The feature of the day...tonight I was with a friend at the underground going back home, we were chatting as usual when suddenly we realized we were stopped at a station and noticed that no one but absolutely no one was talking in the car, what's more there wasn't a single noise! This is not the first time that happens something similar, actually it's quite common, as I mentioned in other posts, the underground is a place where people always takes the opportunity to take a break in their stressful lifestyle and try to relax and rest for a while...yet I'm still amazed of the situation every time it happens, nothing compared to the noisy and loudly transportation of the west :)
27/2/13
De tan tranquil fa por - So quiet is scary
La curiositat del dia, aquesta nit estava amb en Cesc al metro camí cap a casa, anàvem parlant tranquilament quan de cop ens hem parat a una estació i ens hem adonat que ningú però absolutament ningú parlava al vagó, és més no hi havia cap soroll! No és la primera vegada que hem passa i en alguna ocasió ja us havia explicat de la pau i el silenci que es viu al metro on la gent aprofita per descansar i relaxar-se...ara bé no deixo de soprendre'm cada vegada que m'hi trobo i me'n faig creus comparat al xivarri i safareig que hi ha als transports occidentals :)
The feature of the day...tonight I was with a friend at the underground going back home, we were chatting as usual when suddenly we realized we were stopped at a station and noticed that no one but absolutely no one was talking in the car, what's more there wasn't a single noise! This is not the first time that happens something similar, actually it's quite common, as I mentioned in other posts, the underground is a place where people always takes the opportunity to take a break in their stressful lifestyle and try to relax and rest for a while...yet I'm still amazed of the situation every time it happens, nothing compared to the noisy and loudly transportation of the west :)
The feature of the day...tonight I was with a friend at the underground going back home, we were chatting as usual when suddenly we realized we were stopped at a station and noticed that no one but absolutely no one was talking in the car, what's more there wasn't a single noise! This is not the first time that happens something similar, actually it's quite common, as I mentioned in other posts, the underground is a place where people always takes the opportunity to take a break in their stressful lifestyle and try to relax and rest for a while...yet I'm still amazed of the situation every time it happens, nothing compared to the noisy and loudly transportation of the west :)
24/2/13
Sumo, sumo, sumo!!!
Sumo, sumo, sumo !!! Fa uns dies vaig anar de nou a veure sumo...aquesta vegada una ocasió especial, el 37è Grand Sumo Tournament que va tenir lloc a Tokyo, un esdeveniment d'un sol dia amb competició tipus copa, o sigui que no hi havia lloc per l'error, guanyar o quedar eliminat. Acostumat al torneig estàndard de 15 dies, aquest va ser bastant diferent tot i que al no ser competició oficial es podia palpar en l'ambient que tot estava més relaxat. Tot i això, bons combats, potència humana desfermada i molt de contacte...amb tan de "roce" el sumo em comença a semblar un esport amb cert romanticisme ;) Aquí us deixo una sèrie de fotos
Sumo, sumo, sumo !!! Some days ago I went again to watch sumo...this time was a special occasion, the 37th Grand Sumo Tournament held in Tokyo, a special single-elimination event where there is no room for error, either you win or get out. Used to the standard 15 days tournament, this one was quite different although not being an official competition was clear that the atmosphere was much more relaxed. Nonetheless, as usual good fights of human warriors of amazing power and flexibility that always keeps me astonished... and with all that contact start to see this sport with certain sense of romanticism ;) here some pics of the day
Sumo, sumo, sumo !!! Some days ago I went again to watch sumo...this time was a special occasion, the 37th Grand Sumo Tournament held in Tokyo, a special single-elimination event where there is no room for error, either you win or get out. Used to the standard 15 days tournament, this one was quite different although not being an official competition was clear that the atmosphere was much more relaxed. Nonetheless, as usual good fights of human warriors of amazing power and flexibility that always keeps me astonished... and with all that contact start to see this sport with certain sense of romanticism ;) here some pics of the day
18/2/13
Res més relatiu que la bellesa - Nothing more debatable but beauty
Gran història la d'avui, 100% made in Japan. Resulta que des de que vaig arribar en aquest país hi havia un aspecte que des del principi em va cridar l'atenció en les noies...n'hi ha moltes que tenen les dents mal posades! Vaja que no les tenen aliniades, sobretot a nivell dels canins (ullals) que els acostumen a témer bastant sortits però per altra banda tampoc sembla que s'utilitzi gaire l'ortodòncia correctiva...mmm tot un bon misteri que finalment recentment ha trobat resposta...fa poc que he après que al Japó la imperfecció dental és un signe de bellesa (!!), tal qual als nois japonesos troben atractives les noies amb dents descol.locades, fins i tot hi ha un adjectiu per definir-ho, s'anomena Yaeba (literalment doble dent). El tema és tan popular que fins i tot han aparegut cliniques dentals que ofereixen "implants" de canins, conegut com tsukeyaeba! el no va más és que la propietària d'una clínica dental a Ginza sembla ser que com a campanya de marketing va esponsoritzar un grup de J-Pop (Pop Japonès) conegut com TYB48 (contracció entre TsukeYaeba i el famós grup AKB 48) que està format per tres noies que van a la moda yaeba! Què us sembla?? Interassantíssim no?...nosaltres pagant per tenir les dents rectes i aquí per descol.locar-les, però ben mirat qui defineix els canons de bellesa, per a gustos els colors :) !
