Hiroyuki

I never took your comments personally. I just posted what I felt to be true from my own experience. When I lived in Tokyo, I used to go the one located at Shibuya, near Tokyu Hands. I liked it because it was quiet and spacious. It wasn't smoky if I remember right. (As I mentioned previously, I don't smoke and am every sensitive to cigarette smoke.) It's the atmosphere more than anything else - If I couldn't have a rest comfortably for some time, then I wouldn't go to a kissaten. I might as well buy a coffee can for 120 yen and sit somewhere. I did a search to find that Renoir has shops in Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Chiba only.

The people of Nagano prefecture are well known for being akujiki (悪食 in Chinese characters; literally, bad eating). Akujiki means the act of eating bizarre foods and those who eat such foods. They eat bee larvae, silkworm chrysalises, locusts, and so on. My father comes from Anzu (apricot) no sato, Nagano prefecture. http://markun.cs.shinshu-u.ac.jp/nagano-in...zu/index-e.html He is one of those akujiki. Note: The people of Nagano prefecture prefer the word Shinshu (信州) to Nagano when they refer to the prefecture. To them, the word Nagano sounds as if it referred to Nagano city, the capital of Nagano prefecture, only.

Iron Chef (Ryori no Tetsujin in Japanese) was spectacular, while Dotch no Ryori Show is informative. I still remember those Friday nights that I watched Ryori no Tetsujin with eagerness. In fact, I had the silly illusion that this TV program would last forever. But reality came around, and it ended rather unexpectedly, leaving so many Japanese unsatisified, including me. The word ryori is broad in sense. In Dotch no Ryori Show, it means food or dish, while in Ryori no Tetsujin, it means cooking rather than food or dish. It can also mean cuisine as in Nihon ryori (Japanese cuisine).

Tofu is a special ingredient that I used for this very special occasion. (I would have felt guilty if I had used premade okonomiyaki flour.) Actually, this is the very first time that I have put tofu in the mixture. It turned out very good. No one didn't notice that tofu was in it.

Healthy, low-cost, low-fat, and high-protein okonomiyaki Ingredients: Finely sliced cabbage 2 eggs Boiled corn Small dry shrimp Tofu (momen) Flour All ingredients in a bowl, except flour: Add flour (I didn't have to add any water) and mix well Pan-fry Pizza-style (put cheese and sesame seeds on top, sprinckle soy sauce, pan-fry, place on plate, and sprinkle bonito flakes) This is how my wife and chidren ate it (mayo, ketchup, and tonkatsu sauce mixed together and bonito flakes Not the greatest in the world but one of the healthiest... No?

I don't know much about slow food, but there is a similar concept in Japan, chisan chisho, which means local production for local consumption. Food safety is one of the reasons why chisan chiso is promoted throughout the country. A site providing an general description of chisan chisho: http://www.nh-hft.co.jp/english/slowfood.html

If anyone is interested, Chart showing zouni culture areas in Japan http://www.konishi.co.jp/html/fujiyama/zou.../zouni_map.html Explanation of symbols (from top to right): Kakumochi, grilled Kakumochi, boiled Marumochi, grilled Marumochi, boiled An mochi (mochi with anko in it), boiled Red miso soup Sumashi (light soup) White miso soup Azuki bean soup Zouni is a type of soup with mochi in in, eaten on New Year's Holidays.

Tokyo (where I was born and bred) and Niigata (where I live at present) are both in the kakumochi (rectangular mochi) culture area. On the other hand, Osaka and Kyoto are in the marumochi (round mochi) culture area. I have never heard of, seen, or eaten komochi (lit. small mochi). Some sites use the terms komochi and marumochi interchangeably. One site says that komochi were given away to family members and servants on New Year's Day. Some sites like this one http://www.betterhome.jp/shop/oishi03huyuharu/106/106.html make a distinction between marumochi and maru komochi (round, small mochi), but I can't tell their difference from the pictures. So, I can't really tell you what komochi are, but I guess that they can be used just like maru mochi (grill, boil, etc.).

Hm... I can't quite answer your question. I've never been to Utsunomiya... . There are a variety of shops specializing in gyoza, so I guess you can eat all kinds of gyoza there. There is a book called Utsunomiya Gyoza Official Guide: http://www.shimotsuke.co.jp/jigyo/syuppan/...miya_gyouza.htm (Japanese only)

A sales manager of Ginza Renoir kindly replied to my inquiry: All our shops permit smoking. Some have smoking and nonsmoking sections. All 100 shops under our direct management provide green-tea service, but some "Renoir" chain shops do not. As for the time tea is served, we instruct our employees to serve it when the customers have finished their ordered items, but in some cases, this will be slightly earlier or later. Of course, you can ask for green tea, and we'd like you to feel free to ask for another cup.

