Mike has been away, AGAIN

Erm... wow that was a long time ago since I've posted.

Here's the basic breakdown. As the semester began, blogging kind of... left my mind. I was up to adventure and fun! And blogging seemed to be side tracked.

Perhaps the main reason that this occurred is that my blog is kind of unfocused. There's too much going on. It's just about me in Japan, and the only people I really even want reading it are people I know personally. Since they see the majority of my activity on facebook, twitter, etc, this blog has become largely unnecessary with the combination of "lots of things to do" mike and "unsure what to say" mike.

So, no two things.

1. I will keep this blog around for the next 4 weeks I am in Japan. HOWEVER
2. I will be creating a NEW blog, for the project I have been working on for the last 4 months or so.

As many of you know, I love food, but I also love CHEAP food. Ramen is something very dear to the heart of Sapporo, and as you may have noticed by my previous post, it is also something that completely fits my interests. It's Japan-unique, it's cheap, it's various and complex, it's loved all over Japan, and it's delicious.

So... I decided at the beginning of the semester to start going to various Ramen Shops, in an attempt to understand some of the culinary backbone that makes up what Sapporo is. Since this blog has existed mostly on a personal level, I will be making a new one exclusively about Ramen in Sapporo.

That is all. If you like, please check it out. Here:

http://sappororamenguide.blogspot.com/

Hokkaido's Top Rated Ramen.

I was gonna write a huge big blurb about Hokkaido's amazing food. But it's not worth it. It detracts from the point.

Hokkaido is know for a lot of stuff after all.

But the thing I like best?

Ramen.

Ramen.

Ramen.

When I say Ramen, I ain't talkin' bout those cheap noodles you buy for 10 cents a pack, the sort of thing college students live off of. Nope nope. Ramen is a soup noodle indeed, but a gourmet legacy of pure Japanese idealism; taking established ideas from other cultures and tweaking, augmenting them. The result is just unique to Japan, and completely utterly perfect in it's composition of simplicity and complexity. I mean, soup noodles, how different could they be?

Very.

There's a lot of good soup noodles around Japan. But, in my humble opinion, they just don't come close to Sapporo.

Sorry guys, I know you all thought Tokyo just ruled the Japan world in terms of everything. Wrong-o.

In fact, a fair amount of people agree. Two of the top ramen shops according to the website tabelog in the entire country are located in Sapporo. Just Sapporo.

Of them, I have been to the best one in Hokkaido, #4 in the country. And here's what I have to say about it.

Now, before I begin, yes it's true: I did a vlog a while ago about Ramen in Sapporo. But good lord, did I know so little of the possibilities that existed. The shops I had visited before pale in comparison in all ways to these legendary ramen gossip machines that top the charts.

Sumire, Junren, Ramen Yoshi, Akaboshi, just to name a few. Restaurants that are packed, talked about through the word of mouth of individuals. Yes I am name dropping here. Ugh. But what about the top rated ramen shop in Hokkaido? Number Four in the country?

The NAME, is 麺 eiji. Noodle Infant. Bahahaha.

This tinsy tiny shop is located in the "Hiragishi" district of Sapporo, which is a good 20 minute train ride from the Sapporo Station.

Indeed, there ain't much goin' on here. But it's still fairly busy

There's one thing you notice as soon as you walk in though. Not the small size (about 8 seats), or how the shop was completely full just 10 minutes into service. Nope, none of those things.

Everything is pink. Everything. The counter wood is a light shade of pink, the walls, the seats. Everything is in a shade of pink. You'll have to mind my lame iphone camera though.

Even the chopstick holders and napkin boxes.

So... pink huh? I assume this is because the word "Eiji" can mean infant, though I really have no idea. Yes I translated it that way earlier, but the word "Eiji" on the sign is written in Roman characters, so the meaning is truly unknown. But the place is pink. Well... can't let that scare me. Off we go.

Like many Ramen shops, both popular and not, you order with a vending machine style device. Insert your money, push the appropriate button for the type of ramen you want, and a ticket comes out. You hand said ticket to the cooks, they make your food, and you're good to go. Slurp your noodles, enjoy your meal, and no tip or extra cash to pay.