Great story today, 100% Japanese!. Since I came to Japan one of things (among many others) that caught my attention with girls, was that many of them have crooked teeth resulting in an imperfect smile, particularly the canines pushing forward in a vampiresque look. On the other hand however I don't see that many girls with dental correction so altogether was quite mysterious until few days ago when I finally found the answer....in Japan teeth imperfections are considered cute!!Apparently some men find the imperfect smile as attractive, childlike...they even have a word to describe this which is Yaeba (literally double tooth). This subject is so popular that there are even dental clinics offering the possibility to get Yaeba implants for those with "straight" teeth, called "Tsukeyaeba" (added Yaeba). The most stunning thing I read is that the owner of one of these clinics in Ginza decided, as a marketing campaign, to sponsor a J-Pop band called TYB48 (playing with the word TsukeYaeba and the famous J-Pop band AKB48) which is composed by three girls all with yaeba smile! so, how do you like this? Amazing isn't it?...we, in western countries, paying to align teeth and here they are paying to disalign them! But well, it's true that at the end who defines the rules of beauty? everyone to his one taste :)
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| Aquesta és la Tomomi Itano una famosa cantant del grup AKB48 i un dels personatges més coneguts amb Yaeba / Tomomi Itani a famous singer of AKB48 and one of the most well-known Yaeba characters |
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| I aquestes noietes són les tres components del grup de J-Pop TYB48 / These are the three girls of the TYB48 J-Pop band |
10/2/13
Aprenent cuina japonesa - Learning Japanese cuisine
Un dels desitjos pel 2013 és que a part de continuar gaudint dels plaers de la gastronomia japonesa, vull aprendre a cuinar-ne les seves receptes. La veritat és que al Japó degut a la gran oferta (i barata) de restaurants i al fet que els apartaments acostumen a ser molt petits, la gent menja molt a fora casa i jo que sóc bastant de cuinar i trobades casolanes al voltant d'uns taula doncs des de que estic per aquí ho he trobat a faltar...i evidentment no pot ser, el dia que marxi del Japó a banda d'emportar-me'n bons records gastronòmics també voldria que anéssin acompanyats de coneixement o sigui que finalment aquesta setmana vaig experimentar la primera classe de cuina japonesa. Aquí us deixo el menú....bo bo bo ;)
One of my resolutions for 2013 is that besides enjoying the japanese cuisine, I would like to learn how to cook it. Actually although I like to cook since I'm in Japan I don't do it very often. Here the tendency is usually to go out, either because the offer of restaurants is huge at reasonable price or because the size of appartments are quite small, people tend to meet up outside home. So at then I decided that regardless of this I wanted to learn and finally this week started my first japanese cooking lesson. Here the menú...yummy, yummy!!
1. Amanida de Nagaimo condmentada amb una salsa de Wasabi / Nagaimo salad with wasabi dressing
Bona recepta per començar, el nagaimo (un tipus de boniato) era la típica verdura japonesa que mai sabia com cuinar-la. Em van comentar que normalment es menja cru o lleugerament fregit (com el nostre cas), la seva gran característica és la textura mucosa, bastant peculiar! La salsa wasabi mmm....boníssima!
