The other day, I went to a ganban-yoku, bedrock bath. This is like a heated stone spa room, supposedly good for circulation, weight-loss, detoxing, and all sorts of other health things. The stones are said to emit far-infrared rays, minus ions and to possess other healing qualities. It is considered a “bath without the water.” The only water is your sweat! Anyway, it felt pretty good and I got the massage combination package (only ~4000yen for 90 minutes of ganban-yoku plus 1 hour whole body massage). I made reservations online through hotpepper beauty and was able to use my discount to make it even cheaper.
So first, same as the onsen, enter and remove your shoes, placing them in a locker or cubby. The front desk will check you in, get you towels/sauna clothes, etc. At this particular place, there was an outside locker for valuables so I put my purse in it. Inside the women’s section I went to my cubby area, showered, and changed into sauna clothes (called samue サムエ, or 作務衣).
To use the bedrock bath, bring the large towel you were given and spread it out at one of the spots; lie on top of this. It is so you don’t sweat on the floor and keep the area clean. There are little wooden headrests, too. The poster recommended 5 minutes lying on the stomach, 10 minutes on the back, and then a 5 minute in between break, repeating several times. Make sure to sip plenty of water in between as well to stay hydrated, plus it helps you sweat more.
Though the stone floor is quite warm, the air temperature is pretty good and it does not get stuffy like a regular sauna. I sweated quite nicely and enjoyed the quiet time. There were probably 6 -7 other women there at the same time, but as typical in Japan, it was very quiet as this is a time to relax. In between goes, there were some comfy chairs and magazines to browse through.
Afterwards, I had the massage, which was felt pretty good after some stressful days (weeks, months) of work and school. My muscles have definitely relaxed and loosened out some of the knots. I think even my body circulation feels better after all of that, I felt pretty refreshed afterwards. A good place to de-stress and recharge.
Finishing up, there was a shower area and the vanity area for freshening up. Though you aren’t supposed to shower after the ganbanyoku, only before entering… I guess this is “clean sweat” and you are only supposed to wipe it off with a towel. Just change back into your clothes, put the dirty clothes and towels in the laundry bin and check out.
By the way, the place I went is called Thingara and they also offers a men’s section; sometimes these places are women-only, so this is a good place to take a husband or boyfriend as well. They also offer hot yoga, though I assume it is held in Japanese, you could always try to join them anyway. There are quite a few other ganban-yoku around Okinawa, so if you don’t live or stay near Kitanakagusuku, you have some other options to check out (just put 岩盤浴 into google maps).
Another bonus to these bedrock baths are that if you have tattoo, the sauna clothes cover it, so I don’t think most places have any sort of tattoo policy, unlike many of the onsen.
I personally do not eat meats, but my husband does, and many people I know do. So I am putting together a list of butcher shops that I am familiar with for ease-of-use (I will add some more over time as I hear about them and confirm that they are open). At these places, you can order just about anything– special cuts, intestines, etc, with much more variety over the regular grocery stores. Meat from pork, beef, chicken, as well as lamb, goat, duck, and horse are usually available (though places may vary with selection, you can usually make special requests to the butcher and they will help you out). Many of these places even have a small following of foreign customers so even if they don’t speak much English, they have a system in place to help you. I also have some charts showing the names of cuts of meats in Japanese… I will find them and post them here as well.
Check Japanese meat vocabulary here so you know what to look for: Meat
Until I create map links in GoogleMaps, just copy and past the addresses (or phone numbers) from the list into your maps program of your choice.
Special Note #1: if you are looking for something non-local, Ivano has a decent selection of imported frozen meats and some other items. There are several locations in the Naha area, here I have posted the Urasoe location. address:沖縄県浦添市字牧港1196 phone: 098-877-3605
Special Note #2: if you are looking for Halal meat, your best bet will be to check out Gyomu Super 業務スーパー, a grocery store chain with some frozen halal items.
So it has come to my attention that some “famous” western TV cooking channel hosts have visited Okinawa in the past and tried local delicacies. I think many people have the questions: Is what they ate actually common among locals? Do people eat this stuff every day? And lastly, where can I try these in Okinawa?
The is not too easy to answer, but I will try… while some of these showcased “delicacies” can be found here, some them have declined in popularity particularly among the younger crowd. So that is to say not everything is as common as they may have led you to believe…
Since I do not watch these shows (though maybe I should try to find these particular episodes just for this instance), I cannot answer all the “bizarre” questions, but I will highlight some actual unusual Okinawan foods I know about and where you can find them. I will attempt to get some pictures of these, but as some are difficult to find, this may not be so easy.
Sea snake, イラブー irabu: not many people actually eat this, but it can be found in the occasional restaurant; there is a small place that specializes in this. It is most typical as a soup, イラブー汁 irabu-jiru. It has its origin in the traditional Ryukyu Kingdom royal court cuisine. If you search, it is possible to find it at the Itoman fish market (or maybe Makishi market in Naha) and make it yourself, otherwise check out restaurant Kana in Kitanakagusuku, or Hamachinchou in Nanjo (Hamachinchou also serves some more “normal” dishes as well, not just sea snake).
This leads me to further discuss habu sake (technically, habushu, but you hear English speakers calling it habu sake) ハブ酒, which is awamori (local Okinawa liquor) with a habu (Okinawan snake) in it– this is only for tourists, locals will probably laugh at you for even suggesting this! That being said, all the tourist locations along Kokusaidori will have this overpriced awamori for sale if you really want to try it (just keep in mind it is usually low quality awamori with a high price tag). This literally for the “thrill factor” of foreigners and tourists, rather than something commonly drunk.
Tuna eyeballs, マグロの目玉 maguro no medama: Seriously… not common. Probably only available in a nicer izakaya (one with lots of sushi and seafood offerings). Though I have never sought them out, I have also never seen anyone order them. While it is common to eat every part of the fish including the eyeballs, ordering them separately in this kind dish is not all that common, at least not in Okinawa. Though I will say this: you can buy the fish heads (yeah, JUST the head) in all the grocery stores (eyes still intact). So… as I said, just eating the eyes… maybe not so much, but definitely the whole fish including the head and various parts, sure. Some fish shops do sell the eyeballs cheap, though, if you really wanna go for it and try making it at home. Eating the whole fish including weird bits… yes, definitely. After all waste not, want not.
Pufferfish, フグ fugu: Not common here in Okinawa, though I have heard that a few sushi places offer it. If you want to try this, it is better to go to mainland Japan, it will be easier to find. Okinawa is not known for its sushi and sashimi, despite being an island. Most Japanese mainlanders I know complain about that low-quality sashimi offerings here in Okinawa.
Goat, ヒージャー hiijaa (kanji: 山羊): goat is definitely eaten here, and is practically a common shokudo food, especially goat soup hiijaa jiru ヒージャー汁 (you may also see 山羊汁). Not difficult to find. Usually the type of thing only ojiisans eat because of the smell, but you see all types of people chowing down on it. You can find goat sashimi (raw thin slices of goat meat) as well, if you are so bold.
Horse sashimi, 馬刺し basashi: this is actually a mainland dish, but not hard to find in some of the izakaya here. Many butchers also sell this, as well as horse meat in general. So, as a warning, always read your meat labels carefully to know what you are getting.
Intestine soup (pork), 中身汁 nakami-jiru: pork intestines are common, you can even find them in the grocery stores here. Nearly every shokudo serves this soup, and it is traditional to eat it on New Years. Incredibly easy to find.
Pig (豚 or あぐー) face, ears, feet… etc: In Okinawa there is a saying that Okinawans eat “everything but the squeal.” Meaning, no part of the pig goes to waste. So … yup, you can find all kinds of parts of the pig served in dishes and for sale in stores. When you go to yakiniku you can order all manner of innards and types of cuts. Many women consider pigs feet てびち full of collagen and good for beauty; it is very much considered a delicacy and good for your skin. Many stores and izakaya sell dried pig ear snacks called mimigaa ミミガー. The pig face チラガー chiragaa is more for tourists, and you will see them for sale along Kokusaidori.
『豚は鳴き声以外全て食べる』 Buta wa nakigoe igai subete taberu. Translation: to eat every part of the pig except for the squeal.
Sea grapes, 海ぶどう umibudou: This is a special kind of seaweed that grows in the waters of Okinawa and is really common to eat. Little tiny salty bubbles that pop in your mouth. Find these in grocery stores and izakaya all over island. I would personally not consider this “bizarre” but it might be considered pretty unique since they are very few places you can try these outside of Okinawa (and I know many westerners don’t really eat seaweed so there is that).
Tofuyou 豆腐よう: Again, I don’t actually consider this a bizarre food, however I heard someone say that this was on the show, so I will list it here for the sake of those who are searching for it as a result. It is tofu fermented in awamori and quite tasty. You can literally buy this in every store, in the refrigerated section near tofu and pickles. The brand in the show has a store in Naha which I have visited, and there is also the cave the host visited near Kin Kannon-ji (temple), though there are 2 entrances to the cave but separated from each other, 1 for the temple (free), and 1 for the awamori/tofuyo storage (small admission fee); you want this one: 金武鍾乳洞, but you need to meet for the tour at the store here. I visited the cave and took the tour, read about here: Kin Kannonji (temple) & Awamori Cave.
Lastly, I noticed some strange searches originated from the US using keywords like “Okinawa dish tuna and peanut butter.” I assume this must be a combination discussed on one of these types of travel food shows. For you doubters, doubt no more: this is not an unusual combination, and I have previously posted a very common side dish recipe that uses these ingredients, as well as tofu and miso (it has gotten an unusually high number of hits, but I am not sure if it is what most people are actually searching for). Please check it out here: Yonaguni-jima recipe: Sakuna shiraae サクナの白和え.
Hopefully this post covers a majority of the “bizarre” foods. Please feel free to comment if there are any that I have missed and you are curious about.
こたつ kotatsu: a low table with an electric heater and a futon 布団 (blanket, cover)
For most people, winter (fuyu 冬) in Okinawa is mild. For me and my puppy, it is harsh and cold. So the first winter on island, I bought a kotatsu. It is really economical (keeps down whole house heating costs) and is really comfortable. Some mornings I never want to leave it; I just want to stay and drink my coffee under the warmth.
I purchased it at Nitori ニトリ (a cheap chain home goods store) for a really low price, as well as a set of matching futon, pillow, and floor mat. During warmer months, the futon blanket and heater is removed, leaving just regular table. I have a different cover for the floor mat during spring through fall that I use.
My little dog also loves snuggling under it with me. Maybe for people tolerant of cold weather, this type of thing is not needed in Okinawa, but for this island girl it is a necessity.
