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Sign outside the Hoshiban candle store, Aizuwakamatsu

Friday, December 01, 2023

Into Japan A Starter Kit for Understanding Japanese Society

Japan Book Review: Into Japan: A Starter Kit for Understanding Japanese Society

Into Japan: A Starter Kit for Understanding Japanese Society

by Tim Odagiri

Owani Press (2023)

ISBN: 978-1-529-11481-2
176pp; paperback

Into Japan A Starter Kit for Understanding Japanese Society.

You've lived in Japan a few years now and you think you'll stick around for a while. You want to be a good citizen (OK, resident) of your new country, but you're not sure how Japan works and what you need to know. What to do, what to do?

In his introduction to Into Japan, author Tim Odagiri writes that his objective in writing this book was, "to provide tools that foreign residents need to better participate in Japanese society. A common frame of reference is essential for a functioning democracy."

His tome is broken down into five chapters, with an appendix consisting exclusively of the surprising easy-to-read Japanese constitution in its entirety. No worries, it's all in English.

The first chapter is a deep dig into Japan's history, going back 30,000 years. That's a lot of history to cover in 31 pages. Even longtime Japanophiles will learn a few new things. This chapter reveals how Japan's keen sense of nationalism came into being. The ensuing chapter discusses Japan's modern constitution, in case you don't want to scrutinize the whole thing. Included is the much-discussed Article Nine, which states in part, "The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes," and Article 27 which states, "All people shall have the right and the obligation to work." Some American friends of mine would like to see the "obligation to work" part inserted into the U.S. constitution.

The easiest chapter to digest is the third chapter concerning the state symbols of Japan, which incorporates discussions of the emperor, the imperial seal, the flag, imperial regalia and more.

The final two chapters address the workings of Japan's government (including a good explanation of the court system) and the Japanese economy.

Probably few people have read their own country's entire constitution, but reading Japan's constitution doesn't take much time. Some of the 103 articles are very short; the shortest being Article 23 which reads, in full, "Academic freedom is guaranteed." The preamble is a flowery work of art.

Although written in a humorous style at a not-burdensome length of 176 pages, Odagiri's writings are not exactly…jejune. He had me tapping into my online dictionary a few times. The concepts discussed by the author are most appropriate for long-time Japan expats wanting to contribute to their new land, and not your two-years-and-gone eikaiwa types.

In addition to learning how to be a responsible Japanese resident, readers will also come away with numerous interesting tidbits of trivia to stump their fellow expats. For example: *Kimigayo, Japan's somber national anthem, is, at just 32 words, the world's shortest national anthem.

*Among the signees of Japan's 1946 constitution (written by Douglas MacArthur and his associates), was the Minister of State, Baron Shidehara Kijūrō. Who knew there were barons in Japan?

*Between 1976 and 2016, every single lower house was dissolved by the prime minister before serving its complete term.

Whether you want to become a more informed resident to fit into Japan better, or just hope to peruse some interesting history and culture, reading Into Japan is a good expenditure of your time.

Review by Marshall Hughes.

Buy this book from Amazon USA | UK | Japan

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Friday, November 17, 2023

Dairy Of A Void

Japan Book Review: Diary of a Void

Diary of a Void

by Emi Yagi

Penguin Random House UK (2022)

ISBN: 978-1-529-11481-2
213pp; paperback; translated by David Boyd and Lucy North

Thirty-year-old Shibata is fed up at work. In addition to her regular duties at the paper core manufacturing company, she is expected to make the instant coffee for meetings, answer phone calls and change the toner cartridges etc. One day, after another pointless meeting which ended in her being expected to throw away the empty coffee cups with the cigarette butts still in them, she rebels. She tells her co-workers, "I'm pregnant, the smell of coffee, it triggers my morning sickness." "And that's how I became pregnant."

She's not any more pregnant than any of her male co-workers are, and in fact isn't married, doesn't have a boyfriend and, seemingly, hasn't had a date in years. Her ruse has some major benefits. She doesn't have to clean up anything anymore, she can go home at five o'clock and binge watch movies, people give up their seat to her on public transportation and some of her co-workers show newfound concern for her, especially Higashinakano, the guy in the desk next to her that she doesn't respect much.

