Culinary Experiment

We’ve all been there: Unimaginable things, formerly known as foodstuffs, are hiding in the fridge, the freezer or the food cabinet (aka pantry).

Some of these foodstuffs have the decency to turn into biohazard rather quickly and fairly obviously. Tomatoes. Minced meat. That leftover piece of sushi (how did that even happen?) Others undergo the same process much more slowly and largely stay under the radar. Eggs. Rice and flour. And then there are things that seem to last forever. Case in point: Yoghurt.

I had a truly ancient drinking yoghurt in my fridge, still unopened since I bought it – all the way back in March 2019. Yes, the liquid part had risen to the top of the bottle, but the color of the rest looked good. So: I tried it the other day.

With experiments like these I like to be extra careful. If something looks off or smells off, I don’t need the taste test anymore, into the bin it goes. But after I threw away the protective liquid on top of the bottle, the yoghurt seemed fine, so out came the spoon.

The result: A perfectly fine yoghurt, wonderfully creamy, a bit sweeter than I had remembered the taste, but perfectly edible. Since this started out as a drink yoghurt, I had to cut the bottle in half to get to all of it, but other than that, no surprises, and I had a nice breakfast in the end.

Of course, I didn’t set out to do such an experiment; why I even took the yoghurt along in the first place -remember that I moved here in 2021 – I don’t even know. But it does go to show that expiration dates are not all they are made out to be, sometimes at least. So, I certainly don’t recommend clogging up your fridge with old food, but… I still think it was worth it.

I do think I’ll have to toss the miso, though. However, there’s still that tofu I bought when I lived in my old apartment…

Scaling Down

Three days of rain over the weekend and the temperature dropped by 10 degrees or so. Tuesday morning 9 am, it was 9 degrees in my bedroom. Good for the autumn colors. Not good for me, and Pumpkin is freezing too.

So, as every year around this time, I do what all the Japanese do: I pulled out my thick winter duvet and the fluffy pad that goes underneath the sheet. And then, I moved my futon to a smaller room.

This year, I’m trying the smallest room in the house, the one I have designated as my “reading room”, but which so far only houses my laundry. It’s on the second floor, faces south and is only three tatami in size.

As you can see, once the futon is in, lamp and nightstand besides it, and the heater has found its place, there is not much space left. I’m glad I’m not prone to tossing and turning during my sleep. Or sleep walking, that is.

Pumpkin was quite surprised about the new arrangements, but he adapted in no time. He’s now happily snuggling up next to me every night – underneath the covers, of course.

The only thing that isn’t good about this winter bedroom is that I have to sleep very close to the fusuma doors. And I need to keep them open so Pumpkin can leave during the night. And the draught coming in may be the reason why I have a stiff neck already… Then again, the fusuma are old and don’t close properly in any case. At least the windows are tight here. I hope it won’t get too cold in the next few months…

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Japan’s long history was shaped by the warrior class and there are many samurai whose fame has reached outside of Japan as well. One of these, Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159–1189), is still revered as one of Japan’s greatest warriors, and numerous true stories as well as legends are centered around him, most certainly the reason for his enduring popularity.

Yoshitsune – whose childhood name was Ushiwakamaru – was born around 1159, in the late Heian period. His father Yoshitomo was the head of the Minamoto clan, a powerful noble family deeply rooted at court. When his father was killed in a rebellion in 1160, Yoshitsune had to flee Kyoto with his mother. Turning 10 years old, he was placed in the care of the monks at Kuramadera in the northern part of Kyoto. According to a popular legend, he there received training from Sōjōbō, the king of the tengu who lived in the mountains surrounding the temple.

Be that as it may, fact is, that Yoshitsune was an accomplished swordsman from a young age, so much so that he defeated the famous (and much older) warrior monk Benkei in a duel at Gojo Bridge. Benkei promptly became Yoshitsune’s retainer and would fight side-by-side with him until the very end.

From 1180 to 1185, both fought for Yoshitsune’s brother Yoritomo in the Genpei war against the Taira clan. This war was immortalized in the Heike Monogatari, where Yoshitsune’s exploits take up most of the 3rd part of the story. He was a successful general and eventually led the Minamoto to victory at the final battle at Dan-no-ura in 1185.