While here in Okinawa( or anywhere in Japan for that matter), it is often convenient to order things online from Amazon, but using the US site is not so convenient (long time to ship, high shipping fees or not shipping overseas at all). So the answer is Amazon.co.jp.
You need to make a new account as your overseas Amazon account will not work (you cannot just switch countries). No problem. Some things will be in Japanese, but a lot of the shopping screens and menus can be shown in English (switch the language setting in the account to English, shown in the video), so it is actually quite easy! Below is video that shows how to set up an account and order your first item (pickup instructions for Family Mart below!)
Setting up your Amazon.co.jp Account with an American Credit Card
For delivery options, you can have it sent to your address in Japan (sometimes you can even set the delivery date/time ahead, otherwise if they deliver when you aren’t at home, they leave a slip with a QR code, you will then need to scan QR code on the slip for re-delivery. You can then pick the day (including the same day! and a 2 hour window for delivery), but it is also possible from the start to have it sent to the nearest convenience store (such as Lawson or FamilyMart). This is the best option if you live on base or otherwise don’t have a regular Japanese address. Even if you have a Japanese address for delivery, sending it to the convince store means you don’t have to be home to sign (In Japan you almost always have to sign or stamp, rarely (like 15% of the time) the will leave a package) You can not only pick up at the conbini, but you can also pay for it there if you don’t have a credit card or otherwise run into trouble verifying it. Talk about convenience. When your package arrives you will get an email with some codes to put into the kiosk at the store. The email will have a link to instructions, including screen shots of the kiosk so it’s not so hard to do. In the worst case, print out your email (or bring your phone) and show it to the clerk, they will help you on the machine. Don’t feel too bad, I’ve seen many Japanese people get assistance from the clerks as well!
Picking up your Amazon.co.jp package from a Family Mart
As for payments, foreign credit cards are accepted (for everything except for Digital music). Video, regular items, books, and everything else except for Digital music can use foreign card! Otherwise, you can also utilize cash on delivery (to your house or at the convenience store). Yes, this works in Japan, I have done this before. It sort of amazes me. The drivers even carry change if you have it sent to your house or apartment. There is generally a small COD fee, around ¥1-200 per order.
As a student, I qualify for Student Prime membership, and it is only ¥1900 per year. There is also regular Prime membership for only ¥3900 per year, unlike the US which is ~10$ a month. You can access Prime video, Prime shipping, and special deals. The Amazon “brand” videos are worldwide, so you’ll be able to watch things like “The Expanse”; however, many videos are still region locked. To use Prime Music though you must have a Japanese credit card . So keep this in mind, as this is the only frustrating thing for me.
Amazon Video has many movies and TV shows in English (with Japanese subtitles). If your Japanese is good enough, you can watch the regular Japanese movies and TV as well (but then again, you probably are not reading this if your Japanese is so great). It has just about everything the US Amazon Video has, plus some. Titles in foreign languages generally only have the option to subtitle in Japanese not English, so you may miss out on some things. But (As of 2018) it does have all of the old season of X-Files, so that’s pretty awesome.
Oh, and I should mention… you earn points that turn directly into cash discounts when you order from Amazon.jp. Often you can get bonus points, just for signing up or certain items will have extra points attached. Really, it is a pretty great service, and when I realized how cheap the Student Prime membership was through Japan, it has definitely been worth it. I have purchased books, a camera, kimono accessories, and even liquor from Amazon.jp… often times it is cheaper and there is more variety than buying from the department stores.
Update Late 2020: Please leave a comment with questions or let us know how these instructions work! Our goal is to help out folks in Okinawa and Japan, so we are happy to make notes and change the video if someone has some trouble!
Around this time in stores you will see a variety of snacks and chocolates with cute ema boards 絵馬 (the message boards like you see in a shrine or temple) or omamori お守り (good luck amulets) and places to write messages on them. Why is this? What does it mean? Well, this is for people to write messages of encouragement to exam students! School exams to get into high school and college are notoriously difficult in Japan, and students will go to cram schools, spending many hours studying. What better when you are tired and stressed from studying than snacks and messages from family or friends?
You may see phrases such as:
めざせ合格 mezase goukaku: Aim for success!
ガンバレ or がんばれ or 頑張れ ganbare: Do your best/Good luck
祈願 kigan: prayer
合格祈願 goukaku kigan: prayer for success
受験生 jukensei: test-taking student
試験 shiken: exam(s)
Especially popular are kitkats キットカット because it sounds like “you will surely win!” which has been a popular campaign for them in Japan. Many packages will also have sakura (cherry blossoms) decorating them as well; sakura bloom in April, when students will (passed their exams) be entering new institutions of learning, so it is sort of a symbol of hope and success.
Some packages will even be a little funny, with images of strength or someone studying hard. The picture below has Gari勉Zap, 勉 ben is the character for endeavor or to make a great effort (also seen in the word 勉強 benkyou meaning study); this candy bar playfully means to increase your study ability. I bought this for my friend working on her thesis back in the US. The bread I bought from my university conbini, it has the kanji 単位 “tan’i” for “credit” or “unit,” as in to pass semester exams and earn credits towards graduation. Students eat it to feel encouraged to study for end of the year exams and gain school credit towards graduation.
So if you know someone taking exams, why don’t you buy one of these snacks and write them an encouraging message?
This year I found these adorable daruma だるま designed baby-star ramen snacks (chicken flavor with sakura bits in them):
kagami-mochi 鏡餅 is “mirror” mochi displayed in the house during New Years. You are not supposed to open it and “break” the mirror (crack the mochi into pieces) until Jan 11th (some regions might do different days, like the 15th).
I cannot tell you the number of Americans who buy one, open it, and BITE into it raw! Then they wonder why Japanese eat wax. Gross. Please do not do this.
You must heat up the dried mochi in some way: toaster oven, microwave, grill.
On kagami biraki 鏡開き (open/break the mirror ceremony), open up your dried mochi that you bought and break it into pieces (you should not use a knife but mallet or something instead, but I won’t judge you if you decide knife is easier). Inside your plastic container you will find kiri mochi 切り餅, rectangular shaped dried rice cakes. You can buy just packages of these kiri mochi in the stores as well (sometimes you can find them in round shapes as well, those usually these are labelled with maru 丸 meaning round).
My favorite way to prepare it is to toast it in the microwave or toaster oven (just a little until you see it puff up and brown), then add it to hot zenzai ぜんざい (red bean soup, you can make yourself or just buy the prepared package at SanA). Something similar is oshiruko おしるこ, which is more soup-y and smooth.
Another way would be ozoni soup お雑煮, which is usually simple dashi, mochi, plus some vegetables or fishcake.
Shinnenkai is the counterpart to bonenkai 忘年会 which is the end of the year party. These parties are social gatherings for work, classmates, social clubs, or just friends; they typically involve alcohol, much like bonenkai, or well, any other Japanese social gathering.
This year, the hulau (hula dance group) I am in held a shinnenkai in Naha, at an izakaya just off Kokusaidori in Naha called とぅばらーま Toubaraama (it is named after a folk song from the Yaeyama islands). It is a decent sized place, with a large party room (with a small stage) available for rental. As with most large gatherings, it was a set fee for tabehoudai 食べ放題 and nomihoudai 飲み放題 (all you can eat and drink).
The food was mostly local-style Okinawan/Ryukuan favorites, and in the regular restaurant part they had menus in English, Chinese, and Korean (seeing as how we were on the main tourist drag of Kokusaidori, this is not a surprise). The had juices, awamori, Orion beer, and various highball (cocktails). Since it was a large group to accommodate, it was set up buffet and self-service style rather than table service (which is more often how it is with group course plans). When there are not large groups reserving the hall, they also offer entertainment such as sanshin, Okinawa folk music/dance, etc during dinner time.
During the shinnenkai, members from each class put on stage performances, there was a raffle, and a gift exchange. It was my kumu’s (sensei, teacher) birthday, so we also got her a cake. Overall, it was a lot of fun and a good bonding experience.
Afterwards, groups broke out to go to nijikai 二次会 (these means “round 2” in Japanese, and then sometimes 三次会, etc.). We went to a westernized izakaya that had a lady’s course menu 女性コース. At this point, our little group was pretty tipsy and went home~
Post-Christmas, pre-New year was a quick trip to Huis Ten Bosch, a Dutch theme park town outside of Fukuoka (somewhat close to Sasebo). Kitschy? Yes. Bizarre? Yes. Fun? Yes. Cheap? … no.
On Boxing day, we flew from Okinawa to Fukuoka, one of my favorite cities. Being pre-New year and arriving into Hakata station (luckily only 15 minutes from the Fukuoka airport), crowds were a bit crazy to be honest. There were no available coin lockers to found, so we ended up hauling our small suitcases with us to grab some lunch before getting on the train to Huis Ten Bosch. Luckily, for our first stop we already knew where we were headed, straight to the Hakata Bus Terminal building, 9th floor… okonomiyaki! It was just noon on a Monday before New Years, but we were lucky and the wait was not too much when we arrived; Fukiya restaurant’s okonomiyaki is extremely popular with locals, businessmen, and even Japanese tourists. We went to the server, ordered and waited for a table to become available. Once the table was available, a few minutes later our okonomiyaki arrived and we chowed down. As before on our last trip to Fukuoka, this place was awesome and cheap.
After lunch, we purchased our tickets and got aboard the ~2 hour train to Huis Ten Bosch. We reserved the green car tickets (assigned seats! lots of leg room!). Overall the train ride was fairly uneventful, and no snack or drink cart, so it was a good thing we brought our own tea and beers for the ride.
Finally, we arrive at Huis Ten Bosch… it was raining a bit, so not perfect, but honestly stepping out of the train station took my breath away a bit. Before me was a rather European feel (we could see the Hotel Okura across the bridge where we would be staying), and it was a little amazing. Cheesy, I know, but it really was quite pretty even in the rain! So we hustled across the bridge to get out of the rain and checked into the hotel. We settled in, refreshed ourselves, checked out the hotel. Inside our hotel we had an onsen, a FamilyMart, a bakery, restaurants, and of course a souvenir stand.
We bought the 1.5 day pass to the park from the hotel lobby (includes after 3pm admission the first day + 1 full day the second) and headed just a few meters to the entrance of the park; at this point it was about 5pm. It was still raining a bit, which put a damper on things, but we trooped onwards. The illuminations were just starting up, so we got some warm coffee beverages and wandered past windmills, flowers, lights, etc. The sit-down, eat-in restaurants in the park are a bit spendy we learned, and while being decent were a bit overpriced; luckily the next day we stuck to smaller snacks/light meals and were much happier. We ended up eating a small dinner at one of the restaurants which was okay, but definitely tourist prices. We went up the tower and continued to looked around at the light-ups to get a feel of the park as it was raining, but after a bit the rain got to be too much and we headed back. It was very beautiful though, and I quite enjoyed the atmosphere despite the rain. Once we got back to the hotel, I changed into onsen jinbei clothes and went straight to the onsen baths! The chilly rain had gotten to me, and I need to warm up.
