Japanese Sweets

Uji-style ice shavings

Traditional Japanese sweets are quite different from what the Western taste is used to. They are mostly made of tea, rice and beans, not exactly things we’d associate with a dessert. Other common flavors are (white or black) sesame. Not only the ingredients are unusual, also the consistency: it’s often either rubbery or gelatinous.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my readers! 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, the mightiest of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac. I hope you all got your dragon decorations ready!

Looking back on 2011

2011, the year of the Rabbit, has turned out to be a rather dark year for Japan, and a year with long-lasting consequences.
From the first few months I remember the spectacularly beautiful January and some beautiful outings to the Shonan Coast and the Miura Peninsula. And of course visiting the Snow Monkeys!
March 2011 will remain in the memories of many for a long time. We lived through the Great East Japan Earthquake and the following days of the nuclear scare. The earth kept shaking for two months to come.
As a ray of light in early April, we spent some ethereally beautiful days in Kyoto during the cherry bloom. Also these days will remain in our memory forever.
Our highlights of late spring and early summer were cycling the Shimanami Kaido during the bloom of the citrus fruits and our trip to Hokkaido.
Luckily, the summer was not as hot as the last one had been, because with all the power saving measures that had to be implemented as a result of the earthquake, this could have been way worse than it was.
Towards the end of summer, we already had to prepare for moving back to Europe, but before that, we made an island escape to Niijima and we did our Great Round Trip, visiting among others Tottori and the Sanin Coast, Amanohashidate and Shirakawago. It’s a pity we couldn’t travel even more, we had such a good time. We left the country by boat, just the way we had arrived three years earlier. Since then, we’ve been decorating our new home in Geneva with the things we brought along from Japan, sometimes missing Japan. We are intending to do an extended trip to Japan in 2012 and are already looking forward to it.
Despite everything, we have good memories of 2011. For now, in keeping with the Japanese custom, I clean our home before the New Year!

Things Japanese XXII: Onsen

The famous bath house in Dogo Onsen (Shikoku)

A very Japanese thing is the onsen (温泉) or hot spring. The volcanically active country is blessed with countless natural hot springs with many different types of mineral waters, some alkaline, some highly acidic, which are usually ascribed specific health benefits. The Japanese flock to the public bath houses in regions with famous hot springs, and a resort hotel stands and falls with the quality of its baths.
Hot spring resort towns often have the word “onsen” added to their name, such as for example Beppu Onsen. Going to the onsen is integral part of the experience of traveling in Japan. Nothing is more restorative after a train ride or a hike than soaking in the mineral waters of a hot spring.

Kyoto Zen Gardens II (Picture Book)

Japan’s Zen gardens fascinate the Western world. In Kyoto there are so many of them, that even though I have already presented some pictures in the past, today I would like to share some more.
The temple complex of Nanzenji houses a number of beautiful examples of the famous dry landscape (枯山水, karesansui) Zen garden. There are large viewing gardens and courtyard gardens of all sizes, all of them beautiful in their own way.

Dry landscape garden at Nanzenji

English in Japan

When I asked last week for reader input, I received the following question from a Japanese reader:

Do you think Japanese people learn English more? Why do you think most of all the Japanese people are not good at English? How do you think the Japanese people can improve their English?

It’s a very good question, and one we have wondered about many times during our stay in Japan. Getting by with English does not work too well in Japan. Most people seem not to speak English at all, even though everyone learns English in school.

Ask a Question!

I would like to give my many (silent) readers the chance to ask questions or request a topic. Do you want to hear about anything specific about Japan or my experience in Japan? If yes, just fill out the form below! I’d be happy to hear what my readers want to see here.

What I miss most from Japan

Of course, there are the obvious answers, such as daifuku mochi, matcha ice cream, umeboshi, or nori. A stroll past Senso-ji in Asakusa. Or a decent bath in an onsen. Seeing Mt. Fuji on a clear morning, visiting a Japanese garden.

But there are many things that are different back in Europe.

I find myself often missing the absence of certain things. I miss the silence when I am woken up by a honking concert down the street at six a.m. (I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the sound of honking at all in Japan). I also miss the silence when I am sitting in loud chatter in the train or am listening to the music leaking from my neighbor’s headphones (as the posters in the Tokyo subway admonish: please do it at home!). Or when another baby screams like it’s being murdered on the tram.

Japanese Landscape Gardens (Picture Book)

Japan’s gardens are famous worldwide. Kyoto alone boasts hundreds of them. There is a variety of distinct styles: tea gardens, courtyard gardens, “dry landscape” type stone gardens, gardens that are designed to be viewed just from a room, and gardens made for strolling. Today, I’ll be presenting a variety of landscape gardens from all over the country.

Travel in Japan – Interrupted

A while ago I wrote the best-of list of our trips in Japan. And while people are already joking that we’ve been everywhere in Japan, the list of places we’ve not been to is even longer. The picture on the left – our souvenir Gotochi Kitty collection on a map of Japan – shows this well. While the Kanto region is overcrowded with Kitties, the west coast and the North of the country are sadly kittyless. Today, I’ll be sharing with you the list of places I definitely want to visit. These are places I am lead to believe after careful research (yes, I’m constantly organizing an upcoming trip) to be very worth visiting, places I already had a concrete plan to visit. For a variety of reasons, these trips just didn’t happen. But they’re on the to-do list and maybe can give others some ideas where to go. As the map shows, there are many more places I haven’t even gotten around to researching…