Nice recipe to begin with, nagaimo (a kind of yam) so far was the typical japanese vegetable that I never knew how to cook. Now I learnt that usually it is eaten raw or slightly fried (like ours), its main characteristic is that is very sticky becoming mucilaginous when grated! The wasabi dressing....yummy yummy!!
2 Soja amb renkon i gobo amakara age / Soybean with renkon and gobo amakara age
La base d'aquesta recepta és la soja (en mongeta) barrejada amb dos vegetals clàssics, el renkon (arrel del lotus) i el gobo fregits amb una salsa agre-dolça a base de soja i sucre. Resultat boníssim...la millor de la nit sens dubte!
You take soybeans as the base mix with two classic japanese vegetables, renkon (lotus root) and gobo, deep-fry them and add a sour-sweet sauce made of soy and sugar. The result really goood....to me the best recipe of the night!
3. Irodori soboro gohan
Aquesta és una recepta típica japonesa que habitualment forma part dels bentos (carmanyoles) dels més petits. Irodori vol dir colorejat, soboro gohan (arròs) doncs és arròs amb toppings de diferents colors, en el nostre cas, pollastre, ou i gamba que es cuina amb una salsa dolça de soja.
This is a traditional japanese recipe commonly found in bentos especially among children. Irodori means colourful, soboro gohan (rice) then is rice with colourful toppings in our case chicken, egg and shrimp cooked with a sweet soy sauce.
4. Sardine dango isobe maki (Hamburgueses de sardina / Sardine hamburger)
Segurament el plat més elaborat i interessant de fer. Tal qual, hamburgueses de sardina farçides de verdura (entre d'altres bambú) i recobertes d'alga nori. Resultat més que acceptable!
Probably the most sophisticated and elaborated dish. They really were sardine hamburger 100%. with vegetables (among others bamboo) and wrapped with nori seaweed. The results was very interesting!
5. Kuromitsu kinako mochi
Per acabar un clàssic de la cuina japonesa, mochi (arròs enganxós) fregit amb salsa de xarop de sucre i kinako (farina de soja). Bo, però certament no seria el postre més adequat per fer la digestió :)
As a dessert, a classic of the japanese cuisine, fried mochi (sticky rice) with brown sugar syrup and kinako (soybean flour). Yummy, but certainly not the best choice if you look to ease your digestion :)
Aquí el menú complet, presentat a la japonesa....cada cosa té una raó de ser.
The complete menu presented in the japanese way....everything has a reason to be.
I finalment aquí algunes de les companyes que com a bones japoneses van immortalitzar el moment amb unes fotografies també ;)
And finally a picture with some of the colleagues who as a good japanese didn't miss the opportunity to took some pictures at the end ;)
One of my resolutions for 2013 is that besides enjoying the japanese cuisine, I would like to learn how to cook it. Actually although I like to cook since I'm in Japan I don't do it very often. Here the tendency is usually to go out, either because the offer of restaurants is huge at reasonable price or because the size of appartments are quite small, people tend to meet up outside home. So at then I decided that regardless of this I wanted to learn and finally this week started my first japanese cooking lesson. Here the menú...yummy, yummy!!
1. Amanida de Nagaimo condmentada amb una salsa de Wasabi / Nagaimo salad with wasabi dressing
Bona recepta per començar, el nagaimo (un tipus de boniato) era la típica verdura japonesa que mai sabia com cuinar-la. Em van comentar que normalment es menja cru o lleugerament fregit (com el nostre cas), la seva gran característica és la textura mucosa, bastant peculiar! La salsa wasabi mmm....boníssima!
Nice recipe to begin with, nagaimo (a kind of yam) so far was the typical japanese vegetable that I never knew how to cook. Now I learnt that usually it is eaten raw or slightly fried (like ours), its main characteristic is that is very sticky becoming mucilaginous when grated! The wasabi dressing....yummy yummy!!
2 Soja amb renkon i gobo amakara age / Soybean with renkon and gobo amakara age
La base d'aquesta recepta és la soja (en mongeta) barrejada amb dos vegetals clàssics, el renkon (arrel del lotus) i el gobo fregits amb una salsa agre-dolça a base de soja i sucre. Resultat boníssim...la millor de la nit sens dubte!
