The Big Typhoon

I guided two couples from Texas around Tsukiji Market and taught them how to make Sushi in my house on the fourth. They were supposed to go back to their country on the sixth. They were worried about the big typhoon which was said to be hitting Japan that day. Actually, the typhoon stopped many flights and even Narita Express trains. I was safe in my house but I was so worried about them. According to their tour agent, their flight was canceled so they had to stay in Tokyo for one more night. After the typhoon had moved to the area north of Tokyo, it became so fine. I hope they could enjoy an extra holiday afternoon under the beautiful blue sky.

Eating Dinner with my Guests

I also invite tourists to my house to share dinner or lunch with us. I usually prepare Chirashi-Zushi, a common homemade sushi, miso-soup, boiled traditional vegetables with Konnyaku (English name is devil's tongue), Kamaboko (steamed fish paste), Natto (fermented soy-beans) and Umeboshi (salty plum pickles). All of them are very popular, but travelers can't usually eat them at restaurants. I'm a licensed tour-guide, so I can also offer advice on reasonable ways to travel in Japan and good sightseeing spots. Actually, recently I told my guests about a very reasonable bus system to Narita Airport, from Tokyo or Ginza. They saved two thousand yen per person.

Sushi Making from Many Countries

A lot of tourists from America, England, Italy and Australia have enjoyed making sushi in my house. Look at their smiles. It must be an unforgettable memory in Japan.   
Just before we start to eat, Japanese people say, "Itadakimasu." It means, "I'm going to eat thanks to everything including the rice, fish, vegetables, people who have produced all the ingredients such as farmers and fishermen, shop owners, and people who prepared the meal." Then at the end of the meal, we say, "Gochisosamadeshita," meaning "it was a good meal, thanks to everything."

My Tour with a Family from Singapore

A family from Singapore was satisfied with their tour with me. We kept to the schedule perfectly and the driver took them back to their hotel in Tokyo on time. This picture was taken at Odawara Castle. My guest became a Samurai Princess wearing a Kimono. Her two-year-old daughter didn't want to be put on a Kimono because that day was too hot. I hope this will be a good memory for them. 

Tourists from Myanmar and the Philippines

April is a tourist season in Japan. A lot of foreign tourists visited Japan to enjoy beautiful cherry blossoms and spring scenery. I guided tourists from several Asian countries to many spots in Tokyo, Mt.Fuji and Hakone. Luckily, all of my tour days were fine, and they were able to see the beautiful Mt.Fuji covered with snow. Probably all of them were satisfied with it.

Keiso-Soken

I was assigned again to take three guests to the Sumo Arena to watch the special morning training event. The event is held once a year at the end of April before the May tournament. All of the high ranked wrestlers attend the event, so we can see several kinds of training sessions and bouts there. We can get a good seat on a first-come-first-served basis.

Today's hero is Kakuryu because he was promoted to Yokozuna recently after the committee recommended that he would be Yokozuna. He has to show strength, power and techniques to the members. Stronger wrestlers can appoint their opponents, so today Kakuryu can choose his opponent and beat him again and again. When they do Butsukarigeiko, pushing a wrestler out of the ring, a stronger wrestler is usually pushed by a low ranking wrestler. The sumo referee announces the names of both wrestlers.

For the ring entrance ceremony, the wrestlers wear a colorful apron, which shows their status, because only high ranked wrestlers can wear one. Sponsors give one to the wrestler when he is promoted. The design on the apron shows the sponsors related logos, so it is also used as an advertisement.

In the Sumo Museum, they display Yokozuna related things during the Samurai period such as woodblock prints of their portraits.

Kimono Dressing Class

They both looked so beautiful in their kimonos and they were so excited.

Origami

On the other hand, R was a person of Origami. She did quite well at first but she gradually became confused when we tried to fold a paper crane. Actually, we were tired and hungry in the last class of Origami. Anyway, I'm glad that they enjoyed it a lot. Probably they will visit my house again with Jade and other friends. Thanks to Jennie, I have taken the first step forward. 

Calligraphy Class

 

Two ladies from the U.S. and Canada visited my house yesterday. Another laday  couldn't come because of the stop of a train due to the heavy snow. I prepared three classes, Calligraphy, Kimono dressing and Origami. They tried it in real earnest. Please, look at their great effort and works.K was quite good at the calligraphy. R is left-handed so it seemed to be difficult for her.

An Australian Family

An Australian family enjoyed a Japanese cultural experience. After they learned calligraphy in the morning, they enjoyed the tea ceremony in their kimonos. The mother, who was a little bit shy, was excited at her and her daughter's beautiful kimono style. They looked so nice in their Furisode-kimonos and when they said "cheese" at the Shinto shrine!

All of us were fascinated with the tea master's elegant carriage and excellent explanation of the tea ceremony. The girl answered,"Kekko desu" in Japanese with a smile after she had drunk the tea.

It was heart-warming sight that the father took a photo of his wife and daughter from behind. They looked so happy and admired the beauty of ladies.

Working as the tea ceremony assistant was a little bit hard even though we started to put a kimono on each guest at 1p.m. and the tea ceremony ended at 3 p.m. I had to start putting a kimono on myself at home at 10 and leave my house for the facility at 11. After 30 minutes, I arrived at the facility and prepared many things about kimono dressing such as several strings and pillow-like items for making the shape of the Obi-sashes, Tabi-socks and Zori-footware. Putting on Kimonos needs a lot of strength and stamina because we tie many strings tightly. Walking in a kimono is quite hard work. Moreover, during the tea ceremony, I have to move sitting on the floor with my hands. I was surprised that the girl also moved in the same style. She was watching me carefully and copied me very well. 

