For years, I’ve wanted to see the old-fashioned farmhouse hamlet of Shirakawa-go all lit up at night in the snow, and this week I got half my wish. It turns out that ever since it was named a Unesco World Heritage Site, viewing the farmhouses lit up at night has become such a crazy tourist madhouseContinue reading “Shirakawago In The Snow”
Tag Archives: traditional Japanese
Remote Control Hell At The Traditional Inn
On Tuesday I arrived at a fabulous onsen in Tateshima, expecting to simmer in their hot spring, gaze at splendid autumn leaves in luxurious quietude, and stuff myself with regional specialties, but when I got to my room I found…this. I mean, what the heckin’ heck? Five remotes to control a tatami-floored room at aContinue reading “Remote Control Hell At The Traditional Inn”
How To Make The Most Beautiful Lollipops In The World
OK, I admit, I did not make this lollipop. I went to the workshop taught by the artist who made it, but the thing I ended up making did not remotely, remotely, REMOTELY resemble this lollipop. First of all – to be fair – we weren’t supposed to be making goldfish (which is, like, the Mt. Everest of lollipop making).Continue reading “How To Make The Most Beautiful Lollipops In The World”
Sleeping Bags Of Yore
At first I thought this was some kind of wacky winter kimono from prehistoric, pre-Patagonia days, but no: it’s actually a futon built for two! This fancy sleeping bag was actually used by courtesans when they entertained their customers in Yoshiwara! Back in the day, plenty of men wealthy enough to buy opulent mummy bags for their paramours frequented the pleasure quarters, even though itContinue reading “Sleeping Bags Of Yore”
I Love Japanese New Year’s Decorations!
In Japan, the frenzy of weird Santas and blue poinsettias are whisked away the day after Christmas, and replaced with something far better…new year’s decorations! I never saw them before I lived in Tokyo, but it was totally love at first sight. New year’s decorations are sold in November & December at small shops in Asakusabashi, andContinue reading “I Love Japanese New Year’s Decorations!”
Dang, If Only I Hadn’t Been Distracted By The Satan Horns…
…I’d have realized I could have had a smashing set of ram horns to wear all day, to welcome in the Year Of The Sheep! •
Gorgeous Japanese Hydrangeas
Remember those big white snowball-y bushes that bloomed next to Grandma’s porch all summer long? Believe it or not, those everyday flowers were where they started hybridizing to get these fancypants. Some temples in Japan have whole hillsides covered with so many varieties of hydrangea, you can’t count them. Here are a few: •
Fishing For Women
Of all the rakugo performances I’ve seen, Fishing For Women is my fave. It’s got great characters, including a guy who’s more of a nightmare than the worst Tinder story you’ve ever heard! THE CHARACTERS In this story, a nice old fisherman is visited by a beautiful ghost, but the dateless wonder next door has other ideas… And then…! If you watch the video,Continue reading “Fishing For Women”
The Wart Shrine
Warts. Just hearing their name makes you want to get rid of them faster than pronto. And what easier way, than to visit the Wart-Be-Gone Jizo at Nishiarai Daishi temple? Just toss a coin in the box and take a pinch of the sacred pile-o-salt to rub on the offending carbuncle, and this benevolent bodhisattva will cure whatContinue reading “The Wart Shrine”
Furry Elephants. With Claws.
