our experience included the time it took to savor every bite, taste every sip, mouth every delight and enjoy every moment, plus, the wonderful clear, detailed and informative instruction by our server, the view of the garden and even the warm singing toilet in the bathroom! 🙂

And the company I was in and the conversation was exceptional too!

But someone must pay for this. And they receive the following wooden kanji tile.

The tile, the kanji and the texture of the table upon which it sat was a work of art in and of itself and contributed to the whole experience.

Susan and I were invited here by son Chris and we certainly thank him for this precious gift and for the memory! We will return here before we leave Japan to attend a special class on how to do this at home and purchase tea to ship home to The Gathering Place, so we can share with you that come to visit.

Yesterday, Susan and I spent precious time with our dear friends here, Ted and Shohei that we have not seen for eight years. Shohei is from Japan and Ted is from Australia. But to use a word Ted is often using and seems quite fond of and rather than my usual word as ‘wonderful’ or something like it, I will use here what just seems so apropos. I am quoting Ted in context of this whole experience, “It’s just lovely!”

To conclude this post as it began, it’s all about love. It’s about quality. It’s about you! It’s, “from Kyoto with love!” 🙂

March 19, 2014 0

On: Some of my Favorites

Well, where do I begin with “Some of my Favorites” from Japan? Just start!

In just a few short days since I have been here, I wanted to make sure I was able to get some of my favorites and I have! 🙂

On my list was tackoyaki (octopus ball), modanyaki (modern “as you like it”), green tea ice cream, anpan (sweet red bean filled buns) and calpis sour (made with calpis, citrus carbonated soda and shochu (Japanese-like vodka)

Note: In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the above items have been triple checked with check marks encircled in green! 🙂

Modanyaki is a more modern way to enjoy this common food. Modan or modern is “with noodle.” It’s starts with cabbage and raw egg and pretty much whatever you have leftover, (shrimp, pork, beef etc.) and a sauce formed into a ball and cooked over a hot grill. After it is turned over you add noodle and sauce and cook and turn. When it is done you serve it with a sauce similar to bar-b-q suace and Japanese mayonnaise which is vinegar, oil and more eggs than traditional mayonnaise. OMG this common meal “as you like it,” is incredible!

Oh, it might seem a little chilly for ice cream, but when it’s Green Tea ice cream, one just has to make an exception!

It is served in a waffle cone with a spoon and of piece of green tea white chocolate.

I love this stuff!

It is sweet like Susan and some pungent or strong taste of the green tea. This dessert is actually better for you than ice cream.

I have seen Green Tea gelato in the stores and would love to try this.

Surely though, green tea ice cream is a hard act to follow!

Sweetened red bean paste filled inside a typical white bread bun. But there is nothing typical about this! It is not only sweet and delicious, it is actually good for you. One of the most popular animated cartoons in Japan is Onpanmon, a red bean bun character that is a hero. So no wonder I love this, kids love them and I R !! 🙂

And last, but certainly not least is my Calpis Sour. Yes I know, it looks like it sounds like cow + pis. Westerner’s have a problem with this so the same company that makes it makes the same thing under the name of calpico.

Calpis is a fermented product made with milk and some citrus flavor as a preservative. Fermented yes, but it does not contain alcohol. It does have natural cane sugar and is good for you since it has calcium. It looks and tastes like watery yogurt with a citrus overtone.

A calpis sour contains calpis, citrus carbonated soda and shochu (which is like Japanese vodka). All in all this is a fantastic cocktail with some nice health benefits. Whatever, I love these!!! I have plans to find a way to make these at The Gathering Place when we (you and us) get back home!!! 🙂

March 16, 2014 2

On: A Familiar Sight

A familiar and common sight perhaps throughout the world is the spining; blue and red striped pole. Yes, the barber pole where one can get s haircut and a shave and a whole lot more in Japan. This an unforgettable and most enjoyable experience! 🙂

From the moment you walk in to a Japanese barber shop, you are greeted and everyone inside that works there, bow out of respect.

The shop, chair, ever person working there and everything is neat and tidy.

After being escorted from the waiting area and directed to a chair by a barber, you are seated and prepared.

You then communicate with the barber or though an interpreter (as I did) exactly how I wanted my hair cut, how much off, that I wanted a shave and a shampoo.

Next, I was given a hot towel to refresh myself. Hot towels are offered almost everywhere in Japan for nearly every experience. They are much appreciated to wipe your face and hands. Much of this and many practices of Japanese culture center around personal comfort, cleanliness and respect.

