Mochi and Mochitsuki

Mochi (Japanese: 餅) is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice (not to be confused with gluten) pounded into paste and molded into shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki.^[1] While also eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time.

Traditionally, mochi was made from whole rice, in a labor-intensive process. The traditional mochi-pounding ceremony in Japan is Mochitsuki:

1. Polished glutinous rice is soaked overnight and cooked.
2. The cooked rice is pounded with wooden mallets (kine) in a traditional mortar (usu). Two people will alternate the work, one pounding and the other turning and wetting the mochi. They must keep a steady rhythm or they may accidentally injure one another with the heavy kine.
3. The sticky mass is then formed into various shapes (usually a sphere or cube).

Mochi can also be prepared from a flour of sweet rice (mochiko).

Kamaboko

Kamaboko (蒲鉾^?) is a type of cured surimi, a Japanese processed seafood product, in which various white fish are pureed, combined with additives such as MSG, formed into distinctive loaves, and then steamed until fully cooked and firm. The steamed loaves are then sliced and served unheated (or chilled) with various dipping sauces or sliced and included in various hot soups, one-dish meals, or noodle dishes.

Kamaboko is typically sold in semicylindrical loaves. Some kamaboko include artistic patterns, such as the pink spiral on each slice of narutomaki, named after the well-known tidal whirlpool near the Japanese city of Naruto.

The Kamaboko organization of Japan specified November 15 for Kamaboko Day in 1983.

In Hawaii, red-skinned kamaboko is readily available in grocery stores. It is a staple of saimin, a noodle soup popular in the state. Kamaboko is sometimes referred to as fish cake in Hawaii.

In South Korea, kamaboko is called either eomuk (Hangul: 어묵, mixed script: 魚묵) or odeng (오뎅, loan word from the Japanese oden, a Japanese dish that sometimes contains kamaboko).

Bonsai

Bonsai (盆栽^?, lit. plantings in tray, from bon, a tray or low-sided pot and sai, a planting or plantings,  pronunciation (help·info))^[1] is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ. The Japanese tradition dates back over a thousand years, and has its own aesthetics and terminology.

The practice of bonsai is sometimes confused with dwarfing, but dwarfing generally refers to research, discovery, or creation of plant cultivars that are permanent, genetic miniatures of existing species. Bonsai does not require genetically dwarfed trees, but rather depends on growing small trees from regular stock and seeds.

Kitsune

Kitsune (狐^?, IPA: [kitsɯne] ( listen)) is the Japanese word for fox.

Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; in English, kitsune refers to them in this context.
Foxes and human beings lived close together in ancient Japan; this companionship gave rise to legends about the creatures.

Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. 

There are two common classifications of kitsune. The zenko (善狐^?, literally good foxes) are benevolent, celestial foxes associated with the god Inari; they are sometimes simply called Inari foxes. On the other hand, the yako (野狐^?, literally field foxes, also called nogitsune) tend to be mischievous or even malicious.^[8] Local traditions add further types.^[9] For example, a ninko is an invisible fox spirit that human beings can only perceive when it possesses them. Another tradition classifies kitsune into one of thirteen types defined by which supernatural abilities the kitsune possesses.^[10][11]

The Ainu

The Ainu (アイヌ^?), also called Aynu, Aino (アイノ), and in historical texts Ezo (蝦夷), are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia.

Historically, they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin.

Today, it is estimated that fewer than 100 speakers of the language remain,^[62] while other research places the number at fewer than 15 speakers – the language has been regarded as “endangered”.^[63] As a result of this the study of the Ainu language is limited and is based largely on historical research.

Most of those who identify themselves as Ainu still live in this same region, though the exact number of living Ainu is unknown. This is due to confusion over mixed heritages and to ethnic issues in Japan resulting in those with Ainu backgrounds hiding their identities. In Japan, because of intermarriage over many years with Japanese, the concept of a pure Ainu ethnic group is no longer feasible.^[3] Official estimates of the population are of around 25,000, while the unofficial number is upward of 200,000 people.^[1]

Sanbutsu-ji and the Nageiri-dō

Sanbutsu-ji (三仏寺 Sanbutsu-ji^?) is a Buddhist temple in the town of Misasa, Tottori Prefecture, Japan.

The Nageiri Hall (投入堂 Nageiri-dō^?) of Sanbutsu-ji, built in the Heian period is designated a National Treasure of Japan.

