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Tiger books, spring food themes, Ayu river trout, Kyoto geomancy

A charcoal grilled Ayu river trout ready to eat!

As you travel through a foreign country, have you ever thought, "I wish I had that book in my hand right now!" A thought like this became almost rare when the iPhone became the go to source for anything. Up to a point at least.

However, for those of use who actually used early Thomas Cook, Lonely Planet and Rough Guide books we all know what a "travel bible" or a gotta-have-it-with-me book is all about! And today, in 2025, we can still claim that certain books are indispensable and that these books should be physical. Count me in!

For Japanese students struggling to succeed in their all-important university entrance exams, during the months of February and March, the name of this kind of gotta-have-it-with-me book is "Tora-no-maki."

A Tora-no-maki or Tiger Scrolls in ancient China referred to one of a six-volume set of tactical war books. These strategically useful volumes helped Chinese army leaders plan their actual battles against their enemies.

Believe it or not, UN Secretary-General Kofi Anann, who passed away in 2018, may have used the Middle Eastern version of a "Tora-no-maki" in dealing with his toughest negotiations.

In Japan, "Tora-no-maki" refers to reference books for students, particularly it means the kind of books which give them a short cut to answers. Some students use it generally to finish their homework easily or cram them for the exam.

April is the month when new school year starts. Students who got into a good-enough university throw their Tora-no-maki exam books away. And used volumes abound across Japan.

It is my hope that you have some kind of important book with you when you visit Japan. Personally, I often have a miniature copy of Tao Teh Ching by Lao Tzu in my travel gear. Or you could go with Shakespeare's sonnets or Rumi's poetry. Everyone should have a universal Tora-no-maki don't you think?

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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!

May-June & late April Japanese food themes

In May (and also the last part of April, given global warming), look for katsuo or bonito, a variety of tuna that is served raw. Another thing to look for are mountain vegetables or sansai, wild delicacies that grow in the mountains at this time of year. Common delicacies include warabi (bracken), zenmai (flowering fern), seri (Japanese watercress), yomogi (mugwort), and tara no me (for which there's no English equivalent).

Although sansai can be prepared many ways, they are usually boiled and then flavored with mustard, sesame seed, vinegar, soysauce, or sweet sake. They can also be cooked with rice, or made into a delicious tempura.

From June onwards, the menu increasingly features ayu (see below), a small kind of river trout that is as beautiful to look at as it is tasty, and very popular on yuka menus. Cold somen noodles are also recommended. Later in June and on through the summer hamo, or sea eel, and unagi, river eel, are common on the menu and frequently the favorite, as both are reputed to cool the body.

The Chinese gave Japan its first taste of buckwheat back in the eighth century and for 900 years they used it to make the skin for dumplings. And then, out of the blue, Ganchin, a Korean-born Buddhist monk, figured out how to make soba buckwheat noodles. Soba cuisine is inexpensive, tasty, light and healthy. What more could you ask for?

The first thing you have to decide is whether you want hot or cold (tsumetai ho) noodles.

Cold actually means chilled. If you choose to have chilled soba, here are some of the favorite options: zaru soba (plain soba noodles); tenzaru soba (noodles served with hot, batter-fried shrimp and vegetables); inaka soba (noodles topped with dried seaweed, grated radish, chopped green onions, a quail egg, and sesame seeds). All zaru soba variations come with tsuyu, fish broth flavored with soy sauce and rice wine, to which is added a touch of hot green horseradish (wasabi), and chopped green onions.

For hot noodle variations choose from: nishin soba (soba and herring in a broth); tempura soba, (soba and batter-fried shrimp in a broth); kitsune soba (soba with fried tofu in a broth). Add a small pinch of shichimi, a blend of seven spices, to give your noodles a bit of heat. Remember, it’s OK to slurp your noodles. So don’t be shy. Enjoy yourself.

