Category: Japanese foods

Culture, Japanese foods, Travel: Japan

Matsuyama 松山, part 1: Dogo Onsen 道後温泉

During the recent holiday weekend, we visited Matsuyama 松山 in Ehime Prefecture 愛媛県 on Shikoku 四国. While this may not be a “must-see” for most people taking a visit to Japan, it was certainly a lovely place… I am now wishing I had more time and could have seen more of Shikoku. Another trip maybe…

Matsuyama is known for 2 things: it is the setting of the famous Japanese novel “Botchan,” by Natsume Souseki, a tale of a head-strong Tokyoite named Botchan sent to the rural Matsuyama town on Shikoku Island to teach middle school math, set in the Meiji era. It was also recently turned into a J-drama movie starring one of the Arashi members, and is really entertaining! The second thing is the Dogo Onsen, not only famous due to Botchan, but also said to have been 1 of the onsen that inspired the backdrop for Ghibli’s Spirited Away animated film.

Anyway, on to the trip!

First thing to know, there is no train from the Matsuyama airport, you will need to take a bus downtown (which is actually a very short ride, 310 yen to the JR station, or 410 yen to the city station, I think it must have been less than half an hour). Exit the airport, and there will be a ticket machine to buy tickets, then just get on the bus. Easy. Depending on the number in your party, it is not unreasonable to simply take a taxi (fare ~2000yen when we took it on the return trip from our hotel to the airport!).

We got off at the JR station, but realized too late that the tram that goes to our hotel a) runs only 2x per hour, and b) actually runs in a loop which is somewhat reverse and inconvenient. Anyway, at the JR station you can buy 1 day or 2 day passes for the Iyotetsu trams (**PASMO and SUICA do not work… sigh). For a some extra fee, these can include more trains, the Botchan train ride, and Matsuyama castle entrance. For what it is worth… I do not think these passes are worth it, at least it ended up not be for us. The “city” is actually really walkable (or even bike-able), and the trams not so convenient. It turned out to be cheaper for us not to use the day passes, since we sort of enjoy walking most places anyway. Just something to think about.

Anyway, we end up walking to our hotel (next to the castle park area) from the station since it is not a very long walk anyway. We checked into the hotel, admired our “castle view,” which was a bit like, oh yeah, I can see a cute little castle at the top of that hill over there… and headed out to enjoy the evening views. We headed towards Okaido station shopping area, admired some food stuffs in the department store and surrounding shopping arcade. At sunset we took the ferris wheel on top of the department store. FYI: If you show your PASSPORT this is free! We did not do our research… and had to pay the fare. sigh. BRING YOUR PASSPORT for the free ride!  Well, it was a nice view, not spectacular but a cute way to wind down a day.

Afterwards, it was time to head towards Dogo Onsen 道後温泉, one of the onsen that is said to have inspired Spirited Away (Japanese title: 千と千尋の神隠し)! I came at night in order to get the night shots of the onsen all lit up and romantic (bathing would happen the next day). A warning: if you really, really want to bathe at Dogo onsen at night, just be aware it might be crowded… nighttime is the most popular time to visit (for very good reason, it is stunning!). We opted just for pictures at night (I dislike crowds overall). So we enjoyed the public foot bath, the strolling the small shops in the area, trying out the famous botchan dango, and taking pictures for the first evening. Really, Dogo Onsen is just fantastic at night; the atmosphere really is amazing, people wandering around in yukata with bath baskets, leisurely heading towards the bath… I was quite jealous now that we had not opted to stay in the immediate area (but the prices were literally 3x that of where we were staying… alas!). We also tried the Dogo Beer Brewery… it was okay… but honestly 600yen per beer was a bit much. The beer was so-so (I thought the Madonna beer was best), and if you were not eating a meal there, you could only do “take-out” which meant drinking the beer in a plastic cup in front of the building. So lessons learned: stay as close to Dogo Onsen as possible in one of the minor onsen hotels (assuming price is not unreasonable) and do not feel pressured into trying Dogo Beer, as it is not that great (not terrible, just, Asahi is better and cheaper).

The next day, we decide to hit up Dogo Onsen for the actual bath around 8ish after taking breakfast at our hotel. This so happened to be a PERFECT time for visiting… not too crowded so enjoying the bath was amazing! We arrived, took a shoe locker, and bought our tickets. Now, there are many levels of tickets, most are for a total of merely 1 hour in the bath… there is the basic, no frills, no nothing just entrance fee for just a few hundred yen. Then you can start looking at the Tama-no-yu bath with senbei (rice cracker)/tea snack on the second floor lounge for a bit more, and then the high rollers of Tama-no-yu bath plus private changing room and botchan dango/tea snack at a whopping 1500yen, but you get 80 minutes in the bath. Well, in coming here, I am going for the whole experience, so I insist to my husband we get the highest tier. Now, I will not kid around, knowing Japanese is a huge advantage here. I am unsure how you could get around here comfortable not knowing it. I am sure it is possible, but I imagine rather difficult.

So we get our tickets, and they direct us to the 3rd floor. On the 3rd floor, we are received by a mama-san, who gives us bath towels, yukata with the special crane design, and shows us to our private 2-person tatami changing room. She explains we have the room for 80 minutes, and can use both the second floor Tama-no-yu bath, as well as the public 1st floor bath. When we are finished and ready for tea, to ring the buzzer on the table. So we change quickly, admire the view from our third floor room, and head down towards bath areas. We are entranced by the beautiful interior of the whole complex, with winding halls, narrow stairs, beautiful rooms with small details, cheerful bathhouse workers… seriously, something out of a Ghibli film.

I enter the 2nd floor baths, and as it turns out, I am the only one using it at this time. It was wonderful, even if a bit simple. Even so, images of Botchan (a Japanese novel set in Matsuyama) and Spirited Away surround me. Perhaps I have a good imagination. After a good soak, I finish up, eager to scope out the rest of the complex, as well.

I looked around at the second tier lounge, just to see what I upgraded from. This floor was also quite lovely; while it was a mixed, open floor plan (changing rooms for the bath segregated), you could enjoy senbei and tea while wearing yukata with the basic design with a nice view from the balcony. I think a majority of visitors choose this option.

From here, I wandered down to the first floor public bath. It was larger and obviously more lively (less private), but that is also a good thing. I like variety. There are no amenities down here, so you need to bring your own towels, robes, soap, shampoo/conditioner (the more upper level bath comes with these), just remember if you choose this option!

Afterwards I went back to our 3rd floor room where my husband was waiting. We buzzed for tea, and moments later it arrived~ green tea and botchan dango. Botchan dango has 3 flavors: red bean, matcha, and local citrus (although very light citrus flavor). Finally our 80 minutes have passed and it is time to leave. My husband liked that we had a room together and he was not just changing with ojiisans, even if our baths were separate.

Before we headed down the stairs, the mama-san showed us the Botchan room. It is all in Japanese, but I could get the basic idea. On the second floor, we were then given a small tour of the imperial baths (where the emperor bathes on his visits). They explained that the 2nd floor mens bath is where the bodyguards bathed; my husband was amused and now brags he bathed where the imperial bodyguards bathe. Anyway, it is an interesting little area.

Feeling refreshed, we look for the next item on the itinerary; the onsen shrine and the Dogo Park area. These are not particularly spectacular, but enjoyable nonetheless. We get tickets for the Botchan train; it is so cute. We also watch the “gizmo” clock, as on the hour, it plays music and little Botchan characters come out and move around.

Here is a “sample” of pictures:

Click to continue to Part II!

Additional images from Matsuyama (not organized or labeled yet…): https://imgur.com/a/03dUy

 

 

 

Cooking, Japanese foods

Igisu tofu: イギス豆腐

イギス豆腐 Igisu Tofu is known as the local diet of people living in the islands of the Seto Inland Sea and it is also said to be the food of longevity. This version of the dish comes from 向島 Mukoujima, located in Hiroshima. This one more recipe from the Island Mama’s homemade cooking news article (part 1 is here).

Igisu is a kind of red seaweed that grows on reefs along the shoreline. It is harvested and dried. To make this “tofu” it is then mixed with soy bean powder (or rice bran depending on the recipe) and liquid, then pressed into a mold and chilled to solidify.

Igisu tofu イギス豆腐 recipe: most of the recipes I was able to find from Mukoujima called to mix with rice bran, however some from Ehime called to mix with soy bean powder instead of rice bran; if you decide to do this, you mix 100 g of soybean powder with 7 c of liquid and no straining bag is needed, just add the soybean powder directly to the liquid, otherwise the directions are basically the same.

Igisu, dried, 30g
rice bran, 40g
vinegar, 1 tbsp
soup stock (dashi + water), 6 c.
salt, to taste
mirin, 1 tbsp

**Sauce for topping:
mustard powder, 3 g
white miso, 3 tbsp
sugar, 3 tbsp
mirin, 2 tbsp

Wash the igisu well repeatedly until the water is clean. Put the rice bran in the cloth bag over a bowl; to make the juice of rice bran, strain the soup stock through the bag with the rice bran, gently massaging. Add the rice bran juice and igisu to a pot. Turn on heat and add the vinegar. Over low heat, boil, cook until igisu dissolves. Strain in a colander (if needed), put back in the pot, adjust the seasoning with salt and mirin. Put into mold, and chill to solidify.

Sauce: Put the mustard in a bowl and mix with hot water. Then mix with miso, sugar, mirin. Serve over the igisu tofu.

Other regions that make igisu tofu also add in small shrimp, edamame, black sesame seeds, shredded carrot to the “tofu” while cooking. I prefer the simplicity, but sometimes it might be nice to spice it up a bit.

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Cooking, Japanese foods, Local Foods

Mochikibi Onigiri: もちきびおにぎり

More of Island mama’s home-cooking (part 1). This time another recipe from one of the islands in Okinawa prefecture, Tonaki-jima 渡名喜島.

Mochikibi もちきび: millet.

Onigiri おにぎり: rice ball.

So mochikibi onigiri is rice ball with millet mixed in; it is very healthy! This recipe is from Tonaki-jima, off the coast of Okinawa main island, but it is seen everywhere (and perhaps some places on the mainland of Japan!). Mochikibi is one of the specialty products from Tonaki-jima.

Recipe? Well… I mean, it is just onigiri! There really are not any tricks to this recipe. What you need:

-rice (white, but you could use other types)
-mochikibi, 1.5 tbsp
-a little salt (to taste)

Wash rice, add to rice cooker with mochikibi and add required amount of water for you rice cooker (note: if you are Hawaiian, you just do the first knuckle test for adding water). Cook according to rice cooker. Mix in a little salt, make sure the mochikibi is evenly distributed in the rice, let cool for a bit, and form your onigiri. Finished. Usually this is served a bit chilled or room temperature, perfect for bento or quick snacks.

