Category Archives: Food

Life In Japan: Udon, Soba & Ramen

Posted on March 18, 2020 by johnrachel

Granted, ‘Udon, Soba & Ramen’ sounds like a law firm based in Yokohama. Actually, these are the three most common forms of noodles here in Japan, and are among the staples of the healthy diet of this country. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Conveyor Belt Sushi

Posted on February 25, 2020 by johnrachel

Conveyor belt sushi was not invented by Henry Ford or Al Gore. It was invented by a Japanese sushi restaurant owner back in 1958. His name was Yoshiaki Shiraishi, and he was looking for an effective way to get his sushi quickly to his customers. A visit to a local Asahi brewery, which used conveyor belts to speedily move the beer through the process of bottling and packaging, was his inspiration. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Harvesting Soybeans

Posted on December 12, 2019 by johnrachel

Soybeans are called kuromame — 黒豆 — here in Japan, literally ‘black beans’. Because when they are left on the vine to completely mature, they dry, become very hard, and are a deep ebony color. When they are harvested earlier, they are green and soft, and are called edamame — 枝豆. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Annual Neighborhood Barbecue

Posted on July 16, 2019 by johnrachel

The Japanese love to barbecue just about anything that can be barbecued! Corn, squash, onions, eggplant, potatoes, different varieties of mushrooms, garlic cloves, squid. Yes, unbelievably phenomenal meat: beef, pork, sausage. However, you’ll rarely see hamburgers and hot dogs. Pork and beans? Forget about it. Can you imagine? Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Planting Soybeans

Posted on April 18, 2019 by johnrachel

Fasten your seat belts. The excitement builds fast as we make a hole, then insert greenhouse-grown seedling, push the dirt back in the hole, wait, read a book, build an atomic submarine in a bottle out of old match sticks, wait some more, fertilize the plant a couple times in the summer, keep waiting (patience is very important in farming), as things on the soybean growing scene keep gathering momentum. Then finally sometime in October it all builds to a final earth-shaking, rib-rattling, jaw-dropping finale. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Planting Rice

Posted on April 5, 2019 by johnrachel

Preparing the soil to plant rice is a wet, muddy, mucky mess. l know because I’ve watched them prepare the fields directly in front of my house several years on and off. It’s astonishing how quickly the rice grows. Soon our entire valley is an intense, vibrant green, going from almost incandescent lime to the rich, deep emerald of a mature plant. Maybe I have too much time on my hands and too little excitement, but when I ride my bike through the fields of viridescent rice, I’m struck by the incredible beauty of it all. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Bamboo

Posted on March 31, 2019 by johnrachel

Unbeknownst to me in the dark days of my bambooless ignorance, this rather simple tree has a whole host of applications. Anyone from Asia needs to just bear with me here. This is all so obvious to you. But I’m embarrassed to have to admit, before I started traveling this hemisphere, I had no clue about bamboo. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: JA

Posted on January 20, 2019 by johnrachel

JA stands for Japan Agriculture. JA is a huge, sprawling organization, with hundreds of stores, facilities, and offices across the entire country. But … it’s not a corporation. It’s not a government facility, branch, or department. It’s a COOPERATIVE! Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Persimmons

Posted on October 27, 2018 by johnrachel

Ever had a persimmon? You should try one! I’m glad I did. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Western Food

Posted on May 5, 2018 by johnrachel

Though my taste buds were born, raised, and trained in America, I love Japanese food! I really do. I now regularly eat many things I would have considered very special treats for very special occasions — sushi, tempura, edamame, teriyaki — and eat some things I never would have attempted before — octopus, squid, rice daily. Continue reading →

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