The onsen itself was not terribly remarkable, but it was clean and warm. There was a sauna, an indoor bath and an outdoor bath. The outdoor bath was only somewhat protected from the rain, and yes, I went into it anyway, but it was sort of romantic with rain drops and hot onsen water. But the feeling passed after a few moments of being pelted with cold rain and so I headed back to the indoor bath.
The next day, my husband must have been very comfortable because he slept in past sunrise (this never happens!). A quick morning soak in the onsen, then our choice of the “western” breakfast buffet or the Japanese morning set meal. We ended up at the western buffet, since after all, this is a Dutch themed park! While it is called “western,” it is in reality a mix of some western foods and Japanese foods– not to worry, still miso soup, rice, fish, natto, and other Japanese favorites were offered. We ended up choosing this buffet both mornings even though we discussed trying the other (much smaller) restaurant in the hotel for breakfast. Normally we might just choose FamilyMart for breakfast, but the hotel came with breakfast both mornings, and Japanese (actually most Asian) hotel breakfasts are typically very good, unlike their American counterparts. Anyway, this breakfast was in fact quite good, with a beautiful view of what turned out to be private residences designed to mimic a (wealthy) European housing neighborhood.
It was not raining for our main day in the park– yay! We went to the park and boarded the boat which would take us down the canal to a point further into the park. The park is divided into various zones, with different themes and such. Anyway, to keep it short, we enjoyed almost all of it, especially the “palace” which was a museum and gardens; the current displays were Da Vinci and also orchids. The best part was it came with a multiple entry, so we could come back at night to watch the music and light show (which by the way was very much a highlight). There were various “attractions” (museums, shows, activities) that were included in the park pass, though some things like foods and bicycle rentals, that were extra money.
As for the strange parts of the park: the “Horror” zone… yes… zombies, haunted houses… it was very creepy, and they had multiple haunted house attractions (one even required a couple, either male-female or both female, but not male-male… umm). We skipped most of these since there were lines, and to be honest… I am too much of a scaredy-cat for some of those. There were even haunted bathrooms. I went inside the womens, mostly out of curiosity, but it was really creepy and dark. I didn’t stay long. At night-time there was a projection mapping/lights and music show here, which to say the least was odd… entertaining but confusing (at least as a foreigner).
During the day, we ate our way around the park; since it was just after Christmas there was a “Christmas Market” tent with spiced wine and foods, as well as some heaters to keep you warm. We shared a raclette (cheese) meal and some wine here, and my husband enjoyed some grilled sausages on a stick. There were various food vendors and restaurants scattered throughout the park.
Overall a fun day, meandering and pretending we had visited a more European-style place. We took a break between our day-time park walking and night-time illuminations back at the hotel (after all it was only a few meters away from the park), so we could be fully charged for the illuminations. At night, the park is truly spectacular; lights everywhere. We wandered through all the various night-time shows they offered before collapsing back at the hotel.
The next morning, we ate in the hotel restaurant and enjoyed one last onsen bath before getting on the train back to Fukuoka and the airplane ride home to Okinawa. Overall, a successful trip, if not a bit odd at times.. probably not a typical stop for the average foreign tourist, but if you have been living abroad in Asia for awhile, I think it is a welcome reprieve to enjoy some actually almost European/Westernized atmosphere. The winter illuminations were gorgeous, the park town interesting, and some pretty good food.
While lacquerware may have began in China and Japan, it was brought to Okinawa during the Ryukyu kingdom era and adapted to its own unique style. It is distinct from other styles, especially in its use of reds.
I was given a gift of Ryukyuan lacquerware hashi 箸 (chopsticks) a while ago. They are so nice, I hesitate to use them! But I think I will break them out for the New Year.
Hanabiramochi 花びらもち is a type of wagashi, specifically a type of namagashi (click here for more info on types of wagashi). It is eaten during the New Year, especially at the first tea ceremony of the year. The meaning of 花びら hanabira is “flower petals,” so it is flower petal mochi. How can anyone resist something called flower petal mochi?
I purchased this sweet little mochi while traveling in Kyushu right before the New Year. I have never tried hanabiramochi before now, but it looked delicate and pretty that it seemed like I must. The shop counter in the department store I purchased from was full of various Japanese sweets to complement the New Year, and honestly I wanted all of them, but settled for just the hanabiramochi.
So what is inside? The white colored mochi outside is flat and round then folded in half, The pink color shows through in the center then fades to white at the edges. There is a piece of long, thin, sweetened gobou ごぼう (burdock root) in the middle which sticks out both sides of the mochi. The sweet bean filling is made from the pale mung beans (the pink is usually just food coloring).
Overall? Pretty good, but I admit the gobou is a bit strange in there.
New Years: the first day of the New Years is basically the Black Friday of Japan. Shopping centers will be packed full of people in Okinawa.
Some places will have specials or good deals. Others will have fukubukuro 福袋– lucky bags. The bags are a set price (ranging from 1000yen up to several 10,000 yen) and usually include items with higher total value. Sometimes you know exactly what you are getting and all the bags will show what is inside. Other times, it is fairly random as to what exactly you might end up with.
I typically purchase clothing lucky bags; usually the sets are coordinated so there is no thinking, you have a few combinations of new outfits making shopping a breeze. For someone like me, this is absolutely perfect. I might not always love the color, but it forces me to vary up my wardrobe a bit (otherwise everything I buy is blue or brown). I admit, I love the cuteness of Axes Femme, and was able to get in line to purchase one last year. We got a choice between 2 types of bags, 1 was a coordinated set (I bought this one) and the other was a combination of clothing items; each bag is usually pretty unique.
I also like to purchase a lucky bag from a clothing store called Joshua. This one is filled fairly randomly, but comes with some tops, cardigan or sweater, bottoms (either pants or skirt) and small accessories, and if you buy the more expensive one it includes a coat and shoes. The strategy for choosing these types of lucky bags is to look at the store the weeks/months beforehand… do you like the type of clothes they sell, are they your style? Then go for it, if anything you can try some new things. Often times, this is a chance for stores to clear out inventory in preparation for new styles in the upcoming season.
The hair accessory lucky bags are also awesome for me… for only 500-1000yen I can get an assortment of about 30 random hair bobs (and sometimes earrings) of varying styles. This is so much better than paying the individual prices (usually 700yen a piece), even if I don’t love the color or pattern, it probably matches something in my wardrobe anyway. Plus I lose hair thingies all the time, so it makes me much less upset when they don’t cost so much.
SanA サンエー malls in Okinawa also have a deal for the first hundreds of customers; starting at 9am, they sell a gift card (attached to your SanA point card) that you purchase for 30,000yen but you receive a bonus 3,000 yen– a total of 33,000yen good for all the shops and restaurants at any SanA. Believe it or not, this is actually easy to get if you show up by 9am and the line is not very long at all. Even better yet, the “gift card” is actually individual 1000yen certificates, so it is easy to distribute among family members. Plus later when you redeem them to pay for your groceries or whatever, if you don’t use the full 1000yen, it comes back to you in change so there is no concern about half used gift certificates! Basically to sum up, by promising to shop at SanA, you receive ~30USD. Not bad at all.
Many types of stores and even food shops like Kaldi and MisDo (Mister Donuts) sell these types of fukubukuro. For some reason, Starbucks is also very popular. From electronics, to home goods, to clothes, to designer items, to specialty food items or wine/liquor, these types of bags are sold everywhere in Okinawa. Places like SanA Main Place and Aeon Rycom mall are the busiest and largest selection for fukubukuro in Okinawa.
After the New Year, perhaps I will post photos of the lucky bags I purchase.
初詣 Hatsumode: First visit to a shrine or temple in the New Year.
Every year on January 1st, I visit a temple or shrine. Here in Okinawa, I am lucky enough to have a temple within reasonable walking distance from my house, Naritasan Fukusen-ji 成田山福泉寺 (reminder, the “ji” 寺 means temple).
After a big shopping trip to pick up some fukubukuro 福袋 (lucky bags), we bundle up and climb the hill up to the temple. We walk rather than drive due to the extremely heavy amount of traffic around the temple. As we make our way up the hill, we pass a long line of cars idling on the hill, waiting to make it to the top and eventually park. We bring along old omamori お守り (amulets/protective charms) from the previous year; these are tied along the temple property (there will be be strings or ropes or posts to attach the omamori, then the monks will come through to collect them for the burning ritual). Some of the bigger shrines/temples may even have a large omamori collection bin to put them in.
Once we finally reach the top, there are a few tents selling food and drinks. We join the end of the line to pray at the temple and purchase new omamori for the year. The line is usually quite long. At most temples, when we get close enough, we cleans ourselves at the temizuya 手水舎 (water fountain); the ritual is like a type of misogi 禊 (cleansing before entering the shrine). Remember: hold the wooden dipper in your right hand and first pour over your left, then switch and pour over your right hand, then switch again pouring a little into your left hand and use it to rinse your mouth (please don’t spit back into the basin!), and finally turn the ladle upright so the remaining water rinses over the handle. At Naritasan Fukusen-ji, there is a sign at the basin: instead of the hand/mouth cleansing you are supposed to throw water at the statue’s face 3 times for luck, so don’t be surprised to see this strange act at the temizuya!
As we approach the main worship area, we toss offerings into the box and pray for a prosperous and healthy new year. Afterwards, we head to the omamori tables and choose some assortment for the house, the car, or maybe some personal ones.
Besides omamori, it is fun to draw a fortune, omikuji おみくじ. Most temples and shrines have some in English as well as Japanese. After reading our fortune to see if we have good luck, middle luck or terrible luck, we usually tie the omikuji to a tree. I have heard both versions of tie it to a tree to leave bad luck behind, or tie it to tree to make sure it comes true. Well, whichever it is, I almost always do it no matter what.
There are a few food tents set up, so often I like to grab a dango 団子 or daifuku mochi 大福餅, and an amazake 甘酒 or hot zenzai ぜんざい.
Many places will also offer a small cup of New Year’s sake, too. At this point, most of what we have come to do at the temple is finished, and it is time to head back down the hill to home. It is a small ritual that I enjoy every year, both here in Okinawa as well as in Hawai’i.
