Japanese School Lunch

by cybersensei | June 3, 2020 | Blog, Culture, Food

Japanese School Lunch

I fondly remember the first time I was invited to an elementary school as a guest, it was my very first experience for the school lunch in Japan.

Wow, having never seen anything like Japanese school lunch, I found what unfolded in front of my eyes to be extraordinary.

First of all, the students on duty would go to the lunch preparation room where they pick up the equipment necessary to serve lunch. They were all dressed in white smocks with white caps.

They would then bring the food back to their classroom, and serve it up to the other students who were lined up.

I found this incredible, to see these children, serving their fellow students.

Isn’t this an excellent way to train your citizens to be thoughtful members of society, where everyone takes turns serving each other.

Of course the homeroom teacher took part in this ritual by overseeing the entire operation.

One more thing I found indeed wonderful about Japanese school lunches was the nutritional value and the deliciousness of these school lunches, which were always well thought out.

Remembering back to the day when I was going around teaching at several different junior high schools, I was always delighted to share in the school lunches with the children, and they were indeed delighted to have this novelty from a distant land sharing their lunch with them.

Surely you will admit, or maybe you’re thinking that your country might welcome Japanese style school lunch protocol.

I firmly believe, this is the way the Japanese are formulated to become meaningful members of our society, while building an innate sense of belonging to your own group, and this is done by serving others.

It is also delightful to see the Japanese children start eating all at the same time with a boisterous “itadakimasu“ (this is polite language to be used before eating)

On a side note: Did you know that in the first 3 years in school in Japan, they have no exams or tests? It’s all about discipline, social, hygiene and health lessons.

I hope we can take some lessons away from the Japanese school lunch and apply this mindset to one’s own life.

Natto: Soul Food Of Japan

by cybersensei | April 18, 2020 | Blog, Culture, Food

Natto: Soul Food Of Japan

Stinky, Slimy, Savoury, Succulent and So On…

One get a mixed reaction from many of the Japanese, and uniform abhorrence of this miracle food from foreigners.

A quick side note: Among the Japanese, Japan is refereed to as East Japan and West Japan (thus JR East and JR West). Which at first may seem confusing as when you look at a map of Japan, one would think North and South.

No dear reader, the are the Japanese at it again, thinking about things their own way.

But I digress.

Generally speaking our Japanese brothers and sisters from West Japan, also dislike natto, not quite as much as, but almost as much, as our foreign counterparts.

Some of the things that might come to mind when you first try this miracle food is wow, this smells like soiled baby diapers, or, oh my gosh, the texture in my mouth is just like sucking on a garden slug, it’s so very slimy.

But do not despair dear reader, as once you get past those two significant barriers, you will find a mouth full of joy, unlike any other.

Who would’ve ever thought the lowly soybean would turn out to be an important, and very healthy staple of the Japanese diet?

Natto is commonly eaten as a breakfast foods, and consists of fermented soy beans.

The soy beans are mixed with the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, as known as nattō-kin in Japanese.

If you’ve never heard of this miracle food yet, you have been missing out on something quite important!

The significant health benefit of natto can not be understated.

In particular, the overall health of ones all-important gut bacteria, which benefits greatly from the almighty nattō-kin.

Here are some secrets to whipping up a slimy delectable delight for morning dinning pleasure and ones health and longevity.

Always, start by adding a small amount of vinegar, make sure you use high quality apple cider vinegar!

This allows the natto to become very foamy before adding any of the next following ingredients as you see fit.

Other ingredients:
Spiruina
Hemp Hearts
Fresh Garlic
Fresh Ginger
Egg Yolk

I like to layer the natto onto rice and take a piece of nori, dip it in soy sauce, and make a small elegant piece of sushi. Delicious!

There you have it.

One has now started an incredible natto journey, and, as one continues the never ending quest for mental, physical, and spiritual health and longevity, one has now found an important ally with natto.

Alcohol Ponds—Meat Forests

by cybersensei | March 21, 2020 | Blog, Culture, Food

Alcohol Ponds—Meat Forests

The Japanese love to have parties!

Official ones are known as “enkai”, which translates to “banquet”, but is much more formalized here.

These types of parties are very common in Japan and is a bonding session between members of the feasting group.

Of course the party always starts with some long winded speech by a couple of “important people”, of the group. These speeches tend to drone on and every one wants them to shut up and start the party.

There’s always an amazing array of delicious food and lots and lots of “junkatsu yu” or social lubricant.

When the the party consist of all males, you often see the “companions” come in. These are hired all young ladies more often than not in their early 20s smelling of cheap perfume and they are there to coddle these middle-age salary men or business people along, and add spice to the party.

Clocking in at exactly 2 hours. The banquet ends with everybody standing up and doing something that’s known as “3 bon jimei”. This is where the leader of the party, says ready go, and everybody claps their hands three times and then shouts “yo”, repeated two more times for a total of three, and at the end everybody claps and cheers, and that’s the end of this particular party, but not the end of the night no sir!