Do you think the artist who carved these beasties had ever actually seen one? I guess it doesn’t matter, as long as the guy who paid the bill hadn’t either. These elephants are carved on one of the main buildings at the Tōshōgū Shrine in Nikko, built by the first shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa. •
The Scrub Brush Shrine
So, I’m trudging back to the bus stop after catching Sankei-en having the Japanese garden equivalent of a bad hair day,* when I spot this odd little shrine tucked between two houses. The altar is a big pitted rock, and it’s covered with…scrub brushes? What is this, the patron kami-sama of cleaning supplies? Wrong-o! This shrine is the cureContinue reading “The Scrub Brush Shrine”
Sneakers Of Yore
If I were a samurai in the olden days, these would totally be my sneakers of choice for the cherry blossom viewing marathon. I’d stock up on those shoelaces hanging up above too. •
Firewalking 101
I’m not sure who first thought that walking across burning coals would be an awesome superpower to have, but sometime in the distant past, that’s exactly what a bunch of more-rugged-then-thou Japanese warrior priests learned to do. Firewalking is still done once a year at the foot of Mt. Takao by practitioners of shugendo, aContinue reading “Firewalking 101”
The Anime Shrine
If you live, breathe, and want to work in anime, the Kanda Myōjin shrine is the place to pray that your dreams come true. But you’d better bring your markers and all your drawing chops, because competition for the gods’ attention is fierce. At most shrines, prayers are just scribbled on the backs of woodenContinue reading “The Anime Shrine”
Alt Kimono
Give granny a heart attack with a Coming-Of-Age kimono that shows as much leg as your old schoolgirl uniform, bares a shoulder and some black-lace-edged cleavage, or cinches everything together with a corset instead of an obi! Last Sunday was the day all 20-year-olds officially become adults, but not everybody donned traditional maidenly garb toContinue reading “Alt Kimono”
Traditional KFC Christmas Dinner, Now With Seaweed!
Lines stretch around the block at every KFC in Tokyo on Christmas Eve, as household minions are dispatched to pick up the traditional holiday fare, but this year they have a choice between regular and seaweed flavor. Pass the biscuits and tofu, ma! • And if you’re looking for some fine escapist reading to curl upContinue reading “Traditional KFC Christmas Dinner, Now With Seaweed!”
At The Ise Shrine, Everything New Is Old
The god of rice’s building at the Ise Shrine sits next to a vacant lot. Or, actually, a construction site. Because every twenty years, a replica of the rice god’s shrine is lovingly built right next door. In the twentieth year, the god of rice is moved from the old shrine to the new, andContinue reading “At The Ise Shrine, Everything New Is Old”
Giant Faux White Herons
It’s not every day I nip out to the local shrine for a little photo taking and run into gaggle of women dressed as eight foot tall birds. Japan can be weird, but it’s not usually this weird! They were performing a thousand-year-old dance called Shirasagi no Mai, which means (unsurprisingly), White Heron Dance. It was originally performedContinue reading “Giant Faux White Herons”
All Black, All The Time
The first time I explored a Japanese department store, I was excited to see that they had an entire department devoted to clothes in my favorite color: black! Then a Japanese friend explained: it was the mofuku department. Funeralwear. Yes, in the Land of Extreme Specialization, people maintain a whole set of clothes and accessories specifically designedContinue reading “All Black, All The Time”
Wrapping Paper That’s Too Nice For Any Present
There’s one problem with shopping at the chiyogami store in Yanaka – in a matter of minutes, my shopping basket was stacked with ten times the number of sheets I came for, and all of them were whispering, “Frame me!” Even though the paper isn’t expensive, I knew when I got home I wouldn’t be ableContinue reading “Wrapping Paper That’s Too Nice For Any Present”
Monkey Business
I was walking around the Decks shopping complex in Odaiba, and suddenly, MONKEY SHOW. Seriously. Right in the middle of the mall. A monkey show. Of course, trained monkeys have been entertaining people for a long time in Japan – the tradition dates back to before the samurai era – but usually you have toContinue reading “Monkey Business”
What’s Long & Skinny And Not What You Think It Is?
Hey, I was visiting the Togenuki Jizo and I got you a present. Wow, thanks. What is it? Guess. Oh no. On second thought, I don’t want it. It’s something weird, I just know it. It’s not weird! I swear, after you try it, you won’t be able to live without it. What’s this writingContinue reading “What’s Long & Skinny And Not What You Think It Is?”