I had trouble deciding. The top button says "most popular", and it was a seafood pork bone broth soup. Which by all means sounds totally delicious, but I love miso ramen far more. Still, it's hard to pass up a recommendation, so I stood in front of the machine playing it out in my head. Of course, because I am foreign, they assumed that my "staring at the ticket machine not buying" status meant I was illiterate. Sigh. That's another story entirely.

So I caved and purchased the recommendation. 850 yen. This is what came.

Omggggggg

There's a lot of good to say about this bowl of noodles. It comes with raw diced onions, long onions, hand made noodles, slow roasted pork, and that dark orange jelly like stuff, collagen. The broth is rich but not overly thick. The noodles are house hand made, which like any restaurant that sells noodles, is rare, and they are perfect, slightly eggy, just cooked right. The pork is tender, but not totally fall apart mushy like some, it's maintained it's texture. The raw onions are sharp, kind of a nice bite in comparison to the smooth mellow soup. It brings thoughts of gravy to be honest.

That dark collagen, which tastes like pork essence, slowly melts into the soup, making it even richer and delivering a crazy mouth feel.

In a word, it's a very very good bowl of noodles. I can easily see why it has the #1 spot.

But do I really think it's the best bowl of ramen in Hokkaido?

I'm not sure.

I mean, it's legitimately expensive. 850 for a bowl with no egg or extra meat is expensive. And this wasn't even the most expensive one on the menu, some dishes are more than 1000 yen. At places like Akaboshi, which is also a top 10 ramen joint, 500 yen gets you ramen, and for an extra 50 yen, special sliced roasted chicken on top. Egg is included in the 500 yen price.

But I guess my biggest nag is just the flavor. The most popular flavor isn't miso? Which was invented in Sapporo? This doesn't make sense to me! Why aren't people begging for Miso? Is their miso subpar or something?

The thing is it's actually a trend in ramen shops period. Quite a few of the top ramen shops sell a variation of this pork seafood broth as their main style. 

Which I don't totally like.

Some people just won't enjoy this result. It's very... 濃い. Rich. thick. Can't translate that word well, but that's what it is I say!

But I think it's worth checking out at least once.

New Vlog: Spicy cookies

Who in the world makes a cookie with such flavors as garlic and curry?


 
If embed isn't working click the link below to go directly to youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfXnxm31Kjw

Ishiya Shiroi Koibito online shop (In Japanese only)
https://www.ishiya-shop.jp/

There's CHOCOLATE in EVERYTHING!!

Yikes Mike, what are you exaggerating about now?

And ANOTHER food blog? Obsessed much?

Now that I've gotten the general criticism I'm bound to hear out of the way, let's dive right in to this morsel.

Japanese people love chocolate. I think this isn't really anything amazing as far as statements go; it seems just about everyone loves chocolate. Who could blame them? It's sweet, which is our favorite taste on the tongue*, it's rich and full of luscious fat, it smells awesome, and c'mon, chocolate TASTES good!  Do I even need to explain this? Bleh...

I like to think people in Japan tend to push the food envelope, perhaps paradoxically, in that they just make really weird ingredient combinations. Nothing seems terribly original about sticking two seemingly mismatched ideas or ingredients together, but making it WORK? Well... that's a different story.

I already covered the "chocolate covered cheeto" at this blog. That's a good example. I figured it was a fluke, because it actually kind of tasted good.

But chocolate in Japan is popular! And not just in chocolate bars y'all!

If anything some of the chocolate ideas I've seen have been frightening.

I will now provide two examples.

Introducing, chocolate instant ramen.

Mmmmmm, doubly richhhh

Basically, this is an instant ramen, miso flavored, that includes bits of chocolate, and a mini chocolate bar that you melt on top. A bit of research and you'll find that this ramen is actually based on one served a restaurant in Tokyo, who made it during the valentines season chocolate craze. The restaurant's website said it was made to appeal to women if I remember correctly.

Ah, Japanese men not being able to like chocolate, tsk tsk.

Honestly I didn't even this thing till stumbling into a convenience store, looking for a quick lazy lunch. 

Boy, did I find one!