The party then breaks up into separate groups with lots of the younger crowd going sing more karaoke, or more commonly so amongst the men, go to what is known as a “snack”, where they drink more alcohol served by young hostesses, and eat overpriced fruit trays.

This is what is known as “ni jikai” or “second party”.

More often than not, these snack men then go into a 3rd and last party, which is at a late night ramen shop.

There they drink more beer, eat hearty bowls of noodles containing heavy calorie rich broth, and eating Chinese dumplings.

Have experienced this myself, and can attest to feeling of heaviness the next day. I’ve only done this a couple times in my life. You are better off to skip this one, unless you are hungry, which you are not.

The Japanese “enkai” banquet is truly a unique experience, and you can not truly understand this unique Japanese party style until you have actually experienced one for your own self.

Tuna Fish Insanity

by cybersensei | January 22, 2020 | Blog, Culture, Food

Tuna Fish Insanity

Personally, I don’t eat things that are becoming endangered, but that is just me.

However, the Japanese are at it again, expensive seafood, really, really expensive seafood.

A single fetched 193.2 million yen on Sunday at the 2020 New Year’s auction at Tokyo’s , the second-highest price on record.

The record holder is a now gone, but not forgotten which fetched a record 333.6 million yen in the New Year auction last year (2019) when it was held for the first time in following the market’s relocation from the historical and fabled .

The price paid for this year’s prize 276-kilogram amounts to 700,000 yen per kg.

The successful bidder was again , the Tokyo-based operator of sushi restaurant chain .

The company said the tuna will be served at the chain’s restaurant in nearby , the former location of the capital’s major fish market.

For me tuna is surely delicious, but not that wonderful I assure you.

You can find comparable immaculate flavours of sashimi or sushi, when you order fresh abalone liver or the ever so amazing sea urchin.

Further tickle your taste buds with the fatty meat of bonito, engawa of flatfish, and crab brains.

I promise, you won’t have to pay ¥10,000 a mouthful, and I also promise you will come away from dinner just as sated. Furthermore, you can have a clear conscious that you have not consumed one of the few last, near extinct remaining king of all fish; the majestic .

Love Of Crab

by cybersensei | December 14, 2019 | Blog, Culture, Food

Love Of Crab

For The Love Of Crab

No one can accuse the Japanese of doing thing halfway.

When they engage, they really engage.

And their willingness to on occasion pay exorbitant amount of money for what one would think is ordinary seafood, is, well, alive and well.

You would think that paying ¥5 million for a ONE itsukiboshi (five shinning stars) crab is absolutely absurd.

Think again!

That is exactly what happened just the other day here in the Land Of The Rising Son, in Tottori prefecture to be exact.

An itsukiboshi caught in Tottori Prefecture attracted the highest-ever bid for a crab at auction of 5 million yen.

A local Tottori crab seller, Kanemasa Hamashita Shoten was the successful bider at ¥5 million.

Last year this company also bought the prized itsukiboshi crab for a mere ¥2 million, and has now smashed its own Guinness book of World Records for the highest price ever paid for a crab.

Not surprisingly, this poor fella is heading off to a restaurant in the Ginza district, where it will be a novelty for some well heeled patrons and staff and indeed, the jubilant owner of the restaurant.

Let’s see if in a year, at the first crab auction in Tottori what the surreal story will be when it’s time to bid once again on the king of crabs: itsukiboshi.

You can see the video of the happy winner of this incredible auction here.

Japanese Way Of Cake

by cybersensei | November 23, 2019 | Blog, Food

Japanese Way Of Cake

The Japanese Way Of Cake

The Japanese never fail to amaze me when it comes to KAIZEN.

As I’m sure many of you already know as fans of Japan, the Japanese take things from the outside world, and put a Japanese twist on it to make it uniquely Japanese.

Their cake making technique is certain no exception.

Having a bit of a sweet tooth myself, I am always overjoyed when there is an occasion to eat cake. And the many cakes shop to choose from always leaves me delighted as well.

Something in the aesthetic balance among the visual delightfulness and the immaculate amalgamation of flavours is breathtaking more often than not to say the least.

Right down to the wasteful packaging of wrapped cake into box, into bigger box, and then a very well designed and sturdy plastic bag, to make the cake purchasing experience almost surreal in a sense.

Now dear reader, if you have not had the opportunity to experience the Japanese Way of Cake, I strongly urge you to do so.

You can see these exquisite cake shops in the food floors of the department stores throughout Japan, individual cake shops dotting the landscape of the rural towns, in the American style malls, and indeed, these elegant pieces of cake art are also served in the plethora of quaint coffee shops that infuses Japan with a cultural uniqueness all to it own.