Japan-Modified

A couple of days ago I decided to make some Ukrainian traditional food for my host-family. Debating about what would be the most appropriate for Japanese taste, I decided on mashed potato varenyky* (bareniki in Japanese pronunciation). As I sat a big bowl of varenyky in the middle of the table, all members of my Japanese family were already clicking their chopsticks in anticipation. I explained that this food is generally eaten with sour cream, and that was actually all I was able to say before my family attacked the bowl. I was very happy to see all the excitement about my traditional food and that it did not disappoint.

However, very soon the situation at the dinner table took a different turn. Before I could notice, my sister and other family members were already dipping my Ukrainian food in soy souse. After the soy souse, they quickly discovered that varenyky also taste well with curry... I am not sure what exactly I felt at that moment. Of course I made this food for them to enjoy, and it doesn’t really matter how they eat it as long as they like it. Another part of me, on the other hand, somewhere deep inside was screaming, “Aayayay, this is not how it goes! Put that soy souse down!” On top of that, tonight the left-over of varenyky my host-family used as one of the ingredients in nabe udon (udon in a pot).**

I am not trying to say that all or even a majority of Japanese would do the same if presented with foreign food, but I think that my host-family’s actions represent very well what Japanese usually do with many things that come from abroad, and food in particular. Take a curry for example.

Kareh raisu is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is, however, quite different from the curry which originated in South Asia. Japanese curry, as it is often referred to, is a lot milder, sometimes may contain beef, and is generally served with white rice. It is worth noting that curry came to Japan from Britain, not South Asia, and British were the ones to modify it first. Japanese, however, had further input and turned it into their own dish. Moreover, consider pizza. It is very common to find one with white souse, sea food, or an egg on top. Teriyaki burgers also fall under the Japan-modified foods category. As I see it, Japanese more or less operate by “see it, like it, change it to fit own taste, and spread it” principle. Are these changes fore better or worse? That is up to you to judge, but Japanese seem to think they are for better. Who knows, maybe in 20 years I will come back to Japan and see somewhere on the menu nabe-bareniki.

* As described by Wikipedia: Varenyky are square- or screscent-shaped dumplings of unleavened dough, stuffed with mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, cheese, cabbage, meat, or a combination of these, or with a fruit filling. Varenyky are typically topped with fried salo bits [something similar to bacon] and onions and accompanied with sour cream. Left-over varenyky may be fried. http://en.wikipedia.org/wili/Vareniki

** Please don’t misunderstand, I am not at all offended by the actions of my host-family. In fact, I find it quite entertaining what they did with my food.

References:

"Diving into Japanese curry - new comfort food from Japan." Trend Pot NY, LLC, Mar. 2009. Web. http://www.chopsticksny.com/features/023/.

Itoh, Makiko. "Japanese beef curry (Curry Rice)." JustHungry. 6 Feb. 2007. Web. http://www.justhungry.com/japanese-beef-curry.

Recreation in Japan

Walking around Kyoto one weekend, I was fascinated by the view of Kamogawa (Kamo River). Besides beautiful nature, I saw many Japanese people enjoying their time on the river-bank as illustrated on the first two photographs. Some were fishing, some were on a romantic date, and some were riding bicycles. Some people also go out to the river for a picnic with family and/or friends or just to spend time outdoors.

I asked some of my Japanese friends if family activities were popular in Japan, but they said, "no." When children are little, maybe until to middle or high school age, families often spend weekends together. They go to picnics and sometimes play sports together in the parks. The ones you would more likely see are baseball, badminton, jump rope, and catch ball. When children grow up, however, it is more common for them as well as their parents to spend weekends and travel with friends. Such an explanation definitely confirmed my observations. I haven’t seen many families with high school age children or older out on a picnic or doing other family activities. In such a way, on Komogawa bank I mostly saw elementary school children with their parents or couples, which is also reflected in the images.

It's all about what you wear

There are not enough words to tell about Japanese pop-culture. Especially extraordinary I find to be street fashion. The clothing styles are beautiful, astonishing, bold, strange, bizarre, original, and you can go on and on trying to describe them. Osaka’s America Mura is one of the districts where you can find great variety of street fashion. Some styles fall under the specific trend, some appear to be a mix of several trends, and some do not seem to have a known origin. My attempts to figure out the style illustrated in this photograph were in vain. However, when I asked my Japanese host-family if they knew what fashion it was, and my siblings said that it might be men’s version of Gothic Lolita style adapted by women, but the girl on the right also may be soft punk. Here is a video which in short summarizes what this style is all about:

This outfit also presented a challenge for me. When I showed this photograph to my Japanese friends and host-family, the most common response was "Eeeeeh," you know the one Japanese use for "What in the world?" However, one of my friends said that this is Furugi Gyaru, trend that uses second hand clothing. Also note that the variety of bright colors in these outfits is very particular to Osaka fashion.

This next style, called Ganguro, is well-known, and in literal translation it means "black face." It is one of the sub-trends of Gyaru, which essentially stands for “gal” or “girl”. Typical characteristics of Ganguro are dark tanned skin, dyed blond hair, and high platform boots (Talarowska-Kacprzak 2001). This look was very popular in 1990-2000 time periods, but it still can be seen on the streets today. Shoichi Aoki, creator of FRUiTS magazine, in his interview with Tony Barrell said about Ganguro, “Where they came from is actually a mystery, no one really knows but there is some speculation that they were girls who were infatuated or fascinated with Janet Jackson or black American musicians or perhaps Naomi Campbell, the super model, but it’s still a mystery what their origins were.” However, Talarowska-Kacprzak in her paper argues that Ganguro was created by media with intention to contradict traditional gender roles, where women played a peripheral part, and “promote a new style of being a woman.”

Overall, when you end up in one of these street fashion districts, it seems that here in Japan it is all about what you wear. There are always things to look at and to be amused by.

References:

"Shoichi Aoki Interview." Interview by Tony Barrell. The Night Air. Brent Clough, 9 Mar. 2003. Web. 6 Oct. 2009. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/nightair/stories/s788802.htm.

Talarowska-Kacprzak, Kinga. "Media and the Construction of the Ganguro Trend in Japan." Journal of Mundane Behavior (2001). Web. 6 Oct. 2009. http://www.mundanebehavior.org/issues/v2n1/kinga.htm.