A Smart Girl from France

A smart girl from France, who is studying six languages and is good at cooking, made three types of sushi in my kitchen with her aunt. She loves Japan and knew many things about Japan especially the cooking words. She studied all of them through the Internet by herself. I was very surprised when she shouted 'Tamagoyaki' as soon as I took a Japanese omelet out of my fridge. I hope she will be a good go-between for France and Japan in the future.

Sushi Making is Popular

Sushi might be an internationally popular food now. Foreign tourists are interested in not only eating sushi but also making sushi. After coming back to Japan from my travels in Europe, I have worked as a sushi instructor three times every ...other day. Actually, making a sushi roll and a rice ball is quite difficult for ordinary people. Japanese sushi chefs are said to spend 10 years to master them. We teach them traditional way as the chefs do and the easy way, using a kit, and give the kit as a souvenir. I hope my guests will make sushi in their home countries using the kit.

A Family from Iowa

They were well-educated children from Iowa. The two boys and their father were sitting on the floor without moving and watching the wrestlers carefully for two hours. I was surprised they understood everything, for example, who the stable m...aster was, what the coach advised the wrestlers, who was the strongest, and so on. After visiting the sumo stable, we visited the former Yasuda Garden, the Sumo Museum, and Eko-in Temple and we ate Chanko-nabe, the Sumo-wrestlers' staple food, at a restaurant together. I couldn't help hoping that their one-week trip to Tokyo would be wonderful when I said goodbye to them at Akihabara Station.

Four Boys from Chicago

Four boys from Chicago were very excited and well-behaved while they were watching the morning Sumo training. When the wrestlers started their final exercise, the coach suddenly called to the boys, "Hey, why don't you come here?" The surpri...sed boys entered the ring one after another and rushed against the wrestlers. Their parents cheered them on and they were busy taking a lot of pictures. Everybody looked so happy and enjoyed the brief contact together.

A Family from Californis

A family with very cute girls and their friend from California enjoyed making sushi in my house. The three-year-old and four-year-old girls also tried to make sushi without wasabi by themselves. They were so impressed how delicious the real wasabi was and I was so glad that all of my guests looked so satisfied.
 

A Family from Singgapore

Wearing a woman's kimono is quite difficult because it doesn't have any buttons or zippers and it is longer than the wearer's height. We use two strings and an Obi sash to fit it to us. I taught a Singaporean family, consisting of parents and a daughter, how to put on yukatas, simple cotton kimono for the summer season. After putting on their yukatas, we walked around a nearby Shinto shrine and park to take a lot of pictures. I was so glad to see them taking pictures with each other in high spirits.

 

Nice Couple from Oslo

My guests came from the capital city of Norway, Oslo. They tasted both real wasabi-horseradish and wasabi-paste in a tube, and realized the big difference between them. They have Asian markets in their town so they can buy sushi rice, rice vinegar, and Nori-laver there. However, it's difficult to buy real wasabi-horseradish in their country. They really wanted to take the real wasabi to Oslo as a souvenir. According to a reliable website, they can take it to Norway without any problems but it's impossible to take it to the U.S. I hope they will find wasabi at a nearby department store of their hotel and surprise their friends in Oslo.

A Nice French Couple

A nice French couple made sushi in my house. They bought a block of fresh tuna and wasabi-horse radish at Tsukiji Market and I prepared the other ingredients such as shrimp, scallop, salmon, mackerel, avocado and so on. I usually show my guests how to make sushi-rice, makizushi, nigiri and battleship shaped sushi. Many foreign guests have eaten sushi in their own countries but don't know how to ma...ke sushi-rice. They are very impressed with the delicious sushi rice which they make with me. I have also eaten sushi in several foreign countries and I was always disappointed with it. The most important thing to remember when making sushi-rice is not to mash the rice grains. I have several helpful hints for making good sushi-rice. If you want to know them, please visit my house. Let's make delicious sushi together!!

 

An Australian Couple at Oguruma-Beya

I guided an Australian couple to Oguruma-baya sumo stable. During the morning training, high ranking wrestlers called Sekitori wear white loincloths and the others wear black ones. When I visited that stable last summer, four wrestlers wearing white loincloths were practicing hard. Today, I found only two wrestlers wearing white loincloths. The two wrestlers had been demoted from the Makuuchi divi...sion to the Makushita class. It's a severe society. The next tournament will start on the 12th so another Sekitori wrestler from Mastugane-beya came to the stable and they practiced together, as both stables belong to the same group. There are 44 sumo stables now and each stable belongs to one of six groups. The stables in the same group usually cooperate with each other in things such as morning training and kind of roadshows. The word 'stable' sounds strange for English native speakers but we say 'sumo stable' because wrestlers live together like racehorses in a big building with a sumo ring.

A French Couple and their Daughters

A nice French family came to my house to make sushi after walking around Tsukiji Fish Market with an excellent French speaking guide. All of them really enjoyed traveling around Hiroshima, Hakone and Tokyo. They told us that they would visit Japan someday in autumn to enjoy the beautiful colored leaves. After the sushi party, I guided them to the top floor of my condo to see the view of Tokyo and the Hello-Kitty shop near my house. They are going to back to their country with a lot of nice memories of Japan.