Winter winds blow, more Japanese tales, kaiseki master chef interview
Although the temperature in Kyoto rarely goes below freezing, the city is famous for its marrow-chilling winters. The culprit is a freezing wind known as the Hiei-oroshi which blows down from Mount Hiei, Kyoto's highest mountain, and collects in the bonchi, or basin, in which Kyoto is located. The result is referred to in Kyoto as sokobie, a word which describes the type of cold that takes you unawares, seeping gradually into the body through the feet until you are chilled to the bone.
In Japanese, words for hot and cold vary depending on to what they refer. The term samui is usually applied to cold weather, while tsumetai is used to describe cold food and drink. It is important to get these right. I once witnessed a scene in a small noodle restaurant where a request for samui noodles was met with complete incomprehension!
The chances are that in February you will be more interested in atatakai, or hot, food and drink. The English word for hot has been pressed into commission to describe hot coffee, usually referred to simply as hotto. Karai is used to describe food that is hot in the sense of spicy. Atsui, another word for hot, is used to describe uncomfortably hot weather. Atatakai, or the more conversational attakai, refers to pleasantly warm weather, which, although it might seem hard to believe at the moment, is just around the corner. Let’s hope so!
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Content by Ian Martin Ropke, owner of Your Japan Private Tours (est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with Japan private tour clients and have worked for all kinds of families, companies, and individuals since 1990. Clients find me mostly via organic search, and I advertise my custom Japan private tours & travel services on www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps in Japan! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip. And thank you for reading my content. I, Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search), am also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!
More funny & wise ancient Japanese tales
All great cultures have amazing tales that are taught to all children (or many) at home and at school. Japan has a nearly infinite range of ancient tales and most of them are, in a way, on their way to being forgotten. Let's make sure they are not! And thank you for sharing! Learn more!
The bandits of Mount Oe
Once upon a time, there were many ferocious bandits called "oni" who were living all over Mt. Oe in the Tango area. These oni looked just like little children, but they were actually heavy drinkers who were also known as "shutendoji." The people in the village were afraid of these great trouble makers as they were always very rough and vulgar. The shutendoji often kidnapped young girls from the village. Every time this happened, the people in the village could not help but to talk about this horrible happening with one another, and and show how much they pitied these innocent young girls. They told stories about how the shutendoji loved to drink up all the blood out of the bodies of young girls --right till the last drop.
At the palace, the emperor was very worried about what was happening. He finally ordered Minamoto-no-Raiko to get rid of the dreaded shutendoji. Minamoto-no-Raiko and his men disguised themselves as yamabushi, or mountain monks-in-training. Then, they went deep into the mountains where the troupe met up with one young girl who was washing her own blood-stained clothes. She told Raiko that she had been kidnapped and victimized by the shutendoji, and offered to guide them to the cave where they were living.
Minamoto-no-Raiko and his men proceeded all the way to the farthest end of the cave, where it widened into a large meeting space. They came in right in the middle of one of the shutendoji's parties. Raiko respectfully asked if he could stay one night and offered bottles of sake in exchange. The shutendoji finished off every drop of the sake, which they didn't know Raiko had secretly mixed with poison. As soon as the group of shutendoji were fast asleep and snoring, Minamoto-no-Raiko and his men completed the emperor's order by cutting their bodies into pieces and thereby saving all the young girls of the village.
Heaven's mysterious infant
About 1250 years ago, when Nara was the capital of Japan, the city was in quite a disastrous state as a result of long-term warring with the indigenous Ezo people of that area. The city was plagued with starvation, and many people died from hunger. In an attempt to appease the evil spirits, Emperor Shomu commanded that Todai-ji Temple be built. This temple is famous for its Daibutsu (Great Buddha).
The manager at the temple, whose name was Ronin, had experienced a very mysterious incident in life. When he was still a new born baby, a lone eagle suddenly swooped straight down out of the sky, snatched little Ronin away from his mother and took him away out of sight. After some time, the eagle finally dropped the baby along the border between Kyoto and Nara and flew away as quickly as it had appeared. The people in a village nearby looked in great surprise at the abandoned Ronin, as he dangled from a towering, tall tree. They decided this mysterious baby must have been sent from the heavens, and they finally welcomed him as a special gift from the gods. Ronin was raised and cared for by the villagers that found him and later came to be the caretaker of the temple.