You take soybeans as the base mix with two classic japanese vegetables, renkon (lotus root) and gobo, deep-fry them and add a sour-sweet sauce made of soy and sugar. The result really goood....to me the best recipe of the night!
3. Irodori soboro gohan
Aquesta és una recepta típica japonesa que habitualment forma part dels bentos (carmanyoles) dels més petits. Irodori vol dir colorejat, soboro gohan (arròs) doncs és arròs amb toppings de diferents colors, en el nostre cas, pollastre, ou i gamba que es cuina amb una salsa dolça de soja.
This is a traditional japanese recipe commonly found in bentos especially among children. Irodori means colourful, soboro gohan (rice) then is rice with colourful toppings in our case chicken, egg and shrimp cooked with a sweet soy sauce.
4. Sardine dango isobe maki (Hamburgueses de sardina / Sardine hamburger)
Segurament el plat més elaborat i interessant de fer. Tal qual, hamburgueses de sardina farçides de verdura (entre d'altres bambú) i recobertes d'alga nori. Resultat més que acceptable!
Probably the most sophisticated and elaborated dish. They really were sardine hamburger 100%. with vegetables (among others bamboo) and wrapped with nori seaweed. The results was very interesting!
5. Kuromitsu kinako mochi
Per acabar un clàssic de la cuina japonesa, mochi (arròs enganxós) fregit amb salsa de xarop de sucre i kinako (farina de soja). Bo, però certament no seria el postre més adequat per fer la digestió :)
As a dessert, a classic of the japanese cuisine, fried mochi (sticky rice) with brown sugar syrup and kinako (soybean flour). Yummy, but certainly not the best choice if you look to ease your digestion :)
Aquí el menú complet, presentat a la japonesa....cada cosa té una raó de ser.
The complete menu presented in the japanese way....everything has a reason to be.
I finalment aquí algunes de les companyes que com a bones japoneses van immortalitzar el moment amb unes fotografies també ;)
And finally a picture with some of the colleagues who as a good japanese didn't miss the opportunity to took some pictures at the end ;)
30/1/13
Aire fresc a Tokyo! - Fresh air in Tokyo!
Matinal de diumenge asolellada amb un cel blau i clar que convidava a sortir al carrer....i dit i fet vaig aprofitar per fer una sortida en bici a un dels indrets més agradables de la ciutat, el riu Tama (Tamagawa), el qual juntament amb el riu Arakawa, són els dos grans rius que voregen la ciutat fins a desembocar a la badia de Tokyo. El Tama em queda relativament a prop de casa i voreja d'oest a est la ciutat, separant-la de la veïna Kawasaki (per tots els que heu estat al Japó, és el gran riu que es veu sortint de Tokyo en tren cap al sud), és un gran riu amb amples voralls on s'hi han instal.lat equipaments esportius de tota mena i hi ha un camí que s'allarga tot el recorregut del riu ideal per fer una mica de bici, córrer o simplement passejar. Quan un volta per allà, observant tota l'activitat al voltant, per moments oblides que estàs en una ciutat de 13 milions de persones, canalla jugant a beisbol, a futbol, fent gimnàs, practicant golf o fins i tot jugant a tennis i tot al costat del riu...maco de veritat :)!
Last Sunday we woke up with a lovely sunny day, winter here is cold but beauty as well, usually resulting in a clear and blue sky that invites going outdoors, and so did I. I took the bike (that I haven't for a while) and went cycling till the Tama river (Tamagawa), which together with the Arakawa river are the two big rivers surrounding Tokyo towards the bay. Tama river is relatively close to home and goes from west to east being the limiting line between Tokyo and the neighbor Kawasaki (yes is the river you can see from the train when going south from Tokyo), it's a big river with broad sides where it has been built all kinds of sports equipments and there is also a pedestrian path following all along the river perfect for cycling, running or simply going for a walk. One of the best places to enjoy outdoors activities in Tokyo, being there with all the activity around made one forget being in a city of 13M people, children playing beisbol, others football, fitness, practicing golf or even playing tennis...and all these next to the river, really a wonderful place to visit!