Sadly, his success did him no good. His brother Yoritomo, established as head of the Minamoto clan, was jealous of the younger Yoshitsune’s popularity and feared that he might be deposed by him in the long run. He conspired against Yoshitsune, who was finally betrayed in 1189 and forced to commit suicide, with Benkei defending him to the last and dying with him. Today, Yoshitsune is enshrined at Shirahata Jinja in Fujisawa.

Yoshitsune and Benkei monument

As mentioned above, many legends surround Yoshitsune and he was very popular among the people. For example, it is said that he escaped his forced suicide and made his way up to Hokkaido, or even farther to the Asian continent, where he re-emerged as none other than Genghis Khan. Many of the stories from the Heike Monogatari were turned into Noh plays and have inspired visual artists for centuries.

Autumn Colors

In the last couple of weeks the evenings became quite cool. I’ve changed my clothing and my duvet too, and even Pumpkin sleeps under his blanket much of the time. The days are still nice and sunny, so the koyo will be a few more weeks, the final sign for me to move my futon into a smaller room for the winter.

Two weeks ago, a friend invited me to an exhibition of watercolor flowers; she also had two of her paintings shown. It was an exhibition of hobby painters, but the teacher is a professional who specializes in realistic paintings of flowers. His pieces are incredibly detailed with strong colors, and according to my friend, he always works with real flowers, so all of his paintings are unique.

I was very impressed by a small, post-card sized painting of a single momiji maple leaf, bright red with but tiny spots of withered brown, set in a dark blue frame. My friend and I wondered how long it might take to paint such a picture, but we couldn’t come to a conclusion, so we left it there.

Or rather: I did, because fast forward a week and my friend presented me with her own take on “autumn leaf”. She said it took her roughly 30 minutes to finish, so I’m guessing the master can do it in maybe half the time. In any case, all I need now is a frame.

Bear Warning!

One of the things that struck me when I first moved to Kyoto were the many butterflies out and about throughout summer. Sure, I lived in a fairly green part of the city then, but still, their number astonished me. Not to mention the size.

But besides the pretty things – and the nasty ones I have written about in detail, several times – there are also a few dangerous ones. Thankfully, Japan is blessed with a fairly benign fauna, unlike Australia where essentially everything has evolved to kill people.

In Japan, there is one species of poisonous snakes, and the local centipedes can become dangerous for small children. As far as I know, that’s all. Yet, Japan is a vast country with lots and lots of mountains, and there are all sorts of large animals hiding in them. Like bears.

And believe it or not, just a couple of weeks ago, a bear was sighted in the late afternoon not far from where I live. It didn’t come down into the inhabited parts here but stayed on a hiking path through the woods. Still, this is not an encounter I’d want to have, whether day or night. Let’s not forget that Kyoto is a city with 1.5 million inhabitants.

It is known, however, that in the northern parts of Honshu, bears regularly visit smaller towns and cities. They are active at dusk and dawn when there is not much traffic or noise, but they can become a nuisance, if not outright dangerous, to the population.

What to do about that, I don’t know. I’m not a big fan of shooting everything that moves just because, but there must be a better way than putting out neighborhood circulars that say “hey, we’ve seen a bear, be careful.” I wonder how other countries like Canada deal with something like that.

I’m Back!

Yes, holidays are over here too, but it was a nice summer, and pretty hot too. Pumpkin suffered from the heat as much, if not more, than me, he often hid inside the oshiire all day. In the evenings, he would come out and sleep on my desk until it was time to go up to bed. At least in the night, it seems to be much cooler up here than in my old apartment, so I could sleep almost every night. There are also fewer cicadas in the area for some reason, so it gets fairly quiet after sunset.

Work was fairly quiet as well, but of course, it didn’t shut down completely, and What’s up in Kyoto did keep me busy throughout summer. There were two press previews for exhibitions in my time off, and I could convince a friend to come along as my interpreter.

The big thing, however, was the unveiling of the above painting by Nagasawa Rosetsu, which was thought lost since 1971. It resurfaced at an art dealer in Osaka and was bought by the Fukuda Museum in Kyoto after being certified as genuine. The painting of Daikokuten, one of the Seven Lucky Gods, was first presented to a group of journalists (including me) and will be on public display at the museum from Mid-October. This was definitely a summer highlight for me!

A personal highlight was an old friend from university days who made his way to Kyoto after a conference. We met up for dinner and a day at Kurama, a tiny mountain village north of Kyoto with a lovely temple. I hadn’t seen him in years, yet talking to him felt like picking up where we had left off just yesterday. It’s a wonderful feeling when that happens, a sign of true friendship, for me at least.

