本当にありがとう

Tell a Friend About the Blog!

There is a button on the side of the blog that allows you to share the blog to people you know on Facebook and Twitter! Share Love for Japan and help spread the knowledge and culture of Japan!!! Thank You soooo MUCH! Arigato!

Ramen!

Ramen is a Japanese noodle soup. Ramen has Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or fish-based broth such as, the flavor of soy sauce or miso, and is served with sliced pork, dried seaweed (often called nori), kamaboko ( Kamoboko is the white thing you see with a pink swirl. It is a processed fish cake served with Ramen), and green onions. Shops/Restraunts in Japan that serve Ramen all make and have their own variation of ramen, from the tonkotsu (pork bone broth that has a creamy texture and is ymmuy) ramen of Kyushu to the miso ramen of Hokkaido. Ramen originated from China then was introduced to Japan. Later on in the years in 1958, instant ramen was invented by Momofuku Ando, the Taiwanese-Japanese founder and chairman of Nissin Foods, now run by his son Koki Ando. Instant Ramen is named the greatest Japanese invention of the 20th century in a Japanese poll. Instant ramen allowed anyone to make this dish simply by adding boiling water. Here's a few types of Ramen from Wikipedia:

• Shio ("salt") ramen is probably the oldest of the four and is a pale, clear, yellowish broth made with plenty of salt and any combination of chicken, vegetables, fish, and seaweed. Occasionally pork bones are also used, but they are not boiled as long as they are for tonkotsu ramen, so the soup remains light and clear. Chāshū is sometimes swapped for lean chicken meatballs, and pickled plums and kamaboko are popular toppings as well. Noodle texture and thickness varies among shio ramen, but they are usually straight rather than curly.

• Tonkotsu (豚骨, "pork bone"; not to be confused with tonkatsu) ramen usually has a cloudy white colored broth. It is similar to the Chinese baitang (白湯) and has a thick broth made from boiling pork bones, fat, and collagen over high heat for many hours, which suffuses the broth with a hearty pork flavor and a creamy consistency that rivals milk or melted butter or gravy (depending on the shop). Most shops, but not all, blend this pork broth with a small amount of chicken and vegetable stock and/or soy sauce. The noodles are thin and straight, and it is often served with beni shoga (pickled ginger). Currently the latest trend in tonkotsu toppings is māyu (マー油/麻油), a blackish, aromatic oil made from either charred crushed garlic or Sesame seeds. It is a specialty of Kyūshū, particularly Hakata-ku, Fukuoka (hence sometimes called "Hakata ramen").

• Shōyu ("soy sauce") ramen typically has a brown and clear color broth, based on a chicken and vegetable (or sometimes fish or beef) stock with plenty of soy sauce added resulting in a soup that’s tangy, salty, and savory yet still fairly light on the palate. Shōyu ramen usually has curly noodles rather than straight ones, but this is not always the case. It is often adorned with marinated bamboo shoots or menma, green onions, kamaboko (fish cakes), nori (seaweed), boiled eggs, bean sprouts and/or black pepper; occasionally the soup will also contain chili oil or Chinese spices, and some shops serve sliced beef instead of the usual chāshū.

• Miso ramen is a relative newcomer, having reached national prominence around 1965. This uniquely Japanese ramen, which was developed in Hokkaido, features a broth that combines copious amounts of miso and is blended with oily chicken or fish broth – and sometimes with tonkotsu or lard – to create a thick, nutty, slightly sweet and very hearty soup. Miso ramen broth tends to have a robust, tangy flavor, so it stands up to a variety of flavorful toppings: spicy bean paste or tōbanjan (豆瓣醤), butter and corn, leeks, onions, bean sprouts, ground pork, cabbage, sesame seeds, white pepper, and chopped garlic are common. The noodles are typically thick, curly, and slightly chewy.

Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido is the most famous for serving Ramen, plus if your love to eat Ramen just remember that Ramen is high in carbs and calories and provide little nutrients....but who cares, eat anyway!!!