By tradition Sanbutsu-ji was founded by the Buddhist ascetic and mystic of the late Asuka period monk En no Gyōja (ca. 634–701). En no Gyōja is considered the founder of Shugendō, a syncretic religion which incorporated aspects Old Shinto, Japanese folk animism and shamanism, Taoism and esoteric Buddhism of the Shingon Mikkyō and the Tendai sects.^[1]

Niten Ichi-ryū

Niten Ichi-ryū (二天一流^?), which can be loosely translated as "the school of the strategy of two heavens as one", is a koryū (ancient school), transmitting a style of classical Japanese swordsmanship conceived by the warrior Miyamoto Musashi. Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū is mainly known for the two-sword—katana and wakizashi—kenjutsu techniques Musashi called Niten Ichi (二天一, "two heavens as one") or Nitō Ichi (二刀一, "two swords as one").

Around 1640, Musashi intended to pass on his art to three successors from among his thousand students; specifically, to Terao Magonojo, his younger brother Kyumanosuke and to Furuhashi Sozaemon. He considered Magonojo to excel in technique but to lack in reflection, while Furuhashi excelled at reflection but lacked technique. Magonojo received the treatise, the Go Rin no Sho, on the condition that he read it and then burn it. But Furuhashi borrowed it for a few days and on the orders of Hosokawa Mitsuhisa made two copies- one for Hosokawa and one for himself, which he transmitted under the name of Ihon go rin no sho. The best known edition today is the Hosokawa copy.

Yokozuna and Ōzeki

Yokozuna (横綱^?) is the highest rank in sumo. The name literally means "horizontal rope" and comes from the most visible symbol of their rank, the rope (綱 tsuna^?) worn around the waist. The rope is similar to the shimenawa used to mark off sacred areas in Shinto, and like shimenawa serves to purify and mark off its content. The rope, which may weigh up to 20 kilograms, is not used during the matches themselves, but is worn during the yokozuna's dohyo-iri ring entrance ceremony.

The ōzeki (大関), or champion rank, is immediately below yokozuna in the ranking system. Until the yokozuna rank was introduced, ōzeki was the highest rank attainable.

In modern sumo, the qualifications that an ōzeki must satisfy to be promoted are that he has enough power, skill and dignity/grace (品格 hinkaku) to qualify. There are no absolute criteria, nor is there a set quota: there have been periods with no wrestlers at yokozuna rank, and there have been periods with as many as four simultaneously.

After a tournament, the Yokozuna Deliberation Council, a body of lay people (that is, not former sumo wrestlers) who are appointed by the Japan Sumo Association to provide an independent quality control on Yokozuna promotion, meet and discuss the performance of the top-ranked wrestlers. 

Shiitake

The Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) (from Japanese 椎茸, シイタケ (Shiitake)) is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is cultivated and consumed in many Asian countries, as well as being dried and exported to many countries around the world. It is a feature of many Asian cuisines including Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai. In the East, the shiitake mushroom has long been considered a delicacy as well as a medicinal mushroom.^[1]

Shiitake are native to Japan, China and Korea and have been grown in all three countries since prehistoric times.^[3] They have been cultivated for over 1,000 years. The oldest record regarding the shiitake mushroom dates back to AD 199 at the time of Emperor Chūai in Japan.^[4] However, the first written record of shiitake cultivation can be traced to Wu Sang Kwuang in China, born during the Sung Dynasty (AD 960–1127).^[5]

During the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368–1644), physician Wu Juei wrote that the mushroom could be used not only as a food but as a medicinal mushroom, taken as a remedy for upper respiratory diseases, poor blood circulation, liver trouble, exhaustion and weakness, and to boost qi, or life energy.^[6] It was also believed to prevent premature aging.

Enokitake

Enokitake (Japanese language：榎茸, エノキタケ) or Enoki (Japanese language：榎, エノキ)^[1] is a long, thin white mushroom used in East Asian cuisine (such as that of China, Japan and Korea).

These mushrooms are cultivars of Flammulina velutipes, also known by the name, "golden needle mushroom". Wild forms differing in color, texture, and sliminess are called winter mushrooms, velvet foot or velvet stem, amongst other names.

