Shopping in Japan: Old School

You Know the Place... 

When you were little, your folks or grandparents took you shopping. Not a huge mall most likely, and (I presume you're not under 15 but if you are, take my word) def not on a phone or computer screen. 

Nope, I'm talking about a little shop where they knew everyone, or a funky strip mall, or even, if you are very lucky, a covered shopping arcade!

Mom, with me on the left and sister Sanny in the background, in late 1967. We shopped in a lot in arcades in Columbus, OH. Dad had the car for work, so we hopped on the bus.

Shopping arcades were largely slain by the big malls by 1980. But a few beauties remain: anyone within striking distance of the Uptown Shopping Center in Richland WA can enjoy its mid-century modern glory.  

Photo from https://www.facebook.com/uptownshopping/. This is on the National Register! (https://www.nps.gov/places/000/uptown-shopping-center.htm)

Before the era of food courts, tiny restaurants and cafes in the arcades were where you put down your shopping bags and rested your feet; kids got cokes and sandwiches, and parents had a coffee and a smoke. Yep, 1970s. 

Now Imagine This Funky Shopping Nostalgia, Japanese Style

In Japan, covered shopping arcades (shōtengai, 

商店街) date to the '40s; before that were unpaved and unroofed. Descended from the old winding shopping streets, shōtengai are slowly disappearing.

North entrance to Ishibashi Shopping Street on a sunny Saturday. There are probably 15 ways to enter this sinuous, dragon shaped shopping arcade.

Luckily, the one near my local train station usually has a steady stream of students and old timers - the elderly probably make up 60+% of shoppers here - and one gaijin  (foreigner), me. I've never seen another here! 

Haircuts, pharmacies, bakeries, flower and veggie vendors, cheap baggy clothes, sneakers with weird names, chicken and octopus tenders, and little bars and ramen joints are all on offer.

After an hour or so I'm all shopped out. Time for a bowl of ramen in one of the teeny noodle joints here ... apparent rule of thumb: down-home Japanese restaurants do not seat more than 15!

 The young guys behind the counter had black do-rags on their heads, and wore white galoshes (is it really that soupy back there?)

Ahhhh, hot miso ramen topped with crunchy tangy green scallions!

Some might say a cold Asahi beer is not needed with a bowl of savory ramen, but they are just WRONG. 

Do the Shōtengai Have a Future?

I am so glad the shōtengai have, unlike American shopping arcades, survived. Even Covid 19 didn't carry them off. But like all my Japanese friends over 40, I bite my nails about their future (https://japan-forward.com/corona-ni-makeruna-shotengai-traditional-shopping-streets-breathe-life-into-tokyos-neighborhoods/ has a nice writeup). 

A haiku quintet to honor the little shopping arcades.

Humble shops dreaming

of profits: "Big sale today!"

"Welcome, customers!"

Old women peering

at price tags: "Too expensive!

Better deals next door...?"

Coins and bills passed from

wrinkled hands to wrinkled hands

"Arigato," bowing.

(Elsewhere, gleaming malls

teem with busy families

paying with smart phones)... 

But, frozen in time,

This shopping arcade abides - 

Shōtengai of Souls.

***

https://blog.gaijinpot.com/shotengai-exploring-the-nostalgic-pulse-of-japans-local-shopping-streets/

Weird Dessert is Good Dessert

'What is your favorite dessert?'

If you want to start a great conversation, just ask someone. This is true everywhere, and East Asia is no exception. 

You might recall a beloved Taiwan dessert featured in my Nov. 3rd blog: tofu pudding, or douhua 豆花. You can enjoy douhua hot on a cold rainy evening, or icy cold and refreshing on a hot tropical afternoon.

This is silken textured with a gentle sweet flavor of cane sugar. Peanuts, sweet red beans, and black tapioca pearls are common accompaniments.  

Some Japanese desserts continue to be enjoyed both in Taiwan and Japan. One of these is Imagawayaki (今川焼き). This popular treat wraps sweetened white or red bean paste in a crispy pancake covering and is super addictive. 

I grab a few of these every week from my local Gozasoro shop at the Yamada Monorail shopping center. It's fun to watch them being made...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLF5hWK3IfY&vl=ja

The covering is crispy, and the filling has a down-home flavor that is sometimes nutty, sometimes like butterscotch.