 

Japanese foods

Baumkuchen: バウムクーヘン

バウムクーヘン: baumkuchen

Baumkuchen is German. But for whatever reason, in Japan it is wildly popular. You can find it pretty much everywhere, from specialty shops to grocery stores, to omiyage shops to conbini. This is one of the things that has surprised me living in Japan and I have started to consider baumkuchen more of a Japanese thing than an actual German thing. I have probably eaten dozens of the single-serving snack baumkuchen since living here.

Baumkuchen means “tree cake” since the cute round shape shows rings similar to tree trunks. The taste is pretty typical of a cake with packed thin layers, and often you can find different added flavors (chocolate, orange, etc). I have real idea why this snack/dessert is so popular here, but my guess is because the labor to make it  is rather intensive, or time-consuming, and Japanese people have a deep appreciation for the skill and dedication to making such a creation. Respect for the hard-working spirit/attitude is very much a thing here, so I get the impression that this little cake is sort of a symbol of that.

My sensei has leftovers from Obon, so he brought some in for us.

 

Culture, Japanese foods, Local Foods

Rice coupons: おこめ券

おこめ券: okomeken. This means rice coupon or ticket. お “o” is the honorable prefix, 米/こめ kome is rice, and 券 ken is ticket / coupon / certificate.

I was fortunate enough to receive such a gift around Christmas and the New year. At first, I thought, “what???!” It seemed a bit strange. There is a national program set up where you can basically buy gift certificates for 1 kg of rice for people. You can use these tickets at pretty much any grocery store. I think it costs about 500円 to purchase these. But then you can give these out during holidays or special occasions. It is actually sort of convenient, and a nice gift in that you can choose your own rice, if you have a preference. Also, there is no expiration date!

In addition, many other places will accept these rice certificates; for my husband, one of these places is Joyfull restaurant. Instead of 1 kg rice, it can be used as 〜440円 discount on the bill. I had to read some blogs in Japanese to figure out the logistics of using it, and discovered some places will also redeem these, so I gave some to my husband so he could  eat cheaply. Not enough English blogs talk about using these okome-ken…

If you live in Okinawa, here are some places that will redeem rice tickets in addition to the grocery stores (grocery stores will have marked which rice can use okomeken, and when in doubt just ask): Makeman (home improvement store), Wafu-tei (restaurant), HottoMotto (bento store), Joyfull (restaurant), and some gas stations!

If you should want to purchase rice tickets (to give to other people), go to the service counter of a department store, and many of them will sell these.

This one is shamefully a bit crumpled from being in my husbands wallet. I should have kept the pictures from when it was brand new and perfectly smooth.

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Japanese foods, Local Foods

Shoyu: 醤油

醤油, or しょうゆ in hiragana, is shoyu (soy sauce for you non-Hawaiians). In Hawai’i, we use the Japanese word shoyu instead of the English word soy sauce, due to the large number of ethnic Japanese. In Hawai’i there are local brands of shoyu, like Aloha Shoyu.

Kikkoman is obviously  prevalent brand, but there are many others as well. Yamasa brand is also fairly popular (which is a brand I typically prefer, personally). Not only that, but there are many types of shoyu, and other sauces that are shoyu-based (and therefore many foreigners confuse them with shoyu, only to get home home and wonder what it is they bought… so always read the label carefully and look for the key kanji or kana!).

I find it is important to read the ingredients, to see exactly what type of shoyu you are getting, and if there any additives (like HFCS to the “sweet” shoyu). Another thing to remember, as with many things, you get what you pay for; higher quality tends to be pricier. I typically buy mid-range for everyday use, and occasionally get a pricier one for “special dinners.” There are some specialty food stores around that carry some of the high-quality stuff.

Here are some of the main types you see in the store:

  • koikuchi shoyu 濃口, こいくち: common shoyu. This is the type you see most often. Typically I buy a large bottle of this, since it is the one is most used. This will be the type of shoyu on probably 90% of the shelf in your average grocery store such as SanA.
  • usukuchi shoyu 淡口, うすくち: it means “light” taste shoyu, but actually has more salt/sodium. Popular in Kansai and has a lighter color. You can usually find a few bottles on the shelf in SanA or Aeon.
  • tamari 溜まり, たまり: somewhat thicker, stronger shoyu. Often used for sashimi, or teriyaki. Most people in the west think of this as a non-wheat shoyu, but this is often not the case, especially if it is made traditionally. Another reason why reading the ingredients is so important!
  • sashimi shoyu さしみ: some brands advertise specifically for sashimi, they are a bit smoother. Again, there are usually a few bottles easy to find in the average grocery store.
  • amakuchi shoyu 甘口, あまくち: “sweet” shoyu. Be careful, this often has added sugars of some type. It is difficult to find any in the store without artificial sugars or HFCS.
  • genen 減塩 /teien 低塩: reduced salt shoyu. This is just koikuchi but with less sodium content.

 

Things that look like shoyu but are different:

  • ponzu ポン酢 (also sometimes ぽんず): citrus flavored sauce with shoyu base. The citrus flavor often varies; here in Okinawa shikwasa (small lime) is popular, but other areas yuzu is more common.
  • tsuyu つゆ (also, hon tsuyu 本つゆ): this usually has either fish or konbu (seaweed) stock added to it, as well as other ingredients, such as mirin. Often used for mainland soba, but it is multipurpose and can be used for many things, such as oden, udon, and nabe.
  • dashi-shoyu だし醤油: similar to tsuyu, just a mix of dashi and shoyu. Often used for soup base, or simmered dishes. Dashi shoyu is usually seen as 昆布 konbu (seaweed) or かつお katsuo (bonito) types.

I could probably add more (I mean, seriously I have seen people buy straight up dashi, fish sauce and others with completely different coloring, thinking it was shoyu… ), but I feel like the ones I listed above are the not so obvious ones if you cannot read much Japanese, and they are often situated right next to the shoyu so it could be easily mistaken.

Other words to look for on shoyu or similar sauce bottles: this is just a small sample of some ingredients you may see, not a comprehensive list.

  • 有機 organic
  • 大豆 soy bean
  • 丸大豆 whole soy bean
  • 小麦 wheat
  • 塩 salt
  • みりん mirin
  • 酒 sake
  • アルコール alcohol
  • 砂糖 sugar
  • 甘味料 sweeter (usually in parenthesis it will tell what type is used: stevia, HFCS, etc)
  • キャラメル色素: caramel coloring… avoid this. Real shoyu does not need this coloring, usually if this is added, you are just buying colored salt water, not shoyu. Gross.
  • 無添加 additive-free
  • グルテンフリー gluten-free, though I have never seen any in person… gluten-free is not a trend in Japan.

 

Hopefully some of these tips help if you are shopping for shoyu in Okinawa or Japan.

I got this koikuchi shoyu posted below for free from a lucky drawing at an electronics store.

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**Note: If you wanna get serious about your grade of shoyu, there is the official government regulated labels from JAS (Japan Agricultural Standards):

特級 tokkyuu: special grade

１級 ikkyuu: 1st grade

標準 hyoujun: standard grade

Grading is based on measuring the chemical composition for amino acids and alcohol content. The Japanese Shoyu Association adds two more grades higher than “special grade”: extra select 特選 tokusen and ultra-extra select 超特選 choutokusen.

Japanese foods, Travel: Japan

Snow Monkeys and Nabe: 猿と鍋

猿 saru means “monkey.” 野猿  yaen means wild monkey, meaning the wild Japanese macaque.

After the New Year in January, I took a short trip to Yamanouchi (山ノ内) in Nagano prefecture (長野県) to see the snow monkeys at Jigokudani onsen 地獄谷温泉 (translation: hell valley hot springs) and yaen-kouen 野猿公苑 (wild monkey park). We stayed at the Korakukan Ryokan, literally right outside the monkey park, and obviously wild monkeys are a common site outside your window. It was pretty amazing.

The Korakukan ryokan is a bit “rustic,” to be polite, but despite the older facilities, the location and the food were absolutely amazing. Waking up to monkeys outside is just pretty darn cool. I will admit, the onsen themselves are only okay (but if you are very lucky a monkey might join you, so that is a bonus), and the facilities do take a bit to get used to (so do not come in with high expectations). It may not be the most comfortable place to stay in terms of amenities or luxury, but the experience is one I will never forget.

The first day, we landed in Tokyo and stayed the night, catching the early morning train over to Nagano, and continuing on to Yamanouchi (last stop was Yudanaka station). We stopped here and had Japanese soba for lunch. From there a bus will take you to a bus stop where many onsen resorts are located just outside the monkey park area, but the ryokan that is inside the monkey park area is a a decent hike through the snow (there is another road that gets you closer to the ryokan and park, but it closes during winter, so the bus stops at the area just outside by the beginning of the walking path). Yes, we could have stayed in a classier place, more facilities and luxuries, but all those places were much further from the monkey park than the Korakukan ryokan (which was literally at the monkey park). There is also a recommended area called Shibu onsen 渋温泉, which is an adorable onsen town that we explored one of the days during our stay, but alas, I was going for the monkeys. And since my number one reason for this trip was monkeys, as such the rustic ryokan was it. So definitely consider your priorities before booking this trip: do you want to be right by monkeys all the time (literally outside your window, in your baths, hanging out near the dining hall) or would you prefer convenience (to town, restaurants, or well… everything), nice facilities, small luxuries, more/fancier onsen, less trudging through snow/ice ?

We trudged through the light snow with our luggage (remember, pack light for this one). I would recommend a suitcase that you can carry like a backpack. And those traction things you can put over your shoes is a really good idea, there was quite a bit of ice in spots and especially useful for the downhill parts to not go skidding down on your bum. Luckily when we went there was only a bit of snow and the heavy winter storms had not hit yet (seriously, we missed some awful weather by just over a week), so it was not terrible. We arrived safely, got settled with our belongings, checked out our quaint facilities, and immediately headed to the park to see some monkeys before closing time!

Of course, this place is a happening tourist spot during the day time operating hours, and of course completely empty during closed hours. But I got to see some monkeys and observe them for awhile. They are so cute. But we did have to leave and went down to catch a bath and dinner at the ryokan.

The onsen bath was pretty scalding hot, and the faucet water pretty darn cold, so it was interesting to say the least. However, I got clean so I cannot complain too much. Plus there were some outdoor baths and you could glimpse some monkeys during twilight.

For dinner, nabe 鍋 (hotpot) was the main item for the meal, with several accompanying dishes. If you have never had nabe in the mountains of rural Japan during winter, you must try this! It was amazing. I had a vegetarian nabe, and my husbands was for omnivores. His also came with fried locust; he said they were crunchy and not too bad. With my yukata and coat (known as a hanten 袢纏) on, sitting at the table near the heaters drinking a beer and eating warm nabe with mountain vegetables, life was good. Plus a few monkeys ran down the hall outside the dining building.

The next day, we woke up early, grabbed an early morning bath (the guys bath was lucky and had monkeys join them) and checked out the monkey park before opening. Seriously, I could probably watch monkeys for the better part of a day. Over night it had snowed and so you could see monkey prints throughout the valley.