Auto-Incinerate, For All Your Sacred Garbage Needs
Now you no longer have to do the heavy lifting when it comes to heaving that sacred garbage into the shrine’s designated bin! Here at the Narita Fudo-san Shrine, this conveyor belt incinerator churns year-round, ready to bear away your tired old lucky charms and exhausted household gods to be cremated in the proper way.Continue reading “Auto-Incinerate, For All Your Sacred Garbage Needs”
I’ll Take A Pound Of The Cricket Snacks, Please
Mmm-mmm, on market day in Koshinzuka, they still sell inago tsukudani, scoops of Jiminy Cricket’s relatives all toasted up nice and crispy in a salty-sweet marinade. And what do they taste like, you may ask? Okay, I admit I chickened out of this one. But if they’re anything like shrimp tsukudani or tuna tsukudani orContinue reading “I’ll Take A Pound Of The Cricket Snacks, Please”
How To Make Poisonous Dried Snake Tea
First, you take a dried snake. A dried poisonous snake. Then you chop it into little pieces. Add some dried ginger and garlic and a few other secret ingredients. Powderize it all in your industrial snake grinder and pour it in a medicine bottle. Mix one teaspoon into a cup of hot water every morningContinue reading “How To Make Poisonous Dried Snake Tea”
The Head Is The Best Part
The head is the best part. Or so I was told by the ayu vendor at the Yasukuni shrine. My new pet fish-on-a-stick looked too big to be eaten whole, but apparently that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do. Head, tail, innards, bones, everything. My main grill man helpfully informed me that they’re skewered upside-down so asContinue reading “The Head Is The Best Part”
Cherry Blossoms for Geeks
Which one of these traditional Japanese tenugui hand towels is not like the others? Hint: it’s the one with the poem that reads: “One of these is small, but he stubbornly heads toward his goal, The other changes direction according to how the wind is blowing…” •
Funeral For A Pin
In Japan, February 8th is the day that old and broken needles are laid to rest. Anyone whose work involves sewing stuff together gathers at Awashima Shrine in Asakusa for a requiem service to thank their old needles and pins for good and faithful service. During the harikuyo memorial service, seamstresses, tailors, shoemakers, and milliners approachContinue reading “Funeral For A Pin”
What The Well-Dressed God Is Wearing This Season
As I walked through the grounds of Zōjōji Temple after watching some obligatory bean-throwing at Setsubun, I couldn’t help but notice that several of the figures of o-Jizo-sama had been gifted with quite the fashionable winter outfits! But while these displays of Jizo fashion creativity made me smile, they made me kind of sad too.Continue reading “What The Well-Dressed God Is Wearing This Season”
In My Next Life, I Definitely Want To Come Back As A Shinto God
Seriously, which would you rather have? Long-faced celibate guys in brown robes or strapping Japanese dudes in fundoshi (see above)? It’s fall festival season here in Japan right now, and it’s the duty of every neighborhood to take the local gods out and show them a good time. Fortunately, Shinto gods do not go inContinue reading “In My Next Life, I Definitely Want To Come Back As A Shinto God”
Sit Down Stand Up
One day last fall, as I was walking through Yoyogi Park on my way to fall off the slackline, I saw this guy standing by a tree in a vaguely medieval-looking costume. In America I’d have hustled by, careful to make ZERO eye contact, sure he was either a member of a rabidly proselytizing religious cultContinue reading “Sit Down Stand Up”
Party Bodhisattva
Just because you’re a bodhisattva and charged with the un-small task of looking after children and travelers doesn’t mean you never get to kick off your sandals and party. This O-Jizo-sama at Zōjōji temple is ready to blow out the candles on his birthday cake (although he might need help, considering there would be over 1500 ofContinue reading “Party Bodhisattva”
Mini Kimonos
Today was the official day of Shichi-Go-San, but for weeks families have been dressing their 7-year-old girls, 5-year-old boys, and 3-year-old girls in traditional finery and taking them to shrines to wish for long life and good health. No expense is spared. The 7-year-olds have been up since dawn at the hairdresser, being pinned andContinue reading “Mini Kimonos”
Happy Death Anniversary
I love the idea of death anniversaries. In Japan, people don’t forget all about you after you die. One year after, they throw a party. Family and friends are invited, a plate of your favorite foods and a cup of your favorite refreshment is set out on the head table in front of a flatteringContinue reading “Happy Death Anniversary”
Only In Japan 