Daifuku mochi (大福餅) 

Next up: Mochi. Where to begin? They are in every restaurant, train station, and 7-11. They can morph into almost any shape, color, flavor, or filling. 

Daifuku mochi are filled with the red bean paste I keep referring to...right now, strawberries are in season (yes, in winter!?) For Christmas, the vendors are offering mochi with different fillings, each cut open like a little Pac-man, and stuffed with a fresh strawberry.  

The pink one had a sweet red bean paste filling, the white one had sweet custard, and the brown one had chocolate custard. These were so fine they melted before I could really chew them. 

Wagashi (和菓子) 

These are a special member of the mochi family: exquisitely crafted and often adorable tiny treats intended for enjoyment with tea ceremony. 

How adorable, you ask? Simply do a search for 'wagashi' and click Images, and you'll see what I mean!

Turnip (蕪 Kabano)Wagashi mochi: so cute I almost didn't want to eat it. Almost.

I nibbled my turnip wagashi with a most welcome cup of hot matcha in late autumn...

Unlike Western desserts, most traditional Asian desserts are devoid of animal products like milk, eggs, or butter. This might mean they are healthier ... I dunno ... I mean, who cares?? 

But, to try and answer the question at the beginning of this blog: I can't pick my fave!! They are all good in their own ways. And the good news is, there are LOTS more to discover. 

Ramen Hacks Revealed, A Mysterious Fossil, and an Enchanted Crocodile Princess

Surf and Turf Ramen?

Remember we were going to talk about ramen hacks? Here's one from an adventuresome friend of mine: " Throw away flavoring pack, add low sodium chicken broth. Add a package of tuna and warm to boiling. Add egg and cook until it is cooked to your preference."

Wow. That's a good one. There are two others in the RameNirvana blogpost of Dec. 6th, in the 'comments' section...

Before I share my favorites, here are some fails: Cheese of any kind (unless you like salty bubble gum that is nearly impossible to clean off the pan); spam (speaking of dying from a salt overdose!); salsa (I know, it was the only other thing in the kitchen); mayo (nuff said). 

Successful (in my humble opinion) hacks: yes, an egg! Also: broccoli or chopped cabbage (boil them, then add the noodles); tofu cubes; frozen corn or peas; sesame oil if you have it; and you can never go wrong with chopped green onions. 

Try 'em all!   

OK, now crocodiles. 

It All Starts With A Cute Mascot

I live in a university researcher dorm at the University of Osaka. This little number is on many of the signs around campus. His name (I've been told it's male) is Dr. Wani. I wonder if he is tenured yet.

Yep, I'm cute. Probably tenure-track.

This is what I teach classes in!

What does a crocodile have to do with a university in Japan you might ask? 

Yay, a Japanese Fossil!

Well, in the 1960s during parking lot construction, workers unearthed the nearly complete skeleton of a 2-million year-old, very large, crocodile!  

The skeleton of Toyotamaphimeia machikanensis now graces the wall of the University museum.

Note the paleontologist's white slip-on leisure shoes. He looks so happy. I love this guy.   

It's a Crocodile's Life (Nasty, Brutish, and about 27 Feet Long...)

This fossil had major injuries. One of the hind legs was severely broken and re-healed, with weird bony lumps. There were big tooth punctures in the armored 'scutes' on its back. And, somebody bit off half the lower jaw of this huge croc, but it managed to get by anyway!

 

I can still eat snails and turtles!

A Scaley Yet Beautiful Princess from Mythical Times...

The unusual genus name of Toyotamaphimeia comes from a Princess. But not a Cinderella type princess: a much more impressive one!

This enchanting princess was the daughter of the Dragon King of the Sea. She fell in love with a volcanic prince, Hoori, and agreed to live on land with him. But when she became pregnant she asked him to give her absolute privacy during the birth. Naturally, he peeked...

 Princess Toyotama gives birth by turning herself into a dragon. From a set of prints (Azuma nishiki chuya kurabe), “Edo Embroidery Pictures.” The series published by Kobayashi Tetsujirō in 1886.

...and saw his child being cradled by a huge crocodile (or dragon some say). Poor Princess Toyotama was horrified and abandoned her child, returning to the sea forever. My haiku to honor the tale/tail:

Don't look! she told him.

But he did, they always do.

So, Sayonara.

Dr. Wani thanks you for listening. Now go try some ramen.

Deadliest cocktail in the world?

Before I begin...