This mushroom is available fresh or canned, with experts recommending fresh enoki specimens with firm, white, shiny caps, rather than those with slimy or brownish stalks that are best avoided.^{[citation needed]}

Enokitake mushrooms contain antioxidants,^[4][5] like ergothioneine.^[5] and animal testing has indicated possible applications in the development of vaccines and cancer immunotherapy.^[6]
Research at the National University of Singapore, first published in 2005, stated that the stalk of the golden needle mushroom contains a large quantity of a protein, named "Five" by the researchers, that helps in the regulation of the immune system. The mushroom also contains flammutoxin, a cytolytic and cardiotoxic protein^[7][8] that has proven to be non-toxic when absorbed orally.^[9]

Shimeji

Shimeji (Japanese language：シメジ, 占地) is a group of edible mushrooms native to East Asia, but also found in northern Europe.^[1] Hon-shimeji (Lyophyllum shimeji) is a mycorrhizal fungus and difficult to cultivate. Other species are saprotrophs, and buna-shimeji is now widely cultivated. Shimeji is rich in umami tasting compounds such as guanylic acid, glutamic acid, and aspartic acid.^[2]

There are several species sold as shimeji mushrooms. All are saprotroph except Lyophyllum shimeji.

Shimeji should always be cooked: it is not a good mushroom to serve raw due to a somewhat bitter taste, but the bitterness disappears completely upon cooking. Shimeji is used in soups, nabe and takikomi gohan.

Maitake

Grifola frondosa is a polypore mushroom that grows in clusters at the base of trees, particularly oaks.

The mushroom is commonly known among English speakers as hen-of-the-woods, ram's head and sheep's head. In the United States' supplement market, as well as in Asian grocery stores, the mushroom is known by its Japanese name maitake (舞茸), which means "dancing mushroom".

The fungus is native to the northeastern part of Japan and North America, and is prized in traditional Chinese and Japanese herbology as a medicinal mushroom, an aid to balance out altered body systems to a normal level. Due to the taste and texture of the mushroom, it is widely eaten in Japan, although the mushroom has been alleged to cause allergic reactions in rare cases.

The sclerotia from which hen of the woods arises have been used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine to enhance the immune system.

In Japan, the Maitake can grow to more than 50 pounds (20 kilograms), earning this giant mushroom the title "King of Mushrooms." Maitake is one of the major culinary mushrooms used in Japan, the others being shiitake, shimeji and enoki. They are used in a wide variety of dishes, often being a key ingredient in nabemono or cooked in foil with butter.

Mono no aware

Mono no aware (物の哀れ^?), literally "the pathos of things", and also translated as "an empathy toward things", or "a sensitivity to ephemera", is a Japanese term used to describe the awareness of impermanence (無常 mujō^?), or transience of things, and a gentle sadness (or wistfulness) at their passing.

The term was coined in the 18th century by the Edo period Japanese cultural scholar Motoori Norinaga, and was originally a concept used in his literary criticism of The Tale of Genji, and later applied to other seminal Japanese works including the Man'yōshū. It became central to his philosophy of literature, and eventually to Japanese cultural tradition.

Notable manga artists who use mono no aware–style storytelling include Hitoshi Ashinano, Kozue Amano, and Kaoru Mori. In anime, both Only Yesterday, by Isao Takahata and Mai Mai Miracle, by Sunao Katabuchi emphasize the passing of time in gentle notes and by presenting the main plot against a parallel one from the past.

Mokkori

Mokkori (モッコリ^?) is a Japanese sound symbol word (gitaigo) that essentially represents the "sound" of something sticking out in a flat surface, or the sound of something rising very quickly. 
 
A popular term with fans of 1980s Japanese animation, it was popularized in the manga and anime City Hunter by Tsukasa Hojo. Ryo Saeba, the main character of City Hunter, took jobs to help people in need, always on the lookout for a "mokkori chance" (in the context of the series, a chance to do something perverted with an attractive woman, such as groping her buttocks). His clients are almost exclusively beautiful young women, with whom he constantly seeks "mokkori chance". When not working he can often be found hitting on random young women on the streets of Tokyo. His constant womanizing often leads to violent repercussions from his partner Kaori.

Mokkori-kun is a T-shirt character from Japan based on a character used to promote mushrooms. Its unique shape is a sales point with T-shirt customers.

Marimokkori (まりもっこり^?) is a character popularized in Hokkaidō, Japan. Much like the Tamagochi, the name "Marimokkori" is a pun: marimo is the word for the green algae clusters that grow in some of Hokkaidō's lakes, while mokkori is a Japanese slang term for an erection.
Marimokkori's fame comes through merchandising, with a number of various souvenirs being sold in Hokkaidō and throughout Japan.

Okiya

An okiya (置屋^?) is the lodging house in which a maiko or geisha lives during the length of her nenki, or contract or career as a geisha.