As the barber skillfully and quickly cuts your hair as you desire, thrir movements are so precise and with such a light touch, it is as if they were not there and you can hardly feel a thing. I did mean “their” a plural personal pronoun meaning more than just one. Indeed, there are more than just one barber involved in serving you. My first experience, there were no less than six people that served me. There was the hot-towel person that constantly brought hot towels or covered your face as needed. There was what I call ‘Cut Barbers 1, 2 and 3. The first one started, the second one fished and the third checked to insure that 1 and 2 did all that was required and perform in touch-ups necessary. The last two would be involved with the shaving and shampooing.

Well, sitting in the chair yo are so impressed with their skill and that leads to confidence in their abilities. So this of course is part of the relation therapy. It is not uncommon to fall asleep or doze because, yo are so relaxed and almost unaware of their presence. In my experience, I could not tell when the first barber left and the second took over. The Japanese are very particular about touch. Once contact is made they keep it even when transferring to another person, Well, my eyes were closed and I only opened when the ‘touch’ changed from my heard to my face. And when I did, I was surprised to find another person starting the process of shaving me. I was surprised to find that this was a woman as it is uncommon to find female barbers.

Note: The barbers in these pictures are wearing masks for their own protection because of, the pollution they believe is coming from China and has nothing to do with allergies or fear of the flu bug coming to them from foreigners.

Back to the shave. Again your face is covered with hot towels, it is rubbed with an emollient of some kind to reduce friction and then it is hand-lathered with shaving cream skillfully applied with a natural bristle brush. The shaving was so light and precise it was as if it could not possibly be close enough or the the blades used were very sharp. They were! And like almost any normal person, when someone is holding a blade at your throat, you have a tendency to be awake and have your eyes open! 🙂 No worries, Japanese barbers are incredible!

After shaving your face, it is hot-toweled again and a fragrant astringent is applied to tighten the pores and freshen your face. Facial hair is very important to the Japanese. Not a single hair can be missed or out of place. This means on the forehead (even the peach fuzz is shaved), eyebrows, the back of your neck mustache or beard, on, inside of and outside of your nose and ears and etc. Nothing get missed! It is by far the best shaves and the closest shaves that I have ever had. How close? Close enough that I did not have to shave myself for two days. How close? Baby’s butt smooth, close! 🙂

After the shave, I went for a shampoo. Instead of leaning back in my chair to the shampoo sink as with my barber in NY, I leaned forward towards the shampoo sink. Your hair is lathered and massaged through yor scalp like a million fingers dancing through your happy!! 🙂

The shampoo is incredible and warm water gently washes away the shampoo and your every care. Then your head, neck and shoulders are rubbed/massaged to release any last remaining negative energy and release you to peace and tranquility and whew, don’t I just feel like a million bucks!!!

The final thing is to blow-dry and hand sculpt every hair in place on your face. You get out of the chair and you feel like you look and you feel like a millions bucks! And how much did all this first-class pampering cost? About the same price with tip that I pay for just a trim by my barber at home – $18.00. And no tip is allowed in Japan, but I would have more than been willing to do for this kind of service.

If I can’t be handsome or handy, at least every hair on my face can be perfectly placed, and my skin as soft as a baby’s butt or face. Susan watched and she was pretty amazed. She gave me the kissable face seal of approval.

Every hair in place and skin baby's butt soft! — Every hair in place and face is, baby’s butt soft!

I would love to have a Japanese barber where we live! I would love to import some Japanese barbers! Do yourself a favor. If you ever have the opportunity to have your hair cut, a shave and a shampoo by a Japanese barber, Carpe bar-be-um SEIZE the BARBER!!! 🙂

By the way, I am told that the experience of cutting your hair for women. In Japan, is 10 times better than for a man!

March 15, 2014 0

On: Sake

Sake or saké (“sah-keh”) is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin that is made from fermented rice. Sake is sometimes called “rice wine” but the brewing process is more akin to beer, converting starch to sugar for the fermentation process, by using Aspergillus oryzae.

In the Japanese language, the word “sake” (酒, “liquor”, also pronounced shu) generally refers to any alcoholic drink, while the beverage called “sake” in English is usually termed nihonshu (日本酒, “Japanese liquor”). Under Japanese liquor laws, sake is labelled with the word “seishu” (清酒, “clear liquor”), a synonym less commonly used colloquially.

Sake averages between 11-16% alcohol content.

