Saturday, December 31, 2016

Crafts, treats and wonders

Hello friends!

Here is the second part of my December memories in Tokyo. I hope you enjoy this one about art, a bit of interesting technology and the gorgeous views of Asakusa (and food, lots of food of course).


In the footsteps of Japanese artists


My university courses and presentations lasted until Tuesday (December 27th). Until that time, particularly one course offered - as always - material for photos and stories: The Arts Workshop. Here, a Japanese silversmith visited us and showed us how he works his magic (thank you for the video, Maria):


A silver bar is hammered into shape, then ornaments and patterns are applied with hammer, chisel and other tools. For this, the design is made on Japanese paper beforehand and pasted on the product. Resin is usually put into the bowl to make it easier to apply the chisel, then taken out once the bowl is burnt. The interesting thing is that the silverware is soft and formable only before burning.

Of course, we could see only one part of the complex process. Tokyo silversmithery has been around since the 18th century and they are now making a lot of things including household items, ikebana vases, ornaments and accessory.

Another week's theme was about Japanese embroidery - nihon shishu. It is part of nuido, which means "way of the techniques", and the ladies visiting us were from the artist group of Kurenai Kai. Learn more about here.





And here was something for us to try - a special technique called ise katagami, where a motif, often a flower, is cut out from a special kind of paper (jigami). Then the paper is used as a stencil to create a piece of art - even the printing of a kimono. It is believed that the technique is inspired by cherry leaves which had been eaten by moths.

Jigami engraved by a master...

... and my own attempt

Delicacy highlights


If you did not have enough food pictures in the last post, let me show you the most delicious experiences I had this month.

Café on the top floor of Tokyu Hands (a huge department store). The amazing thing here was that you could sit outside without freezing in the evening - in December.  

A curry place I visited with my friend Anshuman from India. He confirmed that it tasted quite like the real thing (despite the cheese on top). Plus, you could choose how spicy you want it to be by selecting a level between 1and 20 (!). Level 5 was already burning!

Almond cocoa in Harajuku

The Keio cafeteria offered Christmas cakes up until the 23rd

This is called "German steppen cheese tomato cream pasta". It didn't taste very German, but definitely like cheese

A very nice café in Harajuku - you get this whole meal for 1000 yen. Unfortunately, the cheesecake you get for dessert is tiny 

Our favourite café, Lattest in Omotesando, just makes the best café latte


Little paradise for usability people


With our course in "Innovative Technologies for Japan's Aging Society", we had a field trip to the Toto showroom. Ever heard about it? Especially when you come to Japan, you can see Toto in almost every bathroom. It was originally a ceramics company which now seems to make everything - from toilets over kitchen equipment and windows to door security systems (although I am not sure if they were really the manufacturers of all the things displayed in the showroom). They are known as the ones who invented the washlet - these strange toilets with dozens of features you always hear about when it comes to Japan.

The show room was organised like an interactive exhibition with a possibility to purchase single items, but also, if desired, entire home furnishings. If you are not familiar with a typical Japanese home, it was an interesting opportunity to peek inside without invading anyone's privacy. 

This is what a Japanese bathroom looks like: A separate cabin for shower and bathtub. After showering (normally while sitting on the small black stool), you then take a hot bath...

... and can watch TV while doing so 

Toto also creates new ideas for kitchens and involves special user groups such as senior citizens. Some of the features are new and good in terms of usability and made my HCI heart happy.

Having multiple ovens for different purposes and a fancy control you can open by touch - who wouldn't want that?

A kind of interphone where you can observe the surrounding of your house. Note that red means "open" in Japan, while the green light is on when the door is locked

Also, even though you can find him in a lot of shops here, it was my first time to interact with the Softbank robot known as Pepper. Say hello!

Once he spotted you, he follows you around with his eyes. Creepy. And he complains when you touch his head


Trip to Asakusa


On Thursday, we (which is Tharshi, Brianne, Jess, Anshuman and me) planned to go to the earthquake museum in Ikebukuro, but what we didn't know was that it was closed for the winter holidays. So we just had a relaxed time shopping and eating in Ikebukuro Sunshine City.