Afterwards, we headed towards town (through the snow path) and enjoyed touring about, as well as tasting beer at the Teppa Room, sake (nihonshu 日本酒), manjuu, and yet more onsen (a bit more upscale than our ryokan, so… ). There were some temples/shrines, and the town sites in Shibu onsen. When we returned for the day, we went back yet again to look at some monkeys before dinner time. The second dinner was another nabe with a little bit different variety. Again, it was an amazing meal. Throughout the day, I had chatted with various mainlanders about Okinawa, which seemed to interest them. Oh, and it snowed again overnight.

The last day we had to head out early after a quick bath, trudging back through the snowy path to town with our luggage. We trained back to Nagano where we stopped for a walk around and lunch before heading to the airport in Tokyo. I got some fresh apple juice and baked apple goodies; yum! I wanted to take a bag of apples back to Okinawa (apples are sort of expensive in Okinawa), but figured that was not really feasible. But I did pick up some other omiyage to take back home to friends and coworkers.I also got an amazake 甘酒 soft serve (yes in the middle of winter… but it was amazake flavor!). My husband tried a sake (nihonshu 日本酒) sampler . We really enjoyed our stop in Nagano, and realized that we should plan a separate trip just to visit Nagano properly.

Below are some images from the trip. Here is a link to the full album, in case you cannot get enough  monkey pictures. I did not take any inside the ryokan, as at the time I figured it was too rustic.

Cooking, Japanese foods

Yashirojima (Suooshima) recipe: kenchou けんちょう

Yashiro-jima (also known as Suooshima) is located off the coast in Yamaguchi prefecture, known for its mikan みかん (oranges). I have heard there is even such a thing as mikan nabe みかん鍋, which is hotpot with oranges…! I would like to try this one day. It sounds like a refreshing taste to me.

Today we have a winter dish, called kenchou けんちょう. This is another installment of “Island Mama’s homemade cooking” from the news pullout section (refer to here).

This dish is made with Japanese radish called daikon 大根. It was originally vegetarian food, only seasoned with shoyu and sake, with just fried daikon and tofu. But then evolved to adding carrots, shiitake mushrooms, lotus root, gobou (burdock root), konnyaku; and then even ingredients like chicken or other seasonal variety.

Nowadays, it might be made in a dried sardine soup; I choose not to do this and stick to a vegetarian version. Vegetable combinations such as daikon, carrot, konnyaku, gobou (burdock root), fried fish cake (satsuma-age), shiitake, lotus root, etc, can be used, depending on what is available to you.

Kenchou けんちょう: This recipe is courtesy of the island’s school meal program, and is vegetarian, however, it can easily be modified to accommodate your tastes. For instance, simmering in a stock of sardines, sort of like an oden おでん style dish would definitely add some winter flavors to the dish.

Ingredients:
-tofu 1 block (~300g), drained and cut into chunks or slightly crumbled
-daikon, ~600g, cut into slices and quartered
-carrot, ~ 30g, cut into slices (or strips is okay too)
-konnyaku, 1/2 package (120g), cut into strips
-aburaage (fried tofu)  (25g), cut into strips **other recipes suggest fried fishcake
-oil for frying, ~3 tablespoons
-Sugar, 2 tsp
-salt, 1 tsp
-shoyu, 4 tablespoons
-sake or cooking mirin, to taste

Heat oil in a pan, and stir-fry well daikon, carrot, konnyaku, and aburaage, mix and add seasoning, simmer about 5-6 minutes. Add tofu, simmer over low heat. Enjoy.

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Japanese foods, Local Foods

Okara (soy pulp): おから

Okara おから is soy pulp; it is what remains after making soy milk or tofu. It is used in some traditional Japanese, Korean, and Chinese dishes, and gained some popularity with vegetarians. Many people do not really think to eat okara much anymore, but it is full of fiber, protein and some nutrients. Okara is often used for livestock feed.

So, in Okinawa, waste not want not, okara is seen fairly common in stores. It is very cheap to buy fresh okara. Of course, making your own tofu, okara is a natural by-product, and so I sometimes I need to find recipes for the leftover okara. It is common to see in all sorts of recipes, such as fillers for meatballs, vegetarian patties, stews, and even baked goods. My husband like to add it into his chili recipe, to cut down on the amount of meat he uses (this not only gives his meal a nutritional boost, but also helps cut down on the cost).

Keep in mind okara is pretty flavorless on its own, and sometimes it is a little gritty in  texture. But used in the right recipe, it can be good. There are a surprising number of recipes using okara out there; there is one blog with an astounding number of okara-based recipes, and it has definitely given me some ideas.

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Japanese foods, Restaurants

Hokkaido Uoman: 北海道魚萬

北海道: Hokkaido

Yesterday for lunch we went to a newly built complex made up of mostly some restaurants in Urasoe. We wanted to try this izakaya type place, called Hokkaido Uoman, which serves Hokkaido foods; it is open 24 hours, and although they have morning and lunch specials, you can order off the grand menu any time.

The interior is really fun, and has really interesting “fishing village” elements and decor. It does not feel like you are in Okinawa anymore, but transported up north (and perhaps back in time too). We got to sit in one of the booths that looks like a large barrel. I should have taken pictures but was too distracted looking around. I am easily entertained by the simple details, with the lanterns, the fishing bobs, and various wooden elements.

The menu has a lot of interesting food, and definitely specializes in seafood shipped in from Hokkaido. We ordered a few dishes to split, and everything was really good. The order of 唐揚げいか fried squid rings was enormous~~ my husband was so happy with how fresh they were. He also got the かにみそ crab innards, served in the shell; he said an interesting and tasty treat, though maybe just an occasional one. We also got some typical stuff like 漬物 pickles, cabbage salad, and Hokkaido seafood salt yakisoba. Although some items were a little expensive, our bill only came out to ~2500 yen! Next time we will come for dinner and spend a little more; more husband looks forward to having some of those huge scallops on the table-top grills, and maybe some more crab dishes since all the seafood was good quality here.

Although I have not yet made it to Hokkaido (in October I will fix this, as we have a fall foliage viewing trip planned already), I really enjoyed this restaurant. If you are living or staying in Okinawa and want a small taste of Hokkaido, I think this place is really nice, even though I have no idea if it is “authentic” Hokkaido taste, at least the much of the seafood is from there. The menu even has pictures and English words, so not to worry if your Japanese skills are low.

address: 〒901-2101 沖縄県浦添市西原2-4-1 (P’s SQUARE Building, 2nd floor)

Japanese foods, Travel: Japan

Tanegashima recipe: Karaimosen からいもせん

Today we will try something from Tanegashima 種子島, an island off the southern coast of Kagoshima prefecture. This is a continuation of “Island Mama’s homemade cooking” section.

I will introduce karaimo-sen: karaimo からいも is the name for satsuma-imo さつま芋 in Tanegashima, which is a type of sweet potato. Karaimosen からいもせん is the name for the starch that is made from these satsuma-imo (in Japanese, starch is でん粉 denko). From this, they are turned into starchy fried dumplings. A hearty and simple snack or even turn it into a meal, this is a nice dish easily made at home.

There are different ways you can make a traditional dish of Tanegashima; one option is completely from scratch, and the other is using already processed potato starch from the bag at the grocery store. I will introduce both ways, thanks to a website that described the process in Japanese, but I have only made from the powder before. Looks like I will need to do some experimenting in the kitchen soon and try making this from scratch.

First the easy way!

Karaimosen からいもせん：

Ingredients:
sweet potato starch, 1 cup
Water, 1.2 cup
Peanut sauce: peanuts, shoyu, vinegar, sugar in equal amounts (or to taste)

Mix the starch and water. Put a little oil in a frying pan and heat, add the starch-water mixture. Cook until transparent (flipping over to cook both sides), let it become a little grilled (I love having some crispy little edges if possible). When all the way cooked, cut into bite sized pieces, top with some peanut sauce and enjoy. You could also use ginger instead of peanuts.

If you want to make something a little fancier, perhaps more of a main dish, you can serve with some some boiled (or maybe even fried if you so desire) vegetables such as kabocha, bamboo shoots, konnyaku, shiitake, or other Asian vegetarian favorites, and instead of peanut sauce, some sort of shoyu and ginger mixture. The article also mentions using it in a sukiyaki or other soup stock sort of dish.

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If you find yourself in possession of some satsuma-imo and want to try making this from scratch…

From scratch:

It may be helpful to refer to this website (in Japanese), there are pictures. When I get around to making this, I will take some pictures of the process.

English Instructions:

Take satsuma-imo, clean and peel. Cut into smallish chip-size pieces and add along with water to a blender/juicer (you can hand grate this instead). Strain the liquid into a bowl using a cloth (such as cheesecloth with fine mesh to separate the solids from the liquid). This liquid is what precipitates the starch; this takes a few hours. Once you have the starch, discard the liquid, and dry the starch in the sun. Now it is ready to use.

Previous recipes of “Island Mama’s homemade cooking” news article:

Ojiki-jima recipe: bouburazouse ぼうぶらぞうせ

Yonaguni-jima recipe: Sakuna shiraae サクナの白和え

Culture, Japanese foods

Karaoke: カラオケ

Karaoke カラオケ is a popular activity in Japan, and there are karaoke boxes all over. In Okinawa, there are several places try this beloved activity.

Karaoke in Japan is different than in the US… you do not sing in front of a crowd of strangers. You (and your party) are assigned a room, so you are singing with just your friends, coworkers… or by yourself!

Hitori-karaoke 一人カラオケ is 1-person karaoke. Maybe this sounds weird to you, but it is incredibly relaxing and a great way to get rid of stress. You can sing as loud and as long as you want, without caring who is around. Plus, you get to pick all the songs. I have done this quite a few times before, and I enjoy much more than I thought I would. I know some people who go to hitori-karaoke just to practice for the real thing!

When you rent a karaoke room, it is usually by the hour and size of the room. Usually places have special pricing plans. For instance it is always cheaper in the mornings and on weekdays, but you if you want to sing  a lot, they have all night deals, too. Often times you can get unlimited soft drinks bar with some of these deals. Some places even have fancier sound system upgrades.

Once you settle on your room, you will be given microphones and touchscreen tablets (most places this is multilingual now) to control the video screens and choose songs. You might be seriously surprised at the enormous selection of foreign songs… just use the search function to find artists, songs, genres. There will also be food/drink menus in the room, and a telephone to call the desk for ordering food. Sometimes as a foreigner it is a bit intimidating to use the phone to call in orders, but I usually do not have too much trouble with this.

Some places to try karaoke in Okinawa are:

  • Utamaru 歌丸
  • Tomato とまと
  • Big Echo
  • Croquette Club コロッケクラブ
  • Maneki neko まねきねこ

These are chains with a few locations, but there are several more smaller places, too many to list!

 

Cooking, Japanese foods, Local Foods

Ojiki-jima recipe: bouburazouse ぼうぶらぞうせ

This is a continuation of the Japanese newspaper section entitled “Island mama’s homemade cooking.” I am really enjoying this special section on local dishes of the various islands of Japan. Last time I introduced special dish from Yonaguni-jima.

