月別アーカイブ: 2008年6月

Okonomiyaki a la Hiroshima

One of my favorite Japanese dish is okonomiyaki お好み焼き. It is like a pancake filled with an egg, cabbage, meat and different sea products (shrimps, calmar, etc.). These pancakes are then covered with a sweet sauce, bonito flakes and seaweed in powder.

There are two kinds of okonomiyaki, those of the Kansai region (Osaka) and those of Hiroshima. The latter is caracterized by the fact it is served on Japanese noodles, yakisoba 焼きそば. During my stay in Hiroshima, I even tried some served on thick noodles called udon うどん.

Hiroshima being famous for its oysters, I also tried okonomiyaki with grilled oysters. It was delicious !

Sumo

Last season we went to watch a sumo match in Ryugoku. It was so much FUN!!! We had a great time and althought we weren’ts suppose to throw our pillows we did anyway. It is so amazing how fast sumo wrestlers can move and throw eachother to the ground. They are very skillfull!! I really like sumo and we have decided to go to every tournament from now on.

Traditional Japanese wedding

In march, I went to the Yushima-tenjin shrine near Ueno to watch the plum flowers. The plum flowers festival that is held there every year was already over, but I had the chance to attend another spectacle.

On that day was held a shinto wedding ceremony. The braid was wearing a splendid white kimono. Inside the main building, the priest (kannushi 神主) was recitating chants while music was played with a shô 笙, a traditional instrument of Chinese origin also called “mouth organ”.

At the end of the ceremony, the couple crossed a small bridge linking the main building to another one, preceded by the priest and followed by the families and friends.

I was a bit disappointed not to have been able to see the plum flowers festival, but happy to have attended another unusual event.

Tolerance

Last week I was confronted by my japanese roommate who thought wearing house slippers wasn’t appropriate and not a ‘japanese’ custom. I was very shocked that she had complained to me about this as I had seen many japanese wear house slippers in their house. I wonder if she simply doesn’t like foreigners and wants to intimidate me??

The Kintai-kyô bridge in Iwakuni

When I was in Hiroshima, I made a short trip to the town of Iwakuni. There is a 5-arches wooden bridge crossing the Nishiki river. It’s the Kintai-kyô 錦帯橋 bridge.

It was built in 1673 by Kodama Kurôemon under an order from the local lord, Kikkawa Hiroyoshi. It was destroyed by a typhoon in 1950 and rebuilt in 1953. The bridge is 210 metres in length. It cost 300 Yen to cross it both ways.