One day, an aging couple visited Todai-ji Temple and saw Ronin working there. When they overheard Ronin’s story, they took a special interest and spoke to him. "Is it true that you were taken away from your parents by an eagle?" they asked Ronin. "Yes, that is true," he replied. "We wonder, then, if you haven’t a black spot on the right side of your abdomen." "How did you know such a thing?” Ronin exclaimed with the greatest surprise, “You two must be my real parents!"
Absolutely overwhelmed by this chance meeting, they all wept for joy at being reunited after so many years. And they lived together happily ever after.
The wolf, the monkey and the calf
Once upon a time, there was a old cowherd whose cow had just given birth to a calf. Lurking outside, however, was a hungry wolf, waiting to sink his teeth into the poor calf as soon as the cowherd had gone to bed. There was also a monkey, who had come along to share in the wolf’s feast. But the two animals were not as cleaver as they imagined, for the cowherd's wife heard them scuffling outside and shouted to the cowherd, “The nasty wolf has come for our precious calf!” The cowherd jumped up in alarm, but then an idea came to him. In a loud voice he said, “Bah! Never mind the wolf. I’m more worried about the giant ‘Lie monster.’ It could gobble a wolf down just like that.... Wait! What’s that? Is that... yes, it’s the ‘Lie monster’! Run!”
When the wolf heard this, he ran for his life, and in the dark night the monkey mistook the wolf’s departing shape for the calf, and ran after. Fearing that the dreaded ‘Lie monster’ was on his tail, the wolf ran all the faster. Soon, the wolf found a little hole in the ground and dived in, and of course the monkey went right down after him.
When the two animals had straightened themselves out, they began discussing the situation. “I wonder if the monster is out there,” said the wolf. "Well, we’d better have a look,” the monkey replied, "but if we go out head-first, the monster might eat us up right away.” “Why don't you just stick your tail out, then?” suggested the wolf. So the monkey poked his tail out of the hole. But by this time, the old cowherd had found the hole, and as soon as he saw the monkey’s tail he grabbed it and began pulling with all his might, while the monkey tried desperately to stay hidden in the hole. Suddenly, the monkey’s tale snapped off, and the amazed cowherd let the two animals escape.
But ever since that day, monkeys in Japan have had only very short tales.
An interview with a kaiseki cuisine master chef
The honorable Mrs. Sen is an acclaimed expert in traditional kaiseki cuisine. Kaiseki plays an important part in the Japanese tea ceremony and is the basis of most meals served in Kyoto's best inns and restaurants. In addition to running the Mushakoji Senke cooking school for 34 years, she has written more than 25 books on Japanese cooking. I interviewed Nrs. Sen at her Kyoto home in the autumn of 1998.
YJPT: How did you become interested in the world of kaiseki cuisine?
Mrs. Sen: As the eldest daughter of the 12th generation head of the Mushakoji Senke family, one of Japan's three tea families directly related to founder of tea, Sen no Rikyu, I was born and raised in the tea world. As a constant companion of my father, who was famous for his many talents and his active life-style, I grew up in a world of changing beauty and splendid settings. Together, we went to concerts, art exhibits, on long walks and, naturally, to many tea ceremonies. Every day there was something new for me to learn. There was so much to learn! I studied many of the Japanese traditional arts, I learned about flowers and grasses, about Japanese songs, and I received special training in how to be the perfect host. Until my marriage at the age of 21, I lived fully and freely in the tea world. It was a wonderful time. When I became a wife and a mother my life changed quite suddenly. No longer was I in the bright center of my father's world, free to go where I wished. It was then that I learned how much the tea ceremony world is a man's world. Almost overnight, I had become a shadow in that world. As I raised my son, I struggled with this sudden change. In the end I found my "new" world too small, and too confining. In some way, I wanted to be part of the tea world again. One day my father, who knew how I felt, suggested I begin to teach tea privately to my friends. Eventually, my students and I found that we all had a special interest in kaiseki cuisine. Soon my dining room became known as the "Sen cooking room." This was the beginning of the Mushakoji Senke cooking school. In 1964, my little cooking class became the first Japanese private institution to teach tea ceremony cuisine. We have had about 2,000 students studying here to date.
YJPT: As a person brought up in the heart of the world of tea, what are some of your most vivid memories or experiences related to Japanese beauty?