This year I donned kimono for hatsumode; some people stared, but everyone was complimentary about it. After all, how often do you see a westerner wearing a kimono that she put on by herself? As it is in Okinawa, very few people wear kimono for hatsumode, but I wanted to go at least once to the temple in kimono.
If you cannot make it on Jan 1st, many temples and shrines in Okinawa actually stay open 24 hours, for as long as the first week in January. So don’t sweat it if you do not feel like dealing with the crazy amount of traffic the first day (or the second or third days since traffic remains heavy around these areas)… wait until a few days later and you can still participate without the crowds! On the 15th of January, we gather up our shimenawa (and other decorations as necessary) and take to the temple for burning.
Futenma Shrine: extremely popular; many foreigners visit this one since it is close to the American military bases.
Naminoue Shrine: probably one of the most popular to visit! Tents with foods and goods line the street as you approach the main area. It is very crowded– but pretty spectacular to see! This shrine also draws a lot of tourists, both foreign and domestic.
Okinawa Gokoku Shrine: another extremely popular shrine to visit! Again, tents with foods, games, etc line the street… it is so crowded here, and you will have to wait a bit until you can get in. But again, it is an amazing site to see, and a lot of fun. This one offered nihonshu (sake); there will be a salt box, so grab a small pinch of salt, then a cup and go for it.
Gokukuji (temple)
Awase Bijuru (shrine): This is rather small, but still crowded with locals! It is very cute, and you will probably need to wait in line a bit depending on when you go. Don’t expect much food or games here. It is a much smaller scale than the Naha shrines.
I will add a link with some uploaded pictures of all the different Okinawa shrines and temples at New Year’s… I visited quite a few!
Previously, I posted about the special Okinawa mochi called muuchii ムーチー (鬼餅). It is traditional to eat muuchii* on Muuchii-no-hi ムーチーの日 (12/8 of the lunar New year).
*also commonly spelled as “muchi” in English.
Eating muuchii on muuchii-no-hi is derived from an old Okinawan folk tale. There are some more macabre (and sexualized) versions of this tale, but I will stick to one of the children’s version that they air on TV here… gotta keep it PG.
This story is “Oni mochi” or in Okinawan language, “Unee Muuchii” 鬼餅. (鬼 oni means demon, 餅 mochi means rice cake). **some variations I have seen on “oni” in Okinawa language are also ウニ uni and ウナー unaa. I suspect these are all correct depending on the region of Okinawa.
Long ago, a brother and sister lived in a village near Shuri called Ozato. The brother became possessed by a demon and ate livestock at night; he even started living in a cave. In some stories, it is also rumored that the demon-possessed brother began eating children. The sister found out, so she came up with a plan to get rid of the demon.
In order to exorcise the demon, the sister made a muuchii (mochi) with iron nails inside and wrapped it with sannin 月桃の葉 (shell ginger leaves, called caasa カーサー in Okinawan language).
She tricked the demon to eat the mochi; the iron nails rid the brother of the demon and they pushed it off the cliff to kill the ogre!
In some of the lesser PG stories, the brother dies as he is the oni and the sister dies falling off the cliff with the oni, or weirder yet the sister has a “second mouth” which eats demons that is located “under her kimono”… I am sure you can guess as to what this might mean.
Anyway, the story happened on December 8th of the lunar calendar, so ever since it is a custom to eat muuchi on this day to ward off demons, protect from evil, and pray for good health.
Similar to setsubun, there is the custom of saying:
Around this time of year, all the grocery stores start displaying the products to make muuchii, and shops take pre-orders. As I mentioned in the previous post on muuchii, people with children will buy the same number of muuchii as the age of their children and tie them up with string, hanging them up in the house; this practice is called sagimuuchii サギムーチー. People who had a baby in the past year will make up lots and lots of muuchii (this practice is called ハチムーチー hachimuuchi 初鬼餅) to hand out to relatives, neighbors, and friends; last year one of my eikaiwa students became a grandmother and brought us all in muuchii. For the baby, they also have the custom of making chikara muuchii (力 chikara means “power”) which is much bigger then regular muuchii in order to pray for the healthy growth of the baby. Muuchii is eaten as a lucky charm for the prayer of health and longevity. This coming year, Muuchii day (ムーチーの日) is on January 24th 2018; December 8th of the lunar calendar.
There are a couple ways you can make muuchii. First you can buy the pre-mixed bag, just add water. All the grocery stores sell these, in usually in a variety of flavors such as beniimo (purple sweet potato), brown sugar (one of my favorites), taanmu (taro), yomogi (mugwort), kabocha (pumpkin), ukon/ucchin (turmeric), or even just plain. You can also buy the ingredients separately, so you can mix up the flavors as you like; again all the powders to this are in the grocery store. A lot of the mochiko and flavor packages even have the recipe/directions for muuchii on the back. If you really want (or don’t have access to powdered beniimo), you could even do it some more traditional ways like mashing beniimo to get the flavor in instead of the powder. Overall, it is super simple and it does not have to be precise, just don’t use too much of either water of sugar.
For the shell ginger leaves: you can buy these at JA farmers market or just ask someone if you can have some from their yard… they are everywhere!
Recipe for Beniimo muuchii (purple sweet potato): This one uses the powders. Maybe I will post the longer version later if I find a good recipe. You can halve or quarter the recipe, which is what I normally do.
mochiko もち粉, 1kg
beniimo powder 紅芋粉,200g
sugar, brown or white, 200g
water 4-5 cups
shell ginger leaves 月桃の葉, ~50 pieces (cleaned!)
vinyl string for tying muuchii
Knead together the mochiko, beniimo powder, sugar and some of the water (it will probably be a bit sticky at first, that’s okay). Make sure it is not too dry or too wet, it should be pliable but not too sticky or soft; you may want to experiment with the amount of water (the ratio should be somewhere in the range of 2:5 to 3:5 of water in mL to dry ingredients in grams). Shape into rectangular shape onto shell ginger, wrap and tie with vinyl string. Steam muuchii well for ~3o minutes. Carefully remove and let cool. Finished! Hopefully this year I can take some nice pictures of the making and shaping process~ you can see how truly easy it is to make yourself.
Brown sugar muuchii (10 pieces): mochiko, 300g; brown sugar 120g (as little as 80g or up to about 150g depending on your taste); water 240cc. Follow the same instructions– knead, shape, wrap, tie. Steam ~30 minutes.
For these recipes you can change the ratios a bit and you will not affect the texture or steaming time much. Some recipes will call for dried potato flakes (like those instant mashed potato flakes), but I have not tried using any… I am not really sure how that changes things. Recipes from scratch call for boiling and mashing either white potato or sweet potato into the mixture… again, I have not really tried that (yet).
For reference here is a picture of 2 pre-mixed ready to go muuchii pouches I bought at SanA; left is taanmu 田芋/ターンム (taro) and right is brown sugar (黒糖). All you need is water and shell ginger leaves. The best part– these can also be made into dango 団子! Also for reference below is a picture of mochikoもち粉 (sweet glutinous rice flour) if you go that route.
**in Okinawan language it is pronounced “sougwachi” そーぐゎち
大晦日 oomisoka: New Year’s Eve
**in Okinawa language it is pronounced “toushinuyuruu” とぅしぬゆるー
There are many, many Japanese customs that come with the beginning of a New Year. In Okinawa, several of them are observed, and some are a little different. Okinawa usually observes most of its customs on the lunar calendar, so there is also a second, slightly different observance for lunar New Year celebrated later as well.
Before the New Year, houses go through major house-cleaning (osouji 大掃除) to prepare for the new year. It is a busy time for everyone. New Years is mostly a family event in Japan, and perhaps especially Okinawa, so they are not usually a lot of large countdowns or fireworks shows. The only fireworks tend to be at the resorts, mostly for tourists. There are some drinking/dancing parties for the younger people. The Itoman Peace Park has a special event with torches and sounding the bell for world peace, then ending with some fireworks. ChuraSun Beach in Tomigusuku keeps their illumination up through midnight and ends with countdown fireworks. There are usually some fireworks up in Awase by the Comprehensive park as well. Overall they are very short shows, nothing like the summer. Every year I see someone online saying there are fireworks in American Village, but then I never see any info on it and later people complain there were none; I am guessing some jerk thinks it is fun to troll new Americans for New Year’s eve.
As I was shopping in SanA (grocery store), they had a nice poster (shown above) of where to put all the New Years decoration (in Japanese, but nice nonetheless). Right now there are tons of different pieces that one can purchase to get the house ready for the New Year. Some of the common decor and traditions you will see in Okinawa:
shimekazari しめ飾り: a rice straw rope wreath しめ縄 (shimenawa) with white paper 紙垂 (shide). In Okinawa, it is common to have a fairly simple straw “wreath” with a piece of charcoal wrapped in konbu 昆布 (seaweed) and an orange (mikan みかん) attached, though plenty of people also buy the fancier ones. You can even buy ones with Rilakkuma and other characters on it. This kind of thing can be placed on your door, or above the entrance to your house. It is to purify/protect the house. A more simple shimenawa rope is often placed above the family butsudan 仏壇 (altar). Some people even buy small ones and put them on their cars. I buy new ones every year, but I have heard people admit they reuse them for a few years (instead of burning it on the ritual day) and just add a fresh orange/charcoal. So again, if you buy a nice one that is too pretty (or expensive) to burn… don’t feel guilty for not burning it according to tradition.
kadomatsu 門松: 3 pieces of bamboo with pine are arranged on a circular base. Also typically placed at the entranceway, to welcome the toshigami 年神 (year deity/god) to the house (they can land on the bamboo posts). I have a (plastic-y) set that I reuse. Sometimes it is nice to buy fresh new ones, but the New Year adds up quickly. Again… you can buy them and burn them in the ritual… but don’t let anyone make you feel bad for being a little frugal. Japanese people are like this too.
minori 稔り: this is rice straw tied in a bunch. Can be placed by the altar/butsudan, but I think some people in Okinawa use these instead of kadomatsu at the front entrance. Some people may even braid their own shimekazari from these.
kagami-mochi 鏡餅: this is “mirror” mochi. I cannot tell you the number of Americans who buy one, open it, and BITE into it raw! Then they wonder why Japanese eat wax. But no… you must heat up the dried mochi! Anyway, these are stacked pieces of dried mochi with a New Year decoration (like an orange or zodiac symbol on top). This is usually placed at the butsudan /altar or kamidana 神棚. You are not supposed to open it and “break” the mirror (crack the mochi into pieces) until on Jan 11th (some regions might do different days). Anyway, on kagami biraki 鏡開き (break the mirror ceremony), open up your dried mochi that you bought and break it into pieces (you should not use a knife but mallet or something instead, but I won’t judge you if you decide knife is easier). You can heat it up a number of ways. My favorite is toast it in the microwave or toaster oven or even a grill (just a little until you see it puff up and brown), then add it to hot zenzai ぜんざい (red bean soup, you can make yourself or just buy the prepared package at SanA). Yum! You could also check online for some ozoni soup recipes お雑煮.
traditional new years mochi in zenzai
Mainland zenzai
charcoal wrapped inkelp: 炭= charcoal, so sumi-kazari 炭飾り is charcoal decoration. In Okinawa, charcoal is very important for purification, health, and for longevity (since it does not “decay”). Pieces of charcoal wrapped in kelp and with auspicious kanji/ribbon are placed not only on the shimekazari, but also on the butsudan (altar) or the hinukan 火の神.
figurine of New Year zodiac animal: This year is year of the rooster and last year was year of the monkey. In recent years I have started getting the cheap Hello Kitty zodiac figurine. It is cute although I suppose not so traditional. Only 500yen at Tokyu Hands.
