53. Eternal Face Mask Lovers

I hear that Western country leaders have declared no-mask policy and gathered popularities.

As I have wrote previously, Japan have no regulation for wearing face masks.

We are only “recommended” or “requested” to put on masks indoors or when talking with people.

Still, almost all the people wear masks even in open spaces, such as parks, deserted streets, and even in the mountain path or beach.

I think if the Japanese prime minister uttered no mask policy now, he would face fierce criticism or even be dismissed.

It seems that he avoids argument about making guidelines for putting on masks because there’s an election in July.

Commercially available face masks.

Tokyo governor Yuroko Koike’s favorite masks.

I think many (or most) Japanese would not throw away face masks right away.

Rather, some of us would continue to put on masks even after the pandemic subsided completely.

It is not my guesswork nor joking.

Some people actually say that they feel relaxed wearing masks, they can save time to make themselves up in the morning, they would feel embarrassed without masks and so on.

In fact, I feel awkward when I saw some people’s face when she/he put off masks.

Vice versa; some people will feel disappointed when they notice my bare face.

The Japanese, in general, looks better when wearing face masks.

Further, some people (strongly) believe that wearing masks would keep us health.

Wearing face masks is painful for some people.

On the other hand, putting it off is also painful for others especially in Japan.

Polyurethane masks are comfortable in summer.

52. Green & Sweets

Today is “Boy’s Festival Day” and we eat kashiwa-mochi, a rice cake wrapped in an oak leaf on this day.

Kashiwa-mochi. The green one contains sweet azuki paste and yellow one contains sweet miso paste.

These oak leaves can’t be eaten.

In Japan various kinds of leaves are used to wrap foods or as a partition in a box lunch, since they have anti-bacterial effects.

Other than the kashiwa-mochi, we often see green colored sweets on the stores and cafes these days when trees get thick fresh leaves.

Matcha pudding

Matcha ice cream

Matcha, as known to the world nowadays, is green tea powder and have bitter taste.

It used to be used for tea ceremonies, although now it has become an essential flavor to make sweets or for cooking, and matcha -flavored sweets gain popularity not only in Japan but over the world.

Matcha an-mitsu.

51. One Thousand Origami Cranes For Peace

When we wish something, such as family health or world peace, we fold origami paper to make cranes.

If the number reaches one thousand, which is called Senba-zuru, the wish will be realized.

I have seen a number of blue and yellow paper cranes since the battle began in Ukraine.

A famous story about the Senba-zuru is about a girl with leukemia after the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima in 1945. The girl was fifteen years old and she folded origami cranes every day wishing for her recovery. She created over a thousand of cranes, however she passed away before long.

Since then, thousands of paper cranes have been made wishing for no-war and millions of them are being displayed in Hiroshima.

Senba-zuru can be seen in shrines and temples, or hospitals and various facilities as well.

Some people make it without special reason.

Of course we know that the paper cranes don’t actually bring people’s health or world peace.

Even if it is only a superstition, we keep making it because we want to do something to express our feelings, or prayers.

And while working on origami, our minds are serene and concentrate on our wishes.

I hope no more Ukrainian people would be killed and they could return to their homes as soon as possible.

50. Entr’acte Box Lunch

Now, “Bento” has become an international term that means box lunch.

Thanks to the self-isolation due to the pandemic, we can eat international bento at home.

curry bento

In Japan various kinds of bento are available at every shops, such as department stores, convenience stores and individual bento stores. Many people make bento by themselves.

Among others, “Makunouchi bento” contains wide variety of foods and very popular. It literally means “between-the-acts box lunch” and used to be eaten between the acts of kabuki or other performance arts.

Traditional Makunouchi bento since the Edo period.

Makunouchi bento in a restaurant 

Other than the makunouchi bento, we have “Eki-Ben”, which was originally sold at major stations to be eaten in the train.

They contain foods distinctive of the region and some people go traveling all the way to eat some kinds of Eki-Ben.

We can get some in department stores or other shops.