The package says this is a combo of Ghana, a brand of chocolate bar here in Japan, and the Ramen restaurant. (Which isn't in Tokyo, so sorry, their miso just isn't up to snuff as is, but I digress). I always dig these company combos though.

Regardless... erm... how does chocolate mixed with miso ramen taste?

Erm... to be frank. Not bad. Miso in itself has a sweet component, and the richness builds on the protein salty heaviness of the broth.

It's still kind of gimmicky though.

Assuming you know Japanese, more thorough info can be found here: http://www.lotte.co.jp/news/news794.html

My second product is also fairly gimmicky.

Royce' (with the apostraphe, yes!) is a Chocolate company based here in Sapporo, they are devilishly famous for such goodies as chocolate covered potato chips and Nama Chocolate, or "Fresh Chocolate", which is so temperature sensitive and smooth you have to refrigerate it, lest it melt into chocolate goo.

Royce also makes, as you see in the above picture, a pre-made heat 'n' eat curry. They're a chocolate company, and they sell a curry. What do you think that means?

YES, it has chocolate in it (along with other hokkaido items like milk and cream). Any making it couldn't be easier!

Step one, remove pouch from box

Step two, heat pouch in boiling water (you can also pour out the curry and just nuke it)

Step 3, serve!

出来たぞ！

Looks good!

Does it taste like chocolate? Isn't chocolate and curry weird?

Well... it doesn't really taste like chocolate at all. Very faint, a bit of a cacao bitterness. Very rich though, which was expected

Why yes, those little pools of yellow cocoa butter fat are DELIGHTFUL.

I suppose chocolate and curry isn't that odd either. You can buy chili flavored chocolates, and even some curry powder seasoned chocolate bars from places like vosages, an exotic chocolate company in Chicago.

But I think it's just a tad bit audacious to just make curry with chocolate. Ramen and curry take some balls in my opinion.

Balls of steel.

You gotta admit, the Japanese make some weird, and at times, heroic food.

I just wish I were more... blown away.

-----------------------

Lame footnote, see asterisk

*biologically, sweet taste buds sense carbs, evolutionary advantage to seek sweet as brain is primary glucose user, can't function without carbohydrate. Will break down fat and muscle tissue to make carbohydrates blahblahblah I'll stop.

Okinawa in Reflection (Yes this post is also too long)

Why yes, I do realize that this is 2 weeks late.

Yes, I did get back home on the 19th, so I HAVE been putting it off.

Why though? Because I'm lazy? Well naturally yes, but perhaps more importantly, Okinawa is hard to define and blog about.

To write an entry about this place wouldn't do it justice. And I don't say that because Okinawa is some amazing magical Japanese wonderland where Unicorns poop rainbows, but more because the place is... different.

On mass scale.

For one. Okinawa is a VARIETY of islands. To say I've gone "there" is in itself fairly audacious, because the sheer number of islands are all different. You have islands like "Okinawa Island", which includes Naha, the capital of the prefecture, as well as a fairly large city of around 700,000 people, but then conversely, the "Yaeyama Islands", which are something like 90-95% uninhabited forests with no real cities at all.

I know this is a running theme in my blogs, but a country's "culture" as an idea is one that is hard to define. Okinawa has been blessed with a history that is somewhat separate from Japan, which gives it a variety of characteristics that are otherwise rare in Japanese culture.

But it's still Japan!

How are we getting away with saying "this is how all Japanese people act"?

As an example of differences, first thing I noticed right off the bat.

Buildings have COLOR. Pinks and greens and yellows and reds, Naha is less than inspiring in terms of size or even cleanliness, but some of the buildings in Okinawa just have the most audaciously bright colors I've ever seen.

A Bright Blue with Pink Driving School in Itoman Okinawa

Random house with bright blue and red accents

This sort of stuff seems arbitrary at first, but to me it's striking. Places are just more vibrant.You don't see color like this really anywhere, let alone in Japan. And these shots are all on Okinawa Island, the most touristy spot of them all.

It's quite touristy alright. And at times very grimy and dirty. But everyone knows you have to go elsewhere to see even a glimpse of what this place is like.