小値賀島 Ojiki-jima is an island in Nagasaki prefecture (長崎県). There is a local cuisine called 「ぼうぶらぞうせ」Bouburazouse in the local dialect. It is a porridge made with kabocha かぼちゃ(pumpkin), red beans (小豆 azuki) and millet (きび kibi). The ratios are not exact, so use what you feel is reasonable. I think like me, island mamas do not measure much and just go by what looks right, so I apologize if the recipes seem a little vague. These are not the type of recipes that are found in English resources, or that many Japanese resources for that matter, since while the recipes may be famous locally, it is not widespread throughout Japan. And it seems that each mama has her own version!

ぼうぶらぞうせ Bouburazouse:

kabocha (pumpkin), peeled and cut into bite size pieces, then steamed
azuki beans, to taste
millet, to taste **probably any sort of grain will do, if you have a preference
sugar, salt, to taste

Steam the kabocha in water (maybe ~ 1 L); when the kabocha is soft, add the azuki beans (with the juice/water) and the millet. Boil until the kabocha is completely fallen apart soft (doesn’t hold shape), and add a little flour to thicken (making it not so sticky), and some salt/sugar to taste. Once it is well-steamed/boiled, it is ready to eat. This is a hearty porridge, and tastes just as good chilled the next day. Itadakimasu いただきます！

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Japanese foods, Restaurants

Joyfull: ジョイフル

Joyfull is a family restaurant chain throughout Japan. It is cheap but reliable, easy to order (even for foreigners), picture menus (sometimes translated into English), and a variety of Japanese-western dishes.

I kinda like it every now and then, even though it is not fine dining or particularly exciting food. Sometimes hitting up the Japanese family chain restaurant is the easiest while travelling somewhere new; sometimes you just need a break from adventure and want something reliable and familiar.

I realize if you are traveling in Japan perhaps these types of restaurants are different and strange compared to most American restaurants; maybe you have never tried the ubiquitous “hamburg” ハンバーグ (different than a hamburger ハンバーガー) that adorns the menus at this type of restaurant. These restaurants are actually a bit interesting to visit as a foreigner, so just because it is a chain, do not necessarily turn it down and give it a try if you have time. Also as a bonus, they are usually 24 hour, which often helps out a traveller who is not all the way time-adjusted, needs a hot meal and a place to sit down for awhile. Keep an eye out for its yellow sign with “Joyfull” in red text

Hint, try to pick up a “drink ticket” coupon before you go– it gives a decent discount on the soft drinks bar. Sometimes magazine coupon books will have them, or if you know someone who has been to Joyfull, the staff gives out the discount tickets (I think it is usually for ~every 500 yen spent) after the bill is paid to encourage people to return another time.

Japanese foods, Travel: Japan

Hakone trip, part III: 箱根

The last day of our trip, we got up early and enjoyed the hotel onsen one last time. We decided to go the bus route directly to Hakone-yumoto station (rather than cable cars and trains), no transfers and a little less time overall.

At Hakone-yumoto station, we had about 3-4 hours until taking the Odakyu Romance car back to Shinjuku station. Since it was still rather early, we walked to another temple and shrine behind the station, across the river. Between the Fujiya Hotel and the Temple, there is a small “park,” well, more like short hiking path (~15 minutes) that takes you through some woods. It is sort of scenic, so it was fun. This is not in Google Maps, so we sort of found it as we were walking around the temple and saw a large sign behind the cemetery, deciding to check it out.  We walked back across the river, and strolled down the main street in front of the train station, where we found the Hakone Folk Craft “Museum,” which is run by the city and free to the public. We saw the sign on the door saying it did not open until 10 am, but peered through the window. The older man on staff saw us, and opened early! We felt so bad, but he enjoyed talking to us, and explained many things about the wood crafts that are a cultural property of Hakone; it is called Yosegi Zaiku  寄木細工, or Hakone marquetry, and it is very intricate. It was really interesting and we ended up to purchase a small decorated wooden puzzle box.

By this time, it was only 10 am, but since we had a long day ahead of us, we decided to go ahead and have one last soba lunch before heading home. We went to Hatsuhana Soba restaurant はつ花新館 across the bridge from the train station; it had a gorgeous view of the river (and it was air conditioned). My husband got the tempura zaru soba set and I got a regular zaru soba set. It was delicious~~ for dessert, we headed back towards the train station and got a coffee soft serve from the little coffee shop on the main street… this was also incredibly delicious since they roasted their own coffee to make the soft serve.

Of course, I had one last onsen manjuu before leaving. I also stopped by the shop inside the station to pick up omiyage for my colleagues. Although due to volcanic activity, they were not making the “black eggs,” I picked up small manjuu with custard filling that were made to look like the famous black eggs. Another perk of the Hakone free pass: a discount at the train station shop!

This was the end, as we boarded the Odakyu Romance car and transferred to the subway back to the airport. Overall, a very fun weekend trip.

Part I

Part II

More pictures

Japanese foods, Travel: Japan

Hakone travel, part II: 箱根

On Day 2, we actually got to do some real sightseeing and relaxing. We got up early and took a nice walk to Lake Ashi 芦ノ湖 (Ashinoko) and took the bus down to Lawson for coffee and a snack. While waiting for the bus to return uphill, we walked through the pampas grass field across the way. Since it was still early, I soaked in the hotel onsen (again). By the time we cleaned up, we decided to start heading out to explore. Unfortunately, due to the volcanic activity, they were not selling the famous “black eggs” which are rumored to add seven years to your life. We took the ropeway (gondola) roundtrip, despite the cloud cover and fog. From there we took the cable car down to Gora Park– admission to Gora Park is FREE for Hakone Free Pass holders (another reason this is a good deal!). We walked about and enjoyed the flowers and scenery; at the end of the park is Gora station, where the sightseeing train starts, so we took it a few stations to a popular soba restaurant for lunch. My husband got the Tororo soba (grated nagaimo, Japanese mountain yam known for its somewhat slimy texture and health benefits) and I got the tempura zaru soba set. Of course, there was also a stop for a manjuu snack, and we were given some mushroom tea as well.

From here we made our way back up the mountain to Lake Ashi, where the sightseeing ship departs. We walked to the Hakone shrine (it has a torii at the edge of the lake). It was really quite nice, but very popular. Heading towards the ship’s port, we took the cedar trail which was rather breathtaking. Many beautiful tall trees line the path, which surprisingly was not very crowded considered the crowds other places. It is not a terribly long walk and very flat, so I definitely recommend taking it. Arriving at the ship ticket office, we upgraded to the “first class cabin”– our Hakone Free Pass includes economy tickets on the half hour sightseeing ship ride, but for 400yen you can ride in the less crowded section. WORTH IT. The regular area was crammed with many people (mostly trying to get the best view from outside), but the first class section was fairly empty with both an outside standing area and an inside seating area. We easily walked both inside and outside without worry. It was very nice!

Before we boarded the ship, we had a half hour to burn. We noticed some girls sitting by the concrete dock with a set of 3 beers and some sausages. What was this we wondered? So we set off to find the place where they got these… inside an innocuous looking tourist building is a Hakone craft beer and (mostly fish/seafood) sausage shop. We certainly could not turn down the promise of craft beer, so we split the trio tasting set and went back to the edge of the docks to sit. There was a pilsner, red ale, and a weizen, all of which were pretty good.

On the ship, the loudspeaker announced various historical and cultural facts, but mostly we just enjoyed the views (even if they did not include Mt Fuji due to the clouds). To finish off the day we took a short walk along Lake Ashi at Togendai Port before heading back to the hotel to relax.

Once we arrived back to the hotel, of course one more soaking in the outdoor bath was in order. I donned my yukata again and relaxed Japanese-style. We finished the evening by enjoying some more craft beer (different company, but also located in Hakone).

Link to more pictures: Hakone Pictures

Link to Part I of Hakone trip: Hakone Travel, part I: 箱根

Link to Part III: Hakone trip, part III: 箱根

 

Japanese foods, Travel: Japan

Hakone Travel, part I: 箱根

For Umi-no-hi (Ocean Day, a public holiday in Japan) 海の日, I took a trip to Hakone 箱根, a mountainous area outside of Tokyo (~1.5 hours or so). It is an area, where if the weather were to be clear, you can get beautiful views of Mt Fuji (富士山). Alas, the weather was a bit overcast and there was some fog, so no Mt Fuji viewing for us. At first I was a bit disappointed, but then I realized that the overcast weather was actually perfect for walking around– it was so cool and refreshing in the mountains, but when the sun comes out it gets hot and muggy, the clouds blocking the sun were really nice. So it was a good trip nonetheless.

From Okinawa, I flew into Haneda airport, where I caught the Keikyu line and transferred at Shinagawa station to the Yamamoto line, getting off at Shinjuku station. At Shinjuku, I bought the “Hakone Free Pass,” which basically covers all your transportation for the rest of the trip! It is a great deal (you actually save a lot of money), and makes travel super easy. I saw some tourists paying individual fares at each bus, train, cable car, gondola, etc, but those costs add up fast. The Hakone free pass pays for itself with just one round trip course  to, from, and around Hakone, let alone if you wander around more. So, if you decide to take a trip to Hakone yourself, I suggest you check out the free pass.

To get from Shinjuku to Hakone, I took the Odakyu Romance Car, which I reserved a month in advance online. I was able to get a seat at the very back (front?) of the rear observation car so I got a great view out the rear-facing window. I sat next to grandparents and their grandchild, and we chatted a bit, and of course they wanted pictures with me. As soon as the train started moving, all the families started breaking out the bento and beers; the very image of train travel in Japan. The food trolley came by and I got the snack set with iced green tea… the first thing I had to eat all day. The train wound through the city and then the countryside, until we reached Odawara. Many people got off at this stop (including my new friends), so we said our goodbyes. The train continued to Hakone-yumoto station, the last stop.

At Hakone-yumoto station, it was time for lunch so before continuing on the rest of my journey to the hotel I booked by Lake Ashi, I shoved my suitcase in a coin locker and decided to explore for a bit. The town around the station is not very big, and obviously somewhat touristy, but it was cute and nice.

Since one of the things to eat in Hakone is soba, I decided to try the soba shop on the 3rd floor of one of the manjuu buildings; it was very modern and clean looking inside. I decided to make it easy and ordered the fuku-buku set 福福セット which was the recommended number one lunch. How can I go wrong with the recommended set, after all it was zaru soba (cold dipping soba)? It was excellent, so I am glad to have made that choice. Plus it came with momen tofu and azuki jelly, and some other small bits on the side. The shop lady complimented me on my Japanese, as I suppose being in a tourist area, it is not often you see many foreigners speaking much Japanese. After the meal, lunch comes with a free manjuu. Manjuu is another important food for Hakone, especially since it is an onsen area.