I promised to share my best packaged ramen hacks. But, want to give you guys time to weigh in with your own! Please enter your favorite ways to customize and hopefully, improve packaged ramen, in the comments section for my December 6 post about the Ramen Expo (or this one). Now, on to my first Japan cocktail post!

Japan likes to live on the edge.

Beneath the calm and polite veneer of Japanese everyday life I've been able to perceive some of the traditions of a samurai past: bold, risk taking, competitive, and even silly. One example is their love of eating fugu, or the puffer fish.

These unique fish have spines all over, and puff up when threatened. They also harbor a deadly toxin. Yet the people of Japan have been eating them for at least 3,000 years, before even agriculture.  

Chefs must take a special training and become certified before they can handle this fish!

Deadly Cocktails.

So...last night I had dinner with Museum friends. We had fabulous sushi, unbelievably fresh, in a restaurant that was so tiny it had seating for maybe 20 people, 6 of them at the counter.

A nice fishy gelatin appetizer, very delicate in flavor, with salty tangy dashi sauce.

Osaka's own Goshun sake, smooth as velvet, no, smooth as gelatin. This was our warm up drink.

Tender mackerel or saba slices with a bit of ginger.

Squid, salmon eggs, and toro or tuna belly, which literally melts in your mouth. Japan is a member of a group of nations that have successfully brought Pacific blue tuna back from the brink: this beautiful fish is on its way to recovery.

They encouraged me to try a pufferfish (fugu) fin cocktail, called hirazake in Japanese. The fugu expert chef behind the counter just pulled the poor fish out of the tank and thunked it on the head. The fins were cut off and charred with a small torch, then popped in a cup and hot sake was poured over. The cap was put on and the whole thing allowed to steep for about 5 minutes. 

Here it is: the Deadliest Cocktail as American bartenders like to breathlessly call hirazake. 

Nope, I didn't keel over.

Obviously, the chefs knew their craft!

There was a slight fishiness to the drink, but basically a nice salty char reminiscent of piles of leaves burning and a warm slide into the belly... This is a seasonal, late fall/early winter cocktail, and mostly an older guys' beverage, they say. 

After finishing the drink I nibbled on the fin too, and my Japanese friends all went, oooh!! I guess I impressed them? They told me that quite a few people do die each year from consuming fugu. The rest of this fish was turned into a variety of sashimi dishes for us and other guests...I consider each day after last night, to be a gift!

The dinner party! Rosella, the lady with the dark hair, joined me in drinking the hirazake. 

RameNirvana

Will the real Ramen please stand up?

Most of us have, at some time in our lives, wondered "how do I dress up this Top Ramen?" Maybe many times. (In the comments section, please write your most creative attempt). 

Forgive me: I found this on a meme page (https://i.imgur.com/vEoSG77.jpg) and couldn't resist.

I'll write mine in the next blog...

But I'm here to tell ya, that little block of cheap plastic-wrapped salty goodness might be a lifesaver when you're broke but it ain't real ramen - (これは本当のラーメンではありません！Kore wa hontō no rāmende wa arimasen!)

The Ramen Expo - Total Nirvana

Every year for more than a decade, Osaka's best ramen chefs have competed in a big Expo where you can sample their masterpieces for the equivalent of about $5. 

For two years with Covid, they couldn't do it--so in 2022, there is serious pent-up ramen hunger. 

This Ramen Expo is so awesome, they have paparazzi walls so you can take glam selfies before scarfing noodles. 

Last weekend I joined homegirls from the Museum, Miki, Mayumi, and Makiko, to see what the buzz was about.

After some crispy tender potstickers as an app, we each ordered our own bowls--mine was bouncy al dente noodles in a fiery broth filled with chiles and five spice that steamed up my glasses. 

Mayumi got the uni special (sea urchin gonads, they are better than they sound, velvety like custard). All the bowls were topped with crunchy fresh scallions, of course!

Heavenly pot stickers and a big bowl of fresh ramen. Note the cute narutomaki, the pink spiral is a bit of fish cake common in real ramen bowls. Nope, it's not fishy.

The Ramen Rangers ride again: Miki, Mayumi, Makiko, and me.

Here's the best part, the Ramen Expo will go on for four more weeks. Yeah! So we will have a hot date with more awesome bowls of ramen, each Friday!

Look forward to hearing from you on this one. 

Please don't forget to write your best ramen hack in the comments. Can't wait to see your creativity!!