A young woman's first step toward becoming a geisha is to be accepted into an okiya (boarding house), a geisha house owned by the woman who will pay for her training. The proprietress of the okiya is called okā-san (the Japanese word for "mother"). The okiya normally pays all expenses, including for kimono and training. The okiya plays a large part in the life of a geiko or maiko, as the women in the okiya become her geisha family, and the Okā-san manages her career in the karyūkai (flower and willow world).

Kyōto Kokusai Manga Myūjiamu

The Kyoto International Manga Museum (京都国際マンガミュージアム Kyōto Kokusai Manga Myūjiamu^?) is located in Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan.

The building housing the museum is the former Tatsuike Elementary School. The museum opened on November 25, 2006. Its collection of 200,000 items includes such rarities as Meiji period magazines and postwar rental books.

The museum is a public-private partnership of Kyoto Seika University and the city of Kyoto. The city provided the building and land. The university operates the facility under the oversight of a joint committee.

The museum is divided into multiple public zones. One is the gallery zone; another is the research zone; the third is the collection zone. There are permanent and special exhibits, a Tatsuike history room, a museum shop, and a kissaten. The 140 m of stacks hold 40,000 volumes in the "manga wall", which can be taken down and read freely.

Aibo

AIBO (Artificial Intelligence roBOt, homonymous with "pal" or "partner" in Japanese: aibō (相棒^?)) was one of several types of robotic pets designed and manufactured by Sony. There have been several different models since their introduction on May 11, 1999 although AIBO was discontinued in 2006.

AIBO is able to walk, "see" its environment via camera and recognize spoken commands in Spanish and English. AIBO robotic pets are considered to be autonomous robots since they are able to learn and mature based on external stimuli from their owner, their environment and from other AIBOs

Sake

Sake ( /ˈsɑːkiː/) is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin that is made from fermented rice. It is sometimes spelled saki.

The word sake in the Japanese language refers to any alcoholic beverage and is pronounced [sake] ( listen)).

In the Japanese language, the beverage that English-speakers call sake is called nihonshu (日本酒 "Japanese alcohol").

Sake is usually referred to in English-speaking countries as rice wine; however, this term is a misnomer. Unlike wine, in which alcohol is produced by fermenting sugar that is naturally present in grapes, sake is produced by means of a brewing process more like that of beer. Thus, sake is technically "rice beer" rather than "rice wine."

Kaidan

In its broadest sense, kaidan refers to any ghost or horror story, but it has an old-fashioned ring to it that carries the connotation of Edo period Japanese folktales.

The term is no longer as widely used in Japanese as it once was: Japanese horror books and films such as Ju-on and Ring would more likely be labeled by the katakana horā (ホラー^?, "horror") or the standard Japanese kowai hanashi (怖い話^?, "scary story").

Kaidan is only used if the author/director wishes to specifically bring an old-fashioned air into the story.^{[citation needed]}

Kaidan entered the vernacular during the Edo period, when a game called Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai became popular. This game led to a demand for ghost stories and folktales to be gathered from all parts of Japan and China.

The popularity of the game, as well as the acquisition of a printing press, led to the creation of a literary genre called Kaidanshu.
Kaidanshu were originally based on older Buddhist stories of a didactic nature, although the moral lessons soon gave way to the demand for strange and gruesome stories.

Japanese sound symbolism - part 2 - final part.

They can be classified into three main categories:

• Phonomime or onomatopoeia (擬声語 giseigo or 擬音語 giongo)

words that mimic actual sounds. Giseigo refers to sounds made by living things, while Giongo refers to sounds made by inanimate objects.

• Phenomime (擬態語 gitaigo)

mimetic words to represent non-auditory senses.

• Psychomime (also called 擬態語 gitaigo or 擬情語 gijōgo)

mimetic words that represent psychological states or bodily feelings.

 

Some examples

Sound Symbolism	Meaning
じろじろ(と)[見る] jirojiro (to) [miru]	[see] intently (= stare)
きらきら(と)[光る] kirakira (to) [hikaru]	[shine] sparklingly
ぎらぎら(と)[光る] giragira (to) [hikaru]	[shine] dazzlingly
どきどき[する] doki doki [suru]	with a throbbing heart
ぐずぐず[する] guzu guzu [suru]	procrastinating or dawdling (suru not optional)
しいんと[する] shiin to [suru]	[be (lit. do)] quiet (suru not optional)
ぴんぴん[している] pinpin [shite iru]	[be (lit. do)] lively (shite iru not optional)
よぼよぼに[なる] yoboyobo ni [naru]	[become] wobbly-legged (from age)¹

1. に (ni) instead of と (to) is used for なる (naru = become)