The 2018 Winter Olympics are now over, and the next is 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo! The main stadium of the Tokyo Olympics is designed by world-renowned architect, Kengo Kuma. In an interview, he said the old stadium from the previous Tokyo Olympics in 1964 was his inspiration to become an architect. As a young […]
Archive for the ‘culture’ Category
It’s winter and everybody is drinking hot toddies to get warm, to nurse a cold and…well, just to enjoy the great tasting wintry drink. Jessica Braasch at Bible Club PDX made an awesome hot toddy using Jugetsudo mecha, umami packed green tea. It’s warm, smooth and sweet, and it is also very relaxing. The atmosphere […]
Umami Café at the Portland Japanese Garden now serves Jugetsudo tea along with locally made Japanese confections. Frothy matcha is light and yet rich in taste—almost creamy. It tastes even better when it is paired with Japanese sweets like the spring shibori (a traditional Japanese sweet of red and white bean paste). The sweetness of […]
Setsubun, the beginning of spring in Japan was February 3rd this year. On the day of setsubun, Japanese eat eho-maki (thick sushi rolls). Eho is the good fortune direction and it varies every year. This year’s eho is south-southeast. We eat the thick sushi roll which preferably contains seven ingredients, facing eho (this year, south-southeast). […]
Setsubun (節分), a traditional event marking the beginning of spring, usually falls on February third or fourth, according to the Japanese lunar calendar. Japanese celebrate setsubun in many ways depending on the regions, and the bean throwing is one of the common ones. We throw roasted soy beans around our houses, shouting, “”Oni wa soto! […]
Mecha (芽茶）is green tea powder made of new buds of tea plant. The baby leaves are packed with a natural umami component called theanine. It has a strong, yet rounded flavor. Many sushi restaurants in Tokyo choose to serve this tea to their customers. Our parent company in Japan sells 30 tons of this tea […]
January 12th is National Hot Tea Day. Let’s celebrate with a nice cup of hot green tea. Cheers!
Matcha bowls, or chawan, are beautifully decorated bowls that are used to make matcha. Four seasons play a big role in Japanese culture and matcha bowls are no exception. In summer, you should choose a chawan that looks cool and in winter, a warm looking one. If the bowl has a flower pattern on it, […]
In Japanese, each month has an ancient name and December is called “shiwasu＝師走.” The first letter 師 means “monk, teacher and master” and the second letter 走 means “to run.” In ancient Japan, the monks and teachers were highly ranked and admired by regular people. Usually, they would be wise, calm and serene. But toward […]
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