(Shu-Mai bento at Yokohama station contains Chinese pork dumpling and fried rice, since there is a big Chinatown nearby.)

49. Cherry Blossom’s Spirit

As cherry blossoms start blooming, the Japanese become restless. Some people travel Japan from south to north following the best of cherry blossoms.

Arakura-Yama, famous for the viewing of Mt.Fuji and cherry blossoms, which has not unfortunately bloomed yet.

Why Japanese people adore cherry flowers so much?

Old Japanese people likened the cherry blossoms to peoples’ lives.

Cherry blossoms bloom only for a short time. Just after they reach their best, they fall all at once.  The flowering period is as short as a week.

For samurai warriors it has been ideal to flourish and, when the time came, be prepared to die.

Ancient poets created many poetries, in which they lamented the ephemeral of the cherry flowers. They found people’s way of life in the lifetime of cherries.

Somei-Yoshino cherr

However, the cherry blossoms the ancient Japanese had appreciated were not the ones we are seeing now in towns and famous sights.

The cherry blossoms we see generally in Japan are mostly Somei-Yoshino species.

The Somei-Yoshino species is artificially produced in the Edo period by crossing indigenous cherry trees and produced by cloning . That’s why they bloom all at once in the same area.

Other kind of cherry

Other than Somei-Yoshino species, we have a number of cherry species in Japan. You can enjoy them anywhere.

Double -petals cherry is called Yae-sakura

The double -petals cherry looks like a bouquet of roses at their best.

Weeping cherry

We also have yellow cherry flowers, called Ukon cherry.

Ukon cherry

In Tokyo we can enjoy cherry flowers from early March to the end of April.

48. Are Cherry Flowers Delicious?

Spring has come and cherry blossoms are blooming again!

Once a flower comes out, the cherries will bloom in a week!

The Japanese eat cherry flowers.

That does not mean we pick it out and nibble it while taking a walk under cherry trees.

As spring seems just around the corner, sweets or dishes with salted cherry flowers or leaves appear in shops and restaurants. They are made from special cherries of the previous year and available commercially.

It’s like candied or crystalized violets in western countries.

Salted cherry flowers are mainly made by yae-sakura, double cherry flowers. The left is daifuku with cherry topping.

The representative sweet using the salted cherry is a sakura-mochi, a pink-colored rice cake with sweet beans paste center and wrapped in a salted cherry leaf. When this sweet appears in shops, we realize the spring has come.

Sakura-mochi and Kusa-mochi, the later of which contains Japanese mugwort, yomogi and is also a spring sweet.

We have Sakura-Yu, in which hot water is poured on a salted cherry flower for weddings or some auspicious occasion.

Sakura-Yu

The cherry flowers have only faint flavor and the cherry leaves have distinctive smell.

Still those teas and sweets attract people, because we want to welcome this lovely season using every senses.

Milk jerry with cherry flower flavor.

47. Japanese Noodles

We have various types of noodles in Japan, such as soba, udon, somen (very thin white noodle), ramen (Chinese noodle) and so on.

A traditional soba restaurant in Tokyo.

Soba is made from buckwheat and brown to white colored thin noodle, while udon is made from wheat flour and white colored soft noodle. It is said that eating soba everyday decreases your blood pressure and body weight.

Natto soba (a bowl of cold soba topped with fermented soy beans).

The soba and udon are served hot or cold.

Sometimes they are served to dip into dashi soup, or sometimes served with various toppings, such as tempura, fish cakes, chicken, egg and the like.

Okame udon.

You can find eating soba stands here and there in a town or a station. When you have little time to eat, this is ideal place to fill your stomach quickly . In soba stands and restaurants you can eat udon as well.

Also we have traditional soba restaurants. Some of them have delivery service traditionally.

Nabe-yaki-udon, served in earthenware pot, contains prawn tempura, fish paste, egg, rice cake and various vegetables.

Many soba restaurants also offer sake, small dishes and rice bowls with various toppings.