Last Sunday we woke up with a lovely sunny day, winter here is cold but beauty as well, usually resulting in a clear and blue sky that invites going outdoors, and so did I. I took the bike (that I haven't for a while) and went cycling till the Tama river (Tamagawa), which together with the Arakawa river are the two big rivers surrounding Tokyo towards the bay. Tama river is relatively close to home and goes from west to east being the limiting line between Tokyo and the neighbor Kawasaki (yes is the river you can see from the train when going south from Tokyo), it's a big river with broad sides where it has been built all kinds of sports equipments and there is also a pedestrian path following all along the river perfect for cycling, running or simply going for a walk. One of the best places to enjoy outdoors activities in Tokyo, being there with all the activity around made one forget being in a city of 13M people, children playing beisbol, others football, fitness, practicing golf or even playing tennis...and all these next to the river, really a wonderful place to visit!
23/1/13
Tokyo de blanc! - Snowy Tokyo!
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| Sorpresa al llevar-me al matí! - Surprise when I woke up! |
What a snow storm we had last week! Last Monday, bank holiday in Japan, we woke up with a very peculiar view of Tokyo, it began to snow at night and in the morning there was already a thick layer of white snow covering the city! hey and it wasn't any snow but the heaviest of the last 10 years (!!), the best example is the snow remaining around after more than a week. So, indeed we suddenly entered the winter season with images of the Tokyo that made me remind my lovely Switzerland...of course with the difference that it seems here they are not that well prepared for it, as an example the day after were plenty of people was trying to "remove" snow with water...either they don't know about salt or they like extreme activities, actually it was quite funny to see all these businessmen and women with their perfect outfit trying to walk on the icy snow with heels or thin shoes...no way to go to work with boots or any other combination that could not fit perfectly with the style! Now, the most striking thing for me is to see people removing the last (few) piles of snow from their houses or shops and putting it in garbage bags!! ...it's like they cannot wait it melts or that they see it as litter...I think I don't get it.
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| Meguro sota la neu / Meguro under the snow!!! |
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| El meu veí amb el "traje" netejant el garatge abans d'anar a treballar / My neighbour in costume cleaning the garage |
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| Imagineu-vos les dones amb talons de 30cm caminant per aquí / Imagine the women with their 30cm heels walking there |
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| Una setmana més tard / A week later...still snow! |
12/1/13
Messi...kimoshiii!!!
Aprofitant la setmana de consagració de Messi com el rei absolut del fútbol, aquí us comparteixo la campanya publicitària que protagonitza al Japó amb una empresa de cosmètics locals, Anfa. Molts ja l'haureu vist, i és que la imatge de Messi parlant o potser millor, intentant parlar Japonès ha fet la volta al molt, tot i que tampoc es pot dir que sigui molt difícil ;) Sigui com sigui suposo que li deuen haver pagat una pasta però de ben segur que la campanya és un èxit, la imatge de Messi, el jugador de futbol de lluny més conegut, està bastant per tot arreu i tothom coneix la campanya. En els anuncis on es publicita un producte per rentar-se la cara, la intervenció de Messi es resumeix en dues frases "Messi kimochi" i "Messi mo, Anfa mo nijugo sai" que vindria a ser "Em sento Messi" i "Messi i Anfa tenen 25 anys", i és que la campanya s'ha fet per cel.lebrar els 25 anys d'aquesta empresa. Ara bé, el tema que ha cridat l'atenció per aquí ha estat la pronunciació de Messi, i és que sobretot en la primera frase enlloc de pronunciar "kimo-chi" se li escapa un "kimo-shhi" bastant divertit. Els meus amics que se'n foten bastant em diuen "però és tan complicat pronunciar-ho correctament?" i jo "és que és l'accent argentí...", en fi ja sabem que el fort d'en Messi no serien els idiomes, millor que es dediqui a jugar futbol...i per molts anys!.
