Dumplings over flowers

“Dumplings over flowers” is a Japanese saying that means “to prefer substance over aesthetic.” For the season of cherry blossoms, we have a traditional sweet called hanami-dango or cherry-blossom viewing dumplings. It consists of pink, white, and green dumplings on a skewer. There are different theories about the meaning of the colors. According to a dominant theory, they represent flowers in spring, snow in winter, and new leaves in summer.

In fact, this tricolor sweet is available all year round in some supermarkets. But convenience stores have one only during a limited period in spring. Their products are a little different from the traditional hanami-dango as the dumplings are not skewered. This one is from Seven-Eleven, for example.

With traditional hanami-dango, three dumplings are always skewered in this order; the pink one on the top, white one in the middle, and the green one at the bottom. It is also said that they respectively represent a pink bud, white blossom in bloom, and green leaf bud after the blossom has fallen.

The dumplings are mainly made from high quality powder of non-glutinous rice. Unlike traditional hanami-dango, they are stuffed with bean paste. The white and green dumplings have ordinary adzuki paste in them. But the pink one has pink paste (only a little paler than the dumpling itself) which may consist of white bean paste, extract of cherry blossoms, and food color described on the ingredient label.

I ate the white dumpling first. As I had expected, it had an ordinary taste but was soft and sticky. The pink one had a unique taste of cherry blossoms (?), which I found very delicious. The green one contained mugwort and had a flavor of grass. As a whole, this set of dumplings were very good, especially the pink one.

During cherry-blossom viewing, many Japanese people have parties under the trees, eating and drinking (not this year because of COVID-19). It may be fun and some of them actually prefer food or sake over cherry blossoms. The saying “Dumplings over flowers” is “Hana yori dango (花より団子)” in Japanese. The title of old Japanese comic books “Hana Yori Dango (花より男子)” is a pun on this saying. This series has been dramatized in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea and called “Boys over Flowers” in English.

Cherry blossoms in bloom

Now is the season of cherry-blossom viewing. Yesterday I went to Hamamatsu Castle Park. It was early in the morning and there were only a few people jogging or walking. Cherry blossoms were in bloom like these over the pond.

Green leaves, pale pink blossoms, blue sky…

These blossoms were also beautiful though I don’t know their name.

In the center of the city, Hamamatsu Castle Park may be the best spot for cherry-blossom viewing. But Central City Library has also a nice cherry tree in front of it.

Under the tree, there is a monument of Kuraji Ishikawa (1859 - 1944) who was born in Hamamatsu and founded the Japanese braille system.

The website of Hamamatsu City Library provides links to information about the coronavirus available in several languages (https://www.lib-city-hamamatsu.jp/osirase/osirase_link_covid-19_multi.html). The information is well described, including how to wear a mask correctly.

Two cloth masks to every household in Japan

It has been a common practice in East Asia to wear a face mask when you are sick or to prevent pollen or harmful substances from entering your body. Now, it’s a must for many Japanese people as the corona pandemic is going on. But it is still difficult to find ordinary disposable masks at drugstores and convenience stores here because they are sold out immediately.

On April 1, our prime minister Shinzo Abe announced that the government would provide two cloth masks to every household by post. Some people thought it was a joke for April Fool’s day, and others got angry as they expected some other things such as cash. Personally, I thought it was still better than nothing though I had already bought one at a handicraft shop on Yurinoki Street in the downtown. It is next to the convenience store LAWSON near the elevated railway of Enshu Railway. The mask I chose was a simple gauze mask. The masks from the government will be of the similar type. According to the prime minister, they will start to send them from the week after next and from prefectures with many infected people.

The handicraft shop had also bigger and colorful masks. In front of the shop, there is a board saying that they are selling gauze to make a mask, which was the reason why I entered inside. I was glad to find that they also sell homemade masks because I wasn’t sure if I could make one successfully.

I know that many American and European people are doubtful about the effect of masks worn by ordinary people, not healthcare workers. But even if such masks may not be able to prevent the wearers from getting infected, they can reduce the risk to infect other people. If you have to cough or sneeze into your elbow or sleeve when you are talking with someone, isn’t it safer and more practical to wear a mask all the time?

