Went to a soba restaurant in Ueno called Rengyoku-an 蓮玉庵 over the weekend and ordered same really tasty tempura and soba.

I ordered the Tempura Seiro Soba 天せいろそば and it was a bit pricey at 1750 yen but it tasted great.

What I really liked about the restaurant though besides the food, was the atmosphere of the place.

It had a bunch of really awesome art hanging on the walls that was reminiscent of Edo Period art and I'm a pretty big fan of that so it was really enjoyable.

The inside of the building was grey but it was very stylish. I'm not sure what the walls were made of, but it seemed to be some sort of granite and the coloring of the seats was also in a similar fashion but very tasteful.

I definitely want to go back here again and try some more of their dishes!
It's pretty close to Okachimachi Station so it's pretty easy to drop in for lunch.

[English／日本語]
In this issue, I would like to introduce you to some of the things that you should not do in Japan. There are things that you may have done without knowing it, but that even foreigners are not allowed to do. How many of Japan's unique cultures do you know?

Gift Giving Etiquette
There are two numbers that are frowned upon in Japan: 4 and 9. 4 is pronounced "shi" and 9 is pronounced "ku" in Japanese. "Shi" means "death" and "9" means "suffering", so anything with "ku" and "shi" in it is frowned upon in many situations. For example, "comb" is not allowed to be sent as a gift because it has a bad meaning. In addition to this, there are a few other gifts that should not be sent. For example, a plant in a pot should not be sent to a person in the hospital. A plant in a pot has roots. This is because it can be taken to mean that the plant will have roots in the hospital, meaning that the illness will last longer. If you want to give flowers to someone who is in the hospital, use cut flowers instead of potted plants. However, even cut flowers such as chrysanthemums, which are used for funerals, are considered rude, so be careful. Also, do not send a handkerchief as a wedding gift. Why is this? Because handkerchiefs are associated with tears. Other items that can be broken, such as china and mirrors, are also considered bad luck. Similarly, for housewarming gifts, lighters and ashtrays should not be sent because they remind people of fire. These are just a few examples. If you are going to give a gift to a Japanese person, you need to find out beforehand if it would be a rude gift.

Dining Manners
Your country also has various manners for eating. I have heard manners such as never using your left hand when eating curry from Nepalese students at our school. So, what kind of manners do we have in Japan for eating? In Japan, we use chopsticks when we eat. Chopsticks are difficult to use, but their manners are also complicated. For example, the worst thing you can do is to use two chopsticks to hold your food. The reason why this is not allowed is because it is the same act as placing the bones of a deceased person in an urn at a Buddhist funeral. *Not talking about chopsticks, but putting the right collar of the kimono on top of the left collar is the same as wearing the kimono of the deceased, so you have to be careful. ）There are many other manners of chopsticks that should not be practiced, such as "stabbing chopsticks" and "yose-chopsticks". In addition to chopsticks, it is also bad manners to eat rice without holding the bowl, or to put your elbows on the table. However, if you think about it too much, it will be difficult to eat a good meal. I recommend that you learn at least the minimum manners for eating, and then gradually get used to them.

Superstitions
How many superstitions do you know about in Japan? The first one is the "north pillow". The first one is "north pillow", which means that you should not sleep with your pillow in the north, because it is related to Buddhism and there is a theory that putting your pillow in the north means death. Second, don't cut your nails at night. There is a superstition that if you cut your nails at night, you will die before your parents do. One reason is that nails are the place where a person's "soul" is located, so they must be taken care of. Another reason is that in the days when there was little light, cutting nails at night would cause injury. The third is "don't whistle at night." In Japan, there is a saying that whistling attracts spiritual things. This spirituality includes not only good things, but also bad things, so there is a theory that it is dangerous to whistle at night, when spirituality is more active. The three I've mentioned so far are all things you shouldn't do, but I'll end with a superstition that has a good meaning. The last superstition that has a good meaning is "If a pillar of tea stands, good luck will come. A pillar of tea means that the stems of the tea in the teacup stand up like a pillar when the tea is made. For Japanese people, a "pillar" has a powerful impression as something that supports a house. A recent popular manga often features a "pillar [Hahira]” For this reason, the tea pillar is known as a good omen. Incidentally, I have heard from Mongolian students that there is a superstition that if a pillar of tea stands, relatives will come to your house. In different countries, superstitions have completely different meanings, don't they?

I hope you now have a better understanding of manners. In the next article, I will introduce manners at leisure facilities.