Her ploy requires some planning, for example stuffing increasing amounts of material under her clothes to make her stomach bulge. She neglects to tell her parents, friends or anybody else what she is doing. As time goes on, she keeps track of her supposed pregnancy on a baby ap, eats healthier food "for the baby" and joins a prenatal aerobics class.

At this point, things veer away from the expected. Shibata (her given name is never revealed), goes to an obstetrician who tells her that her baby is doing well. She feels her baby kicking. Is she hallucinating or is she really pregnant? Who could the father possibly be?

One night, on a deserted Tokyo street, she has a talk with the Virgin Mary, with Shibata asking Mary about her hobbies and favorite singer and saying, "I'm sure you were totally freaked out when they told you that you were pregnant, but at least your baby's birth is celebrated all over the world."

The author, editor of a women's magazine, clearly leans left in her philosophy, managing to work in things like climate change, which is a bit of a non sequitur.

In an interview with the Japan Times, she stated, "I wanted to write a story showing that it's important for women not to feel like they are tied to certain roles, like office worker, wife and mother."

Shibata seems to hate not only working for "the man" but also working with men, although she says she learned in her job interview that she would be the only woman in the company.

There is not one male figure in the book she respects, seemingly including her father who she cares little about.

Overall, the book is a social commentary airing grievances at Japanese society, specifically its traditional work culture. It's quirky, original and, perhaps, thought provoking.

Review by Marshall Hughes.

Buy this book from Amazon USA | UK | Japan

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Friday, October 20, 2023

Ibaraki Suisha Senkou Incense

Ibaraki Suisha Senkou Incense 水車線香

Kodo | Incense Today | Suisha Senkou | Incense Variety | Buy Incense From Japan

Buy incense from Ibaraki Prefecture

Incense has a long history in Japan. Ritually smoldered for its fragrance in India and China since the most ancient of times, incense was introduced to Japan in the 6th century, along with Buddhism. Incense quickly caught on at the Japanese Imperial Court. By the time of the Heian Period (794 - 1185), incense had become a vital part of life at the court. People celebrated its fragrance, people wrote poems about the beauty of the aroma. Ancient woodprint images show people gathering in the gardens of the court, enjoying the pleasure of the smells while holding poetic parties.

Samurai culture adopted incense. Warriors purified their minds and bodies with incense before heading into battle.

Waterwheel at Komamura Seimeido

Kodo 香道

In the 16th century, a century of much turmoil and many wars, a ceremony known as kodo (the Way of Incense) developed, alongside other by now classical Japanese ceremonies like the Tea Ceremony and Ikebana (flower arrangement).

Kodo was (and is) as strictly regimented as the Tea Ceremony with its very own set of tools and rules.

However, Kodo never caught on with the public the way the Tea Ceremony and Ikebana did.

For a very simple reason: the incense used at the Imperial Court and by the upper samurai had always been made from agarwood and / or sandalwood. Those fragrant woods had to be imported from South-East Asia or even India via China and Korea. They were incredibly expensive and only the Imperial Court, the richest of the temples and the richest of the samurai could afford real kotoboku, the most precious high-grade incense.

Buddhism had however spread all over the country, Buddhist ceremonies had become a part of daily life. All those many temples needed incense for their regular ceremonies - and they were in no position to acquire the agarwood the Imperial Court used. Thus, they turned to local sources. Cedar, lavender and other home-grown fragrant leaves and plants became the base of their incense.

Mt Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture

Incense Today

Today, incense is still an integral part of any Buddhist ceremony. But more and more frequently, people use incense without any religious connotation.

They use incense sticks to clean their homes from other smells, they use them to enjoy the fragrance, or perhaps to enhance the olfactory environs when being with a partner in a romantic night. The latter being quite in accordance with the use of the fragrance in Heian times.

Walking into any Japanese supermarket or drug store presents you with a variety of incense made by major manufacturers.

But as always, there are the mass-produced products and there are the ones that have their own distinct fragrance, that have their own history, their own story.

The traditional waterwheel at Komamura Seimeido

Suisha Senkou 水車線香

Suisha Senkou is the brand name of the incense made at the small family-run Komamura Seimeido factory deep in the countryside outside of Ishioka, Ibaraki Prefecture. Cedar leaf incense is the main product of the facility though other types of incense are manufactured as well.