Taking the opportunity of Messi's consagration week as the king of football, I want to share with you the advertising campaign that he is starring in Japan with a local cosmetics company called Anfa. You may have already seen the CM since Messi's image speaking or better say trying to speak Japanese was a worldwide hit, even though if what he says in principle doesn't look that much difficult ;) In any case, the campaign which probably cost a fortune to this company is certainly a success, Messi's image, who's very popular here, is everywhere and everyone knows about the campaign. The CM advertise a face wash cream and Messi's intervention is summarized in two sentences "Messi kimochi" and "Messi mo, Anfa mo nijugo sai" which means "I feel Messi" and "Messi and Anfa are 25 years old", basically the company celebrates its 25th anniversary. However what's been more commented here is Messi's pronunciation, particularly in the first sentence where instead of "kimo-CHI" he says a funny "kimo-shhii". My JP friends makes fun of him on this and ask me whether is that complicated to pronounce it correctly, to which I answer it maybe his argentinean accent...although we all know that Messi's strength is not precisely languages...he should better keep playing football, and hopefully for long time!
Aquest és el primer anunci i peça central de la campanya de communicació...molt simple i no massa sofisticat però segurament és en això on recau l'èxit de la campanya.
This is the first ad and central communication of the campaign...looks quite simple but I guess this is where it falls on the success of it!
Aquest és el segon anunci, bastant curiós també...
Here the second ad, quite funny as well....
I aquest és el making-of de l'anunci
Making-off advertisement
Taking the opportunity of Messi's consagration week as the king of football, I want to share with you the advertising campaign that he is starring in Japan with a local cosmetics company called Anfa. You may have already seen the CM since Messi's image speaking or better say trying to speak Japanese was a worldwide hit, even though if what he says in principle doesn't look that much difficult ;) In any case, the campaign which probably cost a fortune to this company is certainly a success, Messi's image, who's very popular here, is everywhere and everyone knows about the campaign. The CM advertise a face wash cream and Messi's intervention is summarized in two sentences "Messi kimochi" and "Messi mo, Anfa mo nijugo sai" which means "I feel Messi" and "Messi and Anfa are 25 years old", basically the company celebrates its 25th anniversary. However what's been more commented here is Messi's pronunciation, particularly in the first sentence where instead of "kimo-CHI" he says a funny "kimo-shhii". My JP friends makes fun of him on this and ask me whether is that complicated to pronounce it correctly, to which I answer it maybe his argentinean accent...although we all know that Messi's strength is not precisely languages...he should better keep playing football, and hopefully for long time!
Aquest és el primer anunci i peça central de la campanya de communicació...molt simple i no massa sofisticat però segurament és en això on recau l'èxit de la campanya.
This is the first ad and central communication of the campaign...looks quite simple but I guess this is where it falls on the success of it!
Aquest és el segon anunci, bastant curiós també...
Here the second ad, quite funny as well....
I aquest és el making-of de l'anunci
Making-off advertisement
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| En un centre comercial...la imatge de Messi mínim un pam més alt que en la realitat!! At a Dept. store...Messi's appearance clearly taller than the real one! |
11/1/13
Oshogatsu (New Year) - part II
L'any nou Japonès (Oshogatsu) està ple de tradicions, si en l'anterior post us parlava del Hatsumode, altres activitats típiques són les postals d'any nou (similars a la nostra tradició de les postals de Nadal, aquí els primers dies de l'any se'n troben per tot arreu) o l'anomenada otoshidama (tradició de donar diners de pares a fills en forma de regal d'any nou). Més enllà d'això com a bona societat sibarita que són, el menjar també juga un paper mooolt important amb l'anomenat Osechi Ryori o menjar japonès d'any nou, una tradició amb més de mil anys d'història i que evidentment jo tenia molt d'interès de provar i bé...vaig ser tan afortunat que en Manabu, un bon amic japonès, em va convidar a casa seva a passar el dinar d'any nou amb la seva família!! Val a dir que aquí no tothom el conviden a casa de un i menys en dies tan especials o sigui que per a mi va ser tot un honor!! L'experiència va ser absolutament fantàstica, són tan amables i considerats que evidentment em van fer sentir com el rei de la casa!
La veritat és que l'any nou Japonès em va recordar bastant al nostre dia de Nadal, el dinar sol començar bastant tard però també acaba molt tard engantxant-se amb el sopar, et passes el dia menjant i bevent! Entremig, un clàssic són els programes televisió especials d'any nou amb tot tipus de shows 100% japonesos i evidentment les competicions esportives, ara, aquí enlloc del tradicional salts d'esquí tenen el torneig nacional de futbol d'instituts seguit per milions de persones per tot el país!.