Also, for those of you who love Ramen so much and are going to visit Japan your should go see the The Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum which is a food amusement park located in the Shin-Yokohama district of Kōhoku-ku, Yokohama, Japan.

IS: Infinite Stratos- Another Awesome Anime

In the near future, a Japanese scientist engineers a powered exoskeleton called "Infinite Stratos" (IS). Possessing technology and combat capabilities far more advanced than any other weapon system, the IS threatens to destabilize the world. Faced with such an overpowering weapon, the nations of the world enact the "Alaska Treaty", which states that IS will never be used for military combat and that existing IS technology must be equally distributed to all nations, to prevent any one nation from dominating the others. The introduction of the IS does however have a major effect on society. As IS can only be operated by women, the power balance between men and women is broken, with women coming to dominate society over men.Ten years after the first IS were introduced, the world has entered a new age of peace. The peace is shattered, however, by an unexpected discovery. A 15 year old Japanese boy, named Ichika Orimura, is discovered to be capable of operating an IS. Realizing the potential, Ichika is forced by the Japanese government to attend the prestigious Infinite Stratos Academy, an international academy where IS pilots from all over the world are trained. Thus his busy school life surrounded by girls begins.
This anime is hilarious with constant laughter as the girls of the academy fight for Ichika's love. It has some action but it is mainly a romance anime. It also cool because theres a mystery to one of the characters sister who built the IS. There's also the mystery on the no-man pilot IS who attacks the school. I highly recommend this anime because it's hilarious, had action and of course theres the girls in this anime that are constantly trying to fight for Ichika's love.



More than 1,000 Views!!! Thank You All Countries for your Views

I have just received 1,000 views from Japan alone today and many other countries!!! I'm so happy that Japan itself found a likeness to my blog and many other countries!!! Thank you!!! Arigato Gozaimasu!!!

[C]: Control: The Money and Soul of Possibility-Anime

The Japanese government was rescued from the brink of financial collapse by the Sovereign Wealth Fund. For its citizens, however, life has not improved, and unemployment, crime, suicide, and despair are rampant. Kimimaro, raised by his maternal grandmother after the disappearance of his father and the death of his mother, is a scholarship student whose only dream is to avoid all this and live a stable life. One day, however, he meets a man who offers him a large sum of money if he'll agree to pay it back. From then on his fate is radically altered as he's drawn into a mysterious realm known as "The Financial District." The realm is a place where Kimimaro receives an "asset" who will fight for him so we can earn money. Other people have assets and will fight Kimimaro to obtain money. Soon, Kimimaro learns that once you lose all your money and go bankrupt strange events take place and effect the real world. Watch this amazing anime to find out what will happen to Kimimaro and the world?

It is a little confusing at first but once you get the hang of it, it's an awesome anime!

Japan Trains during Rush Hour

In Japan, share of rail transportation is high and use of automobiles is restrained consequently. Rail transport accounts for 27 percent of all passenger transport in Japan. Namely, in Greater Tokyo Area and Keihanshin metropolitan area, railway has dense network and frequent service, and accounts for more than half of passenger transport, and majority of people there commute by public transport without using their cars.
Railway in Greater Tokyo Area has severe congestion. It is gradually being improved by increasing the capacity of rail and expansion of Home Liner and bi-level Green car (First-class) increases the chance to commute with comfortable sheet paying additional supplement. But it is still common in major lines of Tokyo that more than 3,000 passengers packed in a 10-car train and about 100,000 passengers are transported in an hour (Usually, maximum capacity of double-track commuter rail in Japan is 10-car trains, 2 minutes interval) and presumably one of the most congested railways in the world.
In road transport, Expressways of Japan is operated by beneficiaries-pay principle and imposes expensive toll fee, and it also has an effect to reduce road traffic. Electronic toll collection (ETC) is widespread and discount in unoccupied midnight is introduced to disperse traffic without concentrating in rush hour. Road pricing is being considered but currently not introduced, partly because expressway fee is already very high.
The expressways in Japan from 7am to 9am are usually so congested and full that people are hired to shove or stuff people who will not wait till the next train. Trains are widely used in Japan due to the small amount of land and high population. It's actually kind of weird when you go to Japan and see people pushing and squishing an already packed train car. There are videos on youtube if you feel more interested in seeing how this is done. Honestly it is perfectly normal in Japan when this is done. Hope I was informative.

