Famous Japanese Stuff
in English,
by Tsurumi Uni Students !!!!!
Click to set custom HTML
Thanks to Yui, Daiki, Yukiko, Hiromitsu, Kentaro, Kouji, Masahide, Yui, Ako, Chisaki, Kairi, Fumitaka, Mayuko, Yosuke, Yumi, Tetsuya and Rika, who did all the work !!!!!!!
Oh yeah ! Productions @ 2012
……………………………………………………
1
Karaoke is a place for singing songs. You choose your favorite music. When enjoying karaoke with friends, singing a song all together is great fun. Of course, there are many songs in Japanese, but students should try and sing in English. How about Yellow Submarine by The Beatles?
2
Yuba. In English, this is "dried bean-curds". In Japan, we can eat this raw with soy sauce, but if you dislike this way, we can eat this deep-fried. First, we cut this bite size and deep-fry without breading or batter. Then, we eat this with lemon juice or salt.
3
Oshogatsu is an event to celebrate the New Year. A family celebrates it all together. Adults give a Otoshidama to a child. Otoshidama is some money, in an envelope, as a gift. The people go to a shrine, or a temple. And people pray to be able to spend a good year.
4
Soba is a brown noodle made of buckwheat, which can be eaten at a sobaya. It is one of the staple products of the Japanese traditional diet. Soba is served in many forms but perhaps the most common is as a thick soup with vegetables, meat and fish.
5
Today I want to introduce Japanese traditional food Kusaya. This food is produced around Izu islands. The recipe is simple, put the fresh fish into the Kusaya soup, and pickle them for 20 hours. After that, hang them out for 2 days. In Japan, many Japanese people hate this food, because Kusaya stinks so much. For example, another Japanese food, Nattou is 452 Au (Au is smell unit), but Kusaya is 1267 Au !! Kusaya stinks three times more than Nattou !! The smell is just like our excretion.....! The taste is so salty but it does not contain salt that you feel. Kusaya really matches Japanese Sake. If you have some interest, please try it.
6
Sadou (tea ceremony). This is made with powdered tea and served hot. Mix the powdered green tea in hot water. The powdered green tea has two kinds, weak and strong. Weak tea is a drink of one teacup for one person. But strong tea is passed around and this teacup is drunk by a few people. Sadou is designed to make the guests enjoy the time. The painted seasonal pattern on the utensils, and that gives a sense of each season.
7
Gyudon. This is beef and onion on rice in a big bowl. Beef and onion is boiled with soy sauce, sugar and sake. A famous shop is Yoshinoya, Matsuya and Sukiya. Those shops are strong supporters to office workers. This meal is very reasonable and delicious! I recommend adding a few red peppers, raw egg and red pickled ginger.
8
Ninja. Ninja were persons skilled in special military techiques, active in feudal days of Japan. The main principles of Ninjutsu, the way of the Ninja, are found in Sun-tzu, an ancient Chinese book on warfare. Ninja can be desribed quite simply, they were assassins in old Japan, during the times of wars between different areas and leaders.
9
Soran Bushi is a traditional Japanese dance from the northernmost area of Japan. It is a fisherman's dance, evoking the process of catching herring.
This powerful dance uses one's entire body to express hard work. Soran Bushi is danced in many places, and at elementary school, junior high school, at clubs, and in town festivals. Recently the competition for this dance has been taken place in Hokkaido.
10
Nattou. This is made of soybeans. It is made by fermenting soybeans. Nattou has a strange smell and is so sticky but many Japanese love this. I love it too. I want a lot of people to eat it!!!
11
O-mikuji is a kind of fortune-telling. Random fortunes are written in a small paper and we can buy it where there are shrines and temples. Usually, a lot of Japanese people buy it when it is New Years day, because we often go to do Hatsu-moude. What is "Hatsu-moude"? It's a Japanese traditional event. Many Japanese people visit a shrine or temple during the first three days in January in order to give New Year's wishes for health and happiness. And we can buy O-mikuji where there are shrine and temple. This is "Hatsu-moude". Anyway, almost all O-mikuji is a ¥100. When we paid that price, we can choose from the long and narrow box. In the box, there are included some small sticks that has a number written on them. When we take one of those, we'll find the number. Then we can take the O-mikuji from another box, like a chest. You'll find the same number on the chest's drawer. And you can get your O-mikuji! It'll tell you your future fortune!