Naturally of course, Ryukyu cultural influence is a large part of what Okinawa was today. These islands weren't always Japanese, after all, in fact Japanese involvement with Okinawa is (I believe) only around 400 years. The people of the Ryukyu culture left behind many interesting sights such as castles and temples, which in all honesty, look nothing like anything else found in Japan.

Ryukyu King's hide-away near Castle in Naha

Shrine on Kumejima Island.

So the architecture stems out into quite a variety not really noticed on the main-land. Naturally the differences don't end there.

Nature in Japan has, to be honest, always been awe inspiring. Some of the parks that I've seen here take extreme detail in terms of showcasing the beauty of nature. Okinawa is no exception to this framework, yes, but there are characteristics that seem different.

For instance, a lot of the roads and areas just have lush plantlife sprouting up all over the place.

Sometimes it's almost TOO much.

Furthermore, Okinawa's Peace Memorial Park, dedicated to those who fell in the Battle of Okinawa (including foreigners), is absolutely stunning.

Incredible flowers.

Extremely Scenic

Very spacious and open

Just off the coast, atop a large hill near memorial graves

The area around the Park. There are wind farms around here.

The park, mind you, is located on a spot where tens of thousands of Okinawans committed suicide to avoid imprisonment and or slaughter, as directed by the Japanese government. The beauty of the place then, is rather humbling.

This sense of old world naturalism, stone, ivy, is further implimented as you go out to smaller islands. Consider Kumejima, which I went to and stayed overnight. I think the following image summarizes the island well.

Small clusters of towns surrounded by dense jungle like nature and beaches. Very picture esque. Also very different from Naha, with its big city layout, large arcades and shopping areas. Even Okinawa has separate cultures within itself.

As well, Okinawa has quite a bit of American influence due to the bases located on the main island.

This very American, 1970s diner like "West ward Sightseeing Drive In Restaurant" is located just outside of the park. Notice the crazy crumbled sign. The menue clarifies on it's American influence

It's hard to see, but steak sandwiches and eggs are included on the menu. (Steak sandwich was tasty by the way)

Other forms of American influence CERTAINLY include food.

(Oh god I will try not to talk about food too much, an entire blog about okinanwan food is here)

Many American fast food restaurants not found in Japan can be found in Okinawa.

That's an ad for A&W in Japan.

Food in general tends to skew from the Japanese norm. Sushi isn't very popular here, since sashimi quality fish isn't found off most sub tropical climates (so I've heard), instead a mixture of tropical foodstuffs and chinese/japanese cooking techniques. Unique ingredients like bitter melon, fruits, SPAM even. Pork is immensely popular in Okinawa; I think it was in each one of my meals in some manner or the other. Taco Rice, a combo of taco seasoned beef, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, over rice, is also popular. Remember that this food is certainly influenced by American military occupation. Soldiers get HUNGRY!

Okinawan Soba is not really soba, more like ramen and udon combined. Pickled ginger, slow cooked pork belly and sparerib, seafood broth.

THAT PORK WAS TASTY!! With mango Juice fyi.

Okinawa is just... different. Even the islands are different from one another!

It's beautiful, and horrifylingly touristy. And was a lovely time. I'll miss it.

Especially AFRO NEST UGH YOU KINGS OF FOOD AND DRINK!

Toodles, more on my life... later. This post is long enough. I'm sure I didn't cover enough about Okinawa, but still, I think this captures a few glimpses.

Something interesting you might notice in Osaka... (Video)

If the embed isn't working, click the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waKjUC-wCfc

It's just like Lewis Black was talking about with starbucks, except it's REAL.

When I say Kobe, you say...?

Yakuza? Possibly, I guess that's true...

Coast? Well yeah but...

Kansai region? Oh c'mon now you're just being blatant.

BEEF?

COW?!?!?!

YES! Thank you.

I'll stop being schizophrenic here.

In the three days I was in Kobe, I had Kobe beef not once, not twice, by THREE times.

Yes, every day. I am a glutton, I realize this. Thanks to the Japanese government for the scholarship! Your money is being spent well!

Before beginning my analysis as well as description, I should recommend people not do this. Please, don't eat that much Kobe beef. It's expensive. It's bad for you. And it's madly delicious.