Utsunomiya city, the capital of Tochigi prefecture, is known as a 'town' of gyoza (gyoza no machi). The per-capita gyoza consumption in this city is No. 1 in Japan, and there are a lot of gyoza shops there. But why 'town'? I don't know. Probably because shi (city) also means death and is avoided. There is a gyoza-shaped statue in front of JR Utsunomiya station. http://www.ipe.tsukuba.ac.jp/~s0310126/gyouzazou.html This site says that the statue actually represents a goddess wrapped in a gyoza skin.

As I implied, a Renoir shop is not for everyone, nor is it for every occasion. As for the sofas, they are something you sit back and relax in, not sit straight up in. You often see tired-looking business people sit back and take a nap in them, don't you? A Renoir is an oasis for such people. Let me add that Starbucks shops are not for me.

Thanks for the link, torakris. I've been to Lion Kissa shown in the link several times. It's a strange atmosphere but I liked it.

Next to Doutor, I like Renoir (ルノアール) the best. It's a coffee shop chain committed to providing customers with relaxation. Typically, a Renoir coffee shop is spacious, is relatively quite, and is equipped with good sofas (good enough to take a nap in). I highly recommend Renoir if you are going to stay in a coffee shop for a few hours and are willing to pay about 500 yen for a cup of coffee. Renoir is dismissed by young people as corny and a place where business persons would go, but that's exactly why I like it. I can be free from rowdy young people and talkative schoolgirls. A Renoir coffee shop is called an oasis in a city. You may be in for a pleasant surprise if you stay there for long, say, one hour or longer; a waiter or waitress may bring you a cup of green tea free of charge. Yesterday, I sent Renoir an inquiry, asking if they always offer this green-tea service and if they permit smoking. Renoir's website: http://www.ginza-renoir.co.jp/ A typical Renoir coffee shop: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g190411/

This particular remark is very interesting to me and probably to Yankee mama and Nakagawa as well. Here is part of what Nakagawa wrote on his bulletion board: Several years ago, a famous American roaster entered the Japanese market (a shop reputed for making better coffee than Starbucks). They worked hard, opening up five shops, but withdrew after all. We roasters were excited to see what would become of the roaster, but they withdrew. The roaster tried to compete not on fashion but on flavor, unlike Starbucks. Probably the owner thought that the Japanese did not have a palate for coffee. At that time, I thought that this was due to the difference between Americans and Japanese in eating habits, to be more precise, the difference between Japan, which had made drip-brew culture, and the United States, which has espresso culture. Japanese prefer bland taste, as exemplified by wa-shoku (Japanese food). Drip coffee is suitable for wa-shoku. Besides, drip coffee is suitable for the soft water in Japan. On the other hand, that roaster tried to establish the French press in the American way. And, they tried to introduce dark roasted coffee in the American way. I think that's the cause of their failure.

My wife's recipe for making kabocha soup is a little bit different. She cuts a kabocha into manageable bits and puts them in a microwave to heat them. Then she removes all skins from the flesh and smash the flesh only. She puts it in a pan and add milk and some pepper and salt. She put the skins in a microwave to dry. To my surprise, both of my children like them.

School lunch on Saturday, Sept. 25 (open day), at my son’s elementary school Plain cooked rice Bamboo leaf-shaped fish sausage deep-fried with batter containing green laver(?) Salad with gourd and kounago (type of small fish) Chicken soup Japanese pear Milk The lunch room, where preparations are under way: Note that not all schools in Japan have a lunch room.

Nakagawa's comments on the beans: The beans were roasted on 15th or after. This is because... I wanted to send him beans roasted with a new roasting theory... (I, for one, like this roasting method very much.) *** Important note: The coffee beans that I sent to phaelon56 had been roasted in a different way as those that Nakagawa sent to torakris. (Oh, boy! Nakagawa is so unpredictable!) Nakagawa's message to phaelon56: I suspect that drip-brew techniques are not very popular in the United States... (They happen to be my most favorite ways of brewing.) I'd like to know, among other things, what the situation of drip-brew is in the United States. *** In a different post on his bulletin board, he wrote: I am interested in how roasting is done in the United States, and I'd like to know, in particular, whether they (beans in the United States) are compatible with drip-brew methods. I feel like examining whether they are compatible with the (soft) water in Japan. (He wrote elsewhere that the soft water in Japan does not go together with espresso.) Edit to add: As I had promised, I deleted the email containing your personal information just now.