The Blue Exorcist aka Ao no Exorcist: Awesome Anime and Manga

Blue Exorcist, also known as Ao no Exorcist (青の祓魔師) in Japan, is a manga written and illustrated by Kazue Kato. The fifteen-year-old protagonist of the story, Rin is the son of Satan born from a human woman and is the inheritor of Satan's powers. His powers were sealed at birth into the demon-slaying blade Kurikara, or Koumaken, by Mephisto Pheles, allowing him to live a normal human life for about 15 years. Rin became aware of his true identity after Kurikara could no longer seal the blue flames he inherited from Satan, setting off a chain of events that led to the death of his guardian, Father and Exorcist Fujimoto Shiro, at the hands of Satan, who attempted to drag Rin back to the demon realm. Exorcist Mephisto Pheles confronted Rin after Shiro's funeral with several exorcists, giving Rin the option to kill them all or die. Rin instead demanded to become an exorcist, an idea that amused Mephisto. Rin was then enrolled personally by Mephisto into the True Cross Academy Exorcist School, where he has since been pursuing his goal to become a Paladin and to defeat Satan. He is currently an Exwire and attempting to gain the title of Meister as a "Knight". Now Rin struggles as he tries to control his power of a demon while trying to train to be an exorcist. This manga has now turned into an anime that is exciting and full of adventure and action. Combat and powers are used which make this anime full of action. It comes out every Wednesday in America on Hulu.com!

My thanks to Norio Adachi

Norio Adachi is a Japanese himself living in Japan who has an inspiration to help people learn more on Japan and expand there knowledge of Japan. He has a website packed with wonderful in-depth information on about everything about Japan. You can visit his site in the Links section of my blog with his name on it or visit this link: http://travel-around-japan.com/

Hope you enjoy his website of insightful information!!!

Hey everyone SUGGEST or REQUEST

SUGGEST or REQUEST....
If you want to know something or learn something in particular or leave feedback to know if I should change anything to benefit you just leave a comment and let me know!!!

I would be HAPPY to blog about stuff you REQUEST!!!

:)

Japanese Woodblock Art

Woodblock printing in Japan (木版画, moku hanga) is a technique best known for its use in the ukiyo-e artistic genre; however, it was also used very widely for printing books in the same period. Woodblock printing had been used in China for centuries to print books, long before the advent of movable type, but was only widely adopted in Japan surprisingly late, during the Edo period (1603-1867). Although similar to Woodcut in Western printmaking in some regards, moku hanga differs greatly in that water-based inks are used (as opposed to western woodcut which uses oil-based inks), allowing for a wide range of vivid color, glazes and color transparency. Woodblock-printed books from Chinese Buddhist temples were seen in Japan as early as the eighth century. In 764 the Empress Shotuku commissioned one million small wooden pagodas, each containing a small woodblock scroll printed with a Buddhist text (Hyakumanto Darani). These were distributed to temples around the country as thanksgiving for the suppression of the Emi Rebellion of 764. These are the earliest examples of woodblock printing known, or documented, from Japan.
By the eleventh century, Buddhist temples in Japan were producing their own printed books of sutras, mandalas, and other Buddhist texts and images. For centuries, printing was restricted only to the Buddhist sphere, as it was too expensive for mass production, and did not have a receptive, literate public to which such things might be marketed. Woodblock printing, though more tedious and expensive than later methods, was far less so than the traditional method of writing out each copy of a book by hand; thus, Japan began to see something of literary mass production. While the Saga Books were printed on expensive fancy paper, and used various embellishments, being printed specifically for a small circle of literary connoisseurs, other printers in Kyoto quickly adapted the technique to producing cheaper books in large numbers, for more general consumption. The content of these books varied widely, including travel guides, advice manuals, kibyōshi (satirical novels), sharebon (books on urban culture), art books, and play scripts for the jōruri (puppet) theatre. Often, within a certain genre, such as the jōruri theatre scripts, a particular style of writing would come to be the standard for that genre; in other words, one person's personal calligraphic style was adopted as the standard style for printing plays.


