Japanese vegetables and fruits in Brazil

Nowadays people hear Japanese names of Japanese vegetables, fruits, various foods and things in the world.
I found it interesting in a video about Brazil that Japanese vegetables and fruits in Brazil are sold under the name in Japanese on markets.
The Japanese vegetables and fruits are connected with Japanese Brazilian achievements.
Japanese immigration to Brazil has started since 1908 and the number of Japanese immigrants reached 240 thousand by 1994.
Now the number of Japanese Brazilians became about 1.5 million.
2008 was the 100th anniversary year of their immigration to Brazil.
According to the video, Japanese immigrants have been said to be a God of growing vegetables.
For example, Nira, Moyashi, Shimeji, Shiitake and Kaki are sold exactly under the name of Japanese ones.
These were bred in Brazil by Japanese immigrants in the past.
As for their typical fruits, Japanese Kaki is not a bitter persimmon but a soft sweet fruit that looks like a large orange-coloured tomato. Kaki in Brazil was bred by a Japanese immigrant who lived in Rio de Janeiro, Mr.Kasuga in 1927.
Brazilian Guava was bred from a wild breed type by another Japanese immigrant, Mr.Ogawa and he has kept on handing it out
for free and still gives coaching in various techniques for growing it. Since then, the guava has become a very popular fruit in Brazil.
I think Japanese Brazilians can be internationally proud of the fact that their great ancestors had left many gifts from the land for posterity.
Tonight I was surprised to watch even another video in which a cute Japanese Brazilian girl sings Hanamizuki of Japanese singer and song writer, Hitotoyo very well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDlmE5uxamQ

MIJC local Sakura 2013 in Oregon

MIJC Japanese Conversation group No.6

Friday, March 29, 2013 12:15pm-

lunch break during the final spring break

Shogi

将棋 (Shogi)

Do you know Japanese Shogi? Yoshiharu Habu is one of the professional shogi masters. He started Shogi at the age of 6 and made his professional debut at the age of 15. In 1992 Habu won the Oza (throne) championship defeating Bungo Fukuzaki to hold two titles (Kioh and Oza) and In 1996 he achieved the remarkable feat of holding simultaneously all seven major titles (Ryu-oh, Meijin, Kisei, Oi, Oza, Kioh, and Osho). In 2012, Habu won his 81st shogi championship title in the Kisei Championship, becoming 1st on the all-time title-winners list, surpassing the late Yasuharu Oyama who won a total of 80 titles. He is a chess FIDE Master as well.
He has visited France, Paris to play Ryu-oh title at 24 and in 2012, he was invited to the international Shogi Festival at Paris. The international Shogi Festival has been held once every three years in Japan but last year it was held in France, Paris for the first time.
The Shogi fans from 21 countries were coming and Habu did a simultaneous match with them in which it’s necessary to memorize all the streams and explain them. He says it’s not so hard for him and he has ever done the simultaneous match with 100 children. The shogi techniques have been advanced by Habu according to Shogi reporters and other professional shogi players. He has a high ability to think ahead; i.e, thinking 10 steps ahead becomes at least approximately 60,000 combinations. Habu explains the difference between Shogi and chess. He made the chess game draw with an active chess champion. Habu says he won’t avoid risky things if they have possibilities and he won’t stick around his style.
He seems to be constantly-evolving with his novel perspective on the basis of various experiences and that inspires many worldwide shogi fans.

MIJC Japanese Conversation group No.5

Wednesday, March 27, 2013 6:30pm – 8:30pm

-dinner mingle

Do you know “GeGeGe no Kitarō” (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎)?

Do you know “GeGeGe no Kitarō” (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎)?

No? then how about yōkai? These are related with manga artist, Shigeru Mizuki, his real name is Shigeru Mura.
He is one of the great manga masters, in particular, a well-known yokai researcher. He became 91 years old this March, living with his wife in Tokyo. I remember his wife gave the interview from NHK program on his life, saying,
“He has been living at his own pace.”

He has gone through World War II, at jungle Rabaul, one of the fiercest battlegrounds, the troops which he belonged to were attacked by strafing and he dived into the sea and he miraculously survived. After that, he had malaria, furthermore　he was unfortunately attacked by enemy aircraft, and he seriously injured his left arm. In 1945, he knew the defeat in the war　at the front. He lost his left arm but again survived.

Looking back, he recalls that he has worked more than three times as much as normal people. About his lost left arm, he says he has never felt sad because it’s a worthier thing to live without his arm than to lose his life.
So why did he create the yokai manga, titled “GeGeGe no Kitarō”?

