Stop Terrorism! with a Mean look... from Yutaka Matsushige.

I don't know how I missed this. This photo was the Picture Of The Day on the Japan Today website on January 28, 2022. The title was "Mean look" and the text merely read "A poster in a Tokyo subway station asks for public cooperation in the fight against terrorism."

https://japantoday.com/category/picture-of-the-day/mean-look

I copied the photo to my desktop because of my interest in sign language/facial expressions and police posters. I rediscovered it on my computer the other day and thought to myself, hey, this guy looks familiar. And sure enough, it is Gorō (actor Yutaka Matsushige, actually)! From the Asahi Shimbun, January 15, 2022:

"Zero terrorism" Yutaka Matsushige appeals to prevent terrorism The Metropolitan Police Department creates a video

The Metropolitan Police Department made a video calling for the prevention of terrorism by actor Yutaka Matsushige (58) , who is known for his popular drama "Solitary Gourmet." It will be distributed on the street vision in front of JR Shinjuku Station , digital signage (electronic signage) in the city, and the agency's website for one year from the 14th . They also make posters, which are said to fit in train stations, airports, pharmacies, etc. (rough translation from the original Japanese)

Source: https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ1G6W1XQ1GUTIL00H.html

Out of 37 reader comments on the Japan Today post, only 3 noticed it was Yutaka Matsushige from "Solitary Gourmet" fame. And OK, here's the video:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp-tyzHXJqc

"Japan to recommend sake brewing as UNESCO cultural heritage"

Original news story photo substituted with this VAoJ shot from Tenbun.

Story from The Japan Times, 2/26/22.

The Cultural Affairs Council has decided to propose traditional Japanese sake brewing techniques using koji mold as a candidate for UNESCO intangible cultural heritage listing.

After seeking approval at a meeting of relevant government agencies, the government council will submit a proposal on the registration of the traditional brewing techniques to the U.N. organization at the end of March, people familiar with the matter said Friday.

The UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee is expected to deliberate whether to inscribe them at its November 2024 meeting.

“Sake brewing is a traditional craft technique that has been established as work of the hand, and sake itself is deeply rooted in the social customs, rituals and festive events of Japanese people,” the council said of its reason for the proposal.

Koji is also used to make shochu and awamori distilled spirits.

In October last year, the council called for registering traditional sake brewing as an intangible cultural asset under the country’s domestic system, together with a traditional technique in the shodo art of Japanese calligraphy.

Sake brewing and shodo were formally registered as intangible cultural assets in December.

Currently, 22 Japanese intangible cultural assets are on the UNESCO heritage list.

As the country has many registered items, its bid for new listings is examined once every two years.

At this year’s meeting, its proposal for furyu odori folk performing arts, such as Bon summer festival dances, will be screened, along with recommendations from other countries.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/02/26/national/unesco-sake-cultural-heritage/

Transitioning from the walker to the canes...

These are the walking sticks I used four years ago.

Update (4/10): at the time, this would have been nice... and it looks like there would have been a place to hold my toast...

Setsubun in the hospital...

They didn't give me enough beans to throw at the nurses and doctors or to eat the same number as my age.

See how setsubun should be celebrated - out of the hospital and pre-COVID: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/search?q=setsubun

Happy Holidays from VAoJ!

Looking forward to drinking the psychedelic bottle of California Zinfandel with our traditional Christmas Eve dinner tonight. It's been a while since I have had wine, as my research has taken me in a different direction...

As always, here is the VAoJ bonus holiday present:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9kfdEyV3RQ&t=23s

Happy Holidays!

Best Zoom Workshop Ever!

As a part of my ongoing tachinomiya project, I participated in a two-day Introductory Sake Professional workshop over the weekend. I have drunk a lot of sake over the last twenty years, but not in any educated way (probably quite the contrary...). But I learned so much from the experience. I hope to take further workshops and perhaps become a sake sommelier... In any event, I am gaining knowledge that should be useful for future tachinomiya/izakaya fieldwork.

The last part of the workshop was a sake tasting exercise. My new sake sensei sent all participants six small bottles of various kinds of sake and an ochoko. This is what it looked like when I opened the box.

And this is what it looked like after I removed the bubble wrap. I learned how to observe the color, aroma and taste of sake. And there was plenty left over to enjoy after the workshop. It was a great weekend of research.