Character donuts

Moomin bubble tea

The Tokyo metro station

Since some of us still had time after that and it was not far away, we decided to go to Asakusa - one of the city parts I have not yet been to - primarily to visit the famous Asakusa Shrine and Senso-ji Temple. Thanks to Anshuman for providing some of the photos!

Tokyo Skytree to the left, Asahi Beer Hall with the famous "golden turd" on the right. This hollow golden thing on the top should originally represent a frothy head, but apparently, the construction went wrong and turned out like this ;P


View from Azuma Bridge



Dozens of lanterns decorating the path to the shrine





Finally: The Asakusa Shrine with the famous lanterns at the entrance!


And this is Senso-ji





Because the place is so popular among tourists, Japanese merchants don't miss the chance and sell a whole lot of souvenirs and traditional snacks and sweets in a long market street.


Who recognised the character?





On our quest through the city for a warm place to stay, we have found a lovely little café offering reasonably priced cake sets. I got this matcha sponge cake and Darjeeling tea:

Sorry, I have to end this with another food picture - but the table setup was to cute not too share

So this was 2016 - hard to believe! If you are curious how the Japanese celebrate New Year - make sure to drop by here in the next few days, when I can tell you about the numerous festivities Japanese people hold around this important day. Have a wonderful celebration yourself and a happy, healthy and fantastic 2017! Hold on to your goals and dreams, and don't forget to appreciate everyone and everything that is important to you. Yoi otoshi o!

Friday, December 30, 2016

Merii kurisumasu!

Dear friends,

long time no read! I am finally on holiday and one of the first things I am thinking about is updating my blog. ;) First, I would like to thank each one of you - I have received wonderful comments and I am genuinely surprised and delighted as to who is actually reading this. You have been giving me a lot of motivation to keep it going and to make sure you enjoy it as much as I do. Thank you!

So what was going on this month? As always - a lot... This is only the first part of my December adventures. Let's dive into the world of Japanese Christmas illuminations, markets and celebrations.


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas


At this time of year, Tokyo beams and shines wherever you go. As rapidly as autumn turned to winter, the landscape changed and now every street, shop, mall and square is trying their best to impress passersby. Here are some highlights of the Christmas illuminations:

Ikebukuro

Sunshine City Ikebukuro

More Shinjuku

Next to Hibiya station

Harajuku

Somewhere between Hibiya and Ginza

Ginza

The Sunshine city mall in Ikebukuro even had a special show:




Feeling like at home


Because Japanese love to celebrate and especially seem like German culture, there were a lot of Christmas markets to find around the city. The first one I visited was the Aoyama Christmas Market in Shibuya. 

German sweets come in tiny, expensive amounts here

Although it was rather small and not really impressive, you could find hot wine and delicious vegan hot dogs here:

 

Real dogs were present as well - in fact, you could even adopt one. It seemed like the animal shelter took the opportunity to find homes for their inhabitants.

Another market I heard was worth visiting was the one in Roppongi hills. Takara and I went there when I promised to introduce him to German food. Before visiting the market, however, we first went to a German restaurant called Bernds Bar

Now this was a true culture shock for me. Not only were we greeted in German when we entered (note that it was a visitor, not the waiter), the menu was also in German (with doubtly helpful meal names in katakana). German radio was playing from the speakers, and the interior resembled a Kneipe (German bar/pub) just too much. Should I mention the food was very authentic as well?

Green asparagus cream spaghetti

White sausages with potatoes, sauerkraut and mustard

Also, I may have turned this Japanese guy into a beer lover... oops

We were equally impressed by the Roppongi Hills Christmas Market. It offered so many cute souvenirs and sweets, plus it was the first time for Takara to try hot wine ;) Although it was all under a roof, I was still happy to finally have found something resembling an authentic Christmas market. Because my phone died at this time, the photo credit goes to Takara - thank you!