Japan's ayu river trout gourmet experience

Roughly 1230 years ago when Emperor Kanmu moved his court to the site of what would become Kyoto, his choice of location was in part motivated by the need for natural protection and a reliable source of water. Secured on three sides by splendid mountains, Kyoto is neatly bisected by the Kamo River. At various points other rivers flow into it from the north and west, until it itself joins the Yodo River and courses south all the way to Osaka Bay.

Throughout the summer, when crossing some of the many bridges which span the Kamo, Hozu or Kami Katsura Rivers, you may see fisherman standing in the current, flourishing extra-long and supple rods. They are fishing for ayu (sweetfish), a small fish notoriously difficult to catch, but prized for its delicate flavor. In the spring, ayu fry raised in Lake Biwa are introduced into these three Kyoto rivers. Soon staking out their individual territories among mid-stream rocks, they browse on algae and other aquatic greenery, swimming continuously against the current to maintain their chosen positions.

By June, the ayu have grown large enough to make catching them worthwhile. The technique used to snatch them from the water is a unique one that relies on the mature ayu's highly territorial instincts. Just as it takes money to make money, it takes an ayu to catch an ayu. The method is called tomo zuri ('friend fishing') and involves using a decoy--in this case a live ayu 'friend'--to attract a wild ayu.

A license is needed for ayu fishing, and though there is no daily limit, it is expensive--ｴ9,000 for a three month season beginning around the first week in June. When buying a license, one also buys one or two live ayu. At the river, the fisherman slips a ring through the ayu's snout, then attaches to it both the fishing line and a shorter line ending in a special tri-partite hook, which trails freely alongside the fish. This live ayu is carefully cast in the middle of the river.

Nature soon takes its course. When the free ayu sees the other fish in its territory, it quickly becomes angry and flings itself at the intruder. If only it were less aggressive!--for then the fisherman jerks the line, and the wild ayu is snagged on the sharp hooks. The battle is only half over, however: landing the frenzied fish in a net is the most difficult part of ayu fishing. Since the special hooks attached to the decoy have no barbs, the struggling ayu sometimes breaks free if the line is not always kept taut. Moving downstream, the fisherman quickly hauls in his line hand over hand to bring the pair toward the bank where the current is gentler. At the last moment, both are pulled out of the water and scooped into a ready net. When the decoy becomes tired, a freshly caught fish is substituted, becoming the 'friend' who will lure other ayu to the dinner table.

The tomo zuri method of fishing takes dexterity and patience, but some professionals use a style even more demanding. Instead of moving downstream after hooking the ayu, the master fisherman whips the rod in just the right way, yanking the fish out of the water and into his net with one smooth movement. This method is called hiki nuki, and when it's not done correctly, the 'tomo' can be dashed against the rocks. The result: a dead decoy and a lost quarry.

These seasonal delicacies are usually cooked shioyaki: lightly salted, the little fish is then grilled whole. Some people relish the innards, finding the bitterness a nice contrast to the subtle flavor of the flesh.

Ayu thrive only in unpolluted waters and it is said that the cleaner the river, the better their taste. To look over a downtown Kyoto bridge and see ayu fishermen in the river below is not only picturesque, it's downright encouraging!

Kyoto: The ideal capital city based on Chinese geomancy

Though perhaps few of us may realize it, Kyoto is a city that is perfectly situated--from the viewpoint of an Oriental geomancer, that is--to ensure the peace and tranquility of its inhabitants.

It all began around 784 A.D. when the Emperor Kammu decided to move his capital from Nara to escape from the politically ambitious clergy there. He sent his geomancers to scour the country for a suitable location, and they chose a place 30 miles from Nara where Muko City now stands. This location was, however, given up 10 years later after various misfortunes had befallen the Emperor's family, and the geomanticly more favorable site now occupied by the city of Kyoto was decided on.