After lunch and a bit of looking, I figured it was time to head the rest of the way to my final destination. From here, you can take either the bus or the sightseeing train up the mountain. I chose the sightseeing train, where I would need to later switch to a cablecar and then either a bus or gondola. The sightseeing train was cute, but rather crowded. It takes you through beautiful greenery, and even the hydrangea (あじさい ajisai in Japanese) were still in bloom. It has 2 switchbacks, so the trip is not so short. At Gora station, it was time to change to the cable car tram up the mountain (again, you could take the bus from here). So onto the cable car, again somewhat crowded, although quaint. At the top station, I decided to wait until my husband joined me the next day to take the gondola, and ended up on the bus up towards my hotel. At this point, it had been a rather long day, so I checked in and went up to my room on the 5th floor. There was a gorgeous view of where Mt Fuji would be if the clouds cleared. After settling in a bit, I decided to take a bath in the hotel onsen to relax, so I changed into the yukata in my room. The onsen in the hotel was small but nice after a long day of traveling.

After a refreshing bath, I realized I forgot to stop at a store and buy snacks/drinks for the room, so I decided to walk partway down the mountain to the Lawson ~1.5 km away. It was a healthy walk, but all down hill; I caught the bus coming back up (covered by my free pass!). I noticed later that I was not the only one in my hotel that made a Lawson stop. I was lucky to find craft beers made in Hakone (Pilsner, Pale Ale, and Red Ale varieties); although I discovered the next day that there are a few more craft beer breweries in Hakone (maybe we need to take another trip and visit all of these…). My husband arrived and it was already dark, so we drank and ate instant ramen in the room, ending our first day.

I will continue the trip to Hakone in second post. More soba and manjuu to come!

Link to more pictures: Hakone Pictures

Link to Part II of Hakone travel: Hakone travel, part II: 箱根

Part III: Hakone trip, part III: 箱根

 

 

Culture, Holidays, Japanese foods, Local Foods

Summer Gift-giving: 御中元

御中元 ochuugen is the custom of summer gift giving. In my local stores, there is a huge display with aisles of summer gifts. You may also see the something like 夏のギフト (natsu no gifuto summer gift) or even サマーギフト (summer gift spelled in katakana).

This gift-giving season typically corresponds to Obon. In Okinawa, it is traditionally observed when visits to the family home are made during Obon (customarily the second day), but it is okay before or after. Especially in the workplace where you will probably not see them during actual Obon. In Okinawa, it is tradition to deliver the gift in person, rather than use a mail delivery service, though you will see many people in the grocery store filling out the mail delivery forms to send gifts to family in the outer islands or the mainland.

For me, the most interesting part is the types of gifts on display in stores. Popular items are summer fruits (mango in Okinawa), rice, coffee, pork, unagi (eel), jelly sweets, and other goodies. But there are also gift sets such as laundry soap, beer, spam, cans of tunafish… sometimes I find them quite odd, as far as gifts, but it seems so practical that I actually sort of appreciate it. Usually gifts are about 2000 yen to 5000 yen; stores make a lot of money during this time period. It is also typical to ship gifts to family members who live far away… during this time I see many people filling at shipping forms at the store counters for summer gifts.

During this time, I have seen a bunch of ads on tv about sending summer gift. The Hormel one sort of makes me laugh a bit, sending a gift pack of SPAM. The family in the ad seems so happy to be receiving cans of spam and making goya chanpuru.

Cooking, Japanese foods, Local Foods

Yonaguni-jima recipe: Sakuna shiraae サクナの白和え

This showcases Okinawa grandma’s cooking. Below is a simple Okinawan recipe which includes tofu, peanut butter, miso, some type of leafy green of your choosing, as well as canned tuna (optional). It might sound strange, but is quite delicious.

白和え shira-ae is basically a Japanese “salad” dressed with tofu and white miso; in Okinawa, usually island peanuts are included as well. It is a type of 和え物 aemono, which just means “dressed salad” dish.

サクナ sakuna, the Okinawan name, is better known by its Japanese name, choumeisou 長命草 (also pronounced botanboufu, so I am not sure which is more common), which basically means something like long-life grass or herb; it is known for its herbal medicinal properties and is supposed to be very healthy for you. It grows in the wild on the rock outcroppings of Yonaguni-jima in the Okinawa prefecture. Choumeisou contains abundant polyphenols to prevent arteriosclerosis, cancer, blood cholesterol and high blood pressure. The plant grows on wave-battered, sun-drenched cliffs exposed to the salty ocean air; the hardiness of the plant to survive such a harsh environment is astounding and it has long been a favorite of people as longevity food. The scientific name is Peucedanum japonicum; I have seen it used in diet/health drinks and smoothies. The herb, as well as products made from the leaves, is easily available in Okinawa.

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Sakuna sold in the farmers market

Anyway, I recently found a really interesting periodical, “ritokei,” about the islands of Japan, with a fold-out sections talking about “mama’s island homemade cooking” with featured dishes around the many islands. Today I will introduce a dish from Yonaguni-jima made from sakuna and island tofu, called サクナの和えもの (sakuna no aemono). Aemono basically just means “seasoned/dressed dish” and in this case, it is referring to shira-ae 白和え, so with tofu and white miso. I suppose you could also call this dish sakuna no shira-ae サクナの白和え.

サクナ(長命草)の和えもの Sakuna no Aemono: 

sakuna (choumeisou 長命草), as much as desired– washed and shredded
island tofu (shima-doufu 島豆腐), 1/2 block– drained, “mashed” or crumbled
roasted sesame, 3 tbsp
white miso 1 tbsp
sugar, a pinch
peanut butter, small amount to taste

Grind sesame with mortar. Next add in miso, sugar, island tofu, peanut butter and mix. Add shredded sakuna, mix well.

Optionally, you can add a little canned tuna. Another option could be to add a tablespoon of dashi if you prefer a bit of fish flavor. Or if you wanted to go all out Okinawan, a third option is to add some mimigaa ミミガー, which is thinly cut boiled pig’s ear sold in supermarkets everywhere here. Not my cup of tea since I do not eat pork, but some people really enjoy mimigaa. There are many variations on this dish, so don’t be afraid to experiment a bit. You can even use a darker miso, just keep in mind, it will make the dish a bit saltier and more pungent, changing the flavor a bit.

Sakuna is fairly common to find here in Okinawa, but you can even use other green leafy vegetables in addition to or instead of sakuna; nigana and handama are also popular in Okinawa, or if you cannot find this, just regular spinach will work as well. You could blanch the leaves in boiling water quickly (~1 minute or less) to get them soft, especially if you decide to try this type of recipe with a more hardy leafy green, such as komatsuna, karashina or other mustard greens.

This is a very simple, yet healthful and flavorful dish, to give you the feeling of Okinawan mother’s home-cooking.

If you enjoyed this, try the second in the series, a special dish from Ojiki-jima in Nagasaki prefecture.

BONUS: Oddly enough, I saw these sakuna-flavored chinsukou cookies the other day at one of the farmers markets. Somehow I doubt these will help extend your life, though…

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**For anyone who was directed here looking for more info on “Bizarre Foods in Okinawa,” I have created a special post: here.

Japanese foods

Drinking Yogurt: 飲むヨーグルト

In Japan, you will find it common to drink your yogurt… nomu yooguruto 飲むヨーグルト is “drink yogurt.” Yogurt here tends to be thinner than the US, so I guess it makes sense that there are so many yogurt drinks rather than regular yogurt. The Japanese have done a lot of research with lactid acid bacteria and using it in diets. These products are really popular, and supposedly help with gut health. The only downside is that sometimes these drinks contain a decent amount of sugar, but they are okay once in awhile in moderation I think. Occasionally I will pick one up from the conbini; you can usually find flavors such as plain, blueberry, strawberry, grape, banana, citrus, and aloe. 

 

Drinking yogurt pic by MIKI Yoshihito
Drinking Yogurt
Japanese foods, Shops

Lawson Conbini: MACHI cafe

In Okinawa, as summer approaches, the mornings are getting much warmer and the desire for an iced cafe latte grows stronger. Starbucks is too expensive, so where is the best deal for an iced coffee drink? Lawson conbini!

コンビニ conbini (or konbini) means convenience store. Lawson is a major chain of conbini  throughout Japan. Conbini in Japan are amazing, and nothing like what you see stateside! But I will not get into all those details now. Right now, I will focus on Lawson’s machi cafe line.

Inside every Lawson, you can order several types of coffee drinks from the counter. My favorite during summer, of course, is an iced cafe latte アイスカフェラテ. I have tried iced cafe lattes all around the island, but I have found that the best priced (and consistently good tasting) one is at Lawson conbini, for a mere 150円. Comparing this to Starbucks which is usually more than 300円, I would say this is much more reasonable. FamilyMart, another large country-wide conbini chain, has iced cafe lattes for 180円, a little bit more than Lawson (but, also pretty darn good). In Okinawa, there is the occasional Tully’s (but they are not very common) and a scant few other chains with only one location about (Saint Marc ChocoCro, Doutor, Key Coffee), but they are so few and far between that I am rarely anywhere near them.  There is the Climax Coffee chain, located on the other side of the island from me, similar to a Starbucks (similar price, too). There are several small independent shops which also have cafe lattes, but they tend to be fairly expensive, so while very good quality… simply not an everyday drink.

So when it comes down to affordability, taste and convenience for an iced cafe latte, Lawson wins.

Plus for you those of you who desire less caffeine… they just released a 97% caffeine cut series (basically, decaf) as of May 2017! This is great news for my husband, who can now enjoy an iced latte in the afternoon without worrying about caffeine.

Japanese coffee vocabulary: the best part is that it is almost always katakana!

コーヒー   ko-hi   coffee
珈琲   ko-hi-   coffee (the kanji is based on the sounds not the meaning)

ブレンド   burendo   blend
アイス   aisu   iced
フローズン   furo-zun   frozen 
ホット   hotto   hot

カフェラテ   kafe rate   cafe latte
カフェモカ   kafe moka   cafe mocha
抹茶ラテ   maccha rate   matcha (green tea) latte
ロイヤルミルクティー roiyaru miruku ti-   royal milk tea
ココア   kokoa   cocoa
アールグレイティー   a-rugurei ti- Earl Grey tea

砂糖 satou sugar
砂糖なし** satou nashi: without sugar 
クリーム kuri-mu cream 
シロップ shiroppu sugar in syrup (liquid) form

**なし nashi means "without"-- a very useful word!!

Okay, now this part may seem a little silly, but how do you order a machi cafe at Lawson if you don’t really know any Japanese? Let me help; just keep in mind there are often variations in speech patterns, so depending on your clerk, they may use different phrasing, as well as formal or casual speech.

First, before you approach the register, decide what you want from the menu (okay, maybe that is obvious). I get a latte, so let’s practice using that as an example.

ホットカフェラテ、おねがい（します）。hotto kafe rate, onegai (shimasu).

Hot cafe latte, please.