The text or image would first be drawn onto washi (Japanese paper), and then glued onto a plank of wood, usually cherry. Wood would then be cut away, based on the outlines given by the drawing. A small wooden hard object called a baren would be used to press or burnish the paper against the inked woodblock, thus applying the ink onto the paper. Although this may have been done purely by hand at first, complex wooden mechanisms were soon invented and adopted to help hold the woodblock perfectly still and to apply proper pressure in the printing process. This would be especially helpful once multiple colors began to be introduced, and needed to be applied with precision atop previous ink layers. While, again, text was nearly always monochrome, as were images in books, the growth of the popularity of ukiyo-e brought with it demand for ever increasing numbers of colors and complexity of techniques.

Randoseru- Japanese Children's Backpacks

A randoseru (ランドセル) is a firm-sided backpack made of stitched firm leather or leather-like synthetic material, most commonly used in Japan by elementary schoolchildren.
 
The randoseru is the most universal and recognizable feature of the Japanese school uniform, and is considered symbolic of the virtues necessary to obtain a good education—unity, discipline, hard work and dedication. Traditionally, the randoseru is red in colour for girls, black for boys. While in more conservative schools the colour (and often the brand and design) is mandated and enforced, the backpack is available in a variety of colours, partly as a compromise for parents to retain some tradition within modernized schools which no longer require the use of traditional uniforms or of the randoseru.
Traditionally given to a child upon beginning his or her first year of school, the randoseru's materials and workmanship are designed to allow the backpack to endure the child's entire elementary education (six years). However, the care usually given to the randoseru throughout that time and afterwards can extend its life and preserve it in near-immaculate condition long after the child has reached adulthood, a testament to its utility as an accessory and the sentiment attached to it by many Japanese as symbolic of their relatively carefree childhood years.
The randoseru's durability and significance is reflected in its cost: a new randoseru made of genuine leather can carry a price tag of over 30,000 yen, almost 350 US dollars, at the May 2010 exchange rate. Clarino, a synthetic material frequently used as a substitute, reduces the cost somewhat. Often randoseru are available on auction sites, in new or used condition, at much lower prices, particularly after the start of the Japanese school year in April.

A Tokyo in Japan...Oh Yeah! This is one ride called Pooh's Hunny Hunt

Ramen Man! He is Ramen MAD

There is a man who travels around learning or studying Ramen. Ramen doesnt have to be soup, or food or an art. Try looking at this website if you are interested in learning more abou the different types of ramen, other uses of Ramen and places where Ramen has spread around the world. http://www.mattfischer.com/ramen/

Events in Japan in MAY

Japan is a land of many festivals. In cities, large and small, as well

as in rural districts, colorful rites and merrymaking—some of

religious significance and others to honor historical personages

or occasions—are held throughout the four seasons.

No matter what month of the year you may choose for your

trip to Japan, you have an opportunity of enjoying a goodly number

of these celebrations. And, joining the joyful throng, you will

actually feel the pages of Japanese history being turned back and

will experience the pleasant thrill of peeking into the nation’s

ancient culture and traditions.

MAY Events in Japan

3rd Constitution Memorial Day

(national holiday)

3rd–4th Hakata Dontaku in Fukuoka,Fukuoka Pref.

3rd–5th Kite Battles in Hamamatsu,Shizuoka Pref.

Commemorated on this day is the establishment of the modern Japanese

Constitution, which came into effect in 1947. This new Constitution prohibits armament

and war.

Citizens in fancy disguises parade through the streets, masquerading as legendary gods

on horseback to the accompaniment of Shamisen, flutes and drums.