Anyway, I’m back, and I’ll try to keep this blog – and you – updated with my whereabouts.

Beautiful Visitor

I found this moth a few weeks back in my garage. It was about 10 cm long and just sat there at the top of the wall close to the ceiling.

It is beautiful, but still I prefer it outside. It wasn’t there the next day, so I’m happy I took the photo rightaway.

Gion Matsuri Goodies

I was quite busy last Saturday, out and about for almost 12 hours.

First, there was the yoiyoiyama of Gion Matsuri’s Ato Parade, and once again, I volunteered at the Ofunehoko. They adapt shift lengths every year to try and make it as easy as possible on the volunteers who have to stand there in the heat. This time, I chose the exceptionally short afternoon shift from 2 to 4:30 because I had plans for later.

It wasn’t as hot as I thought it would be, in fact, this year feels less humid overall. Of course, this may also be because I stay on my mountain most of the days. Some friends came by to cheer me on (and buy chimaki), so the shift was over very quickly. And, for the first time, they also had an English pamphlet for people who entered the Ofunehoko, and I was in charge as the “English-speaking lead” of the shift.

Anyway, a friend picked me up at the very end, and we looked at a few more of the yamaboko. We caught several just at the time they were playing the Gion bayashi music – rhythms with flutes, gongs, and drums that are unique to every hoko of Gion Matsuri. It was fun.

And then we made our way to the Bati-Holic Kimono Rock Party. It was a one-man-show, a concert with just Bati-Holic this time, and it had been sold out weeks prior. They are always very energizing, and it was nice to see them play in front of a house full of fans. Some people I recognized from earlier concerts, and I made a few new connections, which is always nice.

About the goodies mentioned in the title: All volunteers at the Ofunehoko get one chimaki for free, it’s a protective charm that you put up at the entrance of your house. The reason I chose this particular shift was that I had to wear a yukata – and as the name suggests, the “Kimono Rock Party” was all about kimono/yukata, and people dressed in such got a tenugui towel as a special gift.

I’m not sure why it had to be pink (rock band and all), but Pumpkin seems to approve regardless.

Air Circulation

The other day, I opened my shoe cabinet to get my rain boots. And what do I see – green mould everywhere. I got quite the shock when I found it on all my leather shoes. Great. But even more so: I found mould inside a kitchen cabinet. The rest of the day was filled with an unexpected emergency cleaning with lots of vinegar.

In all my years in Japan, that’s the first time that has happened to me. Generally, it’s not unheard of, especially during the humid summer months, but so far, at least in the old apartment, plastic-wrapped toast and some fruit I left outside were the only things to get mouldy.

The problem seems to be that there is not enough air circulation downstairs, even though it’s several degrees cooler than upstairs. At night, I keep the kitchen closed because I don’t want Pumpkin to jump up the gas stove and turn it on accidentally. The front door doesn’t have a fly screen, and since Pumpkin isn’t allowed outside (except for his morning excursions into the garden on a leash), it needs to stay closed at all times as well. And although my office window is open all day at the moment, it’s obviously not sufficient to get fresh air into the genkan.

The genkan seems to be quite humid to begin with, and I’m not sure why. Especially on rainy days, the floor is moist; it seems as if the moisture is coming up from the ground underneath it, probably because of insufficient waterproofing. Fixing this will probably involve digging up the whole entrance area, so it’s out of budget at the moment.

For the time being, I’ll probably have to buy dehumidifiers for the shoe cabinets at least: little boxes with salts inside that turn to jelly as they absorb moisture. I hope these are not just available in Hong Kong.

Relieved

Today, I had the follow-up of my hospital visit from two weeks ago. And, to spare you the suspense: everything turned out just fine. There are no cancer markers, and I don’t even need regular follow-ups besides what’s considered normal at my age. Phew.

This time, I’m happy to relate that I had an appointment and only needed to wait for 30 minutes, which is perfectly within the range of “normal”.

I also noticed the last few times I visited Kyoto University Hospital that they must have changed their payment processing. It now only takes a couple of minutes before the notification of the amount you have to pay is coming. I wrote about a standard hospital visit as an outpatient many years ago, and besides getting streamlined here and there, it hasn’t changed much. A description of what is going on as an inpatient will have to wait. Not that I’m eager to experience that, mind you…