I have had great concern recently. I have once lived in Finland and Sweden and have met unforgettable people in both countries. My first friend in Northern Europe was a Finnish pen pal, and I have an elderly friend in Sweden. Though both are thinly populated countries, they are in serious situation with many infected people. I have been following news about COVID-19 from SVT (Sweden), and it makes me feel uneasy to see that no one (even healthcare worker) wears a mask in interviews or press conference.

According to yesterday’s NHK news, in some European countries such as Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo, people are now obliged to wear a mask when going out. In Austria, wearing a mask became obligatory to enter a supermarket for shopping on April 1. Also in Jena, Germany, it will be obligatory in supermarkets and public transportation from April 6.

I wish this practice will be spread further to Northern Europe, up to Lapland (though it doesn’t need to be obligatory). I heard about a Japanese woman who made a mask from the textile of Marimekko. I believe Finnish and Swedish people will make stylish and practical masks when they need.

CRISP SALAD WORKS offers free salad to hospital workers

The fight against the coronavirus is proceeding globally. I heard about some restaurants abroad that offer free meals or discount to healthcare workers. I thought it a good idea and was very impressed by their solidarity. Recently, I happened to know that a restaurant chain in Tokyo, CRISP SALAD WORKS, also offers a similar kind of service. From March 25, free salad has been provided to all the healthcare and hospital workers (doctors, nurses, clerks, cleaning staff, etc.) at all the 14 stores in Tokyo. Each of them can have one free menu item per day. At first, they needed to select salad they wanted and a store to pick it up through the dedicated app, come to the store and show their ID card to the restaurant staff. According to CRISP SALAD WORKS’ website, this take-out service was changed to direct delivery to hospitals on March 30 as many healthcare workers were too busy to come.

As the name implies, CRISP SALAD WORKS specializes in salad. Their website (https://www.crisp.co.jp/) is in both Japanese and English, and you can see a big bowl of delicious-looking salad. Among their signature salads, there is one vegan option that contains romaine lettuce, roasted tofu, black beans, grilled corn, red cabbage, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and lemon tahini. It sounds very nutritious. Alternatively, you can have custom salad by combining one of three vegan bases and up to four toppings. There are ten kinds of dressing, and five of them are vegan. If I have a chance to go to Tokyo after the corona pandemic calms down, I’d like to visit one of their stores. Now they provide only takeout and delivery service to prevent infection of the coronavirus. You cannot eat inside the stores.

Vegan burger launched at MOS BURGER

MOS BURGER is a Japanese hamburger chain with 37 directly managed stores and 1253 franchised stores in Japan (as of the end of January 2020). They have vegetarian options using a soy patty in their regular menu, and today they finally launched a vegan burger called MOS PLANT-BASED GREEN BURGER. If you search with this name, you can see how it looks. Unlike ordinary hamburgers, the buns are pale green as they contain spinach puree.

MOS PLANT-BASED GREEN BURGER doesn’t contain meat, egg, milk and five spicy foods (五葷). The patty is mainly made from soybean protein with konjac and cabbage added. The sauce is tomato-based sauce using carrot, burdock, and several kinds of herbs. In addition, vegetables such as tomato, greenleaf (a kind of lettuce?), and shredded lettuce are put between the buns and the patty.

The price is 538 yen + tax. It is more expensive than most hamburgers of MOS BURGER even though less expensive than double patty ones. To my mind this vegan burger is too expensive to attract attention from the general public but hopefully it will win popularity among vegetarians/vegans in Tokyo. At first, it is available only at the following 9 stores.

Tokyo: Mos Burger Osaki, Mos Burger Roppongi, Mos Burger Akihabara Suehirocho, Mos Cafe Omotesando, Mos Cafe Nishiginza, Mos Cafe Hankyu Oimachi, Mos Cafe Ginza Nine (from April 1), Mos Cafe Haneda Airport International Terminal Building (the name will be changed to Mos Cafe Haneda Airport Third Terminal on April 1).
Kanagawa: Mos Cafe Enoshima

The company says that they aim to launch it nationwide in May after analyzing the responses of customers and the sales status. I’ll be waiting for MOS PLANT-BASED GREEN BURGER to come to Hamamatsu. I appreciate their efforts. The Tokyo Olympic Games have been postponed to 2021. So other hamburger or restaurant chains may have enough time to follow the example of MOS BURGER and develop vegan/vegetarian menu items.