What was it about this site that so appealed to Kammu's geomancers? To understand that, perhaps you need to know something about the basic tenants of this ancient science. In Chinese geomancy, creation occurs when heaven, which is depicted as a uniform blue, breathes. The 'out' breath is visually represented by a horizontal line and signifies the light male principle, while the 'in' breath is said to be imperfect and so is represented by a broken horizontal line, signifying the dark female principle. In Japanese, the dark principle is called 'In' and the light principle is called 'Yo'. In Kammu's time there was a Government Bureau of Inyo, one of the Chancellor's duties being to harmonize the polarities. In Japanese, this harmony is called 'Wa' and another name for Japan is 'The Land of Wa'.

The directions of the compass were themselves thought to be imbued with these principles. Since the light principle rises, becomes hot, turns to fire and forms the sun, it is symbolic of the south. (For this reason the south is always to be found at the top on old Chinese maps.) Meanwhile, the dark principle sinks, becomes cold, turns to water and forms the moon, and is symbolic of the north.

All evil was said to come from the north or northeast, and whenever possible settlements and graveyards were situated with a mountain range to the north for protection. Failing this, woods or bamboo groves were planted there. In Japan, corpses are laid out with their heads towards the north and superstitious people won't sleep in that position. North is symbolized by a turtle with a snake curled around it and is known as the 'Dark Warrior'. It is also represented by the color black and the unlucky even number 6. As the Dark Warrior is associated with death, the execution grounds in Heiankyo (the original name of Kyoto) were situated on the banks of the Kamo River at Rokujo (Sixth Avenue) and the area between there and the Toribeno graveyard to the east represented the six fields through which souls traveled along the six roads to rebirth.

South is symbolized by a phoenix, a mythical bird that lives on bamboo seeds. It has five large tail feathers to represent the five elements (Earth, Metal, Wood, Fire, and Water) and is five colors for the same reason. The south is synonymous with red, the color of happiness and festivity, and the lucky odd number 7. In Japan and China there are Seven Gods of Good Luck.

In China there are snow-covered mountains in the west where tigers were known to live. This direction is therefore represented by a white tiger, which in turn represents the negative female principle and the lucky odd number 9, Autumn, and the element Metal. The Azure Dragon, representing the South China Sea, is symbolic of the east. If you visit the Heian Shrine in Kyoto, you will notice a statue of a dragon on your right and one of a tiger on your left. The buildings behind them are named the Azure Dragon Hall and the White Tiger Hall. East is an unlucky direction and so has an even number which is 8.

The center point is occupied by a yellow dragon, or sometimes a cow, and has the lucky number 5. It is also synonymous with the element Earth and the planet Saturn.

The ideal site for a city should, according to the geomancers of Kammu's time, be protected by mountains from the evil influences of the north and should have one mountain range to the east representing the Azure Dragon and another to the west representing the White Tiger. The perfect city should also be open to the south in order not to deter good from entering it. The site now occupied by Kyoto was perfect except that a river ran through the middle of it where Horikawa Street is now situated. This was very bad from a geomantic viewpoint as it would divide the city, while wealth, represented by the flow of water, would be carried away. Kammu, however, decided to locate his new capital there. He had the river diverted to flow into the Kamo River at Imadegawa ("Now the River Runs Out") Street and the result was serious flooding problems.

Kammu's Heiankyo was like an old Japanese coin: round, with a square hole in the middle. The outer part, the surroundings of the perfect city, was representative of Heaven; the square hole in the center was the earth, or the city itself which was divided into nine, smaller, numbered squares which formed a Chinese magic square. Nine was considered a magic number.

Kyoto was originally divided into two halves by a street lined with a thousand trees where Senbon ("Thousand Trees") Street now is. The main gate of the city, the Rashomon, was in the south of the city on Kujo (Ninth Avenue) just west of Toji Temple. (Japanese movie fans will no doubt recall the Akira Kurosawa movie of the same name.) Four main streets ran from north to south on either side of Senbon Street, and nine major streets ran from east to west. This layout is still the basis of the central area of Kyoto and is known as Rakuchu.

As for the center of Kyoto, it was marked by a stone with a hole in its center. It is called the Navel Stone, and can still be found in the Rokkaku (Hexagonal) Temple on Rokkaku Street.

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!