東京の秋の物語

fall semester in tokyo, japan

[aki-no-kure]

So Rika-san's not home and I didn't go to class today because I slept in inordinately late and have been feeling headachy and somewhat fragile due to PMS. But anyway.

It's just me and Obaasan again and we started talking about family. I learned that Rika-san is in fact divorced, and though Obaasan is actually her brother-in-law stays here because she loves her grandson. And she went and found a bunch of old family pictures and pictures of Issei (the son) and showed them to me and told me about them

and then told me never to tell Rika-san about this because she will get upset. I was really curious about their family situation, but I guess it's good that I held out on straight-up asking her as that might have been bad. I have the sense that she doesn't like looking to the past. 

Getting this glimpse into the family history makes me feel much more like part of the family, though. And Obaasan is still kind of hard for me to initiate conversation with, as she's kind hard to understand, but I hope I can make it clear that I appreciate her as a person with a lot of history and stories to tell, and a lot of love for her family, including this unrelated, foreign stranger who they have no reason to care for as much as they do except that they want to and that's something that amazes me every day.

[aki-no-kure]

Me: I'm gonna take a bath.

Rika-san: I'm really hungry.

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Rika-san: Did it rain today?

Me: Yeah, around noon.

Rika-san: Really? Just a little?

Me: Yeah, just a little.

Rika-san: It was too cold today so I didn't go outside...

Me: ...Did you just watch TV?

Rika-san: Oh... yeah. *laughs*

Me: All day??

Rika-san: And I drank tea all day.

Me: What? Did you eat lunch? (she asks me about lunch every day)

Rika-san: ...I just drank tea.

Me: *stares at her* Well, I guess that's Saturday...

[aki-no-kure]

Went to the Cup Noodles Museum today and got to make our own chicken ramen and custom Cup Noodles. Naturally Okami ensued. My ramen katamari ended up looking pretty dark close to the real thing.

[aki-no-kure]

I feel like I've gotten so used to life here that nothing is really spectacular enough to write in depth about XP

However I have just had a life-changing experience with shokupan and that is the wonder that is fresh-baked shokupan.

Shokupan (standard bread eaten with breakfast, think of the kind you buy sliced in bags in aisles at the grocery store but thicker and fluffier and not even trying to fool you with "whole wheat goodness" or whatever. This is shameless, straight-up white bread) is pretty meh when eaten plain, but it's good toasted, and usually topped with butter or jam or something as a vehicle for other flavors. I prefer my bread as-is, but sometimes put maple syrup on my toast here... but the point is that you just don't want to eat plain shokupan. It's soft and weird because it's meant to maintain moisture and fluffiness when toasted.

Freshly baked shokupan brought home from a bakery, though, is like eating a yeast-filled cumulus cloud that was cut into rectangles and  developed a thin but crispy crust in the sun. Warm and fluffy and slightly buttery, as good fresh bread should be, with perfection found in the simplicity of its form. 

There's something to be said for the familiarity and ubiquity of this kind of bread in Japan, and eating it like this makes it one of the best comfort foods. 

[aki-no-kure]

I finally got to have a real conversation with Obaasan and that was really nice. Usually she speaks so quickly and kind of jarringly without much articulation, so I can't even hear half of what she's saying and I can only reply in single words, but this morning it was just the two of us drinking tea at the table and talking about studying abroad, her restaurant, her family, why I like Japan, and so on. I felt like there was kind of a barrier before but I think I'm going to feel more comfortable now. Last night Rika-san came home late from a gathering with people from work; I asked her how it was and she just said "I'm tired. And it smelled like cigarette smoke." But she's going to Omotesando with a friend today, and she was REALLY excited because she could go to the Chinese tea shop I keep talking about. I told her about it and showed her where it is on a map, and she got really into it. I wonder what she'll bring back xD I'm still deciding whether I want to go shopping today or stay at home, catch up on some things and do homework. Maybe go for a bike ride. Maybe bike to the pond and do homework there and watch birds and hope there are no mosquitoes. Hmm.

[aki-no-kure]

(People on TV are talking about the book/character Heidi) Rika-san: "Heidi was everywhere when I was a child." Me: "Yeah? I saw it a lot too, but I only got about halfway through it." Rika-san: "What? Were you too young?" Me: "I thought it was boring. Nothing happened. No magic or adventures." Rika-san: "You didn't like it? Didn't you have dreams??"

[aki-no-kure]

十人十色

Juu-nin-to-iro: I learned this phrase from a Kanda student today, Literally, it means "ten people, ten colors"--if you have ten people, you have ten different people. Everyone has their own color; some may be similar, but they are all distinct. 

[aki-no-kure]

This here is the best tendon I've ever had and looking at this photo makes me want to eat it all over again.

We rode our bikes back to the Edo River again this morning, took an old-style ferry across the water, and then walked to a small temple that had the highest concentration of intricate wood carvings I've probably ever seen. Across from the temple is a row of wagashi shops and restaurants, including this Yamato-ya tendon shop.

Tendon, a tempura rice bowl with sauce, is all they serve. They don't even have a menu. You just tell them how many orders you want, and unless you specify that you just want tempura, you get tendon. You can also get oden, but I don't know why you would.