Huge kites are flown by groups of citizens, who try to cut the strings of their opponents’

kites by skillful maneuvering.

5th Children’s Day(national holiday)

3rd Fri. Takigi Noh Performance at & Sat. Kofukuji Temple, Nara

11th–Oct.15th Cormorant Fishing on the Nagara River, Gifu Pref.

Sat. & Sun. Kanda Matsuri of Kanda

before 15th Myojin Shrine, Tokyo

(held every other year)

15th Aoi Matsuri or HollyhockFestival of Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines, Kyoto

17th & 18th Grand Festival of ToshoguShrine, Nikko, Tochigi Pref.

3rd Fri., Sat., Sanja Matsuri of Asakusa

and Sun. Shrine, Asakusa, Tokyo

3rd Sun. Mifune Matsuri or Boat

Festival, Arashiyama, Kyoto

Ceremonies and parties are observed throughout the country in which the children

are wished happiness and prosperity. People hoist carp-shaped streamers on tall bamboo

poles outdoors, take a hot bath with iris leaves floating in it, and eat rice dumplings

wrapped in bamboo leaves called Chimaki and rice cakes stuffed with sweet bean

paste wrapped in oak leaves called Kashiwa-mochi. Some homes display a

Kabuto(ancient warrior helmet) in the hope that the boys will have a strong and

healthy warrior spirit.

Noh Plays are presented after dark to late evening, on a stage set up in the precincts

of the temple, under the light of blazing torches.

Cormorant fishing is an ancient method of catching Ayu, a trout-like fish, with trained

birds. This takes place at night under the light of blazing torches fastened to the

prows of fishing boats.

Dozens of mikoshi portable shrines are paraded in the neighboring area of the shrine.

A gala tea ceremony is also offered.

The festival features a magnificent pageant colorfully reproducing the Imperial procession

that paid homage to the shrines in ancient days.

This centuries-old festival is featured by a gala parade (on the 18th) of over 1,000

armor-clad people, who escort three shrine palanquins through the town’s streets.

Nearly 100 mikoshi portable shrines, carried by happi-coated men and women,

assemble at the shrine; afterward they parade to the respective parishioners’ areas. A

gala pageant, with 1,000 participants in traditional attire, consisting of Sanja-bayashi

festival music, Geisha, Kiyari, etc. add color to the festival.

This charming festival is held on the Oi River near Arashiyama in the suburbs of

Kyoto. It revives the atmosphere of the Heian Period (794–1192) when the Emperor

and his courtiers often went on pleasure trips on the river.

For all anime lovers...

My brother and I recently found two new awesome adventurous animes. One is called Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist) and the other is called The Money of Soul and Possibility Control. The first has to of course deal with demons, two brothers are orphans and one is an exorcist and the other a demon but the demon one wants to be an exorcist. Their father wants the demon one to rule the world together...Its still new so I'm excited about it. The second one is confusing at first but once you watch a few episodes its great. I deals with people going to a world where they battle for money to use in the real world. Lose all your money and things happen.

Check out these two awesome animes!!!

A Guide To Japanese Money

A Guide To Japanese Money

Here is some Japanese money. If you've never been to Japan before it may not seem like real money to you and you're more likely to let it pass through your hands more quickly--best to resist that temptation.
For the most current exchange rates, go to Oanda or to Xenon. Note that there are slight differences for the exchanges in New York, London, and Tokyo.

Japanese Coins

From the left, there is the aluminum one yen coin, which costs more to make than it's worth, then the 5, 10, 50, 100, and 500 yen coins. Vending machines accept all coins except the ones and fives, as well as 1000 yen bills. However, recently some machines may have disallowed use of the 500 yen coins due to some nefarious types using altered Korean coins to trick the machines. Pay phones take only 10 and 100 yen coins, or pre-paid phone cards.



And now here is something you don't see much. In 2000 for the Okinawa Summit this 2000 yen note was introduced, along with a year 2000 special 500 yen coin.
But there wasn't much acceptance for the new bill. Vending machines won't take it and the public doesn't feel any real need for it.