First you start with the rice. Rice is grown all over the country, but some are better producers due to climate, purity of water and other important considerations. The same is said of of Sake rice, some areas just produce better sake rice rice for the “:clear liquid” than others. The rice is hand harvested and placed into the familiar rice bales. The bales are both artistic and informative that they are inbound to the brewers and that it will become some specific crafted sake. But the quality of the sake is only as good as the master that brews it and only as good as the rice from which it is made. There are many different kinds and flavors of sake.

Sake in Japan is as diverse, particular and is as highly opinionated as any other wine made throughout the world. Those that enjoy it swear their favorite is the best in all of Japan.We shared some with our friend Yukari’s parents in Nara. Last night we shared some with Yukari and her husband some ‘holy’ sake that was blessed and presented to her at the dedication of their daughter. The sake from Nara had a clean dry taste. The ‘holy sake’ seemed to have a smoky taste as if absorbing smoke from burning incense, a common practice in Japan for purification.

Sake may not be enjoyed by everyone and not all that do like sake, like all sake. It is has a distinct taste and perhaps one that must be acquired over time. But it gives one a ‘warm glow’ and for lack of a better description, when the alcohol sets in, it just leads me personally, to a very happy place. Like clinking glasses of wine, beer and other drinks we may say “Cheers.” In Japan, the word used is often, kampai (pronounced com + pie).

“乾杯” (kanpai), lit. “Dry the glass”, similar to “bottoms up” in English). 🙂

Once the sake is ready, if it is really good or a particularly a good year, well then, it is important to let people know. The exceptional sake is advertised by what may look like to all the world as fuzzy, brownish-green disco-balls. These are formed with cedar needles — also known as sugidama (literally, “cedar balls”). They can be found hanging above the entrance to shops, bars, taverns, and a fine izakaya (small local establishment for food and drink) that specialize in quality sake. These time-honored symbols of fine sake make no promises about the caliber of the food where the sake is sold. But my experience has shown us that wherever premium drink is sold, you are likely to find food of similar quality.

Before serving sake, you must first have some things to serve from and in. Sake servers and cups can range from simple, colorful, elaborate,ver expensive and relatively inexpensive.

Materials can be glass, ceramic, metal, plastic and my favorite, bamboo.

It is doubtful that many or any Japanese would use bamboo pitcher or cups. These are probably marketed to tourists and westerners. We had a very nice dinner at a specialized restaurant that featured so many delicious ways (tastes and textures) of bean curd. This same restaurant served our sake in green bamboo cups from a bamboo pitcher. I love the natural look and traditional or not, we are on a search to bring back to the USA, something that looks like the following.

SakePitcherCups2 — Sake Pitcher & Cups II

March 14, 2014 0

On: Safely arriving in Japan

I suppose this could have been titled, ‘The Blizzard of 14,’ because this is what happened in the Rochester, NY area and where we live at The Gathering Place.

I booked a room at a motel across the street from the airport. Quite frankly, if I wasn’t on the plane, I’m not sure Susan would have spoken to me again, EVER! 🙂

Took off before the storm and made it to Chicago. Made the international flight to Narita airport near Tokyo Japan

Just for my willingness to help in case of an emergency, my seat was changed, it might as well been first class because that’s what it felt like to me -plenty of room to stretch out, two seats beside me were empty, galley and bathroom right in front.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has fantastic service by the way.

Until I get unpacked, settled in and the laptop up and running to post, I will close with a statement and a picture.

Japanese food makes me happy! 🙂

OMG, Just here a day and the things I have done and the things I have seen, I just can’t wait to share with you. I will as internet WIFI access and when time allow!!!! 🙂

March 14, 2014 1

On: Above the Clouds

Above the clouds,

to the Land of the Lotus

and the Rising Sun,

I am almost there.

'Almost There' by Dahni © 2014, all rights reserved — ‘Above the Clouds’ by Dahni © 2014, all rights reserved

おはよう

Ohayō

“good morning”

こんにちは

Kon’nichiwa

“good afternoon”

こんばんは

Konbanwa

“good evening”

さようなら Sayōnara "goodbye" ではまた。Dewa mata"see you later" — さようなら Sayōnara “goodbye” ではまた Dewa mata”see you later”

March 13, 2014 0

On: Perfection

The Lotus is seen throughout Japan and is very significant to their way of life and their beliefs. They are beautiful. I hope you enjoy my art made from a photograph I took in Japan and my haiku poem to follow.