The thing about tendon is that it usually spoils the most alluring quality of tempura, which is its light fluffy crispiness. Sauce just makes it soggy. But this place somehow made a sauce--whether they coat the tempura with it after or mix it in somehow I have no idea--that has the sauce flavor and moistness while maintaining the fresh crunchiness that is so dear to our hearts. Furthermore, this restaurant skips the vegetables, and aside from a small bitter green pepper your meal consists of a large shrimp and a fillet of fish, a variety I don't remember seeing in tempura plates in the US but is standard here. Thin yet moist and tender. They narrowed their ingredients down to a few of the best to create a satisfying meal that's also easy to prepare en masse. You can also watch the chef frying it all up at the front of the store.

[aki-no-kure]

Went to a little festival with Rika-san--apparently she didn't realize how small it actually was XD But there was big stage with old guys in business suits doing karaoke and an audience of older people, probably listening while their kids/grandkids were off playing or just chilling with friends.

I tried amazake, which is like a thick sweet sake with hardly any alcohol. It seems to be made of fermented rice but mashed and thinned with water? It's really thick and has pulpy things in it. The texture was actually nice but it was way too sweet. I took too small sips before deciding not to force myself to drink more, which was wise because my stomach grew a little rebellious a few seconds later. 

There were a few of the usual festival game booths that kids were crowding around, and some nice ikebana arrangements featuring chrysanthemums. 

Also, it's started to get really cold at night. I'm wearing a long skirt over tights and a pullover hoodie, indoors and out.

[aki-no-kure]

Apparently there was an earthquake at around 12:30 last night, about 100 miles east, so what I thought was the wind incredibly shaking my bed probably actually an earthquake. In the middle of a typhoon. Amazing.

[aki-no-kure]

I asked Rika-san if she wants to believe.

She wants to believe.

*cue X-Files theme*

[aki-no-kure]

Kappabashi-dori (in Asakusa) had a kitchen ware festival this week. The whole street is lined with shops selling everything from basic utensils to fine art dishes to restaurant appliances and bulk materials to sanpuru (those famous plastic food displays). Sanpuru are considerably more expensive than the real thing. It was over $100 for a maybe $35 unagi dish XD Very well-made, though, and fun to look at. Of course they're meant for use by restaurants, but anyone can buy them.

I also found this lovely cup~

[aki-no-kure]

Went to the Kappabashi-dori kitchen goods festival and bought a pretty mug and a dragon-shaped cookie cutter. Because who wouldn't want to eat cookies shaped like dragons?

Yesterday we went to Kamakura, which was BEAUTIFUL, and an old man praised me for knowing how to bow at Shinto shrines (not everyone in Japan knows the proper way). I told him I'd done it before but somehow he seemed really moved by it. Yesterday was also a popular day for Kamakura weddings, so I got to see some Shinto wedding procedures first-hand. My favorite part was the sangaku orchestra playing Etenraku, including someone playing a sho. (Although it's always Etenraku, almost. When I hear gagaku, I'm surprised if it's something else.) My host mother continues to insist that I am actually Japanese. I insist that everything I know is too old and outside of common sense to be so.

[aki-no-kure]

Went to go check out Makuhari Seaside Park after school. The actual seaside area was nothing to write home about, although the giant plant sea creatures were cool. (That one thing that looks like a cross between an octopus and a tick--neither I nor my host mother can figure out what it is--if it's anything??) But you could walk through the fish and it was... actually quite beautiful inside. Otherwise it was fairly empty, with previous attractions shut down, wading pools and play structures that looked like they had been really fun a long time ago.

The beach area was also not very pretty, being extremely straight and closely flanked by construction and industrial/commercial centers, but it made for interesting people-watching. These features probably have everything to do with the fact that New Makuhari is built on what used to be ocean--all of the land up to a little beyond where the Kanda campus is was artificially made. (Good job, Maxie.) I've been told that sea water tends to seep up to the surface during earthquakes.

The central part of the park, near Kaihin Makuhari Station, was much more popular, and featured a giant clock built into a hill and covered with marigolds (I imagine they are changed seasonally), a huge hill were families and kids were playing and flying kites, a giant sunhat-shaped shaded area, and some really big spiders. At first I thought they were cool because I can't remember seeing spiders that large in the wild before, and they had really pretty colors, yellow and red. But after I saw a few too many I got kind of freaked out... They like to build webs in the middle of the air between trees and stuff, so you don't have to look hard to find them... (fun fact: these spiders are jorogumo)

There's also a garden that looks like it might be really pretty later in fall. I really can't wait for the season of red leaves. They're taking their time to turn.

On a side note, I finally obtained gyokuro koucha--for the uninitiated, gyokuro is a rare green tea, shaded for a few weeks before harvest to increase the chlorophyll in the leaves, creating a surprisingly light and sweet taste, but this gyokuro was turned into black tea, which itself is rare in Japan--after the tea store apparently forgot to order more, I was able to arrange to have some delivered from another store. It smells like chocolate. It's incredible. 

Tomorrow is Kamakura with Rika-san~

[aki-no-kure]

Some things I talk about with my host mother:

genetic properties of taste (liking cilantro, tasting PTC)

puns in Pokemon names (English and Japanese)

tea (a lot. we talk about tea a lot)

different meanings of "mansion" and other words

no I did not go to the Pokemon center just to get some pins

why Americans probably think udon is unhealthy (I was surprised when she praised my lunch choice)

the inner workings of weather phenomena

why Chinese isn't actually that hard to understand

glottal stops

[aki-no-kure]

Its center passed roughly overhead and is now well on its way back to the ocean. The rain has mostly subsided, though it has become very windy, with strong gusts that rattle the house. The cloud cover is decidedly lighter. Overall we got a little over a foot of rain.