Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Pickled Food Posted by Ginny on Oct 3, 2011
Pickled food is often a side dish in Japanese cuisine but it’s one of the must-have items that many Japanese households have for meals. Almost anything can be pickled. (Here’s a previous post on some pickled foods: https://blogs.transparent.com/japanese/pickled-food/) For example Rakkyōzuke (ラッキョウ漬け) is a type of pickled onion that is used as a side dish…
Japanese Mushrooms Posted by Ginny on Sep 29, 2011
Eating mushrooms is good for the health and tasty too! It’s a good thing that there are many varieties of mushrooms used in Japanese cuisine! Probably the most internationally known Japanese mushroom is a type of mushroom called Shiitake (シイタケ) Mushrooms. Shiitake Mushrooms are sometimes used as garnish for misoshiru or miso soup (味噌汁). They…
Typhoon Talas Posted by Ginny on Sep 6, 2011
Japan was recently hit by Typhoon Talas. The Typhoon is the worst typhoon to hit Japan since 2004 and is responsible for some heavy damage and for at least 33 deaths in Japan. There are more missing, so the death toll may rise over the next few days. Typhoon Talas brought heavy rainfall and obstructed…
Hokkaidō Posted by Ginny on Aug 31, 2011
Hokkaidō (北海道) is the second largest island in Japan and is the northern most part of Japan. Hokkaidō is a place that has some of the most scenic places in all of Japan. For example, the Okhotsk (流氷) refers to the ice floes on Hokkaidō. Tourists come all the time to listen to the crackling…
Giant Japanese Statues Posted by Ginny on Aug 30, 2011
Kannon (観音) is the Buddhist goddess associated with compassion. There are large statues of the Kannon that can be found all over Japan. One of the more famous statues of Kannon is the Ōfuna Kannon (大船観観音) in Kamakura (鎌倉) of Kanagawa Prefecture (神奈川県). It is 82 feet tall was built to commemorate those who died…
Japanese Lakes Posted by Ginny on Aug 28, 2011
There is definitely no shortage of lakes in Japan. One of the most beautiful lakes that I’ve ever encountered is Lake Towada (十和田湖). Lake Towada is in Honshū (本州) Island between the border of Aomori Prefecture (青森県) and Akita Prefecture (秋田県). Lake Towada is a crater lake created by volcanic eruptions. Today tourists go to…
Japanese Dried Confectionary Posted by Ginny on Aug 17, 2011
Higashi (干菓子) is a broad term for Japanese confectionary that is dry and sweet tasting. One of the confectionary items that fall under Higashi is Hanakazura (花かずら) is a type of confectionary that is usually cut into rectangular blocks with sweet bean paste on the inside. The sweet bean paste is not very gooey and…