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Post by solveig on Oct 23, 2016 16:08:28 GMT -5
Did you make it to the mingei museum near Ueno as well? If you're thinking of the Shitamachi Museum ("old town" museum) in the Southeast corner of the park, then yes. My guide for the day, assistant director Mashiro (who took pity on me and came into the city on his day off, possibly (correctly) fearing I would get completely lost if left to my own devices on my second full day in Japan) recommended it. It's a cool little place with some "displays" that are actual old shops, reconstructed inside the building. Totally worth the 3 bucks to get in. Sounds like a fun museum. However, as I recall, there is supposed to be a folk art / craft museum in the area as well. I have a rather fat book of Tokyo museums. There are rather a lot of them. There are also several zoos in Tokyo, but I doubt that you would want to spend a rare day in Japan going to the zoo.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2016 23:17:06 GMT -5
Actually, you appeared in a show which is part of a genre which pretty much does not exist on US television. It has been around for decades. Basically, you were on a culture exchange program. One notable exception in the US is a guy who does cultural documentaries for PBS out of WQED here in Pittsburgh. Rick Sebak has done an entire documentary about regional pie variations in the uS and two documentaries about regional breakfast variations in the US. He's also done a number of documentaries about Pittsburgh oddities.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2016 20:34:23 GMT -5
I managed to get my 800+ photos distilled down to a sharp two dozen, and I made a little gallery. www.ee0r.com/gallery/japan2016/index.htmlHover the mouse over any image to see a caption, or click on any image to see a larger version. I'll be slowly expanding this, but it is a start.
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Saionji Shonagon
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Oct 27, 2016 12:19:14 GMT -5
I managed to get my 800+ photos distilled down to a sharp two dozen, and I made a little gallery. Oh, good! I see you managed a meet up with some of the local Barony!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2016 8:54:25 GMT -5
The promo aired last night. My segment is scheduled to air next week.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2016 9:28:42 GMT -5
Oh, good! I see you managed a meet up with some of the local Barony! Yes, thanks for your help in getting in touch with them. We managed to all meet up in Akihabara on Saturday night, despite everybody's schedules and not speaking each others' languages. Gustav and Mildred (plus Mildred's daughter and boyfriend) met me at the train station. Mash, who introduced himself as the father of Mildred's daughter, spoke a little English so we were not completely lost. Gustav wanted to visit an armor shop he'd heard about, so we set off in search of that, then walked around the Akihabara for a while. Mash and daughter had to leave, and the rest of us settled into an Izakaya (pub) for some food and drink. Chabi and Stefan met us there and we continued trying to chat, talk about my activities in Japan, and discuss them maybe coming to Pennsic next year and camping with Kaminari. Eventually, it was time to go, so Chabi and Stefan saw me back to the train station nearest my hotel. For those unfamiliar with the Akihabara neighborhood in Tokyo, it used to be the electronics shop district of the city. Back in the day, you could buy just about anything from the latest computers, cameras, etc. down to memory chips and other components. These days, it has turned into "Otaku Town", and has store after store of manga and video merchandise. I'd walked through on the main street the day before on my way to the Tokyo National Museum, but that night we got off into the side streets which on Saturday night are kind of like an anime convention run wild. Much fun.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2016 7:56:55 GMT -5
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Post by momoyama on Nov 3, 2016 18:23:02 GMT -5
I was writing my tanka last night and simultaneously flipping through the channels after a relaxing day off for Culture Day when I saw the program on TV! Was thinking...this must be the guy from tosandou!! I was hooked and thoroughly enjoyed it. You did very well and were presented as a professional. Well done!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2016 19:57:14 GMT -5
I was writing my tanka last night and simultaneously flipping through the channels after a relaxing day off for Culture Day when I saw the program on TV! Was thinking...this must be the guy from tosandou!! I was hooked and thoroughly enjoyed it. You did very well and were presented as a professional. Well done! Thanks! Sorry I missed you while I was in Japan.
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Saionji Shonagon
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Nov 4, 2016 10:38:55 GMT -5
I got to sit down and watch the show last night. What a GREAT adventure! That feast with the eboshi makers' family looked amazing. And the night fishing at the very end was beautiful. So pleased for you - and yes, a little jealous.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2016 16:06:15 GMT -5
I got to sit down and watch the show last night. What a GREAT adventure! That feast with the eboshi makers' family looked amazing. And the night fishing at the very end was beautiful. So pleased for you - and yes, a little jealous. It was a great adventure. I feel very lucky. Regarding the feast with Yokkaichi's family, I've been telling everybody that the best sashimi I've ever had was sashimi prepared by somebody's mom in her own kitchen. Also, they made a type of pressed sushi called "masuzushi", which is a local specialty of Toyama. You can see me eating a wedge of it in the video. It's made by lining a round wooden press with bamboo leaves, placing a layer of vinegared trout in the bottom, then a layer of seasoned rice, then wrap the leaves over the top, insert a lid, and press into a cake. Mistress Solveig. In your medieval Japanese cooking classes this past Pennsic, you described what 'sushi' was like in period before the Edo period sushi we are most familiar with existed. That sounded an awful lot like the masuzushi I ate. Is this and other kinds of oshizushi close to the medieval-style sushi? The wikipedia page for oshizuhi points out that raw fish is never used, only cooked or cured fish. Regarding the Ukai (cormorant fishing) at the end, yeah, totally magical and unforgettable. They fish every night during the warm months, and there are businesses that work with the 6 remaining hereditary Usho (the bird is "U" in Japanese, pronounced like the "oo" in "shoo") to enable visitors to experience it. You can get a seat on a flat bottom boat and watch them fish in the middle of the river from about 20 feet away. You know, when people find out you are going to visit Japan, everybody tells you what you should do and see. All of that was good advice, but nobody said to me, "You have to go to Gifu City and see the Ukai!" I am certainly going to recommend it to everybody for the rest of my life, though. There is also a nice recreational trail along the Nagara River there, and a small museum about the Ukai. There is also a park with a cable tram up to the top of the mountain so you can visit Gifu Castle. We spent most of the afternoon going up there, but none of it made it into the show. Gifu Castle was built by the father in law of Oda Nobunaga, and Nobunaga lived there for about 7 years. It's the highest mountain for many miles, in the middle of a strategically valuable area (at a chokepoint in the middle of the island, between Kyoto and Tokyo). The view is amazing.
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Saionji Shonagon
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on Nov 4, 2016 17:38:06 GMT -5
Mistress Solveig. In your medieval Japanese cooking classes this past Pennsic, you described what 'sushi' was like in period before the Edo period sushi we are most familiar with existed. That sounded an awful lot like the masuzushi I ate. Is this and other kinds of oshizushi close to the medieval-style sushi? The wikipedia page for oshizuhi points out that raw fish is never used, only cooked or cured fish. It sounds similar if not identical. I seem to recall that narezushi is fermented and the rice discarded once the fish has matured. The look on your face told me it was "oishii!" I will add Gifu to the list of places I need to see on future trips.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2016 17:20:32 GMT -5
It sounds similar if not identical. I seem to recall that narezushi is fermented and the rice discarded once the fish has matured. The look on your face told me it was "oishii!" I will add Gifu to the list of places I need to see on future trips. Ukai is only documented back to ~700, so maybe it's not old enough for some of us Wikipedia says you can still get narezushi at places in Shiga prefecture, so I'll have to put that on my list.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2017 16:52:52 GMT -5
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jutte
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Post by jutte on May 12, 2017 17:59:57 GMT -5
Hmmm - all the linked youtube videos in this thread have apparently been removed, or at least I cannot access them ....
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