L'experiència de l'Osechi ryori va ser molt interessant, es tracta de menjar fet per aguantar diversos dies, diuen que es va començar a fer com a forma de subsistència ja que durant el període d'oshogatsu com que hi havia tots els establiments tancats, era molt difícil aproveir-se i s'havia de buscar coses que aguantéssin diversos dies. Es serveix en unes capses especials, anomenades jubako, similars als bento i avui dia la gran majoria es compra ja preparat en grans magatzems o fins i tot en les botigues de conveniència, per sort en el nostre cas però va ser tot fet a casa i és que a la mare d'en Manabu li agrada molt cuinar. La particularitat de l'Osechi ryori és que cada producte té una significació especial, per exemple hi ha kuromame (mongetes negres) com a símbol de salut pel nou any, konbu (algues) com a símbol de felicitat, tazukuri (sardines seques en salsa soja) com a símbol de bona collita (arròs) o kazunoko (ous d'arengada) com a símbol de fertilitat. En fi, un munt de combinacions de preparacions molt japoneses i amb resultats molt peculiars pels paladars occidentals però també molt bo.
Per rematar-ho, acabat al dinar, estava tan posat en la tradició que fins i tot vaig tenir el plaer de provar per primera vegada un kimono japonès verdader! i no era un kimono qualsevol sinó un que venia d'herència de diverses generacions o sigui amb molta història al darrera però en un estat que estava nou. Déu ni do, el que costa posar-se un kimono, d'entrada ja us dic que sol no te'l pots posar i és que al final vaig acabar portant quatre capes de roba a sobre, evidentment amb tot això haig de reconèixer que gaire còmode no és...ara l'experiència un 10!
The Japanese new year (Oshogatsu) is full of traditions, if in the previous post I talked about the Hatsumode, other typical activities also include the new year's postcards (quite similar to our postcards for Christmas, but here you find them a bit later, only for few days but in each single corner of the city) or the so called otoshidama (tradition to give money from parents to children as a present for new year). Beyond that and as a good gourmet society, food also plays a central role with what they called Osechi ryori or the Japanese new year's food, a tradition with more than thousand years of history and that of course I was really looking forward it...so, I was so lucky that Manabu, a good Japanese friend, invited me to his parents place to share a new year's lunch with his family!! Considering that here in Japan is not that common that you receive this kind of invitation and moreover in such an special date, it was a great honour for me!! The experience was absolutely fantastic, they are so kind and considered that obviously made me feel as a real honorary guest!!
The Japanese new year celebration reminded me quite a lot to our Christmas day, their lunch usually starts quite late so does the finishing time, overlapping with the dinner so you are drinking and eating all day long! In between, a classical are the special TV shows for new year's with all kind of programs 100% japanese style as well as sport competitions, however instead of the traditional European ski jumps, here they have the national football tournament of high-schools which is followed by millions of people all over the country!
The Osechi ryori experience was really interesting, this preparation began as a way to stock food for several days since during oshogatsu everything is closed (especially longtime ago) and so it was hardly possible to buy fresh products and they had to find preparations that could preserve several days. Osechi it is served in special boxes, similar to Bento called Jubako and nowadays most of the people buys it already prepared from department stores or even convenience stores, in our case however It was an exception since Manabu's mother always prepare it at home...yummy. There many different food or preparations in Osechi ryori and the particularity is that each one has a special meaning, for instance there is kuromame (black beans) as a symbol of health in the new year, konbu (seaweed) as a symbol of joy, tazukuri (dried sardines in soy sauce) as a symbol of abundant harvest (rice) or kazunoko (herring roe) as a symbol of fertility. So, the result a deep introduction to traditional japanese preparations, most unknown by westerners but with s really good taste.
After all these yummy food, I was so integrated in the Japanese tradition that I ended up wearing a kimono :)! My first time wearing a real Japanese kimono, and not just any kimono but one that was inherited from various generations in the family...and was still like new! What a job to get into a kimono...I tell you it took me a while and certainly something you cannot do alone, at the end I was wearing 4 layers of clothes which certainly makes it not very comfortable to wear for long time, that`s why nowadays this is only reserved for special occasions, and so special was that one!
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