今回は「日本でしてはいけないこと」を紹介します。知らずにしてしまったことでも、外国人だからと許されないようなことがあります。日本の独特な文化をあなたはいくつ知っていますか？

贈り物のマナー
日本では嫌われている数字があります。４と9です。４は日本語で「し」9は「く」と発音します。「し」は「死（死ぬ）」、「9」は「苦（苦しむ）」を意味する言葉のため、色々な場面でこの「く」と「し」が言葉の中にはいっている物は嫌われています。例えば、贈り物で「櫛（くし）」は悪い意味になってしまうので、送ってはいけないことになっています。これ以外にも送ってはいけないプレゼントがいくつかあります。例えば、入院中の人に鉢に入った植物は送ってはいけないことになっています。鉢に入った植物は根があります。これは病院に根をはる意味、つまり病気が長引くという意味にとらえられてしまうからです。入院中の人に花をプレゼントしたい人は鉢植えではなく切り花にしましょう。ただ、切り花でもお葬式に使う「菊」などは失礼になるので気を付けましょう。また、結婚の祝いの場合は、ハンカチを送ってはいけません。これはなぜでしょうか。ハンカチは涙を連想させるものだからです。その他にも陶器や鏡のような割れるものも縁起が悪いこととされています。同じようなもので、新築祝いの場合はライターや灰皿は火事を連想させるので送ってはいけません。これらの例はほんの一部です。もし、日本人に何かプレゼントをする場合は、事前に失礼なプレゼントにならないか調べておく必要があります。

食事のマナー
みなさんの国もいろいろな食事のマナーがありますよね。本校にいるネパールの学生からは、カレーを食べるときに左手は絶対に使ってはいないなどのマナーを聞いたことがあります。では、日本ではどのような食事のマナーがあるでしょうか。日本では食事の際に箸を使います。箸は使い方が難しいですが、そのマナーも複雑です。例えば、一番してはいけないのは、1つの食べ物を2人の箸で持つこと「拾い箸」です。これがなぜいけないかというと、仏式の葬儀で亡くなった方の骨を骨壺におさめるときと同じ行為だからです。（※箸の話ではありませんが、着物の襟を右が前にすることも、亡くなった人が着る着物と同じになってしまうので、気を付けなければいけません。）箸のマナーはこれ以外にも食べ物を刺す「刺し箸」、お皿を寄せる「寄せ箸」などやってはいけない行為が多くあります。また、箸以外にも茶碗を持たずにご飯を食べることや、テーブルにひじをつくことなどもマナー違反です。しかし、あまり考えすぎるとおいしいご飯が食べにくくなってしまいますよね。食事のマナーは最低限ものだけ覚えて、あとは少しずつ慣れていくことをおすすめします。

迷信
みなさんは日本の迷信をいくつ知っていますか？これからそのいくつかを紹介をします。1つ目は「北枕」です。枕を北に置いて寝てはいけないということで、これは仏教が関係しており、北に枕をおくことが「死」を意味するからという説があります。2つ目は「夜に爪を切らない」ということです。夜に爪を切ると親よりも早く死んでしまうという迷信があります。これは所説ありますが、爪はその人の「魂」がある場所なので大切にしなければいけないという教えや、明りが少なかった時代に、夜爪を切ると怪我をするからという理由などがあります。3つ目は「夜に口笛を吹いてはいけない」です。日本では口笛を吹くと霊的なものを呼び寄せてしまうという言い伝えがあります。この霊的なものはいいものだけではなく、悪いものも含まれるので、霊的なものが活発になる夜は口笛を吹くと危険だという説があります。ここまでに紹介した3つはしてはいけないことばかりでしたが、最後に良い意味のある迷信を紹介します。それは「茶柱が立つと幸運が訪れる」です。茶柱というのは、お茶を入れたときに湯呑に入ったお茶の茎が柱のように立っていることをいいます。日本人にとって「柱」というものは家などを支えるものとして、力強い印象があります。（最近人気のある漫画にもよく「柱（はしら）」が出てきますね。）そのため、茶柱は縁起のいいものとして知られています。ちなみにモンゴルの学生からは「茶柱が立つと親戚が家に来る」という迷信があるのを聞いたことがあります。国が違えば迷信の意味もまったく違いますね。