I, for one, used to be a fan of Doutor coffee. From my perspective, it's perfect - a nice cup of coffee for 180 yen, a nice, refined atmosphere, light meals, and the absence of waiters or waitresses. The only drawback is that it permits smoking. To learn more about Doutor Coffee, visit here: http://www.doutor.co.jp/english/index.html http://www.doutor.co.jp/ir/jp/report/inves...ivguide2001.pdf (pdf file) An excerpt from the second link: Most of the coffee industry processes beans by roasting, a method that can be adapted to mass production. Doutor’s direct-heating method of roasting coffee beans means that we sometimes suffer slightly in terms of productivity. However, this trade-off is more than acceptable, considering the difference in taste. This kind of large-capacity, direct-heating equipment was not used anywhere in the world, so we had to invent the method on our own. Doutor’s roast has become the Japanese coffee standard because of our devotion to flavor, and also because of the way we approach branding. Note: I am not affiliated with Doutor coffee.

>are kissatens in japan, as a general rule, very smoky? That depends on the customers, but I guess almost all kissaten permit smoking. I don't smoke and am very sensitive to cigarette smoke, which is the major reason why I don't want to go to a kissaten. >two articles: 1, 2. article 1 brings up a couple interesting issues. Thanks! I read them both with interest. >japan definitely has a deep rooted, refined tea culture. yet starbucks and cafes are thriving. are they thriving along with the tea culture, Oh, yes. I, for example, drink green tea at home and drink coffee outside the home. >will cinnamon buns and donuts take the place of manju and mizu-yokan? That won't happen in Japan. I like these two types of sweets and I am not alone. >how many people have coffee makers at home? According to one online source, 46% of the housefolds have one (but the year not mentioned). http://www.ktv.co.jp/ARUARU/search/arucoffee/coffee4.htm (Japanese only) >it also seems that starbucks is doing quite well. the article states that there was a forecast of 500 starbucks shops opened by march 2004. According to Starbucks' page, the number of its shops in Japan in 2003 is already 503. http://www.starbucks.co.jp/ja/company_history.htm >my husband told me in july 2003 that starbucks had failed in japan. i do not know which is true. Maybe he heard wrong. But it is true that Starbucks went into the red in fiscal 2003, because of the high pace at which it had opened new shops. >he said that starbucks did things the american way in japan and that they did not cater to local tastes and said that is why they did not succeed. Hm... It's the american atomosphere that attracts the Japanese the most. torakris, >A cup of coffee in a kissaten in Japan is in the $6 -$7 range What was the exchange rate then? I remember that a cup of coffee cost 300 to 400 yen twenty years ago.

Sorry, I made a mistake, houtou, not houhou. Now you know how I hate this dish...

That must be it. I did a search myself, and found that white gyoza is a chain headquartered in Noda city, Chiba prefecture. The website of white gyoza (Japanese only): http://www.white-gyouza.co.jp/ A site showing photos of Kameari branch of that chain: http://homepage3.nifty.com/manpukutai/FOOD.../ETC/WHITE.html I didn't know anything about white gyoza, either.

Houhou. A type of udon dish, often made in a nabe (pot) with slices of squash. I'm not a fan and I'll pass on it. (My father is a huge fan of udon including houhou.) http://auction.msn.co.jp/pitem/22789176

This thread is what I have been wanting to start for several months now, but I have been hesitant for fear of receiving little or no response. But after reading this thread today, my curiosity has gotten the better of me, so here it is. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry725096 Do you ever go to a kissaten? Are you a regular at a certain kissaten? Do you go to one of those Starbucks shops only? What do you think the difference between a kissaten and coffee shop/coffee house/diner? Tell me about your experience with kissaten.

Homonyns are a problem in Japanese, too. I didn't know you have the same problem in Korean. Now to the main issue: For one thing, it's not hard to imagine that in learning Chinese characters, ancient Japanese memorized both the pronunciation (in Chinese) and the meaning (in Japanese) of each character at the same time, which is thought to have led to the development of on yomi and kun yomi. More importantly, because of the great difference between the Chinese and Japanese languages in all aspects such as pronunciation and word order, ancient Japanese developed an ingenious system for assisting in interpreting Chinese text, called kun doku (reading in the Japanese way), which calls for kaeri ten (return marks) and okuri gana (declensional endings written with Japanese phonetic characters). Let me explain how the system works, using a very simple English sentence. _wa _su _o I love you. ____レ wa, su, and o are okuri gana and レ is a return mark called 're ten'. (Ignore the underscores; they are merely inserted to put the characters where they should be.) This system helps the reader interpret the sentence into I-wa you-o love-su and into a final Japanese equivalent, watashi-wa anata-o ai-su. This system is thought to have further contributed to the development of on yomi and kun yomi. For a further explanation of return marks, refer to the following: http://www.jekai.org/entries/aa/00/np/aa00np08.htm#Sense1 *** Made some corrections.