Suisha Senkou translates to "waterwheel incense" and indeed, an ancient watermill plays an important part in the production process.

Located at the foot of Mount Tsukuba, the Komamura Seimeido is surrounded by forests and rice paddies. A very quiet area in central Ibaraki. Not really that remote from Tokyo (you can easily go there on a day trip from the city), but far away enough to be able to stroll through the rice paddies and seeing nothing but an open sky above the landscape. No high-voltage powerlines in view at all.

Right behind the small Komamura Seimeido family farm house compound, a clear little mountain stream flows by. Coming down from Mount Tsukuba, the stream flows at a pretty good speed.

That mountain stream powers an ancient waterwheel which in turn powers the mill that slowly but steadily pounds the cedar leaves used as the base of the incense sticks. The slow, water-driven pounding process brings out the full aroma of the leaves.

The Komamura Seimeido uses the ancient watermill for exactly this reason. It has been doing so for more than 100 years by now.

All ingredients, most importantly the cedar leaves are local, no chemical agents, no glue is added at all.

One small building houses the processing factory. The machines there look pretty vintage as well but are clearly from the later part of the 20th century, running on electricity.

The water-powered mill

There, the cedar powder is turned into a hot mash which then gets pressed into thin sheets. Those sheets are immediately mechanically cut the size of incense sticks.

After a period of drying, they are wrapped up into packages ready for sale.

If you make an appointment, the master of the house will show you all the details of production himself, he will answer all your questions, and you will be able to burn a few incense sticks of various kinds to make an educated choice of what to purchase.

Cedar leaves ready for processing

Incense Variety

While cedar leaf incense is the main product, locally grown Tsukuba lavender, mikan (mandarin orange) peel and chrysanthemum incense are also manufactured and ready for purchase.

While a trip to the Ibaraki countryside and a visit to the Komamura Seimeido is certainly a pleasure, you can also purchase Komamura Seimeido Suisha Senkou also conveniently from Goods from Japan.

Ishioka incense

Buy Incense From Japan

Goods from Japan offers a variety of Japanese incense.

Purchase a range of Japanese incense from GoodsFromJapan.

A worker at the press and cutting machine

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Vintage Komamura Seimedo Sign

Monday, October 16, 2023

Reflections on Tsuda Umeko

Reflections on Tsuda Umeko: Pioneer of Women's Education in Japan

Reflections on Tsuda Umeko

by Oba Minako

Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture (2021)

ISBN: 978-1-60598-071-3
263pp; hardback

On December 23, 1871, six-year-old Umeko Tsuda was put on a boat along with four other young Japanese girls and sent from Tokyo to America, tasked with the responsibility of learning the English language and American customs. She was part of the famed Iwakura Mission, assembled to renegotiate unequal treaties that Japan had signed, garner recognition for Emperor Meiji's newly reinstated imperial dynasty, and study America and its structures and systems.

By the time Tsuda returned 11 years later as an American high school graduate, Japan had lost much of its fire to learn about America and its ways, and Tsuda was met with neither excitement nor contempt, but mostly indifference. Instead of just melting back into Japan's everyday life, she took it upon herself to try to bring Japan, at least in terms of educating its girls, into modern times.

Starting as a lowly teacher, Tsuda soon decided that she needed more education if she was to help Japanese women become full participants of society. She returned to America, graduated from Bryn Mawr College and came back to Japan where she started Joshi Eigaku Juku (Women's Institute for English Studies) to provide opportunity for a liberal arts education for all women. The school eventually became Tsuda University, and it is still one of Japan's top private universities.

Although Tsuda's accomplishments have long been well known in Japan (enough to be honored by her likeness being printed on the redesigned ¥5,000 note to be released in July, 2024), knowledge of her thinking, emotions and motivations were not. That changed in 1984 when a box of more than 400 of Tsuda's letters to her American host mother, Adeline Lanman, were discovered stuffed in an attic trunk at Tsuda University.

This discovery was partially what prompted the writing of this book by Akutagawa Prize-winning author Minako Oba, herself a Tsuda College graduate. Oba sprinkles her insights/opinions into the passages she took from Tsuda's letters to add context.

