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Walking the historical Tokaido road in Shizuoka

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Feb 162013

Between modern towns of Shimada and Kikugawa in Shizuoka Prefecture, there is a short section of the original Tokaido road – main route between Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto.

The road there goes uphill and it was inconvenient both for railroad and car highways. Owing to that, a small section the original stone paving is preserved.

In the old days this part of the Tokaido connected post towns Kanaya-juku and Nissaka-juku. Now it is a designated historical spot.

It is said that cobblestones were laid out by the order of the shogunate between 1815 and 1830.

Parts of the original Tokaido road in Shizuoka

While abandoned for some time, the road must have been heavily used by samurai, imperial envoys, merchants, countless inhabitants of Edo on their journey to pilgrimage sites. Not to forget famous yakuza gang members, it is Shizuoka anyway.

So you enter a deep forest and you can breathe this history wondering if you step on the same stone as Shimizu Jirocho or Saigo Takamori…

And then you see this…

NTT manhole cover on the historical Tokaido

Come on, NTT! Really? Right in the middle of a forest, under a historical road you need to put your telephone cabling?

Truth is however more complex. While the stone pavement is now over 400 meters long, it was built merely 20 years ago, though there is a small section (30 meters) of original stones preserved.

Still there are not too many places in Japan where you can feel the atmosphere of traveling in Edo period.

Or maybe I am wrong? Tokaido was the main artery of Japan, so it must have been much more busy than on the pictures. Maybe the highway full of cars is closer to the historical atmosphere?

Grilled “guji” sea-bream – model and reality

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Feb 152013

Japanese restaurants are famous for their appealing dish models designed to attract customers.

Want a proof? Take this! Just impossible to resist!

Grilled sea bream known in Japanese as ''guji'' or ''amadai''

For reference: this fish is called guji or amadai. Here’s its description in Japanese Wikipedia. And the restaurant was in Kyoto on Nishinotoin Street. Bon apetit!

Slowing down samurai traffic in Matsue castle town

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Feb 112013

This street in Matsue in northwestern Japan looks like a work of a crazy engineer who bore a grudge against drivers, but in fact it is a modern interpretation of an old idea that was implemented here 400 years ago.

Matsue was a castle town built at the beginning of the Edo period and at that time no one could predict it will bring over 250 years of peace in Japan. Thus the castle and town structure had defense measures implemented and one of those was an intentional crooking of the street called kagigata (鉤型).

It slowed down movement of people, possibly attacking troops, and obscured the view thus allowing an ambush.

The road has been renovated for 400th anniversary of establishing Matsue castle town. I am impressed with the creative way Matsue city council preserved the memory of this place.

Tasting yakogai shell in Okinawa

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Feb 072013

Yakogai (夜光貝) is a giant sea snail for which Okinawa has always been renown for. They live a nocturnal life on coral reefs and grow up to 2 kg with the shell. At the Makishi market in Naha, you can try the taste of a fresh yakogai.

The main building hosts a seafood market on the ground floor and restaurants on the upper floor. You can choose the shell (still living) which you like, bargain over the price and ask the seller to call for a restaurant owner to take care of the animal.

Okinawan yakogai shell in Naha Makishi fish market

The yakogai shells are not cheap, they cost around 2500 yen per kg, which means you have to prepare from 1500 to 4000 yen depending on the size.

Okinawan yakogai shell on a weight in Makishi Market, Naha, Okinawa

The restaurant charges 300 yen for serving the shell, but you usually end up ordering side dishes too. In this case it was prepared half as a raw sashimi and the other half was stir-fried (itame).

Finally the taste. Yakogai sashimi has a structure and taste similar to tsubu-kai which means it is crunchier than other types of snails in Japan. The stir-fried part tasted particularly good.

Definitely worth a try if you are into seafood and visit Naha.

Like cats and dogs

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Feb 052013

These lion-like creatures are actually called komainu classifying them as dogs.

Japanese kerosene vendor

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Jan 302013

It is wintertime and often you can spot a kerosene (used for heaters) vending truck on the streets of Japanese cities. Here’s one from the city of Sakai spotted today. Loud and cute.

Local fish market in Okinawa

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Jan 282013

If you go to Okinawa from Honshu, chances are you will arrive just for lunch, like I did. There seems to be no better place to get introduced to local cuisine than Makishi market in Naha, just 20 minutes from the airport.

Feeling dizzy with all those glittering colors I chose something different for my first lunch.

Kaomise kabuki in Kyoto Minami-za Theatre

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Dec 262012

Official poster for 2012 Kaomise performance in Kyoto

Kaomise (顔見世) is a kabuki performance in Minami-za theatre in Kyoto, staged every year from November 30th to December 26th.

Meaning “showing the faces”, the name originally referred to December performances in kabuki theatres all over Japan, during which actors who signed contracts for the next year made their first appearance. Nowadays when only a handful of kabuki theatres exist, it is most often used to indicate the performance in Kyoto, which gathers top actors and musicians both from Tokyo and Kansai areas.

In 2012 the program, divided into morning and evening parts, consisted of seven plays and an official announcement of a stage name succession for 31 year old Nakamura Kankuro (formerly Nakamura Kantaro).

The highlight of the morning section was “Kotobuki Soga-no Taimen” an early 20th century adaptation of a classical story about Soga brothers who took revenge on a murderer of their father. Based on the historical fact from 1193, this performance featured colourful attires, elaborate make-up and an expressive play by the new Kankuro in a role of the rough Soga Goro.

During Kaomise, Minami-za theatre is decorated with wooden tablets displaying the names of all actors taking part in the performance. Hanging the tablets which takes place on Nov. 26th is a ceremony in itself and is widely covered by media.

For commercial reasons only official channels can publish photos from kabuki performances. But if you would like to see what kabuki looks like, please take a look at a gallery of children kabuki in Nagahama

Get a good spanking in Asuka

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Feb 012012

This Sunday, Feb. 5th, in Asuka (once the capital of Japan, now a small village in Nara Prefecture) a festival called Onda Matsuri will take place.

In addition to religious ceremonies and pantomime of planting rice, you can get some good spanking there.

Here’s how it looked last year.

Momiji tempura – maple leaf snacks

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Nov 272011

When Japanese maple turns red shopkeepers in tourist destinations prepare “momiji tempura” – maple leaves deep-fried in dough.

Unlike real tempura which extracts the taste of food, in “momiji tempura” the leaf has no taste and lends only the shape to the final product. Taste depends on the dough and differs depending on a place, but basically is similar to many crispy snacks that go well with a drink.

But don’t count on finding this snack everywhere. I have seen them being prepared in destinations famous for maple leaves viewing, but those a little bit on the countryside with some nostalgic feeling to them. Like Takao (高雄) in Kyoto or Mino (箕面) in Osaka.

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