Many New Years flower arrangements will have plum blossoms, pine, bamboo, cabbage and other plants that have special symbolism for spring or the beginning of a new year.
otoshidama お年玉: who doesn’t love to receive an envelope full of money? Usually this is for kids to receive. Even as a school teacher in Hawai’i I observed this custom on a small scale during the lunar New Year, and gave kids otoshidama envelopes (called pochi bukuro ポチ袋) with a chocolate coin it– no money, but a little piece of chocolate, so it was still appreciated.
otoshidama I received at a local business; 5yen coins are considered lucky so this is something to keep in the coin purse.
osechi-ryouri 御節料理: Traditional New years food! The best part, amirite? In this modern day you will see stores bustling with pre-orders, not many people have so much time to prepare all this! Again, it usually falls on the wife of the oldest son to prepare these things (some of the ladies in my eikaiwa say it is best to marry a second son!), similar to Obon, so as you can imagine ordering a platter with all the required items from a restaurant or grocery store is much easier. There are a few traditional foods necessary for Okinawan osechi-ryouri, most of them are fried, some type of pork, or shrimps. Honestly in the stores, the fried foods and Okinawa hors d’oeuvres plates (オードブル) were flying off the shelves while the mainland-style foods were left somewhat untouched. I will try to take a few pictures this year; below are pictured more mainland Japanese types of food for New Years.
nakamijiru 中身汁 (also 中味汁): Nakami-jiru is intestines soup (pork). This is a very traditional dish for Okinawan people, but younger generations are (for perhaps obvious reasons) less inclined to eat it these days. Bags of pre-made soup (just heat and serve) and large bags of “chitlins” (pieces of intestines, pardon the American slang) are easily found in the center aisles of the store this time of year.
Winter gift, oseibo 御歳暮: just like summer gift (chuugen), all the groceries drag out the box gifts. You can buy the same types of item: spam, laundry detergent, beer, rice… and you can have them ship it to relatives afar or just have them wrap it and deliver yourself during the days leading up to the New Year.
On New Years Eve, we typically watch Kohaku Uta Gassen 紅白歌合戦 (red vs white singing competition) featuring popular music artists and enka singers. Basically it is women (red) vs men (white), and while it is sort of cheesy at times (people complain about the talentless AKB48 groups), it is actually fun to have on while waiting for the end of the year. At the end, the votes are tallied and the winning team determined. Hotaru no hikari 蛍の光 (to the tune of Auld Lang Syne) is sung at the end, and then the program flashes to celebrations at New Years temples and shrines around Japan.
On the first of January, the Japan Post delivers New Years Cards with lottery numbers printed on them; see a related post on New Years Cards 年賀状 called nengajo 年賀状.
During the first week of New Years, especially on January 1st is the custom of hatsumode 初詣, the first visit to a shrine or temple (click here for info on shrines and temples in Okinawa); at midnight on New years you can usually hear the bells tolling 108 times. This is the time to buy new omamori お守り (protective amulets) and leave the old ones at the shrine or temple for the ritual burning. The shrines and temples are open 24 hours for the first 3 days of the New Year, so you can really go any time!
One tradition that is also very popular here in Okinawa is watching the first sunrise of the New Year, called 初日の出 hatsuhinode. Many people gather on ridges overlooking the east side of the island, and some locations have special events, such as Nakagusuku-jo ruins site. The 東太陽橋 Agai-tidabashi (bridge) by the SanA in Nakagusuku is always very crowded (this is also a popular moon-viewing spot).
And of course, the biggest shopping day of the year to score some good deals and fukubukuro (lucky bags) 福袋.
Some words/phrases you may see (or hear) a lot of:
よいお年を(お迎え下さい) yoi otoshi wo (omukae kudasai): said only before the New Year in December, basically “have a a good New Year.”
明けましておめでとうございます akemashite omedetou gozaimasu: Happy New Year (said after the New Year has begun)
今年もよろしくお願いします kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu: Please take care of me (again) this year. Said after the New Year begins.
今年もいろいろお世話になりました kotoshi mo iroiro osewani narimashita: Thank you for everything you have done for me this year. Said before the New Year begins.
また来年も宜しくお願い致します mata rainen mo yoroshiku onegai itashimasu: Next year please also take care of me. Said before the New Year begins.
謹賀新年 kinga shinen: Happy New Year (written, not usually said) 賀正 gashou: Happy New Year (written, not usually said)
迎春 geishun: welcoming spring (again, written not said)
元日 ganjitsu: January 1st
元旦 gantan: The morning of January 1st.
あけおめ ake ome: slang (shortened version) of akemashite omedetou (Happy New Year).
Okinawa has its own style of sumo, which is actually different from Japanese sumo. This post focuses on Japanese sumo. I should add a post for Okinawa-style sumo sometime.
This year, for the second time, the national sumo association is doing an exposition in Okinawa at the Convention Center in Ginowan. It was my first time to see mainland sumo in person, so it was pretty exciting. Obviously my experience is nothing like the real tournaments and arenas in the mainland, but it was fun nonetheless. I can’t talk much about rules or certain wrestlers, just my experience as a regular person watching sumo for the first time.
I purchased the tickets at FamilyMart in advance, like with any other concert, event, or sports ticket here in Okinawa. My husband also decided he wanted to get the pre-order omiyage set with the bento, cushion, and other goods. The tickets and omiyage set were not cheap, but I figure it might be the only chance we have to go to sumo, so might as well enjoy it to the fullest.
When we arrived on Saturday, all of the flags were lining the path and there were some food/drink and souvenir vendors outside. When we showed the tickets we got wristbands so we could leave and re-renter the venue; very convenient! Shoes were removed as soon as you stepped inside and put into a little bag. We also picked up our omiyage set just inside the door. Although the arena is small, it was filled with excitement.
We were escorted to our “box” which in this case was taped out on the floor; in a real arena it would be an actual tiered areas and separated from your neighbor by some bars. When I bought tickets, I bought the ペアマス Pair masu (mat), which is admission for 2 people where you sit in 1 “box” containing enough space for people to sit on cushions. Since we only got 1 omiyage set with 1 cushion, I brought along my zabuton 座布団 (Japanese flat seat cushion) that I purchased from the Daiso. You could purchase the souvenir sumo cushion for 1000yen at the venue, but I figure I saved myself 900yen.
When we settled into our seats, we checked out the omiyage set お土産セット. It came with quite a bit; the sumo cushion, a calendar, 2 rice bowls, a souvenir poster of all the sumo wrestlers, a bottle of tea, and a deluxe bento all in a nice bag that could be reused. We removed the cushion and food/drink, then my husband ran the bag back to the car so it wouldn’t take up space in our box (because honestly, the boxes were not the big).
We did not arrive at opening time since there were several hours of practice and such going on; I just couldn’t imagine hanging out for a total of 7 hours. We arrived during the last portion of the practices, so it was closer to a total of 4.5 hours in the arena for us.
After the practices ended, the kids sumo started; this where the very small kids in training come out and play with the wrestlers. It is actually a bit hilarious. Next was some more practice, and then the shokkiri 初切 (comic sumo performance). They also brought out the guy that demonstrated how to tie the wrestler’s hair, and some of the wrestlers demonstrated how to tie the yokozuna’s belt.
Finally it was time for some of the ceremonial stuff; there were processions in, introduction of wrestlers, singing, drumming, etc. The yokozuna were brought in separately and postured for the audience.
The tournament now began; wrestlers came down the aisle, were introduced, threw salt, etc. The bouts were fairly short, though we did get quite a few exciting ones that lasted longer, much to the hoots and hollers of the audience. Some were pushed out of the ring, others tossed. One almost landed in the audience. At the end of each bout the referee recognized the winner. At the end of the tournament, the tournament winner performed a bow-twirling and afterwards was rewarded with cash, a barrel of nihonshu 日本酒 (Japanese sake), and a slab of pork.
The nice part about the set up in the arena is that you can get up and walk around, get refreshment, use the restroom, stretch your legs at pretty much any point. At any time, only about 60-70% of people were actually seated, and it was common to mill about.
Last night we tried a new izakaya 居酒屋 that opened up (somewhat) across from the SanA Nishihara city mall. It is called something like にっぽん丸かじり Nippon maru kajiri (taking a bite from Japan is something like the literal translation, but it is not very clear to me, so let’s call it “Maru kajiri”).
Anyway, I noticed the new construction as I drove to hula back and forth the past few weeks, and as it was not so far away from my house, I could not wait to see what was offered. Luckily my husband was all for it. So on a Friday night, we arrived with no reservation in the middle of bonenkai season to a new izakaya. As much as this sounds like disaster, it was not. When we arrived, I asked if 2 people, and at first, no… all booked. But then after a short hesitation, can we speak Japanese? Yes. Then until 8pm is okay? Well sure, it was only 6:10 and my husband I would be done by 8, so no problem. So… if you want to visit this izakaya (or maybe any popular izakaya in December or on a weekend), it is best to make a reservation…
The menu was a bit all over the place (it is actually a small chain), a handwritten and a regular typed menu. We started with draft beer; the special was 190yen drafts the first hour of your visit, into hour 2 and it became 290yen. We ordered a variety off the menu– some meat skewers for the husband (串焼き合), fried squid (いか唐揚), cabbage salad キャベツ塩ダレサラダ (which had a most interesting creamy sauce), and a kind of fried noodle (yakisoba-sort of 五目あんかけ焼きそば). There was a maguro (マグロ tuna) butter-yaki (バター焼き batayaki) that my husband was interested in, but I did not tell him until after we ordered… we will save it for next time. All sorts of interesting sashimi dishes left the kitchen to other tables as well. There was a 300yen per person seating fee (very normal for Japan!), and the free appetizer, called otoushi お通し was hot or cold tofu with toppings (self-serve, as much as you could eat), so it felt like a good value. Total with beers we spent less than 4000yen, so a good night out.