Yokai stories have been handed down by our ancestors. Yokai means phantom or ghost that is made up of the kanji for “mysterious” and “weird” and usually embodies supernatural events or forces. He used to listen to Yokai stories
in his house. ‘Ge’ sound comes from shiGeru, his name. The music starting from Ge Ge GeGeGe no Ge has been very well-known in Japan, and the Yokai characters including especially one-eyed boy, Kitaro still remain in our hearts with the music.

In spite of such an intense experience, his attitude seems to be easygoing. I wonder if it’s because he kept on pursuing one transcendent thing.

Finally, titled “GeGeGe no Nyobo”, his life was broadcast by the NHK TV Drama in 2010. The music was made by Ikimonogakari, titled “ありがとう”(Arigatou), that was a big hit throughout the year. Nyobo means ‘Wife’. So, the story was written by his wife, Nunoe Mura. Mizuki Shigeru museum is located in Tottori Prefecture where he was born.
★ありがとう

Kanji of the Year

漢字 (Kanji) of the Year

Every year the kanji of the year, one Japanese character which represents the year is chosen by the Japanese Kanji Proficiency Society through a national ballot in Japan. It has been 18 years since they started in 1995. It is written on a large piece of Japanese paper in a ceremony on December 12th (Kanji Day) by the chief priest at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto.

It’s interesting because it shows us the reflection of the year such as our hope or special events or something. The kanji of the year, 2012 was Kin (=Gold). Interestingly Kin was the first kanji to be selected more than once; one is 2000. Both were Olympic years; Sydney Olympics was held in 2000, and Judo athlete Ryoko Tamura (now Ryoko Tani) and marathon-runner Naoko Takahashi won gold and in 2012, at London Olympics, Japan won 38 medals, for the most overall Olympic medals. For example, Judo athlete Kaori Matsumoto won the gold medal in the lightweight (57kg) division, and a Japanese artistic gymnast Kōhei Uchimura won the gold medal with a score of 92.690. He won the silver medal in the men’s floor routine with a score of 15.8 as well.(-skip the rest)

As another prize, Shinya Yamanaka won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with his fellow stem cell researcher John Gurdon. Moreover, it was announced that we could observe a solar eclipse for the first time in Japan in 932 years. So, the chief priest said many people chose the kanji Kin with a sensation and hope. What would you think about this year on December 12th?

Wa-gyu

Do you know Wa-gyu? It’s Japanese beef classified according to the breed, not the production area. When we say “San dai Wa-gyu” (top 3 Wa-gyu), it means Kobe beef(*), Matsusaka-ushi (or Matsuzaka-ushi) and Oomi-ushi or Yonezawa-ushi. Ushi = cow, Gyu is our “On” way of reading （based on the Chinese sounds）of the Kanji, Ushi. They are called Brand-ushi/gyu which satisfies a criterion for the production area, breed, rating, the method of breeding and so on. In fact, there are more than 200 Brand-ushi/gyu in Japan. Among them, one of the Top 3 brand, Kobe beef is the brand-ushi/gyu of Tajima-ushi/gyu which has been popular across the world since Kobe port was open in 1868 as “Kobe beef”*. I’ve visited Kobe during the summer vacation with my family and tasted the exquisite Kobe beef. At the restaurant they showed us a pedigree paper and the photo of the brand ushi which was named “Kiyoharu-go”. I wondered a bit if I could eat it when I saw the great cow..but once I had it, I couldn’t stop tasting such a soft and delicious beef. Therefore, that summer became a memorable time for us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oe7McrSddw
http://www3.jmi.or.jp/en/

Onsen (Hot spring)

温泉 (Onsen)

Have you ever tried Japanese Onsen (Hot spring)? There are many natural hot springs, especially volcanic hot springs here and there because there are many mountains in Japan. So, even in Tokyo metropolitan area, you can enjoy 100% natural hot springs.
It’s very effective to heal your body and mind when you soak in a natural hot spring. At a theme park, Ooedo-Onsen-Monogatari located in Daiba, Tokyo, you can heal yourself in natural Onsen and game shops or toy shops or variety shops with a retro look make you feel nostalgic. It’s also well-known as a spot of “Dr. Fish”. In addition, you can have a massage or some kinds of therapies. I’ve been there with my mother or my friends.
Once you reached there, you can feel comfortable with bare feet wearing Yukata (Japanese casual kimono) you choose there.

★大江戸温泉物語

Cherry blossom forecasts

桜開花予報　(Sakura Kaika Yohou)

Last weekend I heard from my family that our cherry blossoms (Sakura) started blooming in Tokyo. Every year cherry blossom forecasts are issued in Japan.

Nowadays some weather companies issues its forecasts instead of the Japan Meteorological Agency, which used to issue it until 2009 but now just observe it. In particular, this year starts blooming about 3 to 7 days earlier than usual in many parts of the country.

★Cherry blossom forecasts

And here in Oregon, i saw some of the cherry blossoms in bloom today.
It reminded me of Japan.