Tsuda led arguably the most interesting life of any Japanese woman born during the 19th century. During her 64 years preceding her 1929 death, she met luminaries such as U.S. president Teddy Roosevelt, Florence Nightingale, Helen Keller and many or even most of Japan's political elite of her times, including her time living with the family of Ito Hirobume when he became Japan's first prime minister in 1885.

Ito went on to be prime minister of Japan four times, and is a historical figure known to all Japanese. He was on the original Iwakura Mission, which is where he met Tsuda.

Even those not interested in Tsuda specifically will learn much from this book about Japan's 19th century thinking, culture and living conditions from Tsuda's keen observations and insights.

The book has something for pretty much everybody, and there are abundant historical tidbits which Japanophiles will surely find interesting.

As an example, Tsuda said in one of her letters that Ito was interested in Christianity and “was very angry when the newspapers wrote that he had advised the emperor to accept Christianity and all the ministers were in favor of the idea." I doubt you will find that in any textbook.

Tsuda herself had become a Christian in America.

Note: Those wanting more on Tsuda and the Iwakura Mission should check out the book Daughters of the Samurai, written by Janice P. Nimura.

Review by Marshall Hughes.

Buy this book from Amazon USA | UK | Japan

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Wednesday, September 13, 2023

90-Day Geisha Book Review

90-Day Geisha

by Chelsea Haywood

Pegasus Books LLC (2009)

ISBN: 978-1-60598-071-3
Paperback, 309 pp

After being an international model and becoming bored with that, what is a 19-year-old girl to do?

How about move to Tokyo on a 90-day tourist visa and get a job in a hostess bar? Bring your newly-wedded husband along and start taking notes so that you can write a book about your experiences. Oh, and call yourself a geisha instead of a bar hostess to give yourself some allusion of charm, grace or class.

The goal of the book is to describe what life is like being a Tokyo geisha, er, hostess, ie what hostesses do, what kind of girl/woman signs up for it, and what kind of man visits these bars.

Much of the book is spent talking about the author's customers, and let's just say that none of them come off looking very good, despite being, if she is to be believed, among Japan's very upper crust. She dubiously claims her clients were billionaires. At the time the book was written, Japan had only thirty some billionaires. Haywood seems to want to make the reader think she is tempted to dump her husband and run away with a coke head customer, but this appears, even on the surface, to be highly contrived.

The author can be forgiven for some of her ignorances of Japan as she supposedly lived in the country for only three months (the length of her visa), but annoyances pop up a bit too often for readers who know Japan well. She translates gaijin as "foreign devil" when the word means merely "outside person." The area Shin Okubo is repeatedly called Shin Okobo. There are a few others missteps, too.

Three or four times, Haywood tries hard to impress the reader with overly flowery language, and it seems likely that these sections were ghost written. She thinks of herself as an intellectual giant, but most readers probably won't buy it. Her husband is also held up for his great brainpower. At one point she says of him, "He is the E to my mc2."

So, what was husband Einstein's job? Well, he was walking the streets of Roppongi trying to get girls to sign up to be hostesses and strippers. I am not sure what academic qualifications are needed for that rigorous profession.

While this review has tended towards the negative, some readers, especially those with only a basic knowledge of Japan and hostess bars, might find the book interesting, informative and insightful. Throw in a little salaciousness and some will be clicking on the "buy now" button. The book does get numerous inexplicably positive reviews on some web sites.

At 309 pages, 90-Day Geisha becomes a bit repetitive. If the author just took out the lines reading, "Chelsea, you are the most intelligent and beautiful woman I've ever met," and sentences approximating that, perhaps the book would only be about 250 pages. Haywood tries to partially camouflage her pretentiousness and arrogance, but her ego won't let her try very hard.

In short, the book has its merits, but long-time Japanophiles will likely want to give it a miss.

Final note: In an interview with a Canadian weekly news magazine in December, 2009, not long after the book was published, Haywood says that she and her husband were in the process of getting divorced. What a shocker.

Review by Marshall Hughes.

Buy this book from Amazon USA | UK | Japan

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Thursday, August 03, 2023

Saihoji Temple Kyoto Application

Saihoji History | Saihoji Gardens | Saihoji Access

Saihoji (Kokedera) Temple 西芳寺

Saihoji Temple - or, as it is more commonly known: Kokedera (苔寺 "moss temple") - was founded in the fourteenth century and is located on a spacious 2 hectares (4.5 acres) in Matsuo, south west Kyoto, 800 meters (half a mile) south west of Matsuno-o Shrine (Matsuo Taisha).