If I want it iced, I used アイス “aisu” instead of ホット “hotto.” Yes, seriously, we use Japanese English in this case.

The clerk will than ask what size if what you are ordering comes in 2 sizes. Sometimes I say the size when I order, but often times they will ask it again to confirm anyway. The shortest and most casual way they say this is as follows. Sometimes they will say it formally, but just listen for keywords.

サイズは？  saizu wa?   What size?

In which you reply:

Lサイズです。  eru saizu desu.     L size.

or

Mサイズです。  emu saizu desu.     M size.

At this point, they are probably ringing up your total. At some locations, the coffee pickup counter is to the side, so they will say something like:

となりのカウンターお待ちください tonari no kauntaa omachi kudasai.   Please wait at the next counter.

Keep in mind there are many variations on this. The key word here is “machi” 待ち or “matte” 待って, meaning “waiting” or “to wait.”  The other keyword is “kauntaa” which is “counter.”

Some places will ask how many sugars you will want either while they are ringing you up or while you are waiting for the machine to make you coffee. Listen for:

砂糖はいくつ（入れますか）？　satou ha ikutsu (iremasuka)?   How many sugars (do you put in)?

Keyword here is “satou” which is “sugar.”

Your response:

なしで。 nashi de.   None.

一個。 ikko.  One.

二個。niko.   Two.

三個。sanko.   Three.

Sometimes they do not ask about sugar and it is self-serve. In this case this will point to the little bin with sugars and stirrers and the like as they hand you your coffee (it will be obvious). They will instead say something like:

砂糖、どうぞ。 satou, douzo.    Please help yourself to sugar.

When they hand you your coffee they often (but not always) say:

お待たせいたしました。omataseitashimashita.   Thank you for waiting.

At this point when you receive your coffee you can respond with a casual “doumo,” or if you feel like “arigatou” or “doumo arigatou,” etc.

Again, keep in mind there are so many variations, and in order to not confuse you, I just put down some basics and keywords to listen for so your transaction can go smoothly! These are the “bite-sized” phrases to simply get you through the process. I like to remind people that in Okinawa, speaking informally is a bit more the norm; besides this, many people appreciate your effort in speaking even just a little Japanese as a foreigner, so worrying about formal/casual language is not nearly so important as many people make it out to be.

Japanese foods, Local Foods, Restaurants

Tantan men (spicy ramen): 担々麺

担々麺 (tantanmen) or 坦々ラーメン (tantan ramen) is a popular “Chinese-style” noodle dish in Japan. It is typically seen as ramen (but occasionally as tsukemen, aka dipping noodles). It is often found at ramen and Chinese restaurants. A few shops in Okinawa will advertise it as a specialty dish of the shop. I know of quite a few shops with tantanmen not far from my area. I frequently see banners outside of ramen shops advertising tantanmen.

Tantanmen usually has a spicy broth with thick sesame taste, topped with minced pork and green onions. It is supposedly Sichuan-style, although Japan often tones down the spicy levels and focuses more on the rich, sesame qualities of the broth.

Some of the better places in Okinawa to try tantanmen (I will try to add some more restaurants):

坦々亭 Tantantei, Ginowan: https://goo.gl/maps/krvCHNVhthE2

ラーメン工場無双 Ramen Factory Musou, Ginowan: https://goo.gl/maps/ab42CAQ7peR2

あけぼのラーメン Akebono Ramen, Naha: https://goo.gl/maps/8u1aZTAQHTw

燕郷房 YanKyouFan, Naha: https://goo.gl/maps/548MMuMrwAu

*Arashi ramen 嵐, Stripe ramen, and Tenkaipin ramen 天下一品 are very popular with Americans, most likely due to the fact they have English menus and are close to American bases. I do not tend to patronize these places, but many other people seem to enjoy them, so decide for yourself if you want to check them out. My husband says the fried rice at Arashi is pretty good. Both Arashi and Tenkaipin are large restaurant chains from the mainland. I am not sure on the menus, but I am fairly certain they have tantanmen, or some variation.

Japanese foods, Restaurants

Okonomiyaki: お好み焼き

お好み焼き Okonomiyaki is considered Japanese junk food… but it is delicious! It comes from the phrase “as you like it”; basically it is a simple recipe with cabbage and a pancake-like batter that you add toppings as you desire. There are 2 main styles: Kansai (or Osaka) style and Hiroshima style. I tend to prefer Kansai style, even if it is a bit more simple. In Okinawa, there is something not quite the same, but many people refer to as Okinawan okonomiyaki, called hirayachi.

Kansai style (関西) is a mixed batter, then cooked in a fry pan or on a flat grill top. If adding bacon, it is just added in strips to top side before you flip and cook the top side. When its cooked, it is served with nori (seaweed sprinkles) のり, katsuobushi (shaved bonito flakes) 鰹節, a thick sweet brown sauce (called okonomi sauce) お好みソース, and mayonnaise. Often there is benishouga (pickled ginger) 紅生姜 on the side.

Hiroshima (広島) style is layered instead of mixed, making it a bit more complicated to cook. Usually it includes a fried egg and yakisoba noodles inside as well. It is served in a similar way to Kansai style, with the okonomi sauce, nori, ginger, and mayo.

I enjoy eating at okonomiyaki restaurants, especially the ones where you can grill it at your table. In Okinawa, there are not many okonomiyaki restaurants, but there is a really good one called Heshin 海神 located in Awase that is not too far from me and serves Kansai style. Red Helmet 赤いヘルメット is a Hiroshima style place in Okinawa city. They are really good, for Hiroshima style. I think I may prefer Kansai style for its simplicity, though. But I think everyone should try them and decide for themselves which style they prefer. Heshin and Red Helmet are definitely the top 2 okonomiyaki places in Okinawa. There are some other places you can find it in Okinawa, these 2 places just happen to be some of the best. You can nearly always find okonomiyaki at summer festivals (natsu matsuri 夏祭り), too, as it is a very popular summer festival food.

Simple okonomiyaki is fairly easy to make at home though; all the ingredients are widely available. You can even buy kits that have all but the fresh ingredients inside (just buy your own cabbage, egg, bacon, green onion).

What do I like in my okonomiyaki? Well, definitely benishouga (pickled red ginger) on the side. I go for vegetable-based and skip the bacon. I usually order extra green onion. If I feel a bit different, I might add kimchi, cheese, and/or mochi bits. For those of you that like seafood, there are usually various things like shrimp (海老), scallops (ホタテ), octopus (たこ), or squid (いか) to mix in the batter. Many places will usually offer different types of meats for the batter as well.

When you visit Japan, eating okonomiyaki is a must-do!

address for Heshin 海神: 沖縄県沖縄市与儀715 マンション伊波 1F
https://goo.gl/maps/kxS1eeLp5nR2

address for Red Helmet 赤いヘルメット: 1 Chome-14-16 Hiyagon, Okinawa, Okinawa Prefecture 904-2173
https://goo.gl/maps/6AXYDmCeU372 

**neither of these places have English menus… just be prepared for when you visit!

Here is a list of some other decent Okonomiyaki restaurants in Okinawa. Again, most of these do not have English menus; I think Sanshiro in Ginowan is the only one with an English menu. Other than that, there was an okonomiyaki shop in American Village with an English menu but they were not very good in my opinion (so I have not listed it here).

Maido まいど: https://goo.gl/maps/dXQ57V5DXSw

KO菜YA (Shintoshin location): https://goo.gl/maps/KgPaTCjxpRs

Sanshiro 三四郎:  https://goo.gl/maps/psodkY3E6TL2

Umanosuke 馬之助 (Ginowan location): https://goo.gl/maps/LcAp67rvLwK2

 

 

 

Japanese foods, Local Foods

Cafe Ufu: 喫茶うふ

In Shuri, near the castle, I teach 英会話 eikawa; “English Conversation.” My class is predominantly “older” Okinawan/Japanese women (although the 1 man is actually a rather well known figure within Okinawa, and has recently won a special award from the Emperor). After class, sometimes I will take lunch with them, and we usually go to this cute restaurant located within a women’s mental health clinic. 喫茶 kissa means like coffee/tea cafe, so I usually just call this place Cafe Ufu.

Cafe Ufu is on the small side, only a few tables, and a tatami room for larger parties. The menu is pretty simple; usually people just order the set of the day, which comes with a variety of carefully prepared, healthful Japanese dishes. Everything there always tastes so good, and I usually feel pretty genki afterwards. Plus is is so reasonably priced ~800yen!

Even though it is next to a women’s mental health clinic, it is not just for women, so men should visit, too. Although the meals might be more geared towards ladies in mind!

IMG_1461.JPG

address: 沖縄県島尻郡南風原町新川507-1
(ウィメンズメンタルクリニックみなみ)

Japanese foods, Local Foods, Restaurants

Tea house Ichiyou: 茶房一葉

茶房一葉 Sabou Ichiyou, translated means “teahouse one leaf.” It is the name of an adorable tea room and shop in Nanjo, Okinawa. It is kind of my secret spot since- I may have been her only gaijin customer. I found it after searching online where to find mooncakes in Okinawa, which turns out to be a bit scarcer than one would imagine (the irony is that the popularity of mooncakes has now risen, and are a bit easier to find over the last year). I was desperate, and I really wanted mooncakes 月餅 for moon-viewing ceremony. I finally found this place after sifting through results in Japanese, and decided to seek it out.

I plugged the address into my phone and drove off through a rural area of Nanjo. I pulled up to this small place, and it seemed a bit quiet and off by itself. Tentatively, I opened the door and sure enough I was greeted by a gentle looking woman. She seemed very surprised to see a pale foreigner entering, but nonetheless was extraordinarily kind. I explained in poor Japanese that I was seeking out mooncakes for Tsukimi (moon-viewing). She was excited and decided to serve me some green tea and a jelly dessert called youkan 羊羹. It was indeed wonderful. Then she gave me some acerola jam to take home and asked to take a photo with me. She was so sweet and kind.

Later, after actually reading the website more in depth, I realized she very skilled and professional at tea and tea ceremony. Maybe I can convince her to teach me some of her knowledge one day… but I will probably need to be better at Japanese. Hopefully this will motivate me to continue to learn.

address: 沖縄県南城市大里嶺井502-2

Japanese foods, Local Foods, Restaurants

Sushi-go-round: 回転寿司

寿司: sushi

回転: rotator belt, conveyor belt

回転寿司 Kaiten sushi is conveyer belt (rotator) sushi. By no means is this usually high quality, it is sushi for the masses! Entertaining, low-stress, easy for when you do not remember all the Japanese names for things.

In Okinawa, some of these places will be hundred yen sushi plates. 100円 sushi is definitely good for the wallet, but usually not great quality or variety. Hamazushi, Sushiro, and Kura Sushi are  examples of 100円 sushi chains in Okinawa. I like Kura Sushi because they have little game you play for every 5 plates is a chance to win a gachapon (capsule toy). Sushiro has a good seasonal menu, and the quality is a little better than the other 100円 chains. And all of these places tend to have kid-friendly and picky-eater friendly types of foods as well.