A quick Daiko service home ended the night. In Japan, there is a nice service where if you drive somewhere and drink, you can call a Daiko service, which is a “taxi” that picks you up and drives your car to your home. So nice, and actually cheaper than regular taxi fares for 2 ways. Our Daiko was particularly excited to talk to gaijin who spoke a smattering of Japanese– we talked about easy topics such as the izakaya, and weather in Hawaii and Okinawa. A successful night, and our own sort of bonenkai together.
Dango 団子 can actually be used to describe a few different things, though typically it means the 3-5 rice cakes on a stick (串 kushi =skewer). Sometimes the the rice cake is flavored, sometimes there is a topping on them. Here are a few you might encounter:
Hanami dango 花見団子: flower-viewing dango, pink/white/green. Probably the quintessential dango and what most foreigners think of when they think of dango. It is called hanami because it was traditionally made in the sakura flower viewing season, but these days it is common year-round. The dango itself is usually not flavored (just food coloring), but sometimes you might get a some sakura essence in the pink or matcha in the green depending on the maker.
Mitarashi dango みたらし団子: plain dango with sweet shoyu sauce on top.
Kinako dango きな粉団子: dango with kinako (roasted soy bean powder) on top.
Goma dango ごま団子: dango with ground black sesame on top.
Anko dango あんこ団子: dango with red paste on top (can be plain or flavored dango).
Age dango 揚げ団子: fried dango… what’s not to like? Be careful those, these are a bit heavy on your stomach, so you can only eat a few.
Bocchan dango 坊ちゃん団子: the flavors of this famous 3-colored dango in Matsuyama are red beans, egg, and matcha… I took a trip to Matsuyama this past year and enjoyed myself enormously, consuming many of these (one of the places I ate Bocchan dango was at the Dogo Onsen). A new dango, called Madonna dango マドンナ団子 has been created… the flavors are actually really western! It is strawberry, vanilla and cafe ole; very girlish and actually really good. I think most westerners would absolutely love this combination of flavors. I only brought back a few as souvenirs and did not actually try any Madonna dango while I was there, so when I realized how good they were I was disappointed I did not buy more!
Meatballs are often called niku dango 肉団子 (meat dango).
Basically, anything round served on a stick qualifies as dango.
花より団子 hana yori dango is a popular saying. It translates to “dango (rice cakes) over flowers,” which means to prefer the substantial to the esthetic. It is also the name of a popular manga 漫画 that is a pun on this saying: 花より男子 Hana yori dango. Normally it would be “danshi” but the last kanji can also be pronounced “ko” or “go.” So the title translates to boys over flowers.
I will update this post with some better pictures (hopefully soon).
Well, maybe just “Japanese Pantry” in general, with a few Okinawan items thrown in the mix.
So I was thinking about shopping in the grocery stores here, and what we always keep on hand, and what new transplants to Okinawa might be curious about or want to use in recipes but are not sure what to look for. I guess it feel a bit odd, since everything we stock here is actually the same as what we always keep in stock in Hawai’i. There are some minor additions, but nothing particularly earth-shattering. But what is normal in Hawai’i is not necessarily what is normal to other Americans, or westerners in general. Coming from Hawai’i, the biggest change for me was just reading ingredients in another language (which can be intimidating in itself).
So I will start off very basic: I made a “welcome” goody bag for new family here in Okinawa when they moved into their house a little while back, and thought about what I should add; you know, nothing too crazy for the average American, but some things I simply wouldn’t be able to live without. So what did I give them? First I will mention that they are a bit health-conscious (somewhat similar to myself), so I checked into mostly additive-free, organic type of stuff for them. They also come from a different background and were not quite familiar with Japanese food and ingredients yet (but interested), so the very basics were necessary!
miso 味噌: I chose an additive-free, organic miso paste (Hikari brand). I chose a medium colored mixed miso; a good, solid in between the white miso (lighter taste) and the rich umami red miso (heavier taste). This choice makes it easy to use, very versatile and not so pungent that they will scare away from it. Hikari brand is a high quality miso with headquarters in Nagano.
shoyu 醤油: I chose another organic koikuchi shoyu, Yamasa brand. Yamasa is a decent choice, and personally, I prefer it over most of the Kikkoman shoyu. The price is right– one of the few reasonably priced choices for organic in the local supermarket. Again, a solid choice, and one that is easy to find and identify in the local super should they go looking for it.
brown rice vinegar 玄米酢: Next up was rice vinegar. There are so many choices, but I splurged on this buy… brown rice vinegar. It is a bit more than regular rice vinegar, but worth it for me.
goma oil ごま油: sesame oil is, no question, essential. The flavor is packed into even the smallest drop. I find the pure sesame (not mixed) is really the best… I mean, you probably keep the others in your cabinet anyway, so if you want to mix it just mix it yourself. The cheapest brands add vegetable or canola or something along those lines and the flavor is really lacking in them.
yuzukoshou 柚子胡椒: this was a bit random, but I knew they liked spicy things, and what better than a paste concocted of spicy green chiles fermented with salt and yuzu! It gives a great kick to foods, a little spicy and citrusy. I love having this stuff around.
Japanese soba noodles (dried) 日本蕎麦: I bought a middle-of-the-road dried buckwheat noodles (made in the mainland). I added this as a “healthy” treat, to give a little variety and hopefully introduce them to the beauty of traditional Japanese noodles.
These items made up the basic “care package.” Now obviously there are a lot of other things that I would add to this list as being “essential.” Again, I just chose a few very basic items that I thought an Average American Family could actually use and enjoy from my local grocery (and nothing too weird that they would not know how to use!).
Some other ingredients that I maintain are essential but did not make it into their care package:
koregusu コーレーグース: in Hawai’i, this is equivalent to chili water. I wrote about this in another post.
mirin みりん: rice wine for cooking. Careful here, many of these contain different types of sweeteners, so if you are picky, read the ingredients. It is not uncommon to find HFCS. I usually stick with 本みりん (but this is more expensive). Many people don’t care that much, and some even say the cheaper ones taste is the same, so take it as you will. I probably agree the taste is about the same (doubtful that I could do a blind taste test), but I prefer to avoid HFCS when possible, so I usually suck it up and pay the higher price.
fu 麩: wheat gluten. Used in lots of things here in Okinawa, miso soup and stir-fries especially. I also wrote a post on this.
dashi だし: fish broth, or it can also come in the form of konbu (seaweed) broth. Fish is probably much more common, but there are ones made with just seaweed, making it vegetarian-friendly.
furikake ふりかけ: furikake is just like magic little dust you sprinkle on rice (onigiri or whatever really). Ever heard of furikake chex mix? It’s awesome, as probably every single person from Hawai’i will tell you. Just ask them, but be careful, it is addicting.
Okinawa brown sugar 黒糖: Okay, yeah, it is just sugar. But it is seriously good stuff. While we have other sugar, I always prefer using this when I can.
rice 米: we usually have some of every type of rice; polished/white, brown, purple, as well as the mix-ins like mochikibi. What cabinet would be complete without these?
kewpie mayo マヨ: a brand of Japanese mayo. It tastes different. It’s good. I know… MSG. But I cannot live without it.
Tonkatsu sauce とんかつソース: also you may hear this called Bulldog sauce (Bulldog is a famous brand). I actually buy Ikari brand though. I will admit, I use this more than I should. But again, it is addicting. Sometimes I even use it if I run out of yakisoba sauce or okonomi sauce.
shikwasa juice: this is like lemon juice, but shikwasa (Okinawa lime-citrus). Just buy 100% shikwasa juice and substitute for lemon juice in recipes. Obviously you can find lemon juice here (Don Quijote actually has a great price for a large bottle of it), but it is nice to keep it local when you can. Also it makes for a great addition to homemade ponzu sauce!
goma (sesame) dressing ごまドレッシング: creamy sesame dressing is a must for most Americans. I am a bit indifferent to it, my husband likes it so we have it in the fridge. I hear many Americans send it to family and friends back home as presents.
shichimi 七味: 7-spice, used to kick dishes up a notch in spiciness.
Anyway, I will add some pictures to each section later, but this is a quick peek into some of the things you should keep on hand in the pantry for living and eating in Okinawa. With these, I can pretty much make anything in addition to whatever fresh ingredients I buy. I am sure I have forgotten a bunch of items and I will come back later and add in more.
The Christmas season in Okinawa can be a pretty fun time of year. Although Christmas is not a public holiday here, nor a traditional holiday, many people still celebrate it in some way. I don’t actually get the day off here– I go to classes or work in the research lab.
Some stores sell a few Christmas decorations and lights, but the prices are much higher than you would expect to see in the US. You will not find a fresh Christmas tree and garland here. You can find, however, small potted “Christmas” trees and poinsettias (and for a good price) at the home stores such as Makeman and Cainz. Your best bet is to check out the Daiso and other 100yen shops for cheap decorations. It won’t be anything fancy, but the price is right. Every year it seems stores are selling more and more Christmas merchandise.
Since decorating homes is neither traditional nor cheap, huge illuminations displays at resorts, malls, gardens or other tourist sites is very popular. There are several places in Okinawa you can enjoy Christmas light displays; some are free (smaller displays) and some are paid (much grander displays). Some places to check out are: Itoman Peace Park, Southeast Botanical gardens, Okinawa Children’s Zoo, Murasaki-mura in Yomitan, Kariyushi resort (up north), Kanucha resort (up north), Naha Ryubo Palette Kumoji, and American Village in Chatan. I probably missed a few, but this is a good start.
Christmas is usually perceived to be more of a “date night” for couples, so many restaurants will offer a price fixe menu (almost everywhere requires reservations in advance!). Keep in mind, the actual day of Christmas is not necessarily known by some Japanese/Okinawans– no seriously, I was asked by quite a few people this year what day Christmas was on, and for how many days it was celebrated. I have a feeling there is some confusion over Christmas eve, Christmas day, and Boxing day (or maybe the whole bit with the 12 days of Christmas). So with this in mind, some places will offer the menu only on Christmas, while others include the 24th, or even the 23rd and 26th.
For those who do not go out on Christmas, it is extremely popular to preorder fried chicken (フライドチキン in katakana) from places such as KFC and Mos Burger, or from the Aeon and SanA grocery stores. You can even preorder from the convenience stores like Lawson or Family Mart. The sign up for time slots to pick-up fried chicken usually starts in late November. Time slots fill up quickly, so do not expect to waltz into KFC on Christmas eve or Christmas day and pick some up. Definitely preorder if you want to partake in this tradition. Usually the grocery stores do not fill up so quickly, and will have extra out on those days, so at least you can find something.
