Yuta's Observation and Reflective Inferences

        Yesterday, Yuta came into the kitchen and announced that he had just seen two “dragonfly/wasp thingies” mating (I have since looked them up and think they are Robber Flies).  

          He then went into detail about how they were joined end to end (thats right, we have had this discussion and no details were left out, he knows they were combining their DNA for the sake of diversity in their offspring).  Yuta then went into a reflection of just how difficult it would be for them to fly in that condition, stipulating that they would want to go in different directions.  I guess he has been a witness of the Duffy/Usami marriage for his entire life and is now projecting this experience onto these unfortunate (fortunate?) insects.  After a few surmises, he came to this exact prediction.  “The man will say ‘lets go this way!’, and the woman will say ‘no I want to go this way’, and then the man will say ‘okay’.”

        Maybe I have let Ryoko win too often. . .

Mother's Day Sushi

       On Mother's Day we had planned to take Oba-chan to a sushi restaurant.  Unfortunately, she attended a memorial service and had eaten far too much during lunch, which caused her to opt out of the dinner.  Nonetheless, Ryoko was able to go and we all had a good time.  Luckily, on my way home from work I had picked up carnations for Oba-chan and Ryoko; so we could still show both of them our appreciation for all that they do.
       The restaurant was of a type that I have never seen in the United States.  I hear that there are a few to be found in California, but I have never seen them myself.  The restaurant does not have any wait staff, only cooks, hosts, and bussers (cleaners).  The sushi is put on plates that are then put on a track which winds past each table, given diners the opportunity to take and eat it.  A recent innovation are the covers that pop up when you lift the plate, giving the food a bit more protection.  I think that this style of presentation requires a fastidious population, one that is very clean; and I would not trust my fellow Americans to not sneeze on the food.

                     Check out the video!

       I could tell that the wasabi was real because it did not have that neon green look that American wasabi has.  I think that in the States, wasabi is just normal horseradish and green food coloring.  The sushi is not the best, Ryoko calls it the MacDonalds of sushi.  Irregardless, I ate a lot of shrimp sashimi with as much wasabi as I could stand (which is not much).  They also had Tempura and hamburger sushi, just in case you don't like fish.  The next photo is of the place setting where I ate my dinner.  You can see the wasabi, soy sauce dispensers, and the chute where you slide your plate when you are done with it.  You are charged 100 yen for each plate, and when you reach 5 plates you get a chance to win a prize.  We gave all of our plates to Yuta and during the dinner he won 2 prizes, you can see a yellow one on the right border of the picture below.

Is This Still Coffee?