'Perfection' by Dahni © 2006-14, all rights reserved — ‘Perfection’ by Dahni © 2006-14, all rights reserved

March 12, 2014 0

On: Land of the Rising Sun

The Land of the Rising Sun? Tomorrow, I head into it!

Land of the Rising Sun II, on the big-iron bird

March 11, 2014 0

On: Buddha

Right before you reach the gate to the temple, the picture on the left is a familiar sight. It is a Buddhist Priest. He is bowing continuously and continually.

He was at the exact same place doing the exact same thing, hours later after we left the temple.

He is holding an alms bowl. Yes. he is begging for money. But he is not poor.

In the United States, we may have seen people begging for money, but they are either really poor or trying to ‘guilt’ people out of their money. But this monk is begging, not because he needs the money, nor is he trying to ‘guilt’ anyone.

By the way, there are at least two things in Japan that are protected and precious, land and shrines! If you purchase property to build or to live there and it has a rice paddy and/or a shrine, you are responsible to maintain them, for as long as you own the property. This also includes, caring for any of the priests associated with the shrine.

But anyway, the priest here, is just simply showing his willingness to be an example of humility, in order to obtain a higher level of consciousness. It is a purification process, much like burning a stick of incense to purify oneself, before entering the temple.

The dear, deer below is, just outside the gate to the courtyard of the Temple of Buddha. Even though he could walk through and he is probably hoping for one last biscuit from you, before you enter into the courtyard, no dear, deer will pass through.

The dear will not enter into the courtyard of the Great Buddha

The Great Buddha's Temple, Nara Japan — The Great Buddha’s Temple, Nara Japan

Notice the size of the people in the above picture, in comparison to the size of the temple! The three sets of double doors are approximately 15′ tall and each pair are around 15-20′ wide. This temple is located in Nara Japan and is the largest wood temple of Buddha in the world. If memory serves me correctly, this was not the original structure, but was it was moved here and re-built, sometime in the 8th century and it still stands today!

As one walks through the large doors into the temple, it is supported by massive wood beams. The height from the floor to the ceiling is about 30′ feet. This temple was hand-made thousands of years ago. Directly in the center as you walk through the doors is, the focal point of the temple, the Great Buddha.

Directly beneath him are huge petals of the lotus blossom.

The Lotus Petals of the Great Buddha's Pedestal — The Lotus Petals of the Great Buddha’s Pedestal

These are called: The petals of the Lotus Pedestal on the Great Buddha Vairocana. This is the Great Buddha’s celestial or cosmic embodiment. The Vairocana is regarded as the highest form of the three Buddhas, as a god of light, whose reflection throughout the universe is represented as endless. The petals are incised with pure gold in hairline engravings with identical designs, dating from the Nara period (8th century), which depicts the “Lotus-Matrix World-System.

Each petal is divided into two main parts. The upper half depicts a seated Tathāgata (name the Buddha uses when referring to himself) and means, “One who has thus gone” or “One who has thus come.” Those two opposites are interpreted to mean, “beyond all coming and going.”

He is seated in this upper petal, expounding the truths to eleven Bodhisattvas, those of great compassion that have obtained one of the four highest states of sublime consciousness in this life.

In the lower half there are twenty-six horizontal lines with small Buddha-images and palaces arrayed between them, and below these are seven pairs of lotus petals, each consisting of one petal turned upwards and the other facing downward. Stated simply, this is a pictorial representation of the spiritual world.

March 10, 2014 0

On: Deer, Dear

Nara Japan is the location of the world’s largest wood Buddhist Temple. To get there, one must park their vehicle and walk through this large park that are full of very unique and very small deer. The deer are tame and seem to sense that they are protected. Generation after generation of deer are born in this park and are free to roam. Even though they could easily walk out and away from the park, none ever have. You can purchase special biscuits and feed the deer, Dear! 🙂

Susan is just so happy that she has finally met some dear, deer that are even more vertically challenged than she is! 🙂

The dear deer mingle about — The dear, deer mingle about

In the above picture, you just cannot imagine the 100’s if not 1,000’s of dear, deer (not shown) that live here. The Building in front of the crowd is open and it is a gate which leads to the world largest wood Buddhist Temple. But the dear, deer will not cross into the temple area.

Please. please, please Susan, I know you have more!

In the above picture, Susan is just about to climb the steps which leads to the gate. Notice the dear, deer, Dear, that has apparently climbed the steps? They will do this, but they will NOT pass through the gate!

March 9, 2014 1

Category: Australia