In addition, Christmas cakes (クリスマスケーキ) are popular. Usually this means a strawberry shortcake with whip icing, but recently all sorts of chocolate gateau, yule logs, cheesecakes, or other fancy torte cakes have gained popularity. Almost every single bakery/patisserie has pre-orders for cakes during the season to be picked up from the 23rd through 25th. Again, the grocery stores and conbini you can usually pick up a (small individual) cake on the day of, but other places you will need to place your order 2 weeks or more in advance. The slots of cakes don’t fill up as quickly as fried chicken, except maybe at the most popular bakeries. Honestly, the prices for a whole cake are a bit staggeringly high. This year, I chose an up-and-coming bakery to order from since their price is a bit cheaper than the more established and well-known places. The best part is, since I placed my order before a certain day, I received a 10% discount! So keep in mind if you live in Okinawa and want to get a Christmas cake: order your cake early since many places will give between 5-20% discount for early orders. Even places like Lawson and FamilyMart conbini take advance orders for Christmas cakes as well as fried chicken (1-stop shopping)… further reminding me that convenience stores in Japan truly are convenient, and you can pretty much do anything at these places (pay bills, receive Amazon packages, buy concert tickets and more).
Somewhat strange to me is starting around November, stores will start to put out Christmas decor and play incessant Christmas music (or more likely, muzak…). For a not-very-Japanese holiday, many people really enjoy and get into the spirit of the holiday season.
If you are in Okinawa during the holidays, be sure to enjoy some of these different “traditions”!
メリークリスマス！Merii kurisumasu!
メリークリ merii kuri is the shortened version, and I have actually had this sent to me in text messages from friends to my surprise.
Located in Ginowan behind the Convention City SanA mall is a quaint little bake shop called Regens Konditorei Cafe. There are a few parking spaces in front of the shop, but mostly, it would be easy to pass by if you did not know what to look for. However, when you step inside, you are transported into a magical little bakery/patisserie (I have no idea what the German word equivalent of a patisserie is). The interior decoration is rather classy, and not tacky like you might envision a Japanese German dessert shop might be. The atmosphere is kind of upscale feeling.
**Note: I have only stepped onto German soil once (okay, actually SNOW not soil) for approximately 8 hours while we traveled to Italy for Christmas a few years ago. Our plane was delayed, due to snow, and we headed to the Christmas markets where I shoved as much food and spiced wines as possible into my greedy little pie-hole. So I am obviously no good judge of “authentic” or whatever. My husband, on the other hand, has actually visited Germany a lot in the past (mostly before he married me) and as our last name reveals, a good bit of German heritage in his family. He feels this place is pretty authentic and enjoyed everything he has tried. So, I don’t guarantee this will the same for those of you who have lived in Germany, but it’s pretty darn good.
There are small tea cookies and kuchen (cakes) in cases to drool over; you surely do not want to miss their sachertorte or their marzipan houses. Depending on the day, you might catch fresh fig bread or pretzels. During Christmas it is easy to find German-style fruit kuchen (fruitcake) and stollen. It is all magnificent tasting and looking (not terribly cheap, although not unreasonable either). My wallet takes a bit of hit here during the holidays since my husband also adores all the goodies you can find in this store and no Christmas is complete without a fruitcake or stollen. This is our go-to dessert spot when we want something nice or are celebrating a special occasion.
Not only this, but the staff is great. Everything can be wrapped nicely for gifts as well (assuming it is making it further than your car). There is even a cafe space if you would like to take some coffee and relax while eating one of their desserts. These pictures do not justice, so I suppose I will have to return and take some more…
In my small adventures around the island, I found this croissant shop. Yes, a shop specifically for croissant on Okinawa. How strange, yet intriguing. So I must stop in. It is called Kouign croissant shop.
And amazing they were. So buttery, so flakey… and so many types to choose from, savory and sweet! I actually chose the simple plain croissant for my first try. My mouth rejoiced and I realized I would return there very soon to pick up more croissants. Okinawa surprises me every day; who would have thought such a lovely croissant existed here? Sure there are many pan-ya (bread shops), but this was a speciality item.
The shop is small, but it was busy. There were a few people ahead of me with very large orders to go. Luckily, there is actual a decent amount of parking in the lot next to the shop. Also, how cute is their logo? I love the little sheep with croissant horns.
It is customary to send out postcards for the New Year (oshougatsu お正月) in Japan. This is really a huge business, similar to Americans sending Christmas cards every year. You write some customary sayings, and perhaps include some news from the year or personal messages.
The post office delivers them on January 1st, as long as you send them in before the deadline (December 25th)! Last year I received a few. Last year was the year of the monkey, here are some examples (I will post new Year of the Rooster after the New Year):
This year, my husband and I custom printed some cards from a popular shop in the SanA mall. We picked a design (not going to lie, it was a Hello Kitty/Year of the Rooster design, and I am not really embarrassed about it despite being a grown married woman) and a picture of us for the front. It is not terribly cheap, but includes the postage. It is rather cute, so I am happy with the result. We will be sending them out to some local friends.
There are not too many rules as to how to write a card, just as long as you can the address on there. The address can even be written in English characters (romaji), or if you want to challenge yourself, write in kanji. Otherwise you can design as you like; the stores are all brimming with ink stamps, stickers, specialized pens and more to design the perfect nengajo! If you google it, you can get all sorts of info on how to send nengajo, but honestly, it is not as complicated as some of them make it out to be– just pick some designs you like, write an appropriate message, and write the address clearly in either Japanese or English. If it does not have postage prepaid on it, go to the post office, the workers will be very helpful; otherwise if the postage is already taken care of, simply drop it in the postbox before December 25th. You can also send them AIRMAIL to other countries, I have sent a few to the US as well for just an additional 18yen per postcard. Again postal workers will be very kind and knowledgeable about this so do not hesitate; on the card in the printed boxes instead of the postal code, just write AIRMAIL, although the postal worker will also affix an Airmail sticker somewhere. It is a good idea to also include your own address at the bottom or front in small print for person receiving the card.
There are some typical phrases you will see on most cards. あけましておめでとうございます akemashite omedetou gozaimasu means “Happy New Year” (well, literally Congratulations on the newly opened year, or something like this). By the way you can only use this AFTER the New Year has begun (so it is okay on nengajo as they are delivered on the first of the new year); if you use it before the New Year, people will give you odd looks. Last year I had heard あけおめ! ake ome! which is a shortened version of this. It was spoken by college age kids to their friends, so remember this may not be the best version to use as a 外国人, though it may elicit some giggles.
Another popular phrase is 今年もよろしくお願いします kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu (or some variation of this, ranging on more polite to more casual). It means, Please take care of me again this year.
You will find that the stationary stores are filled with ink stamps, stickers, cards, envelopes, and more for decorating your nengajo. It is almost overwhelming, and so many of them are cute… I have to restrain myself every year.
Nengajo with lottery numbers for the New Year Jumbo Lottery are issued by the Japan Post and usually printed on the bottom of the card. Prizes are announced on January 15th and are household objects or local products. I have never won anything… but then again I have not received so many cards, so my odds are probably pretty low.
忘年会 bonenkai (or bounenkai) is an end-of-the-year party or gathering; these are for social clubs, coworkers, old classmates, friends, family… everyone! And often you may have a few to attend. I have currently already committed to some myself.
The first kanji 忘 means “to forget”, 年 mean “year,” and 会 means “gathering” or “meeting.” Basically, it means a forget-the-year-party! As it was explained to me by an older Okinawan, his feeling was that the deeper meaning meant to forget the bad things that happened over the past year, as well as the good things, since there is no promise for the future– the next year is a clean slate and a chance to start anew. I never thought of it that way until I heard that, but it actually does make quite a bit of sense; I think I assumed it mostly referred to only forgetting the bad (and imbibing as much alcohol as possible in order to do so, and possibly forgetting your senses as well).
Bonenkai is a type of nomikai 飲み会 which just means “drinking party.” There is also a shinnenkai 新年会, first gathering after the New Years as well; sort of like bonenkai, part II, but this time celebrating the beginning of a fresh new year.
Anyway, typically everyone agrees on a day/time and whoever is “leader” will make reservations at an izakaya 居酒屋 (or some other type of place with food and drinks). It is popular to have an enkai 宴会 option (banquet plan, party plan), so everyone just pays a set fee; obviously it is also typical to also include a nomihoudai 飲み放題 plan (all you can drink) in addition to the enkai plan for a set fee. It is a fun time with friends, to go out and get ready for the new year with chatting, drinking, and possibly karaoke or other shenanigans. It is something that everyone looks forward to as the year is coming to a close.
I doubt I will include any pictures, as most of them tend to be drunken embarrassment… maybe I will try to take some before everyone has had too much to drink at the next bonenkai I attend.
千菓子 higashi: dry wagashi, dry sweets (no or little moisture so they stay good longer). This is the generic term, which can include a few different types (including rakugan 落雁 used for Obon offerings). These are the opposite of namagashi which are made fresh and have a lot of moisture content.
和三盆 wasanbon: a type of Japanese fine grain sugar used to make wagashi. This term is also used for the small sugary shapes that are served with tea melt in your mouth.
I visited a shop here in Naha called 知念製菓 和菓子 四季彩 Chinenseika Wagashi Shikisai. The kanji 製菓 seika means confectionary, and 和菓子 wagashi means Japanese sweets. I wanted to pick out some cute confections to serve with tea sometime. The shapes and colors are often seasonal, with a few year-round standbys. These sweets are basically just pure sugar with some added color, contrasting perfectly with the bitterness in tea. If you buy them individually, each little sweet is 70yen at this shop (though if you buy a bag of the same shapes, you save money on the per piece price). I like variety and did not need many, so I chose a few individually that I liked.
冬瓜漬: tougatsuke, tougadzuke. The first 2 kanji are 冬瓜 tougan, which is “winter melon” in English. The last kanji is 漬 (usually ‘tsuke’) meaning “pickle” or “preserve.” So the meaning of this term is something like pickled/preserved winter melon.
Tougan is also known as shibui しぶい in Okinawan language. It is a very hearty and cheap vegetable here in Okinawa. The word winter melon is sort of funny, because it is actually harvested in summer, but it is easy to store these and they will last all winter, so hence winter melon.