Mrs. Sen: Even as a young girl, I have always been strongly moved by the simple beauty that is part of every day life. Through the tea ceremony one learns to appreciate the "little things." We often pass by wild flowers that grow on the roadside and yet seldom do we appreciate their pure and wonderful beauty. Taking a Japanese hibiscus or a stalk of pampas grass and placing it in the semi-dark silence of a traditional tea house and then exposing it to natural light by raising the bamboo sudare window screens one by one reveals the flower to the eye in a very special way, making us realize that beauty is everywhere. It is the same with food. The hidden beauty in simple foods is revealed in the way it is cooked and served. For me, finding the hidden perfection in something simple is the essence of tea. It is also the heart of life itself. In the end, simple is best.
YJPT: When you cook or when you teach others how to cook, what are thing things that you consider to be most important?
Mrs. Sen: In my cooking classes I always teach my students that everything begins with three Japanese ideograms which can all be read as ki: the ideogram for season), the ideogram for vessels, and the ideogram for timing. The first fundamental of cooking is season. Foods that are in season are at their most delicious, easy to obtain, and inexpensive. To appreciate the taste and visual aspects of food, season is the most important. The second most important point what the food is served in or on. For example, kaiseki is often arranged on simple cedar hassun trays, moistened with water. A common motif is to arrange a mountain food along with a seafood on the tray. A freshly cut set of green chopsticks are then placed diagonally across one tray corner. Hassun trays are very simple but they work wonderfully to highlight the beauty of kaiseki foods. The beauty of kaiseki lies in its simplicity, and yet this simplicity is no easy matter. Achieving a balance between the food, what accompanies it and the serving vessel is a fine art in itself. Last of all, timing is extremely important. Hot food should be served hot, cool food should be cool. If you serve something at the wrong time it will not taste right. By satisfying these three conditions, you are able to serve food that is perfectly satisfying in every way.
YJPT: How has kaiseki ryori changed in the last few hundred years?
Mrs. Sen: Originally, kaiseki referred to a Zen practice in which monks placed warm stones on their stomachs in the evening to help them overcome hunger in the evening. The stone warmed the belly the food does. Kaiseki cuisine is similar in that it fills but does not leave you too full. In preparation for receiving tea, one should only be eight tenths full. Kaiseki cuisine was created by Sen no Rikyu, the founder of the Japanese tea ceremony, about 450 years ago. At that time tea cuisine was very showy, wasteful and luxurious to the extreme. Rikyu greatly simplified tea cuisine by using every-day materials and infusing a deep spiritual element into the ritual of cooking and eating. Sen no Rikyu's style of kaiseki has hardly changed over the last 450 years.
YJPT: What are common themes for kaiseki ryori in December and January?
Mrs. Sen: In December, we use winter vegetables such as white radish, and satoimo or ebiimo (a kind of potato). For the New Year, celebratory motifs are called for. Sea bream, giant Ise prawns are favourites. Since the turn of the century, the sheer variety of foods available all over Japan has increased dramatically. So today, especially in modern-style kaiseki, we have many more ingredients, colors and textures to choose from when we create kaiseki.
YJPT: What are your feelings about Kyoto as a city?
Mrs. Sen: In recent years, I have often felt sad and disappointed. The slow and sometimes sudden disappearance of Kyoto's traditional town landscape in the city center favor of modernization is unfortunate. But in other parts of the city, considered to be preservation areas, it is really painful and hard to accept. Somehow, I feel that the direction of the city is far too much influenced by new things and the emptiness of modern culture. Kyoto has long been known as a magical city of mist-wrapped mountains and clean, running water. In cities like Tokyo you can't see the edge of the city. Here you can see the smooth, elegant lines of the hills from almost anywhere. Seeing the mist on the mountains of Kyoto always makes me feel relaxed and spiritually pure. When it comes to places, I particularly love the Kamogawa river north of Kitaoji street. In spring, the shidare sakura [a type of cherry tree with long branches that hang down like a willow] along the river are especially lovely. In autumn, the lonely feeling imparted by fall flowers and grasses is also something I find very special. My favourite fall landscape is the area around Osawa Pond and Daikaku-ji Temple. It still looks like it did when I was a little girl. I think it has looked like that since the beginning so very, very long ago.
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Content by Japan travel specialist & designer Ian Martin Ropke, founder & owner of Your Japan Private Tours (YJPT, est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with all of YJPT's Japan private tour clients and have a great team behind me. I promote YJPT through this content and only advertise at www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip to save time & have a better time. Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search) is also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!