Moss at Kokedera in western Kyoto, Japan

Saihoji History

Saihoji was founded in the early to mid eighth century by the Buddhist priest Gyoki (668-749), who is considered the father of mapping and civil engineering in Japan. Subsequent famous head priests of Saihoji include Kukai (AKA Kobo-Daishi) (774-835), another "Renaissance man" of Japanese history known mainly as the founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism, and Honen (1133-1212), the founder of the Pure Land (Jodo-shu) school of Buddhism.

After falling into ruin as a result of civil disturbances and wars, Saihoji was rebuilt, and its gardens redesigned, in 1339 by Muso Soseki (AKA Muso Kokushi) (1275-1351), who was a Zen priest, poet, calligrapher and garden designer.

Saihoji became a World Heritage Site in 1994, along with 16 other Kyoto temples.

Moss at Kokedera (Saihoji) in western Kyoto.

The moss garden is at its best during the Japanese rainy season in June and July but is beautiful at any time of year

Saihoji Gardens

The garden is split level, with the upper level featuring a kare-sansui traditional dry landscape garden, and the lower level a pond shaped like the kanji for "heart" with a strolling path around it, and designed to give the impression that the pond has a geographical connection with the hills in the background.

This innovative design influenced later generations of garden designers and most famously the garden and temple building were used as models for the building of Ginkakuji Temple.

Ironically, the moss, which is now the temple's biggest draw, is the result of the temple and its gardens having been left to go into disrepair at least a century ago. There are an estimated 120 species of moss at Saihoji covering much of the grounds. Fall is a special time to visit, when the temple's trees color the grounds, but the moss is at its greenest in early summer - May and June.

The famous Kyoto-born artist and epicure, Kitaoji Rosanjin (1883-1959) is buried at Saihoji.

A carpet of moss at Kokedera (Saihoji Temple) in western Kyoto.

The temple is one of the most popular with foreign visitors in Kyoto

Visiting Saihoji - Making A Reservation

A reservation is required to visit Saihoji. Write the temple (see address below) with your name, address in Japan (that of a hotel will do), occupation, age (you must be at least 18), number of people in your group, and the date you wish to visit, plus an alternate date.

Include a self-addressed stamped postcard (ofuku hagaki; 往復はがき) available from the post office or a convenience store, or, if sending from overseas, a postcard with an international reply coupon. The ofuku hagaki is a set of two postcards one of which will be used by Saihoji to reply.

This must be done as early as possible: 2 months or several weeks at least, not days, ahead. Do not show up late for your appointed time.

Note: If you would rather consign the application process, please contact the GoodsFromJapan Concierge Service, which can take of the arrangements for you for a reasonable fee and have the reply from Saihoji posted to your hotel in Japan.

Please contact us to use our service to make an application to visit Saihoji Temple.

*Update: Saihoji now take reservations directly on their website here in English - https://intosaihoji.com/en/booking/nichinichi

The visit fee charged by Saihoji is 4,000 yen per person (up from 3,000 yen), which is the highest in Kyoto. Prior to entering, you will be asked to take part in a period of zazen, the chanting of sutras or calligraphy. This lasts 40 minutes to an hour but allowance is made for people to retire early from this, especially the elderly, infirm or non-Japanese visitors.

A carpet of moss at Kokedera (Saihoji Temple) in western Kyoto

Moss Temple Access - how to get to Saihoji

Kyoto Bus #63 from Shijo Kawaramachi and Sanjo Keihan Station is the most straightforward. Get off at Koke-dera/Suzumushi-dera - the final stop. There is only one bus an hour at 27 minutes past the hour. See here for the full timetable: www.kyotobus.jp/route/timetable/pdf/shijokawaramachi_03.pdf

Kyoto Bus #29 starts at Shijo-Karasuma. Get off at Koke-dera-michi bus stop. Go back a little in the direction the bus came from, as far as the footbridge across the main Mozume-kaido Road, and go left there. You will get to Koke-dera in just under 10 minutes.