Some places are better quality sushi-go-round, and tend to have some better variety. Enraku and Yazaemon are probably the better ones I have been to. Again, it is kaiten sushi so it is not going to be super high quality like you would get from a real sushi chef or anything. But that’s okay– sometimes you just want some cheap, filling sushi, not some fancy “Jiro-dreams-of-sushi” experience. Any time you are in Japan, be sure to visit a kaiten sushi joint to watch as the many plates rotate around and are devoured by the patrons.

Most places have a delivery system where you have a touchscreen at your table; if you do not see what you want on the conveyor belt, simply use the touchscreen to place an order. Some places have little trains or boats on the track that will “deliver” it to your eating station. At your eating station, besides a touchscreen, there is usually green tea, small plates, hashi, shoyu, pickled ginger, wasabi, wet naps, etc. Don’t be intimidated and just watch what other patrons do if it is your first time… it is easy once you get the hang of it. When you are finished, there will be a call button on your touchscreen or at your station, the server will come over and tally up your plates for the bill. Almost all of these touch screens have multi-language options as well.

Sushi-go-round chains in Okinawa: (just copy&paste into GoogleMaps to find the closest to you!)

Hamazushi はま寿司

Kura sushi 無添くら寿司

Sushiro スシロー

Enraku 円楽

Yazaemon やざえもん

Gourmet Kaiten Sushi グルメ回転寿司

Japanese foods, Local Foods

Bakeries: パン屋

Bakeries in Okinawa are abundant, as well as in all of Japan. They are often labelled as pan-ya パン屋 (literally, bread shop) or ベーカリー bakery. Although bread and pastry is more of a western thing, the Japanese have embraced it and made it their own.

I am lucky to have so many nearby, sometimes it is difficult to choose. Some people shop at the large chain bakeries in the malls or grocery stores, but I prefer the small neighborhood bakeries, even though their prices may be slightly higher (but really not by much, usually only a few yen). Here are some of the ones I like (with google map links):

Bakery Lulu just opened up near me (less than a week!), but already I am impressed. Both times I have gone was in the morning, right at opening time. Very delicious. Pastries, baguettes, savory breads…
address: 〒901-2424沖縄県中頭郡南上原208-16 https://goo.gl/maps/YRAgxEgJAdT2

One of my all-time favorites is EM bakery Sun Monte, which I mention in another post.

Kinjo bakery in Shuri has both takeout and an all-you-can-eat option! Read about it here.

Hoppepan is located along Rt 34 in Ginowan is also a good choice (but a bit far from me).
address: 〒901-2225沖縄県宜野湾市大謝名３丁目３−７ https://goo.gl/maps/G7FoYJCj9QA2

Amashokubeika 天食米果 is a recent find in Urasoe. It is fabulous, and specializes in more loaf-type breads, different from what you find in most typical Japanese bakeries. It also lists allergens, and makes some speciality breads.
address: 〒901-2132 沖縄県浦添市伊祖１丁目９−１２ https://goo.gl/maps/j6sp96aBCt32

Munakatado 宗像堂 is also marvelous, and makes natural yeast breads, as well as offers vegetarian lunch sandwich and soup. You can read more in the linked post.
address: 〒901-2226沖縄県宜野湾市嘉数1−20−2 https://goo.gl/maps/QGtXfMej4bL2

Suien 水円, located in Yomitan is very far away from me, but very impressive. Delicious breads, and the offer lunch sets, vegetarian and vegan.
address: 沖縄県中頭郡読谷村座喜味３６７ https://goo.gl/maps/9eC9DK56wbB2

Bakery & Cafe Coo is located in Nakijin, a perfect place to stop by when you visit the Nakijin castle ruins (tip: this place is beautiful with sakura, “cherry blossoms,” during early February).
address: 〒905-0428沖縄県国頭郡今帰仁村今泊3313 https://goo.gl/maps/Jf4KYFdh1Lu

Maruyoshi 丸吉 is another amazing find in Urasoe, with a great array of savory and sweet. I am incredibly impressed with this bakery.
address: 〒901-2553 沖縄県浦添市経塚 676 https://goo.gl/maps/hhgRUrccJ712

There are so many more I could add to the list… maybe I will continue to update.

 

 

Japanese foods, Local Foods

Tempura: 天ぷら

Tempura is fairly easy to make at home, but can be quite messy; I prefer to get it out at shops. So, where can you find the best tempura in Okinawa?

Every local knows the answer is Oujima 奥武島! Oujima (also seen as Ojima) is located in the more southern part of the island, and is a part of Nanjo. It is connected by a bridge. My husband affectionately refers to this island as “tempura island” because there are several tempura shacks selling fried goodness to the many locals and Japanese tourists. **I recently heard a local also refer to this place as tempura island…!

Probably the most famous one (and with good reason) is Nakamoto tempura store 中本てんぷら店. It is located just to the right after you cross the bridge onto Oujima. Golden deliciousness. Try everything, but especially try the 揚げパン age-pan, meaning “fry bread”; you can get white sugar, brown sugar or kinako (roasted soybean powder). Heaven. The second thing I MUST recommend is the もずく mozuku tempura (mozuku is a special type of Okinawa seaweed), since this is a famous specialty product in this area. If they have アーサー asa (another type of Okinawa seaweed) tempura, you should definitely try that, too. Oh, and the best part? It is so cheap!

If you continue a bit further around this teeny-tiny island, you will come to another shack called Ooshiro tempura store 大城てんぷら店. They are also good, but I think Nakamoto gets my vote for number 1. Why not try both? Then you can decide for yourself which is best, since I am by no means the expert.

Once you fill up on tempura, just take a walk around the island (it is very small, just park at the public park) and take in some of the sights. It is not much, but there is some beach and a small temple. In the summer, there is a ハーリー haarii festival and races (haarii, also written in English as haari or hari, are Okinawan dragon boat races).

 

Culture, Japanese foods, Travel: Japan

Okinawa Onsen (Hot Springs): 温泉 ♨️

Onsen are fairly common throughout Japan, but unfortunately there are no really “true” Japanese onsen experiences in Okinawa like you would get in the mainland of Japan. There are some places that qualify as onsen in Okinawa, but to get the real feel of onsen, one must travel to the mainland since onsen are not as large a part of Ryukyuan culture. In Okinawa, while most of the places that qualify as onsen are fairly nice, they are more like sento, “public baths”; none of them have that true Japanese feeling of onsen. That being said, I will introduce some nice places to try if you visit Okinawa and do not have a chance to visit the mainland. Later maybe I will make part II and introduce my favorite spots on the mainland to visit onsen.

温泉 onsen: hot springs

銭湯 sento:  public bath

スパ supa: spa

*Special Note: although many onsen and sento are lightening up rules regarding tattoos, some still have strict no tattoo policies, so it is best to check in advance if this will be an issue. In Okinawa, currently NONE of the onsen or sento I have visited allow tattoo in the public bath, however some will allow you to book the private baths (usually used for couples or families), such as Senaga-jima, AJ Resort, and Yuinchi onsens (address listed at the bottom of the page).

Very recently, I noticed that the EM Wellness Resort has a sign saying if you can cover your tattoo with the tape/seal that they sell (you can also buy these at DonQ, or from Amazon), then you can use the onsen. I am not sure if other onsen on island have the same policy if you don’t have large tattoos if you cover them up before you go they probably won’t complain, but it may be worth asking if this is a possible option for you.

All this being said, I have on occasion seen very small “fashion” tattoo in the onsen… while many people may not say anything if they see you with a small tattoo, I cannot however encourage you to try to enter the onsen with a tattoo even if you try to cover it with a bandage. It is very possible there will be that one person who does complain and management will ask you to leave. Or people may notice, give you stink-eye and say nothing, instead giving “foreigners” 外国人 a bad reputation for lack of manners and ignoring the rules (and seriously, most Japanese are not rule-breakers, it simply is not how things are done here). If you have a lot of tattoo and want to try onsen either try booking the private bath at the aforementioned places or better yet, head up to some of the rural areas in the mainland which may allow tattoo. For instance, I know for certain that the Dogo onsen in Matsuyama (Ehime Prefecture), Arima onsen in Kobe, and some places in Hokkaido and Nagano that do allow tattoo. Plus, these places will quite honestly be a more authentic experience than what you will find in Okinawa. Just something to keep in mind.

My favorite place to visit is in Ginowan behind the DonQ, at the Enagic Natural Onsen Aroma エナジック天然温泉アロマ. This is the closest to a mainland Japanese onsen experience that you can get in Okinawa. It has several baths (including 1 outside that overlooks a Japanese-esque garden, hinoki bath, waterfall bath, and some jetted baths), a dry sauna, a salt sauna, relaxation rooms, and a restaurant. It also has many services such as scrubs, facials, and massages; I highly recommend trying the scrub and massage, you will come out feeling like a new person. The best part for me is that there is a significant student discount; if you are not a student, they have point cards and various specials. For instance couples’ day is a discount day if you bring a friend/husband/significant other. It is open from 6 am -midnight. Adult entrance fee (no discounts) is 1500円, high school/university 1000円, while elementary & middle school children are half price, and younger are free.

There are some more upscale type places, such as Senaga-jima Spa (near the Naha airport, indoor/outdoor onsen overlooking the ocean), Yuinchi Hotel Spa (a.k.a. Bathing Ape or Apeman Spa, in Nanjo with only indoor Ryukyu clay onsen), and EM Wellness Costa Vista Resort (Kitanakagusuku, indoor onsen); I list the exact addresses and additional descriptions for these at the bottom of the post should you decide to check them out. These places are a bit more expensive and the baths are overall nice, but I prefer the atmosphere of Onsen Aroma better. The main reason to visit these places is that they offer some upscale treatments which are fabulous (and the prices reflects that!), just not something I can afford so often. These places also offer tasty lunch buffets in their restaurants. Many of the other resorts/hotels on island also offer an onsen (or some just a sento), but the ones listed are the bigger (and nicer) ones that I am familiar with and have reasonably priced entrance fees.

Loisir Hotel in Naha also offers public onsen access, I recently visited, but don’t particularly recommend due to the very expensive entry fee (they have 2 options available, 1 high end, 1 low end). Most entrance fees are between 1000-1500yen here in Okinawa; the Loisir is 3000-4000yen… yikes. Same with Okinawa Spa Resort EXES; a visitor pass (non-overnight guest) for the spa bathes is 3500yen… and it is technically not an onsen, just public bath (sento). Hotel Orion Motobu Resort & Spa has their Jurassic Onsen Churaumi-no-yu ジュラ紀温泉美ら海の湯; a visitor pass is 2150yen, so while still costly it is not outrageous. The Okuma Private Resort in Kunigami has a free onsen for guests, and only about 900yen for outside visitors. Mahaina Wellness Resort Okinawa in Motobu has a free onsen for guests, 1000yen for outside visitors. Rizzan Sea Park Hotel in Onna has a really nice looking indoor/outdoor “spa bath” (don’t think they can call this one an onsen technically), 1500yen for outside guests (hotel guests have reduced fees).