The workshop was also a wonderful example of a globalization. The sensei is Italian and affiliated with a British sake institution and the students were from Britain, Australia and America. The only Japanese participant was my daughter/research assistant with her zoom bombs and extreme interest in smelling the different kinds of sake. Cheers! #jijisake

AJJ 2021 Presentation

「Food and Drink at a Japanese Standing Bar: An Appetizing Production – Extended Media Mix」@ AJJ (Anthropology of Japan in Japan) 2021 Annual Meeting, Dec. 4

Abstract:

In Japan, food is prominent in documentaries, cooking shows, travel shows, variety shows, dramas, manga, anime, books, magazines, blogs, Facebook and Instagram. This food, not eaten but consumed, provides gratification and knowledge. Many of these media descriptions are set in izakaya (Japanese-style pubs) and tachinomiya (Japanese standing bars) that serve B-kyu gurume (B-rank food)—comfort food and/or local food. These are fascinating shops and sites to explore the production (cooking) and consumption (eating) of food. Media portrayals are another form of production, that of information and recreation, that is “good to think” (Levi-Strauss 1962), “communicated” (Barthes 1966; Dusselier 2009) and “shared among people” (Cheung 2002).

This presentation is a multimodal visual ethnography of a 40-year-old tachinomiya in Osaka called Tenbun. Tenbun features many kinds of food and drink, a lively and relaxed atmosphere and plenty of colorful characters including the owner, employees and regular customers. Based upon long-term patronage, focused participant-observation and photography, a photo exhibition and other post-fieldwork encounters, my analysis positions the research within the intersection of food anthropology and the popular Japanese “foodie” media. Matthew Longcore discusses how Anthony Bourdain, Gordon Ramsey and other Western food experts feature “ethnographic culinary adventures [that] bring food and film together for the enjoyment, entertainment, and enlightenment of foodies and anthropologists alike” (2019). Nancy Stalker provides an excellent and detailed history of popular Japanese media that influences and reflects the so-called modern “gurume boom” beginning in the 1980s and 90s (2016). I build upon this history through explorations of current documentaries, TV dramas and social media, gaining different perspectives to re-position my tachinomiya research in wider social and academic contexts.

Virtual talk on Zoom.

Saturday, December 4, 2021

Special presentation: 1:00 - 2:00 PM Japan time

AJJ takes place December 3-5. Participation is free, but you must register to get the Zoom link. Lots of good people and scholarship at the AJJ! Check it out!

For the link and full meeting program, go to https://www.ajj-online.net/2021/11/10/2021-annual-meeting-program/

Thanksgiving in Japan: pre-cooked turkey (in a plastic bag) - $90; cat - free (and priceless)

"Tokyo gyoza shop hopes their skateboard gyoza set will boost your luck at year-end jumbo lottery"

Image and text from Japan Today, 11/24/21.

From Nov 24 to Dec 24, the Shinjuku Omoide Yokocho branch 新宿思い出横丁店 of gyoza specialty restaurant chain Gyoza no Antei 餃子の安亭 will offer a new winter menu item which will surely surprise you and invite you to snap a picture for your social media account.

Called the 年末ジャンボスケボー餃子 nenmatsu janbo sukebo gyoza (Year-End Jumbo skateboard gyoza), the unconventional gyoza dish brings together two incongruous sources of inspiration, the first and most obvious one being skateboarding which made its Olympic debut this year in Tokyo, giving Japan five medals. The second one is Japan's Takarakuji Lottery and its Year-End Jumbo (年末ジャンボ nenmatsu janbo in Japanese), the first and second prizes of which total one billion yen.

The owner of the restaurant, who has been a lottery fan for 30 years, wanted to support customers who dream of becoming millionaires. The main star of the dish is a giant board-shaped version of Gyoza no Antei's gyoza dumplings, attached to a set of nori seaweed roll "wheels" made from the chain's popular Golden Fried Rice. The wheels are connected by an axle made of a Matcha-flavored Pocky cookie stick.

Taking a hint from the Japanese skater term ゴン攻め gon-zeme (bravely taking on hard obstacles) which went viral this summer after former skateboarding champion Ryo Sejiri used it when he was guest commentator on public broadcaster NHK's coverage of the events, the dish has "G" for gyoza, "O" for 大きい oki (big), and "N" for nenmatsu janbo, making it a GON-zeme culinary creation.

The dish is 8 cm long, 17 cm wide, and 3.5 cm high (including the wheels), which is apparently a reference to the Jumbo Lottery. The gyoza "deck" of the board weighs about 120 grams fully cooked), which is equivalent to about five regular gyoza dumplings (22 to 24 grams each), making it quite a mouthful.

Read more, including shop info...

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/features/food/tokyo-gyoza-shop-hopes-their-skateboard-gyoza-set-will-boost-your-luck-at-year-end-jumbo-lottery