Hiroyuki

After the end of World War II, the number of dagashi ya (dagashi shops) continued to increase, and peaked in the 30s of Showa. I finally came up with a definition of the dagashi in the 30s of Showa: Dagashi refers to any of the kashi (candies, confections, snacks, sweets, etc.) in the price range of 1 to 10 yen that were sold at a dagashi ya (dagashi shop) and were bought by children under the age of twelve (elementary school pupils and younger children). In urban areas in the 30s of Showa, there was at least one dagashi ya within walking distance of every child, and a dagashi ya was a place where only children would go. I guess I better stop here before I get emotional. Here is a link to a website listing dagashi. http://homepage1.nifty.com/nekocame/60s70s...shi/dagashi.htm (Japanese only) I know most of you don't read Japanese, but just click any of the links given under 'index'. Which dagashi intrigue you?

Very interesting, thank you for the link! So many coffee geeks, and so many techniques!! I am amused to find, in the Home Roasting in Japan section in the link, the very same photo of a milk powder can as that shown on Flavor coffee's website. I think I will stick to this low-tech method for now. I may move on to a more sophisticated method later on.

This page http://www.flavorcoffee.co.jp/3f/3f-5.html (Japanese only) is on modifying a home coffee roaster. The biggest problem with this roaster is that the beans do not move due to the insufficient amount of hot air. So, Nakagawa decided to attach a vane for agitation. He also attached an aluminum plate as a damper for regulating the exhaust air, a thermometer, and an 'agitating ball' to improve the efficiency of agitation, and made some other minor improvements.

Sounds much more expensive than regular ones...

The answer is: The milk powder can is not coated on the inside, so that no coating burns when the can is heated. from here: http://www.flavorcoffee.co.jp/flavor3.html (Japanese only) I have no intention of becoming as coffee-geeky as phaleon56 or Nakagawa of Flavor coffee is , but I want to get a general idea of how coffee beans are roasted. This is very interesting especially because what roasting does to coffee beans reminds me of what fermentation does to soy beans, but in a very short time, 14 to 16 minutes.

Meiji Seika was named after Meiji Seito, which was probably (I'm not 100% sure) named after the Meiji period, so you could say that Meiji Seika was named after the Meiji period. Detailed description: Tokyo Gashi, founded in 1916 (5th year of Taisho), was the predecessor of Meiji Seika. In the following year, Tokyo Gashi merged with Taisho Seika, so that Meiji Seito (sugar manufacturer), run by the founder of Taisho Seika, became the major shareholder of Tokyo Gashi. Because the place name 'Tokyo' became unfit due to the sales increase after the Great Kanto Earthquake (in 1923) and in order to make clear the ties with the Meiji Group, Tokyo Gashi was renamed to Meiji Seika in 1924 (13th year of Taisho). From here: http://www.meiji.co.jp/inquiry/kyakusou/other/other.html (Japanese only) But, now, let's forget about the Edo, Meiji, and Taisho periods, and go back to the 30s of Showa - the good old days for those Japanese who are now in their 40s!

Wow, thank you for all of your suggestions. You must be very busy just before the opening of the new shop! I shake the can constantly as instructed on that webpage of Flavor coffee. With your suggestions, I really hope my third attempt will be a success.

OK, I found it. Bontan ame!! http://www.seikafoods.co.jp/bontan/

Today, my second attempt ended in a failure too. I did the roasting indoors and I always kept the heat high, so that the beans were almost burned in only four minutes. Anyway, I drank the resulting coffee. It found it rather bitter, but drinkable contray to my expectation. I have learned lessons from my two attempts. I hope that my third attempt will turn out to be a success.

You'll like those traditional dagashi if you like kurozatou. *** The following is some of my findings from several sources: The term dagashi was coined in the Meiji period. In the Edo period, dagashi were called ichi mon gashi, 一文菓子, (where mon refers to a monetary unit used in the Edo period), and were sold at ichi mon gashi ya (ichi mon gashi shops). Later (in the early Showa period according to one source), ichi mon gashi were called issen gashi, 一銭菓子, (where sen refers to a type of coin). No matter how these traditional sweets are called, they are NOT the dagashi that became popular among children in the 30s of Showa, which I would like to discuss in my next post.

I almost forgot to answer your question. You are right. Last year, the rice price went up by 20-30% higher than the previous year, because of a poor crop.

Before we discuss dagashi, I think it appropriate and necessary to make a clear distinction between traditional dagashi such as Sendai dagashi and much more modern ones. Sendai dagashi: http://www.kankou-miyagi.net/cgi-bin/ss_de...ntry=eng&ef=lst http://www.foodkingdom-miyagi.jp/english/t...12/02_12_1.html Traditional dagashi are so called to distinguish them from quality confections called jougashi 上菓子, which were made with an (bean jam) and white sugar. In the latter half of the Edo period, common people such as merchants became wealthy enough to buy jougashi, and the government prohibited them from using white sugar. Thus began the history of dagashi. They used brown sugar together with cereals such as wheat, millet, and rice crumbs to make what were later called dagashi (da pertaining to something inferior). Edit to add more information: Toward the end of the Edo period, sugar production increased, and in the Meiji period and after, shouga tou (ginger candies), konpei tou, and other sweets made with white sugar were degraded from quality confections to dagashi, while shio (salt) senbei, dorayaki, and others were upgraded from dagashi to quality confections. From here: http://www.ipc.shizuoka.ac.jp/~ehashin1/98...Com/dagasi.html (Japanese only)

Thanks, you two. I was just too lazy to look it up in the dictionary. I forgot to upload a photo of uchimame.