Rikkarikka-yu りっかりっか湯 in the Naha Central Hotel is really a super-sento but has some more affordable entrance fees of varying combinations; you can try the sauna, the bedrock spa (ganbanyoku), and the baths for a fairly reasonable set fee of 2100yen– a pretty good deal.

A NEW onsen has opened at Aj Resort on Ikei-jima in Uruma! It is not huge, but it is nice, with an indoor and outdoor bath, as well as a family bath! There are also really nice looking private family/couple baths that can be booked for 90 minutes for only 3000yen (they request booking in advance for the private baths since they only have 2 available private baths!). Green tea is added to the Okinawa deep-sea water, and the outdoor bath has jets. **Note: I recently heard from someone that they were allowed to enter with tattoo. Please confirm this with the hotel if you decide to visit, as when I went there was a sign (in Japanese) saying no tattoo allowed… it is possible they decided to lighten up on the policy.

As new resorts are being built, many have “onsen” in their facilities, sometimes only for overnight guests. Okinawa has seen a lot of construction recently due to the influx of visitors.

There is also a place in American Village (Chatan) called Terme Villa Chura-yu ちゅらーゆ (also romanized as “Chula-U”), but I do not particularly recommend it. It allows tattoos if you can fully cover them, but only in the outside mixed swimming section. Indoor onsen area, no tattoos per their posted regulations (though I am sure some people ignore this, again making foreigners look poorly). The onsen area was not very good, nor very clean when I visited. Honestly, I would skip it unless it is truly your only option.

In Onna, the Renaissance hotel has an onsen onsite, but only for hotel guests staying on the premium floor. Sadly I have not been able to try it… maybe I will try staying there one day if I can find a good hotel deal. But again same as all of the others listed, the website explicitly states no tattoo, even though this is an exclusive place where you are paying a lot of $$$! Kind of surprising really.

If you make it out to Miyako-jima, there are also 2 onsen locations; Miyako-jima onsen and Shigira Ougon onsen. I believe they state no tattoo, but I don’t know if they are “flexible” on that. Sometimes the more “rural” places are.

These next 2 are not really onsen– Kanna Thalasso in Ginoza and Bade Haus on Kume-jima use deep-sea water, not hot spring water. The Kanna Thalasso website indicates no tattoo allowed (though I think you may wear swimsuits, they can be covered, or so I have heard); Bade Haus may use the pool only if tattoo are covered completely.

In addition to these few onsen facilities, there are several sento (public bath) around the island, often as part of a gym. I have visited a few here in Okinawa, but they usually are much more simple compared to onsen. Sometimes they have jetted pools or whatnot.

NOTE: they can not call them onsen if they do not use natural hot spring water, as per the “regulations.” And again, most if not all places in Okinawa state “no tattoo allowed.” So I re-iterate… it is important to check the rules for each place if you have any tattoo.

Another interesting option for those interested in Japanese bathing culture is the ganban-yoku 岩盤浴, bedrock bath (sort of like a sauna); click on the link to read more about it, as it is tattoo-friendly since you wear sauna clothes for this experience. Some of these are women-only, but some have options for both genders.

So now that you may have decided to visit an onsen, there is a basic procedure for entering the onsen or a sento. These procedures will be what I most commonly observe in mainland Japan and Okinawa, though it can vary widely by place– some places are much more modern or fancier, while others are much more simple and older.

When you first walk into the building, there will be shoe lockers; remove your shoes and take the key to the front desk. At the desk, you will turn in your shoe key and they will give you a locker key for the bath (segregated baths, men and women) with towels (usually 1 large, 1 small) and often a set of clothes that look a little like pjs called samue 作務衣 (some places may even give you a yukata 浴衣 instead). Now this really depends on the place… some will give you nothing (usually the really cheap places) and charge for towels, either “rent” or buy! You pay the entrance fee up front; sometimes the locker key you receive will have a code that they scan if you want to receive scrub or massage services, or even to purchase drinks, which you then pay for at the end when you check out.

Go to the locker room, to the locker number on your key. Get naked. Yup. No swimsuits. Don’t feel self-conscious cuz it is just old ladies (or men depending on your gender) and they do not really judge. I mean, if you are a foreigner, yeah, they are gonna look simply because you are different, but really, no one cares. Anyway, strip down, neatly fold or hang your clothes in your locker, get your towel (and any toiletries you might have brought, for instance I have a scrubby bath towel from the Daiso/100 yen store) and head to the baths. Just put your key band around your wrist or ankle; if you are a lady you can even use it to tie up you hair in a ponytail or bun. And seriously, just use the smaller towel, leave the big towel in your locker, or at least off to the side, otherwise it will get wet and not dry you off when you actually need it. And do not try to wrap the tiny towel all the way around you, you will look silly; just embrace the naked, draping the small towel length-wise in front of your body if you want to cover any bits.

When you enter the bathing room, grab a stool by one of the shower stations and rinse yourself off; there is usually shampoo, body soap, and conditioner all provided at the stations (depending on how fancy the facility is, for some cheaper onsen/sento you need to bring your own shampoo/conditioner or purchase from the front desk). When you feel appropriately clean and rinsed off, time to soak away in the bath and sweat it out in the sauna (remember to make sure all of the soap if off your body). Repeat. If you go into a sauna, remember to rinse your body before you go back into the tubs. I am sure to dip into every bath, even the cold ones. Yes, there are both hot and cold…  湯 is hot water, 冷 is cold. They always display the temperature somewhere, so look along the walls or sides. Every bath has different healing properties with different minerals, which is also listed somewhere in the onsen, though if you do not read Japanese, it might not help you very much.

Etiquette: for anyone with long hair, tie up your hair so it does not get in the water! You will get stink-eye if you let it drape into the water. I use my small towel to wrap around my head and keep the stray long strands from escaping; you will see this is a common technique. Occasionally people will fold it into a neat little rectangle and rest it on their head, but I do not see this very often in Okinawa. Also, it is considered rude to soak your small towel into the bathwater (although I have seen some obaasans do it anyway). As far as noise, it depends on the place– I have been to some that are practically silent, and others that are alive with chattering gossip. Just use your common sense and do as the locals do.

Whenever you finish, change into the clothes they gave you, grab a drink (milk is popular and sold in small glass bottles), sit in a massage chair, watch tv, etc. The locker rooms have hair dryers, face lotion, hairbrushes (these are separated in a clean bin, usually a UV box, and a used bin), cotton swabs, lotion, etc. You usually do not need to bring much of anything, since most places have some amenities for you. I have a small bag of extra toiletries I bring for aftercare. Again, it depends on the place, some of the cheaper places provide very little in the way of amenities.

At the end, toss your towels into the laundry bin in the locker room, then bring your clothes and key back to the front desk (in some cases there may also be a laundry bin for your sauna clothes). Pay your balance, and they will give you the shoe locker key.

Also, as a fun cultural note, watch the Japanese movie “Thermae Romae” (based on a manga). It is hilarious, and gives me better appreciation of the bathing culture.

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Enagic Natural Onsen Aroma, located in Ginowan behind the Don Quijote.

Addresses for top recommended Okinawa onsen:

Enagic Natural Onsen Aroma: 〒901-2223 沖縄県宜野湾市大山7-7-1
~My favorite– several nice baths, steam sauna, salt sauna, and even an outdoor bath with a cute Japanese-style garden. Several affordable esthe options, including scrubs and massages. Shokudo restaurant on-site. Recommended for a down-to-earth experience that won’t break the bank.
https://goo.gl/maps/dMNDCms3RaA2

Yuinchi Hotel and Spa (Bathing Ape): 〒901-1412　沖縄県南城市佐敷字新里1688
~Interesting baths, all indoor. These baths contain Ryukyu “healing” clay (mud?), which is a little bit of a unique experience. You have a view over the southern valley. The buffet restaurant in the hotel (different than the small restaurant in the onsen building!) is AMAZING and well worth the price (2300yen for lunch). The baths are so-so, but it has special Ryukyu mud properties or something that sounds fancy.
*separate blog post: Yuinchi Hotel: Onsen and Buffet

Senaga-jima Hotel and Onsen Spa: 〒901-0233 沖縄県豊見城市字瀬長174-5
~Tons of delicious restaurants nearby. Admission to bath is reasonable, treatments are expensive but high quality. Indoor AND outdoor baths looking over the ocean (very beautiful). High end type of place, recommended for a luxury experience.
*separate blog post: Ryukyu Onsen Senaga-jima Hotel

EM Wellness Resort Costa Vista: 〒901-2311 沖縄県中頭郡北中城村喜舎場1478番地
~Awesome healthy buffet at the resort restaurant! The baths are decent (all indoor), and the treatments focus on wellness, so you leave feeling fantastic and refreshed. Pricier than Aroma onsen, but not too unreasonable. For an extra fee you can also try their bedrock bath (ganbanyoku).
*separate blog post: EM Wellness Resort: Costa Vista and Spa Corazon

Aj Resort Onsen: 〒904‐2421 沖縄県うるま市与那城伊計1286
~Newly opened on Ikei-jima (connected to Okinawa main island by bridge). Indoor and open-air bath, plus a private family bath. The only downside is it does not look like they offer any extra spa services. It is also quite a ways to get there as you have to cross the bridges from Uruma to Henza, Miyagi, and then finally all the way to the tip of Ikei-jima! It was nice enough when I visited, but pretty far away from everything.
*separate blog post: Ikei-jima AJ Resort and Onsen: 伊計島温泉

**When I went to Aj Resort Onsen it was EMPTY! So… I was able to snap a few very quick pics. Normally you cannot take any pictures in the bath areas (for obvious reasons), so I rarely have pictures of these. Some of the “features” you may see at some of the more modern onsen:

Japanese foods

Riceballs: おにぎり/おむすび

おにぎり onigiri, also called おむすび omusubi, are rice balls. Onigiri are a common item for Japanese lunch boxes, called bento 弁当. You can find onigiri at every bento stand and conbini; Lawsons and FamilyMart usually have 20 different types lined up in the refrigerated section, with a variety of fillings from plain salt to tuna to spam with egg.

For my lunch, I went to a vegetarian-friendly market and picked up an onigiri-bento. It came with 2 onigiri: one wrapped in shiso leaf with nori (seaweed) sprinkles (also known as furikake ふりかけ), and one with shoyu and ginger (and probably some other things); it also came with something shaped like onigiri but with pickled plum/shiso and purple sweet potato (and maybe okara, aka soy leavings, but I am not a hundred percent sure). There was a delicious side of pickled carrot and daikon, mini tomatoes, and potato salad. I also bought a delicious vegan strawberry and poppyseed muffin for dessert. Everything was really tasty, so if you are in Okinawa, be sure to stop by HappyMore Farmers Market in Nakagusuku.