Anyway, I recently visited the Jahana Kippan Shop 謝花きっぱん店 in Naha. These shop is the only shop that still makes 2 very famous Ryukuan sweets called kippan and tougatsuke. During the Ryukyu kingdom era, these sweets were enjoyed by the emperor and high ranking nobles as delicacies, one of the 16 types of special fruits and desserts served in the Royal Court. This shop has amazing quality sweets, everything I sampled was so good; since I am a student, my budget was the “imperfect” pieces that they sold in small bags instead of the beautiful perfectly shaped ones.
To make tougatsuke, the juiciest flesh from tougan is used, as well as Okinawan sugarcane. There are no preservatives or artificial flavors here, just natural food made in the same style as the Ryukyu kingdom era. It is amazing that a simple tougan is turned into this sweet concoction! They recommend keeping it chilled, slicing thin pieces, and serving with tea or dessert wine. It is hard to describe the exact flavor– it was very sweet, and a little juicy, sort of melts in your mouth. An excellent pairing with some green tea.
Update: I later purchased the shiqwasa flavored tougatsuke and it is also delicious. I sampled the Okinawan sugarcane rum flavor in the store as well, and it was nice with a hint of rummy flavor.
This is a fermented specialty food of the Ryukyu kingdom, enjoyed only by emperor’s family and few privileged nobles during the Ryukyu kingdom era.
It is intense and delicate, all at the same time. Creamy, and a bit pungent, sort of like a fancy European cheese, this is not to be missed while in Okinawa! Tofuyo is dried shima-doufu, marinated and fermented in red kouji and awamori (Okinawa liquor).
Perhaps to a westerner, it does not sound appetizing, but I promise it is! When I first heard about it, I actually pictured something closer to “stinky tofu” of Taiwan, and felt a little timid about trying it, but it is much different! The smell is quite pleasant, a little bit alcoholic, and the texture really is reminiscent of a creamy cheese. The taste can be a bit intense, but it is not overwhelming.
These days tofuyo can be purchased in just about any grocery store in Okinawa. Recently I visited one of the fancier producers in Naha, Tatsu-no-kura 龍の蔵. I was able to sample a bit of everything… and it was amazing. A delicacy indeed, though a bit expensive… this is a special occasion food.
It has come to my attention that Tatsu-no-kura has a store and awamori/fermentation limestone cave up North near Kin kannon-ji (temple). There are 2 parts of the cave system, one for the temple (free) and one for the shop (entrance fee), so don’t get then confused! Go to the store in Kin to pay and join a tour… it is fun!
On a rainy day, I headed out to Sueyoshi shrine located within the Sueyoshi park 末吉公園 in Naha near the Shuri area.
There are a few parking areas; I parked in the larger parking area, off of rt 82 here. There is also another parking lot by the Mori-no-ie MinMin 森の家みんみん community center, but it is also located next to a nice open area where the elder people play bocce ball or gateball so it might be crowded. These parking spots are at the OPPOSITE end of the park from the shrine, so if you only want to visit the shrine, drive to just north of the park, where there is a small area you can park in. However, I decided to enjoy a nice walk through the park today.
Despite the drizzle, it was a nice day to walk around. There are many inner paths weaving through the forested area and crossing the stream. Most of the paths are easy to follow, but some are a bit slippery. There are a few historical markers to check out along the way too, in both Japanese and English. This park is especially known for the fireflies (hotaru 蛍, ホタル) during May-July! Well, right now it is autumn, so obviously, none for me today. There were also plenty of places to have a nice picnic or rest; tables and benches seemed to pop up all over the park. And there were trash bins and toilets convenient in a few areas. I also noticed (despite the rain) a guy and his kid with bug-catching nets, so the wildlife is plentiful considering it is in the city.
At the community center, I picked up a paper map, though it was not terribly useful but combined with my phone GPS I was able to get around okay, just matching the “park sites” to google maps (the walking paths nor park sites are not labelled in google maps). The paper map got sufficiently crumpled by the end of my “hike.”
I made my way to the shrine; warning it was a descent into the park and then a decent slope upwards, some stairs, etc, so it was not exactly a leisurely stroll. It was not terribly strenuous, but I did burn some calories. Up at the shrine, there was an old man manning the booth for omamori and fortunes (and bottled drinks), and another old man sweeping. Then inside the shrine there was another older man assisting with prayer. Honestly, this was much busier than I expected! It was peaceful and quiet though small, and had gorgeous views over Naha (I climbed higher than I realized getting up there). The original shrine was destroyed in WWII during the Battle of Okinawa, and was restored in the 1970s.
Afterwards, I walked around all the small areas for worshipping various local gods, and over to the Ginowan-Udun grave, the Ginowan-Udun mural, and eventually making my way through the wooded paths back to the parking area.
Some tips:
1. Don’t wear slippahs, wear real shoes with good grip. I fell on my okole after slipping on some slimey, mossy rocks.
2. Depending on the season, bring bug spray (maybe in winter you will not need it). It is usually a damp forest, a few mosquitoes are around, though it is not so bad compared to other places.
I received a wedding invitation from one of my Japanese friends that I dance hula with. How exciting~ but there was a lot to prepare for… I didn’t want to be that gaijin, even though I know they do not usually expect much from me.
One thing to be clear though… Okinawan weddings are definitely different from mainland Japan weddings!
The Invitation:
I received the invitation after accepting from a text message to go. The envelope was simple, but had my full name and … on it. On the inside, the invitation was actually a bit like your typical western wedding invitation, but there was also a “ticket” to bring to the hotel banquet hall on the day of the wedding party.
The Money:
You don’t really give wedding gifts from a wedding registry here. Instead it is cold hard cash. This is called “goshugi” ご祝儀.
Buy an envelope from a stationary store (or even a Daiso). I went to Ryubo and chose a pink one with “Happy Wedding” on it so I knew I could not go wrong. There is a large envelope selection for celebration, so you must make sure to choose one appropriate to type of celebration and for the appropriate amount of gift money. The envelope was labelled as appropriate for gifts of 1万-5万円 (~100-500$USD).
Then on to the money portion. How much to give? Well, weddings are expensive… the first rule is to give an odd number of bills (so the couple does not split up), as well as crisp new bills (so the couple has a fresh start on married life). For a wedding in Japan, it seems to be customary for friends/coworkers to give 30,000円, consisting of three 1万円 bills (~300$USD). This is per person, couples or a family with multiple would again give some odd number, and usually at least 30,000yen per person. Recently it seems there is some trend to give 20,000円, with one 1万円 bill and two 5千円 bills. Typically the older you are, or the closer to the couple you are (so if you were cousins or family of some sort), you would give the couple a larger amount. In Okinawa, though the total amount given is lower than the mainland, and 1万円 is sufficient; but again I think it may depend on the couple and the type of wedding (casual versus formal, the location venue, etc), so again it is important to just use your best judgement. Basically something to remember: only agree to go to a Japanese wedding party if you can afford it! Since I will likely not attend very many, well… it is a really nice opportunity to learn a bit more about this side of the culture, and I am excited for my friend.
What to Wear:
Well, this is a difficult one since we are in Okinawa… is Hawaiian formal okay, I wonder? I should I stick with what I understand from mainland Japan, and wear a semi-formal sort of cocktail dress (comes to the knees, subdued colors, shawl or jacket over bare shoulders)? Maybe I overthought this (a lot). So last minute decision was to wear the cocktail dress. I will already stand out being a foreigner, I don’t need to add on any outfit faux pas.
One thing I noticed is that black (even all black) is totally okay to wear. Another is that a nice pants suit is also okay for ladies.. this could be because it is Okinawa and more casual though. Otherwise most females were in the typical cocktail dress type of outfit and everyone’s shoulders were covered (so no strapless, no spaghetti straps, no sleeveless that were not covered by a wrap or jacket of some sort).
The Party:
So it is not so much a wedding like in the US at a church or other venue, and then a reception. Instead, it is much more common to simply hold it at a hotel venue, and there is usually no religious or other formal component. It is more like a wedding reception.
After we arrived, we signed the guestbook and handed over our goshugi. I was not the only one a little nervous; for one of my younger hula friends this was also her first time to attend a wedding.
Now this is the part where Okinawa was so different from Japan weddings. Most articles talking about Japanese weddings always mention a lack of drinking despite the drinking culture. In Okinawa, there was much alcohol to be consumed, and was very much a part of the celebration. At an Okinawan wedding, it is okay to be a little drunk (maybe not sloppy, but a little drunk). The hotel also catered a very large feast with platters brought out to each table during the party, as well as a fairly continuous stream of Orion bottles.
Some parts were similar to what I had heard; there were slideshows of the bride and groom, both individually and together (a total of 3). Plus toasts and special messages to the bride and groom, as well as a tearful letter of gratitude written and read by the bride to her parents. The couple dressed in 3 different outfits during the entire wedding party, 1 traditional Japanese, and 2 western (1 white bridal gown, and 1 very Japanese-western style blue fluffy gown). There was a cake cutting, candle lighting, a champagne toast, and some other sort of normal, expected elements.
Then, things got a little weird. There was much revelry in between the sappy, serious parts. The groom’s friends put on a series of performances, which was definitely… well, perhaps a bit uncommon by American standards. I will link a photo album with some explanations. But basically… anything goes during this part. Anyway, it was a ton of fun and very entertaining, albeit a little shocking. I am guessing these types of performances might be less common at a mainland Japan wedding… many of my hula friends giggled, and suggested that Okinawan wedding affairs were significantly different from mainland Japanese weddings.
On the bride’s side, my kumu (hula teacher) danced, and then the bride performed a hula with a small group. Much less risqué then the groom’s friends.
Afterwards:
At everyone’s seat, there was a bag with the name on it. These were the “gifts” to take home. It was a set of fancy Ryukyu glasses that are so popular here in Okinawa. Quite lovely, and I will think of the bride often when I use them.
There was also a second party afterwards, more casual affair with drinking. I ended up being exhausted and going home, instead. I was fairly worn out by the excitement, and honestly, I had to work the next day. A hangover simply was not in my future.
(Full photos with explanations coming soon to imgur).
In Okinawa, there are so many パン屋 pan-ya (bakeries)… and I have found another nice one, this time located in Urasoe called Boulangerie a tete.
The reason why I mention this one is the coconut tart. So good. Flakey tart, baked coconut custard filling, topped with extra coconut. I got a few things to sample, but this was definitely number one.
They had a few of the standards for a Japanese bakery, but some more unique items to the shop. They also labelled many things as to what country of origin the recipe was from (so there was a mix of German, French, Italian). Also another bonus for many people is that one of the bakers spoke English, and even offered assistance right away as everything was labelled in Japanese. While not an issue for me, I can see that this would be very useful for many people.
There are 2 parking spaces on the side of the store in a large parking area.