Kyoto Buses #73 and #28 start at Kyoto Station.

Take bus #73 to the "Kokedera Suzumushidera" stop and walk 3 minutes. There are #73 buses on the hour or just past the hour from 8am to 9pm and at approximately 20 minutes past and 20 minute to the hour. See here for the full timetable. www.kyotobus.jp/route/timetable/pdf/kyotoekimae_02.pdf

On the #28 bus get off at Matsuo-Taisha-mae bus stop. Walk back down the main Mozume-kaido Road in the direction the bus came from, about 12 minutes to the second footbridge, then right down Koke-dera-michi for about 8 minutes.

The nearest train station to Saihoji Temple is JR Saga Arashiyama. From Kyoto Station the journey takes about 12-16 minutes on the JR Sagano Line to Kameoka and Sonobe and costs 240 yen. From JR Saga Arashiyama Station a taxi would cost about 1,000 yen and takes about 10 minutes.

Alternatively from Shijo Station on the Kyoto subway take a Hankyu Arashiyama Line train to Matsuo Taisha Station and walk 20 minutes.

There is also a route from Saihoji by bicycle from Arashiyama.

Saiho-ji
Matsuo Jingatani-cho 56
Nishikyo-ku
Kyoto
615-8286
Tel: 075 391 3631

Book Hotel Accommodation in Kyoto Near Saihoji

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Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Sansho Japanese Mountain Pepper

Japanese Mountain Pepper - Sansho 山椒

Sansho fruits on a tree

Sansho, known as Japanese Mountain Pepper or simply Japanese Pepper in English, is one of the essential spices of Japan. Traditional Japanese eel dishes would be unthinkable without sansho, sansho is an integral component of the widely used shichimi togarashi (Seven Peppers).

Sansho also works great on Western dishes like steak and other meats, it works perfectly with fish of all sorts as well as in salads. The edible leaves of the plant look delicious on any food platter - from sashimi to ham to cheese. The varieties of the use of sansho are almost endless with both Japanese and international dishes.

Sancho tree in Japan

What is Sansho?

Biologists use the Latin name Zanthoxylum piperitum for the plant. It is a tree which can grow up to three meters high. It can be easily recognized by its particular pinnated (feather-like) set of leaves and it sports long and quite sharp thorns.

The plant is native to Japan as well as parts of South Korea and a few areas in China. Known as chopi in Korean, sansho is also in heavy use in the cuisine of the Southern part of the peninsula.

Sansho is closely related to Sichuan peppers though their taste differs. Sichuan peppers fit the spicy foods of southwest China while sansho caters to the more subdued and refined tastes of Japan.

Bamboo sprouts with sancho leaves

Male and Female Plants

Sansho plants come in two varieties - male and female. Only the female plants feature blossoms (in about April), and only the female plants are able to grow fruits and seeds. Their leaves are larger, darker, and harder than those of their male counterparts.

The male plants on the other hand produce soft and light-colored leaves throughout the spring season. Those leaves are cherished in Japanese cuisine. In department stores, they are often sold in quite extravagant packaging for an according price.

Casual meat platter with sansho leaves

Sansho Leaves

This means that sansho from the male and female varieties is sold and used in quite different ways.

In April and May, male sansho leaves are available – going to a farmers' market you find them at a much lower price than at the department stores. Those leaves are fresh and they provide the very best of the sansho taste and smell. They are typically referred to as hana-zansho (flower sansho).

Typically, Japanese will place those leaves on one of their palms, then strongly clap hands. That brings out the full taste the best, it is said. If you get the chance to try your hand on that old custom, you will certainly attest to its veracity.

Those leaves go especially well with the fresh bamboo sprouts heading out of the ground at the same time.

They are very decorative and you often see them in advertising, sometimes used to advertise foods that call for sansho but are offered in different seasons. Like eel, a dish most commonly consumed in summer.

Unripe sansho fruits for sale in a Japanese farmers' market

Unripe Sansho Fruits

In June and July, unripe green sansho fruits become available at Japanese farmer's markets and department stores.

Those fruits, called ao zansho (green sansho) are often boiled in a broth with soy sauce and kombu (kelp) to make a tsukudani (rice topping). Mixed with tiny chirimen fish, they make great chirimen zansho, a famed Kyoto dish.