I'm sure we all know the idea of Kobe beef: Japanese farmers managed to breed a species of cattle with high levels of intramuscular fat. Steak, normally, is rated as you all know, and part of this rating is based on this "marbling" of fat, and the highest ranking has the deepest, best little threads and veins of fat seeping through it. These fat pathways melt under high temperature, and that's what makes steak juicy and tender and rich.

Japanese farmers essentially created a new breed of cattle which is known as "wagyu" (literally Japanese Cow, or 和牛) to build on this idea of richness and fattiness in steak being delightful. This is the largest misconception about Kobe beef, as Kobe beef is a specific TYPE of Wagyu, not an actual breed of cattle itself.

In fact the name "Kobe" beef really only comes from farming techniques associated with the Wagyu cattle raised in Kobe, Japan. Most of you know the farming techniques includes daily massages with sake and feeding the cows beer to increase the appetite and relax them.

Clearly this technique has an effect on fat content, as according to some people the ratio reaches 20%meat/80%fat (to give you an example of comparison, a McDonalds hamburger is something like 70/30) Yes, four times more fat than meat in a steak. And a reverse in comparison to most beef.

This is insane nuts. This is crazy.

Does that even sound appetizing? It should!

How many of you have had foie gras? It's like that, but... steak.

Anyways.

The ability then, to produce large quantities of this steak is of course, extremely limited. Combined with large demand for delicious top quality cow, and you have prices for something like 50 dollars a 150 gram steak (that's about a 5 ouncer), or 300 dollars to the pound.

To be truthful, there is all sorts of Wagyu beef in Japan, and in many ways it seems redundant to go all the way out to Kobe to just try steak. Let alone more than once. Especially considering the whole issue with "hyper branding" in Japan. (which I covered in a previous blog here). In fact, it's very possible that Wagyu vs Kobe have almost little to no serious distinction.

But all I know is that Kobe beef is mighty delicious. And it requires proper technique to produce good results.

Let's examine the ways I enjoyed such steak. (photobomb alert)

Day one, I went to a recommended restaurant called "SteakLand Kobe"

For added effect they have TWO signs, and one is just a legit steak.

This restaurant cooks their steak teppanyaki, 鉄板焼き (quite literally iron plank grill, I love japanese!) style, meaning... er... on a big ol flattop in front of you. For 70 bucks, you get all the fixins. First they serve you filler

Seared scallops, shrimp (head and body, DELICIOUS) and a few root veggies

This also comes with salad, soup, rice, Japanese pickles (tsukemono), and smoked salmon of all things

Then the big boy. The steak.

This is not all mine, there was a guy sitting next to me

You'll notice that the steak is... really really pink. More on that later.

They had trimmed off a piece of the fat cap surrounding this steak, which they then fried up and melted down.

Mmmmm... beef fat.

This is then used to cook some beansprouts and cabbage that comes with your meal.

God... that is evil

You can see the juice just running off the beef, pooling onto the plate. All delicious cow. Also notice the glossy threads of fat through the muscle tissue. This is some rich stuff.

I kind of liked how they cut the steak for me... though honestly the pieces were still not bite sized.

You can't see it, but it was served with garlic chips and a dipping sauce.

To me, this idea of pairing up too much with the food itself, which is so rich and flavorful, is unfortunate. Simple is best when you have essentially one of the finest ingredients in the world at your disposal, let it shine.

In my opinion.

But still, you have the option to eat it as you like, and it was cooked perfectly medium rare, the fat melted and smooth. When you chew this stuff, it turns to liquid, because so little of the beef is actually protein at all. Again... very foie gras like.

SO UMMMM THAT STEAK WAS GOOD.

Came with a yuzu sorbet and coffee at the end. The acidity is a good roundout for the richness of the meat.

Overall, very satisfying.

Day two, I cannot say the same.

I hadn't originally planned on eating steak that day (or ever for that matter), but Kobe has a cute little Chinatown area that I decided to have dinner in. They have all sorts of stalls selling Gyoza, ramen, chinese dishes, etc. One of the stalls was serving kobe beef samplings for just 500 yen. I couldn't pass up the deal.

Folks, I am usually for cheap eats, but in this case, I think you frequently get what you pay for. This was not cooked well, slathered with a overbearing sauce, low end stuff. It didn't even come close to day one.

