Impression: sunrise

To wrap up my changing feelings about Japan I will go back where I started. In the language of food I moved from the sushi and mayonnaise to more advanced appreciation of Japan – the natto. From nice and yummy at the first taste but getting a little old after a while – to something that you maybe don’t know what to think about in the initial contact with strange, complex flavor not easy to describe, but exciting and getting better and better with every go to the state of liking. 

Yes I really do like natto – the definition of disgust for an average foreigner! I know the texture is something between melted cheese and mucus but I can’t help it and I eat it more often than sushi. Other highly developed tastes of Japan I love are the umeboshi fermented plums - sour, salty and sweet at the same time, and the unique flavored tsukemono pickles. I’m also learning the art of obento - boxed lunch with tiny portions of different tastes organized in a nice way, the compact cuteness. I think I’m getting there because Japanese keep on assuming that my non-existant host mother made it for me. Sometimes I got the feeling that my interest in Japanese arts, religion and food is making me more Japanese then Japanese and therefore kind of not Japanese at all. I also think I’m getting better in “reading air” (kuuki yomenai=literally can’t read the air, don’t understand social atmosphere) and in trying to look people in the eyes to see answers in them the Japanese way. This class taught me that writing can be fun, encouraged me to express myself in a different way and inspired me that I can try to do anything- even make a short film!

Overall I experienced most of what I was seeking for and I hope I will deepen my understanding of the Japanese culture in the next semester. Japan really is Eva no ukiyo for me (=Eva's transient or floating world). The word ukiyo in Buddhism meant the impermanence of human’s world with all things being illusory and ephemeral. In the floating world of Edo period it involved savoring sensual pleasures exciting for their changing nature. Practically it contains perfect combination of my spiritual experiences at Koyasan (monastic center of Shingon Buddhism) and the eyes-opening class of Mind in yoga, Buddhism, and Daoism at KGU on one side. And the fleeting world of sake, karaoke, live houses and the food, the FOOD on the other. Like everything floating and changing- I realize the time will pass and I will have to let go of Japan one day…

natto

my bento box with portable chopsticks and box for rice onigiri on the side

left - sweet potatoes on a shiso leaf, right -  koya dofu, shitake mushroom, carrot, lotus and pickles, upwards - yaki udon with kimuchi 

wraped bento furoshiki style

downwards - chestnuts, wasabi shitake, pickles and radish, right - marinated tofu and carrots, left - fried fish, octopus and pumpkin tempura