Ground sansho produced by SB on a Japanese supermarket shelf

Budoh Sansho

Sansho trees grow all over Japan from Hokkaido to Kyushu. The center of sansho production however is Wakayama Prefecture in Western Japan, south of Osaka. Wakayama cultivates about 80% of Japan's sansho.

Wakayama is also home to a special type of sansho, known as budoh sansho (grape shansho). The fruits of budoh sansho are much larger than average sansho fruits, they look more like grapes, hence the name. The budoh sansho variety is particularly sought after - it is not only larger but also offers a spicier taste than the average sansho.

Budoh sansho is sold both in unripe and in mature form.

Sansho rinds packed by Mascot

Ground Sansho

Harvest time for the ripe sansho fruits is in about October. That is when the by then dry reddish fruit rinds break open and reveal a black seed inside.

That seed is inedible and thus gets discarded. The valuable part of the fruit is the dry rind.

Most commonly that rind is ground into a more or less rough powder. Unlike the fresh leaves and unripe fruits, that powder can be purchased and used throughout the year.

Ground sansho is an elemental part of shichimi togarashi, ground sansho is no doubt the most commonly used form of sansho in Japanese kitchens today.

That's what is sprinkled on the dishes in summer in most eel restaurants, that's what you find as a condiment on the tables of Japanese udon and soba noodle restaurants.

The most common variety of ground sansho in Japan is the one manufactured by spice giant SB. Their sansho powder, labeled in hiragana letters as さんしょう, is available in every supermarket. That is the sansho most Japanese use at home.

Sansho Rinds

The main selling point of ground sansho is its convenience. You get the sansho taste on your dishes quickly and reliably.

For the real aficionado, however, ground sansho does not fly. Too much of the taste and fragrance of the sansho invariably evaporates during processing and storing.

Under the name Japanese Pepper, Japanese spice maker Mascot sells the original dried rinds. Rinds of Wakayama budoh sansho, the large and spicy variation of the plant.

You get the real rinds tightly packed into a glass jar. Keep them dry and only use the portion for the meal you plan. Grind them in a suribachi mortar. The suribachi will bring out the best of the taste - especially if it is one of those traditional Japanese mortars that come with a pestle made of fragrant sansho tree wood.

Buy Sancho

Goods from Japan offers a variety of Japanese spices and condiments.

Buy ground sansho pepper from S&B

Buy sansho rinds from Mascot

Purchase a range of Japanese foodstuffs and drinks from GoodsFromJapan.

Aizuwakamatsu Hand Painted Candles

Japanese Mortar & Pestle Suribachi & Surikogi

Kombu Japanese Kelp

Yuzu Kosho Spice from Kyushu

Sayama Green Tea

Shichimi Togarashi

Yanai Goldfish Lanterns

Yatsuhiro & Tatami

by Johannes Schonherr

Sunday, May 14, 2023

Katsuobushi & Katsuobushi Kezuriki

Bonito Flakes in the Kitchen: Katsuobushi and the Katsuobushi Kezuriki 鰹節と鰹節削り器

What is Katsuobushi? | History | Famous Production Areas | Shaving the Katsuobushi | Buy Katsuobushi

Katsuobushi fillet and katsuobushi kezuriki

Remember the first time you were served okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes) in one of those dark, dingy, tiny but homely restaurants in Osaka? The first time you received a boat of takoyaki (wheat batter balls containing a piece of octopus)? Did you wonder what those wildly fluttering flakes on top of the dish? Those flakes almost seem to have a life of their own! It's the heat of the dishes underneath that makes them vibrate.

Those flakes are called katsuobushi and you encounter them in Japan quite frequently and in many different ways. They are used as soup stock, mixed with rice in onigiri rice balls and as topping on an endless variety of dishes ranging from tofu to soba noodles to meat (especially chicken), more recent recipes even include them as toppings on avocado and other imported foods.

Katsuobushi fillets

What is Katsuobushi?

Now, what are those katsuobushi? Roughly translated, katsuobushi means dried bonito flakes. Katsuo is the Japanese name for the skipjack bonito, a fish belonging to the tuna family.

The best meat of those fish, usually caught in the waters surrounding southern Japan, is filleted by hand and knife. Work that needs quite some skill. An experienced worker cuts the fillets from the fish in less than a minute.