       I think that true love shows best when you are stressed and separated from the object of your affection.  There is significant truth to the adage "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"; and I have found that this is true not only of people, but foods as well.  Because of this tendency I have grown increasingly enamored of BACON and to a lesser extent cheese and coffee while here in Japan.  I have already explained my BACON and cheese dilemma, and will not bore you with rehashing the tales, but coffee has so far been unremarked upon.  This is a story of just how far I will stoop to get my caffeine fix. . .
       I love coffee.  I know others that love it more than I do, but that does not diminish the intensity with which I miss a good old American brew.  Ever since I was a waiter at the Orange Plaza Diner I have loved a good cup of Joe.  I actually enjoyed free coffee there and I asked one of the cooks to pick a day and count how many cups I drank.  When I found out that I had consumed 9 cups, it actually scared me a little and caused me to cut back.  But the steeped bean had already become deeply embedded in my psyche, and I actually found myself feeling withdrawal during that time.  Recent studies have found that coffee protects the retina of diabetics, and so may have prevented me from going blind; but there is still the "too much of a good thing" side of the issue.  I have since found that 2 cups a day are sufficient and on the days where I have no coffee, I do not feel badly.  I take this to mean that I have found a good compromise with my craving.
       When I first started coming to Japan, I discovered that coffee can be found here, just not the variety that I am accustomed to.  Green tea rules the land and coffee is roughly Vice Presidential in its powers.  Not Cheney level, but more Quayle like in its influence.  I have had occasion to get coffee from Starbucks and I thought it was decent if not stellar in quality.  When I started at Berlitz, I found that a tall cup from Starbucks was a great way to start my morning and they even had an American Blend!  I bought this "coffee" until one day I observed how they made it.  I had assumed that it was brewed; but no, they start with a squirt of syrup and then add hot water!  This is a blasphemous, and most terrible abomination!!  I then decided that I would only order from the menu propped up next to the register, hoping that this coffee would always be freshly brewed.  I have not yet forgiven them though. . .
       At home in Japan I have tried over cup strainers, french presses, and even instant coffees.  The cup strainers were too weak, as is the french press; and both are a pain to clean.  I am therefore left with instant coffee to slake my cravings.  I know what you are thinking "how can a real coffee drinker stoop to such a level as to accept instant?".  Well, the technology surrounding instant coffee must have improved over the years.  I remember my first taste of it years ago as being very nasty.  This stuff is actually pretty good, and I love coffee enough that I am willing to overlook its flaws in Japan.
     The other day I was shopping and thinking about how the existence of a new element had been
confirmed.  The new element has an atomic mass of 117 and I found this product on the shelf and just had to buy it.  My first thought was "Taste number 117! What a coincidence, I bet it tastes pretty good too after 116 previous experimental tastes!"  It then dawned on me that I was looking forward to drinking this instant coffee and I experienced a little cognitive dissonance.  Am I still a coffee lover?  Is this really coffee?  What would Sir Isaac Newton think?  Did he know coffee?  The dude did a lot of science, just think of what he could have accomplished with a nice arabica helping him out!
       While I miss many aspects of my life in America, I have to confess that friends and family are most definitely missed the most.  If you agree and want to show it, please follow this blog or drop a comment in the section below reserved for just that purpose.

Takenoko!

       Today, Ryoko, her cousin Sachiko-san, and I went to the bamboo forest to the East of the farm and harvested bamboo shoots or "Takenoko".  Ryoko demonstrated the procedure using a special spade called a "Daruma Kuwa".  Essentially you dig down about a foot and then chop the takenoko off at the root.  This is then taken and the core is cooked and eaten.  I noticed that the fresh cut bamboo smelled exactly like corn when you are husking an ear; which makes sense considering both bamboo and corn are monocotyledons.  As I was working on the fourth shoot, the spade's head came off, I had to replace it and the wedge that holds it to the beechwood handle.  It was hard work, but fun and interesting as well.  Here are some images for you to enjoy. . .

Forest with Bamboo Trees

Daruma Kuwa

Takenoko

Have you ever driven on the sidewalk?

     I have become comfortable driving around Nagareyama, and I am slowly working up the courage to take a longer trip.  I am afraid that if I get lost I will not be able to get help because of my weak Japanese, which is totally unfounded as many natives here speak English quite well.  I have found that the art of safely navigating around the land of the rising sun in a tiny K-Truck is remarkably similar to driving in the United States, with some profound differences attached.  In this essay I will attempt to relate the contrasts rather than the similarities.