DAY THREE though, man... back on track!

After realizing I had eaten Kobe beef twice in a row, I decided to round out the trip with a 3rd attempt. Three times a charm after all. Except this time, I went to a very acclaimed restaurant named A-1 steak. Openning in Kobe quite some time ago, the restaurant is now a chain within the Kobe area serving up the goods.

This place cooks your steak, to order of course, in a different fashion, something like a combination of grilling and flambe-ing.

For 60 bucks you get soup, wine, rice, those Japanese pickles, miso soup, and STEAK.

Setting the steak aflame!

The platter he sets ablaze with brandy is really steak covered in delicious, caramelized vegetables, served on cast iron heated plates that actually continue to cook it, rendering more of that OH SO necessary fat.

Glistening, omygoodness

Also clearly lovely. Both very delicious, day one and day 3.

But one thing I MUST point out with Kobe beef.

It's not... beefy.

Like when we think of steak, we think of that deep iron tasting rich meat, high notes beefy smell, deep broody, musky flavor. Kobe beef has the richness, but the actual deep dark flavor is missing, in fact, kobe beef's over all flavor profile is extremely sublime and subtle. It's delicious, but it's hard to compare it to normal cattle.

Combining this fact with the actual color of the meat, which as I mentioned is very light pink, and originally, farmers found that people WEREN'T buying the stuff in America, because the concept of what is "beef" is so different in the states from this Wagyu profile. So Wagyu now are actually bred with Angus cattle to produce somewhat of a hybrid in America, darker flesh and more meaty flavor, but a cut from the amount of fat marbling.

Anyways, this entry is massive so...

Um....

Kobe beef is delicious. Wagyu beef is delicious. Beef is delicious. If you love food, you should try it. You can even find some places that make it amazingly, without spending hundreds of dollars a person.

Now, I have adventures to seek out.

Up up and awayyy!

Nara In Reflection

Nara is something I think everyone needs to see when they come to Japan.

And I don't say this purely on the basis of Nara's fame: it's huge sprawling historical landmarks. Though I think anyone studying Japanese deserves to see the history of this fascinating culture, most of which seems buried beneath the modern thriving technological mass world. Tokyo towers over the feeble, old, shrines and temples of the historical world.

To be fair, Kyoto is surely visited just as much if not more than Tokyo by tourists, and it has more temples than one can count, but many of these temples are still inlaid in city, concrete piling up over them. It makes the experience impersonal, distant, and to me at least, some of the cohesiveness is greatly reduced. When you're in a beautiful temple and you see a office building pop up over the gate, it makes things odd.

No, I say people need to see Nara because the town just feels... personal.

I think with any trend of a city growing, the people become distant, seperate, individual. Tokyo is a great example of this because of so many people coming from other places to work. Groups disolve into individuals living life.

Nara is as much a place of tourism for Japanese culture as it is a real town, with real communities of individuals living life. And this sense of people actually living life is easily accessible, because the so called touristy areas are just... in housing and life. Across the street from Houryuuji temple, ie. the oldest temple in Japan, built in the 600s, are people's houses! Can you imagine living next to something that's 1300-1400 years old? And actually living there? Like... living!

I suppose my fascination with Japan lies mostly in how I am always distant from the real lives of individuals due to my foreigner status. But when I take a walk down the streets of Nara, I feel that sense of realism, like I have fallen into a very real world filled with interacting groups of people. It's not just a city with people coming in to work, and then leaving. It's not just a place were people go to see stuff. These roles exist too, yes, but in truth Nara is a town where people just do what we're supposed to, they live.

This combination of living among something extremely important is fascinating to me, and personal, and moving.

And even a point of tourism, this place has really cool stuff! Nara is legitimately beautiful. Parks, trees, nature is everywhere, the temples are magnificent, and the architecture of even peoples houses is reminiscent of something old and sacred.

I can't help but be amazing by the intense beauty of this town.

And the food! The food was amazing! Little mom and pop shops that have been open for 40 years. The town just feels PERSONAL.

Two examples of amazing food come to mind. All in one day mind you.

Roost Cafe, about 20 minutes from Houryuuji.