Botamochi - Rice cake for spring equinox week

Last Friday was the spring equinox day, which is a national holiday in Japan. It is the middle day of a Buddhist event week called higan (we have one also in autumn). During this period, we visit the family grave or other temple. Kamoeji Temple (often called Kamoe Kannon) near the downtown may be the most popular temple for this. It is an old temple founded during the Nara period (710-794). During the World War II, the main building built in the Edo period was burned down. It was rebuilt in 1947 and renovated in 1987. When I was a child, I went to an elementary school near this temple. In fact, I don’t like the main building after the renovation, but I visit there during the spring and autumn equinox weeks every year just because it has been my habit ever since I was very little. There are many stalls selling foods and toys on the premise, which is especially enjoyable for children.

Today I visited the temple early in the morning to avoid a crowd. Usually, I strike the bell and sprinkle water on the statue of Jizo (guardian deity of children) near the pond with a long bamboo ladle used by many people, but I skipped them this time. I just prayed in the main building that the coronavirus would calm down soon. In the afternoon, I took a bus from the bus terminal to another temple to visit the grave. Though the passengers in the bus seemed to be fewer than the previous time, the temple seemed to have visitors as usual because I saw fresh flowers in front of gravestones. On my way back to the downtown, there were only two passengers in the bus. Since I don’t have a car, I need to use public transportation. People like me may go out less frequently than usual because of the coronavirus, but those who have a car and can drive may still enjoy going out relatively freely.

After returning to the downtown, I dropped in a confectionary store Shunkado on Kajimachi Street to look for botamochi. It is a sweet for the spring higan but found all year round in some stores. Since this is the high season of botamochi, it is available in several places in the downtown including some temporary stalls. Basically, it is a rice cake wrapped with adzuki bean paste, but there are some variations. In Shunkado, they were selling three kinds of botamochi wrapped with smooth adzuki bean paste, roasted soybean flour, or chunky adzuki bean paste.

Since each botamochi was big, I chose only the one with roasted soybean flour.

I cut it with a little fork. Because of extraordinary much flour, the cross section isn’t clearly seen, but it was stuffed with chunky adzuki bean paste. The rice cake was made from glutinous rice, which was also chunky. I liked their rough texture very much. At first, I thought the flour was too much, but it was made from black soybeans and had an excellent roasted flavor. It went well with the moderate sweetness of adzuki bean paste.

In Shunkado, botamochi is sold only during the spring higan period that will end tomorrow. Botamochi is named after a spring flower “botan (牡丹)” or a peony. During the autumn higan, we eat a similar kind of sweet called ohagi that is named after “hagi (萩)” or a bush clover. They are sometimes confused, but many of us just enjoy eating them without thinking of the name.

Vegan bowl launched at FamilyMart in Tokyo

FamilyMart is the second largest convenience store chain in Japan with 16,611 stores all over the country (as of February 29, 2020). On March 17, they launched a vegan bowl called “Veggie Burg-don” in about 2,400 stores in Tokyo. According to their website, the patty is made by combining soy meat of difference sizes and shapes and is flavored with roast onion. The sauce is made from wheat flour roasted with plant oil and vegetables such as tomato, mushroom, onion, and carrot to add a rich taste. The package bears a vegan recommendation mark from the Japan Vegetarian Society. If you visit the society’s website (http://www.jpvs.org/), you can see the picture of Viggie Burg-don on the left side of the page.

The price is 498 yen (with the tax), which is the same as that of their beef bowl launched on the same day. In Japan, inexpensive beef bowls and other meat dishes are easily available in chain restaurants and stores, and I think this is one of the reasons why the vegetarian diet can’t attract attention from the general public. The price of Veggie Burg-don is reasonable compared with similar menu items of some vegetarian restaurants. I hope it will win popularity in Tokyo and will be sold also in provincial towns soon.