Keiko’s Dinner from Everywhere in Japan

Posted on May 31, 2011 in Hiroko's Blog

How lucky I was to be invited by my sister, Keiko Arakawa, to a dinner at her house on a day that was two days shy of my birthday. If you have read a couple of blogs related to Keiko, you already know that she is an excellent cook. The dinner was a wonderful family affair attended by Keiko, her husband Yoichi, their sons Kazaharu and Takahiro, Chikako – Kazaharu’s wife of just one week, my husband and me. The most remarkable part of the dinner was the way in which Keiko...

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Mr. Kuniji Maruyama

Posted on May 24, 2011 in Hiroko's Blog

The famous Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo is in danger of demolition, and Mr. Kuniji Maruyama, president of Maruyama Nori Company in Tsukiji (a 150 years old shop that specializes selling the finest quality of nori and Japanese tea www.maruyamanori.com ) agonizes. The Tokyo Metropolitan government is preparing to move the market from the present, history-and-culture rich Tsukiji district (the market was established at the present location in 1935) to a new home in the...

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La Bombance

Posted on May 22, 2011 in Hiroko's Blog

The name of this restaurants sound like a French establishment, but it is a one Michelin star Japanese restaurant, where a chef owner-chef Makoto Okamoto entertains his regulars and visitors with his creative dishes using seasonal fresh ingredients.   No chemically manipulated, unnatural dishes appear in his preparation.  You will enjoy the photos of the course which I savored.  It is a must visit place on your next trip to Tokyo (www.bombance.com 03-5778-6511).  Chef...

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Electric Situation

Posted on May 22, 2011 in Hiroko's Blog

I always boasted to my friends in America that trains in Japan are super efficient – not just the huge number of on-time arrivals and departures, the very frequent train services (a Shinkansen bullet train every 5 minutes or so from Tokyo; subways on 2 – 3 minute headways), but also the presence of multi-lingual ubiquitous signs and escalators in all stations providing travelers with great comfort and convenience.  Growing up with this very convenient, user-friendly...

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Pleasant Bitter Surprise

Posted on May 22, 2011 in Hiroko's Blog

What I have always longed for at the beginning of every spring when I was growing up in Tokyo were the delicious varieties of wild mountain vegetables, called sansai.  Spring sansai have pleasant astringency and bitterness which was the reason for my craving.  Every spring when my mother served us sansei dishes she repeated the story of benefit of eating bitter tasting spring sansai:        It is good for our body because it cleanses toxins that have accumulated in our body...

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