マナーについて理解していただけましたか？次回はレジャー施設でのマナーについてご紹介します。

実家で干し柿を作った時の写真です。

｢秋と言えば｣で干し柿を想像する方は少ないと思いますが、言われてみれば秋だなと感じる方は多いのではないでしょうか。

この写真は干したてですが、日が経ったら今度は揉む作業があります。
干し柿と言うと干すだけのイメージが強いですが、意外と人の手が入る食べ物なんですね。

Visited Fujiiya a small eatery in Kameido famous for its gyoza. It was definitely good, and they had an interesting tare for the gyoza as well. I think it had chashu inside of it and it tasted great. I threw in a little soy sauce as well but I think it's probably perfect without it. I recommend shaking the bottle before pouring it as I had a little too much oil come out instead of the actual sauce. It was also my first time getting shoyu ramen in a while. I'm usually a bigger fan of miso, probably because it feels warm and filling on cold days but is great on hot days too. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this shoyu ramen, was a really refreshing flavor and the noodles were perfect. The restaurant is really cheap too, I think a normal chashu ramen and 5-piece gyoza was just ¥780, which is super cheap. They also had a lot of cool photos and signatures on the wall from/with famous entertainers like "Downtown," etc. Cool place, definitely recommend it!

日本の秋

蕎麦の花と
奥の赤いボケはヒガンバナです

日本の秋ということで、この季節は｢食欲の秋｣ともよく言いますよね。
そしてこの秋に収穫されるものこそ、日本人の食文化とも言える｢お米｣。
秋に収穫されて、新米が出たら買う人も多いと思います。

そんなお米を普段はじっくり見ることは少ないでしょうし、収穫前の稲穂を見ることも少ないと思います。
ですが、お米は秋に収穫されますし、｢食欲の秋｣にとってお米は王様的な存在であるんじゃないかと思います。

家の目の前が田んぼで、その稲穂が夕方の光で輝いていて綺麗で美味しそうだったので撮りました。

日本の秋の風景
稲穂に雀たちが戯れてました

京都 貴船神社前にある川床。
夏はここでそうめんを食べられるそうです。水の音を聞きながら木々に囲まれ、まさに和を感じられる場所でした。

休憩で立ち寄った和菓子屋さん。ここで涼しげな和菓子と氷の入ったお抹茶を頂きました。
透明な和菓子が涼しげで、優雅な夏の休憩でした。

あえてモノクロ編集してみました。和菓子の色など、想像してみてください。

日本料理
Japanese Cuisine

山﨑@東京都港区西麻布
Yamazaki＠Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

山﨑
03-6812-9848
東京都港区西麻布1-15-3 西麻布UOUビル 1F
Yamazaki
+81 3-6812-9848
Nishiazabu UOU Bldg. 1F, 1-15-3 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

春のフルーツ🍓いちごで、
いちご大福をつくりました。

和菓子作りは難しそうですが、
白玉粉と、あずき缶で簡単に作れましたよ。
お花見の準備もかんぺきです。

友人と宮崎県にある高千穂に行ってきました〜！
あと、日向の観光地『願いが叶うクルスの海』方にも行き綺麗な海が広がっていました♪
野良猫ちゃんもくつろいでいます笑

This looks so awesome. I always love seeing food art, especially in Japanese lacquer dishes, they just go so well together. The coloring is really nice too! I've seen a couple videos on here about food cutting and they were pretty cool, but I don't think I have the patience to cut cucumbers so thinly like the ones in this photo lol! This makes me want to eat some sushi, maybe I'll order some tonight or head over to some revolving sushi this weekend. Been a while since I went to a revolving sushi restaurant but last time I went my friend ate around 40 dishes😂 I should really get some lacquer dishes though, even just for decoration. They'd probably look good on my shelf. Anyways, I'm just rambling at this point, but I guess I just really liked this photo because it showed Japanese craftsmanship in both the lacquer and the sushi and they both look like artwork

日本の春と言えばカラフルなお料理。
器の中に、色とりどりの食材がきれいに入ってると、あぁ日本人って細かいなって思います笑

お雛様で手毬寿司を作りました🍣

カレーにはほうれん草をたっぷり派です。

ほぼ小麦粉だけで作られたたこ焼きは何故こんなにも美味しいのか？？

和食・割烹
Washoku/Japanese food

創和堂＠東京都渋谷区広尾
SOWADO＠Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

創和堂
080-8040-4822
東京都渋谷区広尾1-12–15 リバーサイドビル 1F
SOWADO
+81 80-8040-4822
Riverside Building 1F, 1-12-15 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