Roost is an amazing cafe that takes old world Japanese cuisine and applies new world twists to it. The interior is ironically decorated with African items (I still don't get this part), but the food is very Japanese. For 10 dollars you get this:

Beautiful

Extremely well presented, 6 little tiny dishes of Okazu (お菜), or side dishes on the left, tofu, potatoes, wakame, stewed onions, among others, and to the right, a salad of tomatoes, garlic, and lettuce, with lightly breaded and fried salmon, with roasted tomato mayonnaise. And rice. And miso soup. And amazing coffee.

For 10 dollars. Just... insane.

Along with that.

THE BEST produce I HAVE EVER TASTED IN MY LIFE. I had the pleasure of walking by a local farm and purchased some strawberries. They were all about the size of your thumb, and they MELT in your mouth, fragrant and ungodly sweet, hints of rose and mint behind the EXPLOSION of strawberry. Just insane! INSANE! And across the street, a temple from the 700s. Like... wtf?

Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka, how come Nara just owned you on the trip in terms of food?

It's just an incredible place.

I'm sure I am not fully getting my emotions across through this blog, so I'll just say this. Nara was amazing. It has been hands down one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

Osaka in Reflection

Y'know, I came into Osaka expecting one or two things.

A. It would be a crazy, completely different world, a heaven on earth divided from the usual stereotypical Japan, where originality and creativity blossom and thrive.

OR

B. Another big 'ol city with dudes who really really hate foreigners.

And it turned out that it was... erm... neither really. And kind of both at the same time.

Certainly one aspect is true: Osaka is not foreigner friendly. Very rarely are signs in English, nor menus, or staff. (this isn't really a problem to me, but I can imagine for non Japanese speakers this is easily the biggest turnoff of them all). They try... but... y'know... it's not really Tokyo in terms of foreign tourism. Though it's the second largest city in Japan, when more statistically comparing it to Tokyo there is no question in terms of size, Tokyo has around 17 million people, Osaka only 2.1 (3 if you count commuters). This discrepancy is obvious from the get go, as naturally then, for many foreign tourists, Osaka seems to be tossed aside.

This is a shame though, because Osaka was actually very fascinating in its own regard. And I hate to continuously compare it to Tokyo (since I'm sure I will), but both are expansive cities on the coast of Japan that have created an epicenter of culture, food, business and trade, and even personal dialects. I remember reading about the "centers" theory of Japanese culture: how Japan comprised of two center cities that created everything media and socially, spreading it to the rest, and Osaka and Tokyo are those two cities.

To me, the similarity yet clear distinction is rather remarkable.

One of the first I noticed, and I'm sure I'm not the first to point this out, but people in Osaka, when standing in an escalator, stand on the OPPOSITE side of that of Tokyoites or Sapporians. (lulz sapporians thatisntawordmike shutup!). In other words, while letting the people in a rush pass, people in Osaka stand on a different side than people in Tokyo.

Well... that's just... weird really...

Stuff is just tweaked a little bit to be different. And lovely. And interesting.

Food also comes to mind as rather different, in a delightful way of course. Okonomiyaki has a different texture and method (for more info check out my friend's blog here). Street foods are idealized and heightened to gourmet status in restaurants. (Like imagine a hotdog being sold at a 4 star). And it's clearly 100% delicious.

The city is busy, but not... as... busy.

And, well, culture seems far more deep rooted. Osaka has 1300 year old temples after all. Amongst the concrete jungle inlaid are small temples, awkward in their composition as they are dwarfed by the surrounding buildings. but remarkably gem like. Tokyo, unfortunately due to WW2, doesn't have this feel. It's all just... new.

And yet... much like Tokyo, it seems so, impersonal. I just feel like everyone is coming to Osaka city for a "little bit". Then they leave. (Which is true, the population multiplies by 50% during the day). It distances it, makes it seem mirage like, the realism of such a place is distant.

But it's just... different. It's still Japan, still familiar in its own right, but it's just not quite the Japan that people stereotype. And I enjoy that.

I always like knowing that culture is more complex than we've made it out to be.

Nara next!

I FOUND NOT AWFUL PIZZA IN JAPAN!!

