This is minto's private diary - be updated as there are some daily happenings, noteworthy happenings, mysterious happenings and paranormal happenings...no chance at all!

12/31/2007

What I did for HAPPY New Year’s Day 2008

These are what I did during Dec.2007 to prepare for New Year’s Day.
Most of them are common in Japanese, but some are particular for me.

- What I did before Xmas day
1. Cleaning up my room: Especially throwing bulky trash such as a bed, a broken CD player and so on.
2. Writing New Year’s greeting cards manually: It’s a bit easy work for me because I could use a printer in my office to print address on the cards.
3. Maintaining my room’s Japanese window screen “shoji”: “Shoji” is a paper based window screen with wooden frame. Normally it belongs to Japanese style room. My room isn’t Japanese style (thought it used to be), but shoji is left as it is by my request. So I usually change the paper in the end of year.

- What I did yesterday
4. Cleaning up my house, not only my room but also any other rooms: In this case, I had to clean all pendent lamps in my house even though I’m not enough tall to do easily. So I used a step ladder to do…They made me heavy muscle pain on my neck and shoulders.
5. Preparing my mother’s birthday present: I guess it took the longest hours to have done. Finally I determined a long-sleeved T-shirts and a skirt but I tried to put clothes again and again…
6. Cooking a “Osechi” dish: I cooked steamed chicken with Japanese Sake. Though this dish isn’t a traditional Osechi but our family really loves it so we make it in this season.

- What I did today
7. Cooking some “Osechi” dishes: I cooked one is a traditional Osechi dish “Kuri-kinton” As it is made of sweet potatoes and chestnuts, it is very sweet. I usually mush 3 or 4 sweet potatoes in hand…so my muscle pain is getting worse, as you know.

What I posted here is actually a part of my work, so truly I worked more and am getting more tired than you thought. Anyway Tokyo is 9pm now, 2007 is just 3 hours remaining for me.
I wish you a happy New Year from Tokyo!!!

12/23/2007

Santa Clauses are coming to Shibuya

What do you know Dec. 22nd was? It was a Santacon 2007 in Tokyo (you can get some information from here.) I never know such an event but I’m really interested in how big it is, so I went to see at Hachiko-mae (a famous statue of dog) in front of Shibuya sta.

According to the website, Santa Clauses should be there at midday. But there aren’t so many Santas beyond half past 12. I suspected slight rain made their motivation low.

So I gave up to see them outside, I went to LOHB, a restaurant close to Shibuya intersection. Because I thought I might see their moving from there. Finally I succeeded to take some pictures.


Eventually it seemed there were about 40-50 Santas. And where they visited first was 109-2, a famous fashion department store in Shibuya. Santas might get some gifts there first…

12/15/2007

Rush train in December Friday midnight

Tonight I went out to see a talk show hosted by my favorite Japanese jazz player, Naruyoshi Kikuchi in Shibuya (although that wasn’t as good as I expected).

The show finished up around a half past 11pm and that’s early enough for me to get back home by train…by “really crowded” JR Yamate line, the green, loop line in Tokyo.

Basically the midnight Yamate line is always crowded because this line has a lot of transfer stations. Especially Friday night is usually especially terrible because a lot of people drink in Tokyo before going home. Additionally, most Japanese people have year-end drinking parties in December so there's not only regular drunken people but also people who don’t drink normally (amateurs) all surging onto the Yamate line.

So today was one of the most terrible nights to get on the line!!

For half an hour, I was standing in the car and for a lot of the journey. I couldn’t help leaning against people around me and sometimes I was almost squashed when a lot of new passengers came into the car…I can’t avoid this terrible situation as long as I live in Tokyo and as long as I go out in Friday night, as well.

12/06/2007

Cooking class – Round two “Traditional Japanese dishes (maybe)”

4th December, it was the first Tuesday of December…so it was a cooking class day!!

We made a quiche and a soup (and something…) last month but this time, our recipes turned out to be Japanese ones! It’s so difficult to explain the name and how it is made that I plan to introduce just one dish I made.


The dish I wanted to tell you is like this;



This is a big dumpling which is made of Satoimo – it’s a kind of Japanese yam.

It’s easy to boil satoimos, mash them and cook a filling. But spreading mashed satoimo on my palm to make the dumpling is a bit difficult because it might feel itchy unless done quickly.

After making the dumpling, we fried them for a few minutes and put the soup on them. Finally we put Japanese horseradish and sprouts on them.

Actually the process was not too complicated but it looked like a nice, expensive one for Japanese people. So I’ll try to make it for my parents this weekend again.

12/01/2007

Tori no Ichi

Last Friday, it was the Labor Thanksgiving day in Japan; I was going around Shinjuku looking for a heater and getting Pierre Herme’s macaroon. When I walked along the underground pavement, I found a poster, which indecated that a traditional festival “Tori no Ichi” was held on 23rd November at Hanazono shrine in Shinjuku. I know the festival but I’ve never seen before so I tried to visit there this time.

Tori no Ichi – it means “The Cock Fair” according to an online dictionary (Tori means a cock in this case, and Ichi means fair). But you can’t get any cocks or chicken there. This is held on the Day of the Cock in November - hence the name. I think you might have a question; what is the Day of the Cock?

We Japanese usually use not only the western calendar but also Oriental Zodiac. The Oriental Zodiac is related to twelve animals and we recognize a day or a year as a specific animal. For example, 2007 is the year of the swine, and the next year 2008 is the year of the mouse.

Traditionally, we'll get a decorated big fork as lucky goods there. Do you know why we get such a thing?

When you work at a farm with a fork, you can scoop something - potatoes, carrots or something like that. As well, antient people (especially the owners of retail store or restaurant) make a wish on a big fork to gain some good for them, such as a lot of customer and a lot of money.