Japanese ishhtyle !!!
- Feb 7, 2016
- 3 min read
Listen to a taiko drum performance as you read this article :)
On the 6th of February I had sushi for the first time at the 5th edition of the Cool Japan Festival at High Street Phoenix in Lower Parel. The fest gave every visitor a hands-on experience of Japanese culture with exciting performances, 'Washoku' (Japanese food) street food and the most loved anime cosplay. The street food included Sushi, Donburi, Shojin Ryori, Obento and Doriyaki. Japanese food has always fascinated me because the technique and the aesthetics of making the food both involve authentic skills. One interesting fact about Japanese food is the skill in slicing a fish. The manner in which the blade of a professional sushi chef's knives are sharpened everyday is like that of a samurai. This is essential when working with sashimi – raw, thinly sliced fish. Traditionally, an itamae (sushi chef) trains for 10 years before serving this Japanese food in a restaurant. The variety of dishes I tasted, looked so delicious too. Japanese food isn't just to please your taste buds but is so artistically put together that it pleases the eye. Sushi masters believe that you don’t just eat with your mouth, but also with your eyes. Kazari maki sushi is an artistically rolled sushi.
It is made by rolling the sushi-rice and nori (dried laver seaweed) filling using a bamboo mat. KAZARI MAKI SUSHI has originated from “MATSURI-SUSHI” (festival SUSHI) traditionally made since a long time in the southeastern region of Chiba. It can be prepared using a lot of colorful and tasty fillings apart from raw fish to represent various of patterns such as flowers, animals and faces.
Isn't this amazing ?
I found out that this isn't the only fascinating and unique stylee of japan. Japan celebrates something known as White Day.
What's White Day?
While for most of us Valentine's day ends on 15th February, in Japan it ends exactly one month after valentine's day, 15th March.
To understand how White Day is celebrated, understanding how Valentine's day in Japan is celebrated is important. In Japan, it is all about the men. On V-day, women give chocolates to men. There are two kinds of chocolates they can give: Giri-choco is an obligatory chocolate which is given to the husband and honmei-choco represents a romantic gesture which is why honmei-choco is given to lovers, friends or the cute crush next door. Honmei-choco normally needs to be hand made as a sign of love. Ideally if the woman wants to portray obligation towards who she's giving the chocolate then she must buy the chocolates from a store. But, if she wants to show love and a deeper interest she must make it her self.
Sounds like all the girls are doing all the work? Don't worry, back in 1978, in order to create more profit in the market, White Day was introduced a month after V-day, 14th March, to answer to the chocolates they received on V-day. White Day is a chance for all the men who received gifts on Valentine’s Day to return the favor to the ladies in their lives. White Day is strictly a celebration manufactured by the candy industry.In 1978, the National Confectionery Industry Association tried to boost sales, and decided that a new holiday was the best way to do it.Originally it was called Marshmallow Day and was all about marshmallows, not chocolate. People liked the idea of the new holiday, but weren’t too keen on the marshmallows. The preferred candy changed from marshmallows to chocolate, but the color scheme stayed the same – hence the name “White Day,” and why white chocolate remains a popular White Day gift, even today.
White Day is also celebrated in South Korea, Taiwan and China.
How to return the favour: Three moves:
1)Keep the chocolate for a month and return it - this would mean rejecting the girl
2) Eating up the chocolate and not returning nothing - this would mean reject
3)Return the gift- You accept the person or like the person.
What should you give back?
You can give a giri type if you received the giri type from the girl.
You can return the gift in a white bag or white gift paper or the gift could be of white color itself.
Know which chocolate represents what...
'white' means let's be friends
'chocolate candy' means I like you
'chocolate cookies' means I love you
Hope you all have a great valentine's Day here in Mumbai, maybe some of us could try celebrating White Day :)
Comments