Okonomiyaki - Japanese Pancake

Okonomiyaki is Japanese pancake, which is thin and flat and is cooked on a hot plate with bits of meats, seafood, and chopped cabbages.

It is easy to cook okonomiyaki even in other countries.  In fact, I cooked okonomiyaki many times when I was in the U.S. although I was just a beginner of cooking.

I'll show you below just a general way to cook okonomiyaki, but you can just arrange it in your own way depending on your favorite taste and availability of ingredients.

First of all, basic ingredients are wheat flour, meat (usually sliced pork or beef), seafood (e.g. shrimp, squid, octopus), chopped cabbages, eggs, and any other stuff you would like to try.

okonomiyaki ingredients

Pour water and flour into a large bowl and put some salts and Japanese instant bouillon called "dashi" if available (see top right of the above picture).  Many Japanese also put grated yam.

grated yam

Stir it until thickened.

Put the ingredients into the thickened soup.

  
As can be seen in the above picture, we usually put deep-fried tempura batter, which adds crisp into okonomiyaki.  However, I think it would be difficult to find the deep-fried tempura batter in other countries.  If you know a tempura restaurant, you can try to ask them.  Or it's OK at all without the batter.

Stir the ingredients.

And put the stuff on a hot plate.

I like to put dried shrimps on the top here and recommend it to you if it's available.

Also, you might like to put a sliced meat on the top here like the below, instead of including chopped meats into oconomiyaki ingredients.

Flip it to its back when the back seems to be baked to a crisp.

Wait til the other side becomes a crisp and the inside is well cooked.

When it's ready, put source, the bonito flakes, and laver on the top.

Or you can put mayonnaise, mustard, or/and ketchup, instead.

Then it's ready to eat!

Very easy to cook, right?

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Tatami Mat: Japanese Style Floor Mat

The room in the above picture is a traditional Japanese style room, and the mats placed on the floor are Japanese style floor mats called "tatami" mats.

A tatami mat is mostly made of straws and is superior in air through, humidity adjustment, air cleaning, and elasticity.

There are some rules about how to place tatami mats on the floor, and the below shows some of the rules.

Rules to place tatami mats

Please note that in the very left one a tatami mat is cut in a half to fit into a square room.

Japanese usually use the number of tatami mats to indicate the size of the room, even though the room is not a Japanese room and is not using tatami mats.

Mats used in the floor of Judo match are also tatami mats, although they are toughened for the bruising match.

Tatami mats in a Judo hall

    

As the life of Japanese people and their rooms become more westernized, the number of Japanese rooms using tatami mats is being reduced.  This might be because more Japanese people feel more relaxed by sitting on a chair rather than on a tatami floor.

Tatami life

The other possible major reason why many Japanese are moving away from a tatami life would be because a tatami mat requires maintenance maybe every 3 to 5 years as the surface of tatami mat wears out, or tatami mat gets moldy.

However, there is a certain trend to arrange a tatami mat to more fashionable one, so that it fits to a modern room.

Tatami mat might survive that way.

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Izakaya: Japanese Pub Restaurant

Izakaya is a Japanese pub restaurant, which serves wide varieties of drinks and foods and is very popular in Japan.

Izakaya

Izakaya

You should be able to find an izakaya very easily, but if you are still concerned, I recommend to walk around near a station.

Recently many izakayas are becoming franchised.  But izakaya lovers seem to like traditional type of izakaya, which serves original menus.  If you are one of such izakaya lovers but are not sure if you can find such a traditional izakaya, one advice is to try to find Japanese lantern  (usually in red) called "chochin" in Japanese, which is displayed at the entrance and/or curtain-like cloths or ropes called "noren" in Japanese, which is hung over the entrance.

chochin

noren

Both chochin and noren displayed

You can usually enjoy any alcohol drinks, including sake, shochu, beer, cocktail, whiskey, etc. and soft drinks as well.

Typical izakaya food items should include yakitori (skewered char-broiled chicken), oden (Japanese Pot-au-feu), sashimi (raw fish), tempura (deep-fried seafood and vegetables), nabe (Japanese style hot pot dish), and more.

Izakaya menus 1

Izakaya menus 2

sake and nabe

You can also have sweets at many izakaya recently.

Izakaya is a really fun place to visit.

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Hydrangea

Tokyo is currently in the rainy season which has started in the beginning of this month (June) this year and is supposed to last until around the mid-July.

It's hot and humid during the rainy season, which makes most people gloomy.

Gloomy Whether in Tokyo

I don't welcome such a weather either; however, I'm happy to see hydrangea, which is in full bloom in the same timing as the rainy season.

Hydrangea

I'm not a person who loves flowers but become happy by viewing hydrangea.

I've never tried to think about why I like just this flower (to be precise, I also like cherry blossoms like most of other Japanese, but like hydrangea better).  Maybe I just feel peacefulness from the round shape and various faint colors of hydrangea.

I like a fine day breaking the rainy season but like to see hydrangea in the rain.

Hydrangea in the rain

If I could find a snail worming hydrangea, I would be in the "what else I need" feeling.

Snail worming hydrangea

Also, I like to see hydrangea subtly and simply blooming, for example, on a sidewalk or in the backyard of people's house, rather than ones intentionally arranged in a hydrangea park.

Hydrangea in the yard

Do you also have a custom to enjoy hydrangea?

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Ms. Big

There are many occasions in Japanese companies that there is a female key figure in an office.  Such a woman is usually called "otsubone" in Japanese which is derived from a female leader in the shogun family, who controlled a women's society in the shogun family.

Otsubone (right in this case)

The original otsubone was a very capable woman and maybe had a true leadership and was well respected.

The otsubone in the Japanese company usually have a negative image.  The definition of otsubone should be different depending on each person but usually include the following things:

• Spinster, who has been working at the specific division for a long time and knows lots of things of the division.
• She is not keen on promotion or pay-raise, but on becoming influential from behind in the office.
• Acts insidious behavior.
• Playing her otsubone role is becoming a purpose of her life.  

Western people might imagine otsubone like a woman in the below picture.

Otsubone?

But Japanese type of otsubone is not so apparent like the above lady but is more hiding existence, which is closer to the below.

Many people in the office try to very carefully deal with otsubone just like she is a head of the division although she is normally just a regular employee.  In fact, an actual head of the division might treat her very importantly and in a respect manner.

I will close the today's blog with the following Japanese saying:

"Keep clear of the gods." (Let sleeping dogs lie.)

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Purikura Evolution

Purikura is a widely used name of a photo sticker booth in Japan and is a shorten name of "print club."

Purikura

Multiple customers can enter the above booth to take a photo.

There are several options to be chosen before a photo is taken.

And after a photo is taken, the customers can also customize the picture on a touch screen, for example, by selecting background, decoration, changing angle, sparkling eyes, and many more.

Photo options

The complete picture comes out of the booth machine in multiple in a sticker sheet.

People, particularly teen girls, trade a piece of the photo sticker and put it on the purikura note.

Purikura note "puri-cho"

Purikura first came out to the Japan market during 90s and has gone through a few phases of boom.

Purikura was exported to other countries, and I heard it got popular in many Asian countries but could not attract European countries.

The booth is becoming much bigger than an original, and a machine itself is getting very complicated with many new options.

It is now said that the current popularity in Japan is much lower than one in 90s.  However, purikura seems to be one of an important communication tools among young Japanese and to be supported by the young.  I don't think it's not a temporary boom in Japan but has a stable position like karaoke as a part of Japanese sub-culture.

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