Category Archives: Food

Stealing My Thunder

Posted on December 22, 2021 by johnrachel

If you want to know what’s really going on in the world, you know who to turn to. I owe it to my fans and followers to always provide the best, most accurate information ahead of any other sources of news. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Japanese School Kids

Posted on July 15, 2021 by John Rachel

There are a hundred ways I could write about the kids here. But I’m going to focus on only elementary school students and one very particular aspect of their education, because it so perfectly illustrates the overall relationship between students and their schools, their teachers, adults and other authority figures, their communities, and most important of all, to one another. It is also extremely revealing why Japanese are so obsessively considerate of others and so community minded, later in life. It also is illustrative of the extremely high dietary standards and nutritional awareness of Japanese society. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Mystery Box

Posted on March 23, 2021 by John Rachel

I always say that here in Japan, almost every day I get some new, interesting surprise. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Japanese Pastries

Posted on March 1, 2021 by John Rachel

I just had the best dessert pastry I’ve had in my entire life! It got me thinking about the differences between Japanese and American confections. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Highway Service Areas

Posted on April 9, 2020 by johnrachel

Highway service areas in Japan are what we in the U.S. call ‘rest areas’. There are highway service areas in Japan so elaborate and well-outfitted that families pay the pricey highway toll just to visit them and spend the day. For these folks, going there is the same as going to a park or a shopping mall to hang out and have fun. Continue reading →

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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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