和食・割烹
Washoku/Japanese food

日本料理四四A2@東京都渋谷区恵比寿
Nihonryouri Yoshiatsu@Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

日本料理四四A2
03-6277-3150
東京都渋谷区恵比寿2-13-10 レンブラント広尾 1F
Nihonryouri Yoshiatsu
+81 3-6277-3150
Rembrandt Hiroo 1F, 2-13-10 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

I've heard about this place! I think I watched a video on it here actually? Not sure, but anyways, this photo is really nice. It's so simple and yet it really conveys the beautiful simplicity of sushi. It's really cool that the restaurant has English services for customers that don't speak Japanese. I think it really goes to show just how strong Japan's omotenashi culture is. The hospitality here is really second to none and it's something I've never experienced outside of Japan. I've gotta check this sushi place out though as it's apparently really good and popular! Another one to add to the list I suppose!

柿に積もった雪

オムライス。芸術家になろうかな🧐

Visited Tokyo Skytree. Haven’t been going outside at all lately so we needed a change of pace. Found some really nice Edo Kiriko, at some beef tongue, and tried senbei ice cream for the first time

Tried a new tsuyu again lol. A spicy flavor this time. It’s not as spicy as it looks actually, just the right level of spicy. The tsuyu was 赤から apparently from Nagoya. Goes great with udon too. Tasted really good

Ahhh I love watching these kinds of videos. Getting to see food truck/food stall vendors make food is just so organic. It's nice since I'm not able to travel much these days as well not that anybody is really. I've never had gohei mochi, let alone heard of it before, but it reminds me of Akita's Kiritanpo. I think the last food truck item I got was ツブ, snail I guess? I didn't even know that until now lol. My girlfriend loved it, I was a bigger fan of the bacon that went with it. Really hoping I can visit another food stall again soon though as I really miss the yakisoba that they make. The yakisoba from the convenience store is alright, but it doesn't really hold a candle to the food stalls 😂. Just gonna have to keep waiting until it's okay to travel again though. Until then I'm gonna keep watching videos to stay sane lol!

和食・割烹
Washoku/Japanese food

日本料理 高やま＠東京都港区六本木
Japanese Cuisine Takayama＠Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

日本料理 高やま
03-5411-0905
東京都港区六本木3-8-1 サンアネックスビル 2F
Japanese Cuisine Takayama
+81 3-5411-0905
Sun Annex Building 2F, 3-8-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

That's some good lookin' crab right there! Really impressive that this is home made. It looks like something you'd buy at a high-class restaurant! I think I've said it before, but that's another great thing about Japan - It's an island country so there's tons of good seafood to be had and it's prepared better than anywhere else in the world imo. Especially when it comes to crab, you'll find just the most amazing dishes like this. It's been a few years since I threw out some crab pots with my dad but I'd love to do it again, it's always a lot of fun. I've never been crabbing in Japan before so I'm interested to know if it's done differently here somehow. Maybe like different crab pots or methods, etc. The only thing I doubt is different is the waking up early 😂. That's gotta be one of the hardest parts about crabbing/fishing for me. Waking up at 3 AM takes some dedication! I guess if you want to catch some delicious snow crab to make a dish like this it's worth it though! That or just buy it at the supermarket I guess lol

I could really go for some yakisoba right about now. I always love going around at festivals and looking for the yakisoba vendors as it's the best festival food imo. I actually haven't had it cooked on teppan in a restaurant in a few years though. I think the last time I did it was at an okonomiyaki restaurant with a bunch of friends, was a lot of fun. This "En" restaurant in Yoyogi looks pretty good though, I'll have to keep an eye out for it or write it down for whenever I'm in the area next. I'm probably going to make some yakisoba this weekend if not sooner though, cuz it sounds pretty good right now😂

Tonight’s dinner - Hot pot. Tried a new tsuyu tonight. Tasted really good

おせち

日本には沢山の素敵な伝統や文化が沢山あると思いました。
我が家の正月料理達です。
自分もいつか作るようになる、そんな伝統が嬉しく感じるそんな日になりました。
日本の皆様にとって素敵な一年になりますように。

和食・割烹
Washoku/Japanese food

松川＠東京都港区赤坂
Matsukawa＠Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

松川
03-6277-7371
東京都港区赤坂1-11-6 赤坂テラスハウス １階
Matsukawa
+81 3-6277-7371
Akasaka Terrace House 1F, 1-11-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan