Kappas are legendary creatures that inhabit the rivers and waterways of Japan. They have beaked noses, shells on their back and a depression on their heads that holds water. Kappa are mischievous troublemakers. Their pranks range from the relatively innocent, such as loudly passing gas or looking up women's kimonos, to the more troublesome such as drowning swimmers and eating children. They feed on their victims by sucking their liver though their anus. They love cucumbers and if you write your name on a cucumber and throw it in the river, the kappa may be appeased by your gift and allow you to swim in peace.
Okonomiyaki is a sort of savory Japanese pancake. It usually has grated yam, flour, egg, cabbage and water. You can add other things such as bacon, bean sprouts, green onion or shrimp. The yam is different from American yams, it's a starchy root vegetable called nagaimo in Japanese. The okonomiyaki is cooked on a griddle, then topped with any combination of finely shredded seaweed, bonito flakes, tonkatsu sauce (a sweet/salty brown sauce), mayonaise and pickled ginger. If you live near a Japanese grocery store, sometimes you can buy an Okonomiyaki set, which has packets of nagaimo powder, seaweed, bonito flakes and sometimes dried shrimp.
I've been mulling over the idea of a potato pancake with corned beef, and thought the addition of grated cabbage would make more like okonomiyaki. I used two grated potatoes, about a cup of cabbage, and a leftover chunk of corned beef--maybe half a pound. One egg, and a cup of flour, then enough water to make it sort of pancake consistency--maybe a cup? (my recipes are never precise). Put a thin layer of hot oil on the griddle, and pour a ladleful of batter. I just let it brown on one side and then flipped it, but checking a recipe online I should have put a lid on it and let it steam cook before flipping.
I ate it with Japanese mayonaise. It was pretty good, but I think it would have been better with only one potato. And I omitted all the other toppings, I think they might have been a good addition, especially the pickled ginger.
Anjali at Giant Jean's Parlor wrote an interesting account of her experience making dorodango at local festival in Japan. I'd never heard of dorodango before-- beautiful shiny balls made of mud and originating on Japanese playgrounds.
Can you believe these were once handfuls of mud? image from dorodango.com
I haven't tried to make one yet. I am amazed at the patience of children taking three hours to create one of those.
Anjali explains the process very well on her website but she also links to this article which is an interesting observation of preschool children making the spheres and includes very easy instructions.
For Ivy's birthday party we brought some things to share with her friends. There weren't actually goody bags, as I never got around to putting them into anything so we just handed them out. One of the items was taketombo, which means bamboo dragonfly in Japanese. Taketombo are a traditional toy that is spun between the hands and released so it flies through the air. We had found plastic ones last year and discovered that the bamboo ones took a little more work to get the hang of it. They also needed to be played with outside, and away from other kids as the spinning bamboo blades can give you a bit of a whack. Not enough to really hurt you, but enough to say "ow!"
I found them on Ichiban Kan and bought a dozen of them.
The blades and handle were separated in the package, and from what I've seen on other websites the blade should then snap onto the handle. But the back of the package seems to indicate you spun the handle and then the blade would fly by itself. We couldn't get it work that way, so I just glued the handles to the blades. And now I have a bunch of extra blades so I'm hoping with some dowels I can make more.
Pretty snappy title, huh? I was reading advise on getting new readers to your blog, and one suggestion was interesting titles. I think this is probably the best I'm going to do.
I've been keeping an eye on Superbuzzy for the summer edition of Cotton Friend and this morning my geeky Japanese craft book loving heart actually gave a small jump to see it's in stock. Summer 2008 Cotton Friend
She also has the new Cotton Time and I struggled a bit over which to order. Cotton Friend seems to focus a bit more on clothing though.
Joann Fabrics has linen on sale for 60% off starting today until June 14th. I bought a bunch when it was 50% off, but I could always use more, especially at that price. I thought 50% was a bargain.
I first learned about Crybabys Boutique at True Up. There is a wonderful selection of Japanese fabric, and in addition, a great spring sale through May 12: just enter in coupon code ‘SPRING20‘ on the shopping bag page prior to checkout and you will receive 20% off your entire order (excluding sale items). Customer service and shipping were fast and friendly, my package arrived today
Starting with the upper left side and moving clockwise, there is a mushroom print, robots, little girls tending cheep, animal patchwork, animals at school and Little Red Riding Hood. All fat quarters, which is plenty for adding cuffs and pockets to pants, or even the bodice of a small dress.
I used the pattern in ISBN 4579108272. The kimono in the book are actually elaborate kimono worn for Shichi Go San, but since all kimono are made from a basic series of rectangles that rely on the wearer's measurement's, it was fairly easy to adapt the pattern
A yukata is a more informal kimono, usually made of cotton and unlined. It's worn during warm weather and you often see them worn during the many festivals that occur during the summer months. I made Ivy's to close with simple sash that tied in a bow in the back. You can see some lovely examples yukata at this Flickr post
Despite being a fairly easy pattern, I made the yukata a little too wide and too short. It actually should be long enough to make a fold that falls just below the waist, you can see the fold in these photos. Also, when I was cutting it out, I cut two left sides initially. And since the front and back is one long piece with no shoulder seam, I had to buy another two yards of fabric. No problem, I though, I'll make a second one and sell it on the shop. And then I cut the second set of sleeves wrong. So the fabric has retired to the closet in disgrace. Maybe I can get a summer top or some pants out of it.
Kodomo No Hi, or Children's Day is actually tomorrow in Japan, but The Cleveland Botanical Gardens celebrated it this weekend with various activities in conjunction with their Horticulture of Japan exhibit.
I found this book at the main branch of our library by doing searches on Japanese words--in this case it was "fuku". which means "clothing". The book came from the stacks, which is why I never saw it when I'd browse the Japanese language books. It's from 1981 and the ISBN is 9784829200803 but it appears to be out of print. The clothing is a bit dated, but there are some basic things, especially in the baby wardrobe, that would be easy to adapt.
The title in Japanese is Akachan O Mukaeru Junbi 3 Sai Made No Fuku Kisekata Tsukurikata which I believe translates to something about Preparing For Your Baby Until 3 Years Old. The book appears to include instructions for diapering, swaddling and includes a pattern for a sling
There are instructions for both sewing and knitting clothing
as well as altering clothing, such as using an adult shirt to make a child's smock
It's really a charming book--I wish it will still in print and I think I will be making good use of our library's online renewal function.
Doesn't the subtitle of my post say "trying to teach myself Japanese"? Am I still doing that? Sadly, I've been slacking quite a bit. Every so often I pull out a book and try and review, and recently I tried to write some song lyrics in hiragana (a good review, I was dismayed at what I'd forgotten). But overall, I'm doing very little and it's disappointing me when I remember how I was doing a lesson and study for a couple hours every week.
One thing I'm still doing is watching Japanese movies and dramas. Recently I saw Linda Linda Linda What a fantastic, fun film. I'd never heard of the Blue Hearts before seeing this movie, but I'm still humming their infectious songs. The plot is really rather simple, and compared to American movies that generally use a plot line where there is a major conflict and then a resolution, it may seem that nothing really happens--and actually, nothing does. It's just the story of three girls trying to put together a rock band to perform in the annual Holly Rock Festival at their high school. A fourth member has broken her hand, and they need to find a replacement. They ask Son, a Korean exchange student, to step in and she agrees--even though she doesn't speak Japanese that well. With only a few days until the festival, they manage to pull off a cover of Blue Angel's Linda Linda.
There's a funny bit where one of Son's classmates tries to confess to her--a challenging event in high school life. It's not just asking someone out, but confessing your true feelings. Another scene has the four girls grocery shopping so they can make a meal together, Son picks up a package of four garlic, the other girl tells her it's too much and to only get one. Son looks doubtful--Korean cooking uses much more garlic than Japanese cooking.
This is a clip from the end of the movie, when the girls perform
Edit to add: I've noticed a number of people coming to this page looking for the lyrics to Linda Linda in hiragana. I give you my best effort:
One of my favorite books when I was young was Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden. I know I was in elementary school, but I can't remember exactly how old
Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are two little Japanese dolls. The story is about an little girl named Nona who has come from India to live with her English cousins. Everything is very strange to her and she is desperately homesick. When a distant relative sends the dolls, she realizes they must find every thing as strange as she does. She enlists the aid of her cousin Tom in building them a proper Japanese house.
The book is many descriptions of Japanese customs--the Tanabata Festival, how a traditional Japanese house is furnished, clothing, food--there are even plans to build your own Japanese house included in the back of the book. It's such a lovely story--through her efforts to make the dolls feel at home, Nona realizes she is part of the family as well.
I adored this book, and wanted my own Japanese doll. I finally got one--this little girl arrived today
She's seen a lot of wear--she's missing some fingers on each hand, her head has a long crack around the middle, her paint is worn and her kimono is tearing in a few places. She's a lot bigger than Miss Happiness and Miss Flower--they were dollhouse dolls, only 5 inches high and she's about 12 inches. But I'm so happy looking at her sitting on my shelf, I'd like to think I've rescued her and given her a place to rest.
In looking for websites on Japanese dolls, I found this one about the Friendship Doll Exchange between Japan and the US
Friendship Dolls.
I wonder if such a program still exists--it seems like a great project for our homeschooling group.