As most of the three people reading this may know, I loves me some food. Specifically, I am a kid born in the Chicagoland are. By land I mean as close as physically possible without actually living there, but you Chicagoans get moody when I describe myself as "from Chicago", so "land" it is.

Chicago has one food I'm sure we all know of. Deep. Dish. Pizza.

And I luvvvvv deep dish pizza. If you scroll back the clock on this blog you'll see my last meal in the states was deep dish. Um. Delicious.

But in Japan, deep dish pretty much doesn't exist. So I have to settle for regular, which is fine really, since delicious pizza is still good pizza.

That is, if I could find a good pizza place. It seems like American style pizza is just completely missing from the tastes of Japanese.

The reason, however, is actually fairly straight forward. Although Chicagoans and New Yorkers sure disagree on which of their pizzas is better, you can bet that they agree on one thing: the crust is the most important part. Any American pizza lover will agree to this. Without a delicious, flavorful crust, pizza falls flat. Be it crispy, buttery, soft, thin, thick, whatever your prefference, pizza crust is the maker and breaker in a good pie

And this is the mega issue here in Japan, because the idea of praising the crust, making it just as imporant as the toppings, is nonexistant. Mind you, Japanese attention to quality within ingredients is the best in the world, but here it seems, the majority of pizza crust is more like a textured delivery device for the wonderful (and sometimes odd) toppings.

So my quest to find American style pizza has existed since arriving here.

And I do believe I found something close today in Tokyo.

SHAKEY'S is an American chainthat recently opened up shop in Tokyo. They have stores scattered over the city, and for ¥850 at lunch, or ¥1100 at dinner, you can enjoy an entire pizza buffet. All you can eat.

I entered the hall, payed my 850, picked up a few small slices. As I was lifting them to my plate, I noticed the granules of corn meal on the bottom of the crust.

"Oh shit... This might be legit"

My first slice, double cheese. As I tasted it, my eyes lit up. "This tastes like... Decent American pizza!!"

Indeed Shakey's has managed to make pizza in a way that doesn't totally ruin the crust, it's crispy and flavorful. Though this is by no suggestion the most amazing pizza I've tasted, I have to applaud the effort of this chain.

New Vlog: Windows 7 Whopper, 7 patties of win

If the embed isn't working, click the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6phhhzQKz8

New Vlog: My Hotel Room in Tokyo

If the embed isn't working, click the link below to go to the video directly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WwnwERU1dM

Goodbye Nagano, Hello Tokyo!

I just want to write this to thank the Ikegaki family for hosting me as they have in the past. This is without a doubt an amazing family, and I am constantly inspired and impressed by their kindness. In the four years that I've known them they have been everything I could want in a host family, and I cannot express my gratitude enough to them

Plus I mean, I think this photo is a pretty good summary of my time here


Oh yes, the dog eats with us. It is awesome.

And he actually might like me now? Dangggg Mike that is bawlerrrrrr!

So I've had some amazing times here in Nagano much thanks to this wonderful family. vlog coming soon I hope. We attempted to see Mt. fuji, it was an awesome time.

In the meantime! I'm off to the real adventure, as I trek Japan ALONE.

Schedule has been changed greatly since I posted it, next up is Tokyo (which I leave for in like 5 hours) and then Osaka!

In fact the majority of my trip will be in the Kansai area. Schwing!

PUMPED!

Doll Festival Shtuff

So I like cliche Japanese stuff, sue me.

Today my host mom took me to see some Hinamatsuri dolls that had been assembled nearby.

Apparently I under estimated the sheer number of dolls they would have. Something like thousands.

Yes it is that massive, this is just one room!

Crazy level of detail in these figures. But they're strangely similar

They're set up in a very specific order, and families used to pass them down to married couples. My host mom would have hers if there was still room in the house (oh goodness). People who no longer want theirs apparently give then away, and usually this means giving it to one of these places?

I'm not sure, she said this all in Japanese and I don't feel like wikipedia-ing it.

This place was kind of like a "doll" museum though, they even had some old ones from America!

Chip and Dale??

Anyways, that is all. Doll festival begins on March 3rd, but this place will be around showing off stuff till around April. Wowzerz dolls.