Those fillets are then simmered close to the boiling point for an hour or more, then wood smoked up to a month. A smoking session lasts about six hours, then the fillet rests for a day. This process is repeated for about 12 to 15 times. Finally, the fillet is sun-dried for about two weeks with the help of a special mold, the Aspergillus glaucus. The mold ferments the fillet and removes any residual moisture.

When ready for sale, those fillets are hard as wood and brown on the outside, resembling short sticks of firewood. On the inside, they are a blackish purple. After scraping a section of the fillet, the exposed parts glisten in the light like dark, colored glass.

Katsuobushi-centered meal. Katsuobushi-topped tofu, katsuobushi-topped bamboo sprouts, rice mixed with katsuobushi, miso soup using katsuobushi stock.

A katsuobushi-centered meal: katsuobushi-topped tofu, katsuobushi-topped bamboo sprouts, rice mixed with katsuobushi, miso soup using katsuobushi stock

History

Dried bonito is as old as Japan. The most ancient books refer to it as do the legends of the Ainu, the original inhabitants of the islands. Dried bonito could be stored for a long period, it was easy to transport, it was very nutritious and it was very tasty when mixed with rice. That ancient dried bonito was however not the same as the katsuobushi flakes in use today.

Those were invented by a man named Jintaro Kadoya in the Kumano domain (today's Wakayama Prefecture) in the mid-1600s. Kadoya came up with the concept of fumigating the katsuo fillets to preserve them in the best possible way.

Not finding the success with his invention he had hoped for in his native Kumano, Kadoya moved to the Tosa domain on the southern shore of Shikoku (today's Kochi Prefecture). There, the bonito catches were better and the locals embraced Kadoya's production method.

Producing katsuobushi in Tosa proved to be very challenging, however. The climate was wet and mold easily settled on the fillets when set out for sun-drying.

But soon, the Tosa locals producing katsuobushi in Kadoya's way learned how to deal with that ever pervasive mold. They incorporated the mold into the production process, turning the mold from a nuisance into the final step of refinement.

Tosa katsuobushi soon became all the rage on the markets of Edo and Osaka.

The production process was a closely guarded secret but that secret soon leaked out to the Satsuma domain (today's Kagoshima Prefecture). Production conditions in Kagoshima were very similar to those of Tosa (Kochi).

Traditional katsuobushi kezuriki

Famous Production Areas

Kochi and Kagoshima Prefectures are still the main producers of katsuobushi today. They got the brand name recognition, they got the history and the experience of family-run firms dealing with the product for centuries.

Shaving the Katsuobushi

Most common today are factory-shaved katsuobushi flakes. Those are sold in plastic bags in all Japanese supermarkets and they are the most easy to use.

It’s more fun, though, to produce the katsuobushi flakes in your kitchen by yourself. To do so, you need a special tool to shave the flakes from the wood-like katsuobushi fillet.

Traditionally, for this purpose a katsuobushi kezuriki is used. Essentially, that’s a wooden box with a blade inserted. You move the katsuobushi fillet with a certain amount of strength over the blade functioning as a sort of wood plane. The shaved-off flakes are collected in the drawer below the blade.

Working the blade needs a certain amount of practice, though. You need to figure out how exactly to hold the fillet stick and what amount of pressure to apply. If done incorrectly, the result of the shaving will be rather a reddish rough powder than the desired flakes.

That powder is delicious and can be used in salads, for example. But you wanted the flakes, right? The real thing.

Those can be more easily produced using a mechanic katsuobushi shaving machine. Of course, the mechanic shaver leaves you a little short on the experience of cooking in real traditional Japanese style but it provides you with the desired result easily and efficiently.

A katsuobushi fillet and katsuobushi kezuriki

Buy Katsuobushi

Goods from Japan offers all the options, the wood-like fillet sticks and the old-style kezuriki as well as two kinds of mechanic shavers, one named the Okaka and the other the Kakuta-Kun, and of course, the most easy-to-use bagged factory-made katsuobushi flakes.

Purchase a range of Japanese foodstuffs and drinks from GoodsFromJapan.

Japanese Mortar & Pestle Suribachi & Surikogi

Kombu Japanese Kelp