Today, I went shopping and took pictures of several Niigata specialities. Here they are. 100% Shiozawa-produced Koshihikari rice Hegi soba Kuruma fu Hakka tou Mame ten (tempura-like snack made with soy beans) 'La France' Pears (the ones in the photo are from Nagano) Yukiguni Maitake mushrooms (I wanted to take a photo of Ishizaka maitake, but unfortunately, they were not on sale today.) Kakinomoto (edible kiku flowers) (Sorry I can't spell the English word for kiku . Can you?) Niitaka pear (really big!)

I knew someone was going to say that!

I made niku jaga for supper tonight, using kuruma fu instead of pork. (Usually, in making niku jaga, people in the Kanto area (including Tokyo) use pork, while those in the Kansai area (including Osaka) use beef.) It tasted so bland that I had to add some dashi no moto (instant dashi).

Thank you from me too!! Although I was born and bred in Tokyo, I have been there only once (to buy some sieves). I think the rice thing is a chimaki, like these http://www.odakesyokuhin.co.jp/sannkakutimaki.htm

I'm looking forward to your third one.

The peace sign seems to originate from Jun Inoue, a Japanese singer and actor, who did that sign in a TV commercial for Konika, a camera manufacturer in Japan. Two sources: http://www.elrosa.com/dia/2003/20031201.html http://www.netlaputa.ne.jp/~tokyo3/cheese.html (Sorry, Japanese only) But why do Koreans do this too? Is it contagious? Edit to add Koreans say kimchi instead of cheese, right? Some Japanese say this too. No doubt that it is imported from Korea.

Thank you very much, torakris, for starting this thread for me. The topic is still daunting to me especially because I have to start by precisely defining what dagashi are. So much for today. I will contribute more to this thread, but only bit by bit.

Oh, something like this: http://mameya.jinriki.com/product_info.php?products_id=60 Click on the photo in the box and a bigger photo appears. One of my wife's favorites.

OK, if you like both kurozatou and peanuts, then I'm sure you'll love kurozatou-coated peanuts.

I am one of those few Japanese who don't like to eat sukiyaki with raw eggs. I don't like to mix raw eggs with natto, either. But I used to like to eat rice with raw eggs (tamago kake gohan) very much when I was a child. Does anyone know the authentic way to make tamago kake gohan? First you break an egg and put it in a bowl, add some soy sauce, and beat the egg. Make a hole in the center of the rice in the chawan (rice bowl) with your chopsticks, and pour the beaten egg into the hole. The rice has to be takitate (just cooked) and hot!! What I can say for sure about eggs is that they used to be very expensive especially before World War II, so I guess sukiyaki with raw eggs used to be such a feast!

This is another interesting topic offered by Nakagawa of Flavor coffee http://www.flavorcoffee.co.jp/index.html (Japanese only) Nakagawa is sometimes asked by customers to modify and improve their roasters. The Roaster Modification Museum page http://www.flavorcoffee.co.jp/3f/r-index.html (Japanese only) lists some of the roasters he has modified so far. Among the list is the Alpenrost http://www.flavorcoffee.co.jp/3f/3f-15.html . Let me translate part of his description of what he did about the roaster. *** Side view With the cover open Perspective view, with the cover open Heater Roasting, with the shutter closed Cooling, with the shutter open The roaster has several disadvantages. First, you cannot visually check the beans to determine when to stop roasting. Secondly, this roaster does not have the concept of murashi* (lit. steaming), resulting in light-taste coffee. I think this is its biggest defect, a fatal one. Air inlet slightly open (roasting phase) Air inlet half open (murashi phase) Close-up of the spoon with a thermometer attached Close-up of the spoon retainer I made three modifications so that the roaster allows the user to: - Vary the exhaust air at will so that the concept of murashi can be applied. I made a hole in the cover so that the amount of exhaust air could be controlled. With the hole in the cover open, the roaster sucks air through the hole, so that the exhaust air from the drum decreases. - Use a spoon to check the beans. For this particular roaster, there is a flow of air inside the cover, so I had to plug the gap between the spoon and the cover. - Check the temperature inside the roaster. I inserted a tempura thermometer into the spoon so that the temperature could be measured except when checking the beans. Results: - The exhaust air-regulating function allows the user to perform "murashi" as with a commercial roaster. By performing "murashi", the user can now prevent the coffee beans from losing flavor. - The user can check the beans with the spoon to determine when to stop roasting. - The thermometer assists in improving reproducibility. *** *Murashi (lit. steaming): With a direct-heat type roaster, it is common practice to restrict the exhaust port for some time after beans are put in and heated, so that the humidity in the roaster increases. This very initial step of the drying phase of the roasting process is called murashi in Japanese. I tried to find an equivalent term in English, but to no avail.

Let me step in for a second. The difference in price between real beer and low-malt beer is mainly due to the different tax rates applied to them. Sorry for interruption, torakris, but I just had to say this. (Down with the Liquor Tax Law!! )