Dashing through the snow...





That's how I like my Glühwein

Gingerbread and cinnamon star *-*

The illuminations around Roppongi and in Ebisu were definitely worth seeing as well. Especially the big chandelier they are displaying not far from Ebisu station.

 


There is a small French Christmas market as well - too bad it was closed when we arrived


The chandelier in front of a Christmas background

Also make sure to check out this cool video Takara has made on our expedition to German culture! ;)



But the biggest and most important of them all was the Tokyo Christmas Market in Hibiya park, where I went with Tharshi. You can probably quickly recognize why. Thanks to Tharshi for providing some of the photos!




Even a Russian place - oh dear...

The booth is called "Dress of the cakes". Artistic, isn't it?

This pyramid was imported directly from Dresden


We don't even have such elaborate decorations in Germany


Wait, isn't it all a Doitsu (Germany) center?

It sure gave you the genuine German Weihnachtsmarkt feeling - with yummy food (although significantly more expensive), hot wine, cute decorations and souvenirs, and even live performances (which we don't have in Germany).




"Bavarian potato"

Ho ho ho!


This evening was made perfect by our visit to a cinema nearby to see "Fantastic beasts and where to find them" (in English, of course). The cinema in Hibiya impressed me by offering free warm blankets for the visitors, and you could buy chocolate cake. In a cinema! By the way, the movie was good as well. ;) It is interesting how almost every cinema in Tokyo offers major movies in the original version. As a foreigner, you sure have less trouble finding something to watch as, for example, in Germany.


Merii kurisumasu!


Last but not least - a merry (belated) Christmas! Or, as Japanese say, merii kurisumasu. The Japanese traditionally go to KFC on these days (apparently after imitating American soldiers who got homesick during the holidays) and use it as couple time rather than meeting the whole family (as they do on New Year's eve, but more on that in one of the next posts). 

The organisations around Keio held their own Christmas parties. The one I went to together with Tharshi was hosted by Keio Welcome Net and was also for social workers from Japan and around the globe (as far as I understood from the Japanese speeches at the beginning). And we had to wear these stylish things (again, the photo credit here goes to Tharshi - looks like this post is a collaborative work after all):

Because a namecard is not enough

Does anyone know what it says?

The party already promised to be totally different from what I expected. Sitting at a table with a fixed seat number we all got beforehand, I got to talk to drunk Japanese workers, which can be very funny. As soon as everyone was mellow and full from the buffet, each one of the international participants had to come to the front and hold a speech - in Japanese or English. Although we had only two minutes, it was still awkward enough because we had to go unprepared. However, the atmosphere got relaxed when Akeboshi-san - the lively old man organising the whole thing - encouraged some of the speakers to sing a song in their native language. This is why we got to sing German and Indian songs as well. And in the end, everyone joined in dancing a traditional Japanese dance (which was more like a train line dance in our very own, creative interpretation). 



Buffet consisting of delicious food from Eastern Europe, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other countries

Japanese Santa raffling off presents - and he even got one himself!

When the 24th came, Alizée and I (because everyone else either went home or was busy doing something else) spent the evening in a relaxed way: Going out to eat at our favourite okonomiyaki place and drink in a British pub not far away from our dorm.

Cocktails, fried spaghetti (it tasted like salt stick without the salt) and churros

On 25th, the plan was to watch a lot of Christmas movies in the dorm lounge. We were well equipped.

We had matcha pancakes, cute cookies, clementines, kitkat, berry tea and hot wime *-*

Alizée enjoying the tea

However, it turned out not to be the best idea to do this on Christmas day, as everyone seemed to need wifi badly. So it was working very poorly and we only managed to finish the movies in our room. But nevertheless, we had a good and delicious time ;) And I even could unwrap adorable presents:

Santa hat and super-soft scarf from Alizée, and a cute Finnish purse with sweets from Essi (who went home for Christmas)

I hope you had a harmonious and fun Christmas with your loved ones. Happy holidays and sope to see you soon!