      To start lets talk about the vehicle I drive here most often.  It is a Suzuki K-Truck and it is very small.  It has four wheel drive, only two seats, and I have to get in by inserting my left knee between the steering wheel and the shift lever.  There is not enough room for me to sit down and swing my legs into place.  Each year every vehicle on the road in Japan needs to be inspected, which is true in the United States as well.  The difference is that while inspection in the US could cost as little as $14, here it rarely drops below $1000.  Thats right, there are no mistaken zeros there, inspections cost two orders of magnitude greater than in the States.  Ryoko told me that is because the Japanese do not want any cars breaking down here, and I can see why considering how narrow some of the roads are.
     As many of you may know, the side of the road that you drive on in the US is "Right".  That would make any other side "Wrong", and apparently Japan did not feel like being correct.  This character of Japanese driving was the largest cause of my not driving during earlier trips.  I just could not get my brain around the idea.  I find now that I have adapted quite easily to the difference and regret not taking up driving earlier.
     The roads here are strange in that they vary considerably in width as you drive along them.  At times the lane is wide and other vehicles can be simply observed as they pass.  At other times the road becomes narrow enough to make passing traffic much too close for comfort.  All too often, the avenue becomes so narrow that only one car can pass, which causes issues since I have seen very few one way streets here.  When another car approaches on one of these too narrow lanes, one driver must find a place to pull over and allow the other to pass.  This is done by the pilots negotiating with each other, eye contact must be made.  This is very different from my driving experience in New York, where the roads are almost always wide enough for cars to pass each other comfortably, and I think for the lack of road rage here.
      I asked Ryoko why the streets are so variable and she stated that  "when the government asked for the land to build the road, the owners said no."  This shocked me a bit as I assumed that Japan had the same powers in this regard as the US did.  In America such eminent domain issues are decided directly by the government, much to the chagrin of many individual citizens.  But it is because of the US governments powers in this regard that our roads are so much safer than here in Japan.  We take for granted that we will have sidewalks when we need them, but if citizens were granted the right to say no that would not be the case.  I also feel that because Japan became civil well before the invention of the car, many property lines were drawn with hand carts in mind.  This would not require the same girth as a car and hence the narrower roads.  I think the same is true of many European nations.  I know that if I had said no to the widening of the street in order to keep more of my property, I would not be able to sleep at night worrying about the accidents and/or deaths my decision would have caused. . .
      Another difference here is that because of the crowded and narrow roads, it often seems like you are driving on the sidewalk.  There are pedestrians and bicycles competing with you for space on the boulevard.  This appears to be directly amplified the closer you get to a train station.  I think this unhealthy proximity leads to carelessness, and have had walkers step out in front of my truck many times.  I have become quite paranoid about them and assume they will choose the least intelligent option until I have them behind me and even then I doubt their willingness to live.  My heart is often in my throat as I ride the bus, as children jaunt out in front of it without seeming to care.  I have also been left aghast as I witness motorcycles driving between moving cars, or on the side of the road.  I even observed a smartcar (driven by a not so smart person) pull onto the sidewalk one day as I was jogging.
       The main point today is that driving here is more dangerous than in America.  Think about this the next time you feel your road rage growing because someone cut you off.  At least you had a wide enough road in order to maneuver around them. . .

Cherry Blossoms vs. Yu-Gi-Oh

Last Monday, Yuta and I went to Roppongi so that the lad could play Yu-Gi-Oh at the Konami building.  We were going to leave at 10:00 AM, but he came home late from school and Oba-chan made us stop and drink some juice before we biked to Kita-Kogane.  I took this picture of the two of them right before we cycled away.



We had no troubles riding the Chiyoda line from Kita-Kogane to Roppongi, but were too late for the Yu-Gi-Oh lessons at noon.  We stopped at Starbucks for lunch, Yuta ate a ham and cheese sandwich (the same as me) and I also had a piece of cheesecake.  We got to the Game Center at around 12:40 and Yuta dueled several people.  This photo is during one of his matches.

At around 3:00 PM, I went out to take pictures of the surrounding cherry (sakura) trees, as they are in full bloom right now.  It was an extremely beautiful walk and I could feel my Nature Deficit Disorder waning.  I took quite a few photos and I am going to post a few of them below.  I hope that Brother Eric Benson finds this post, as he had thought to come to Japan and witness this event for himself.  I was thinking of you as I took the pictures, knowing that I would have an audience seeing the results of my work inspired me to do my best!

Spring Flowers in Oba-chan's Garden

      I find the garden outside the living room of this house to be astounding.  Oba-chan has been working on this masterpiece for many years and it shows.  Today I am giving you a glimpse of a portion of the garden that I find particularly appealing.  If you know the names of the flowers, I would appreciate learning them from your comments. . .