12
Kyudo, or Japanese Archery is traditional martial arts. In the old days it was used to hunt wild animals, and as a weapon in war. Today, it is a martial arts used as a sport competition, and to discipline us mentally and physically.
13
This time, I'll explain about okonomiyaki for you. Okonomiyaki is a food like pancakes. But it contains various foods inside. For example, meat, vegetables, and seafoods. From this, we call okonomiyaki Japanese-style pancake containing vegetables and other foodstuff. "Okonomi" means "what you like" or "what you want". And "yaki" means bake. This is why you can add anything you like in the dough, and bake it. When I saw okonomiyaki for the first time, I wondered if to mix the food would taste good or not. But as soon as I ate it, the question disappeared. It was so tasty, and I have liked it since then. Making it freely is wonderful! I think okonomiyaki is a very interesting food. It changes into various styles by various makers. In fact, there are many different styles in Japan. I wish you try okonomiyaki, and make your original okonomiyaki. This is it. I'm happy to introduce okonomiyaki to you. I hope you like it. Thank you!
14
Geisha is a Japanese girl who entertains men with conversation singing and dancing. It is not easy to see Geisha, but I think it is famous Japanese culture in the world. If you go to Kyoto, you can see many girls called 'Maiko', and they are a kind of Geisha. They look very pretty in their kimonos and white face-make-up.
15
I'd like to tell you about "Rakugo". Rakugo in English means traditional comic storytelling, and is very famous in Japan. The comic storyteller says funny things when sitting on a flat cushion on the stage. The comic storyteller usually dresses in traditional clothes, like a kimono, or a hakama. The most famous known TV program of Rakugo is Shoten. This TV program is on every Sunday evening. I like this TV program very much. Rakugo is one of the most famous cultural parts of Japan.
16
Tsukemono are Japanese-style pickles. Asazuke is one of them, you can make it if you prepare some vegetables, like eggplant or cucumber, and just mix them together and rub in some salt.
17
Omikoshi. This means "portable shrine".We can see this when there's Omatsuri, or town festival. Many people will carry this on their shoulders. It's heavy and it's a little dangerous until they get it to the shrine. They move it up and down while carrying it by their shoulders, and shouting "Washoi ! Washoi !" Men are needed to be there mostly, because the Omikoshi is very, very heavy. Many people gather round it, and everyone is excited by all the activity.
18
Kokeshi Doll is a cylindrical wooden doll. Kokeshi is toy which comes from the Northeast of Japan. The features of the face and lines of the clothes are painted onto the smooth wood. When I was child, I was afraid of it.
19
Tofu is soy bean curd. It is white and long, and you cut it up into small blocks. You can put it in a variety of dishes, both hot and cold. Japanese table stews, or Nabe, which is good in winter, or in salad, for the summer. It doesn't have a very strong taste, so it can go with anything. Everybody loves Tofu !
20
Judo is a traditional Japanese sport. If the person who throws another person down on the mat, he or she can get a point. There are three types of points: ‘Ippon’, ‘Wazaari’ and ‘Koka’. If the player can throw the opponent cleanly it will be ‘Ippon’. Then the player wins. That's Judo.
21
Onsen means Hot-Spring in English. It is many people’s favourite way to relax in Japan. The best onsens are in beautiful natural areas and sometimes you can even enjoy viewing a forest or the sea directly from the bath, because it is outside (called Rotenburo). Be careful that monkeys don’t come in while you have your eyes closed!
22
Kotatsu. In English, this is "Low table with a heat source ". It's a kind of Japanese heater. It is used for us to get warm. It's a low table with an electric heater attached to the underside. People place it on a quilted mat and put blanket on it to keep the inside warm. The family in Japan relaxes around the kotatsu in winter.
Can you think of anymore? If so, use the Contact Page
to send me your ideas !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh Yeah !!!