Tag Archives: black beans

Life In Japan: ヤクザ Raccoon Dog Attacks Again!

Posted on July 20, 2022 by John Rachel

“We have a problem, Houston. Our garden is under attack … AGAIN!” Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Food, Japan, Spiritual | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Food, Japan, Social Commentary | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Food, Japan, Social Commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Life In Japan: A Lost Wallet

Posted on October 22, 2018 by johnrachel

Every year in October, we have here in Sasayama — my hometown — the Festival of the Portable Shrines. It’s one of my favorites! An incident occurred during this year’s festival which speaks volumes about the people here and the general level of moral integrity. Continue reading →

Posted in Deconstruction, Japan, Social Commentary, Spiritual | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment