sushi

For people in Japan, rice and fish are two of the primary pillars of the diet. Served as SUSHI, they have long been a favourite delicacy, Biting into the rice and its seafood topping, the flavours and textures blend and melt together to produce a delectable depth of flavour. This type of SUSI is called NIGIRI-ZUSI.

Each portion consists of a bite-sized serving of vinegared rice and a topping. In the sushi world, the toppings are called NETA. Usually, the NETA is some kind of seafood. Many kinds of fish are served. both red and white, shrimp and squid, all kinds of shell fish.. There are a tremendous variety of toppings, In the Jargon of the sushi shop, the rice base for the sushi is known as the SARI. The chef blends vinegar into steaming-hot, freshly cooked rice, using a paddle. It takes skill to mix the vinegar into the rice without crushing the individual grains.

Next the rice must be fanned to blow away the excess moisture as it cools down. The sugars in the vinegar form a coating around each grain of rice. This stops them from becoming sticky and seals in the flavour. This is the technique for preparing susi: while the NETA is held in the left hand, the shari rice is formed with the right hand.

A dab of wasabi horseradish is smeared onto the underside of the NETA. In a matter of seconds, the susi is ready. In ancient times, susi was a means of preserving food through a fermentation process. Originally, only the fish was eaten, the rice was just for packing around it. It was in the early years of the 19th century that susi developed into the form that we recognize today. By this time, people in the city were starting to enjoy greater affluence, and there was growing demand for greater variety in their diet. New kinds of food were developed to match the informal style of eating at food stalls. This was how NIGARI-ZUSI came into being.

Over time, what began as a method for preserving fish developed into Japan's most famous food that today is eaten around the world.

Hirosige

The 53 stations of the TOKAIDO was first published about 170 years ago. and several editions were subsequently produced. The TOKAIDO was the main highway linking EDO with KYOTO, the old capital, and its route can still be traced to this day.
It was first laid out some 400 years ago, after EDO became the SHOGUN's capital. The 53 stations of the TOKAIDO series includes 55 points, depicting the 53 stops along the route, plus the starting and end points, EDO and KYOTO.
The series was the creation of the celebrated UKIYO-E artist UTAGAWA-HIROSHIGE, also known as ANDO HIROSHIGE. The first print in HIROSIGE's 53 stations of the TOKAIDO depicts NIHONBASHI in the centre of EDO. It shows the bridge in the early morning, as work begins for the day at the busy fishmongers' wharf. The retinue of a DAIMYO-one of the great regional lords-advances across the bridge. It is a dynamic picture, showing the hustle and bustle of daily life.
HIROSIGE's vibrant portrayals of the varied people, weather conditions and seasonal landscapes found along the route tapped into people's yearning to travel. The tagline for the series was "View as realistic as actually being there". This was why they were so popular they made people feel they'd been transported to these scenes.
This print is titled "Driving Rain at SHOMO". Here travellers have been caught in a sudden summer cloud burst. Three make their way uphill, two of the carrying a man in palanquin, while others dash down the slope, heading for shelter. The superb use of shading and colour gradations imbues the scene with a lyrical depth. In his works, HIROSHIGE made masterful use of a woodblock print technique called BOKASI, which is used to create a range of shading, from dark to light.
There are several styles of BOKASI. HIROSHIGE preferred a technique called FUKI-BOKASHI. First the plates are moistened. Then the pigment is applied with s brush. The image is then impressed onto the paper, using a baren, a traditional rubbing pad. This process is repeated several times, producing subtle gradations in colour. In "Printing Rain at SHONO", HIROSIGE uses six separate gradations of FUKI-BOKASI. It is tarks to such sophisticated craftsmanship that the 53 stations of the TOKAIDO series is a timeless masterpiece that still captivates people around the world.

cherry blossom

Every spring, the cherry trees all over Japan burst into bloom. Everywhere you look, there are petals in elegant, subtle shades of pink. And they scatter in the wind to create a dreamy atmosphere. the cherry blossom is regarded as an iconic flower of Japan. And, in fact, for many Japanese, it is synonymous with the world 'flower'. More than 300 different varieties of flowering cherries grow around the country. Cherry blossoms have long been used as a design element in various ways. These lacquered bowls are decorated with blossom motifs. And here, a lacquered box for storing letters... By depicting cherry blossoms on everyday objects like these, people have managed to suggest and enjoy a sense of spring. Since ancient times, people have admired all kinds of flowers and composed poetry inspired by them. It was around the 10th century that cherry blossoms became prominent as one of the motifs of spring. They are refereed in many of the narratives and poems written around that time. It is because the Cherry blossoms fall, That they are beautiful in the eyes of all. Nothing is eternal in the world we live in.
The aristocrats of that time saw their own mortal lives reflected in the Cherry blossoms that bloom and fall all too quickly. After the start of the Edo period, 400 years ago, blossom-viewing caught on as a form of entertainment for ordinary townspeople. When the cherry blossom season arrived, people would gather, taking food and drink with them, and have boisterous parties. For some people, this was a way to vent their daily frustrations. In the middle of the 19th century, a new variety of flowering cherry called SOMEI-YOSHINO was created. It was distinguished by the austere beauty of its large whitish flowers, SOMEI-YOSHINO cherry trees only bloom for a particularly short period of time, and their petals seem to start dropping almost as soon as they've opened. This dovetails perfectly with the traditional Japanese aesthetic sensibility that finds beauty not only in blooming flowers but also in the way they flutter to the ground.

In the traditional Japanese worldview, the transience of life is felt through the changing seasons. At the same time, the aesthetic of understated beauty is valued highly. For over 1000 years, people in Japan have perceived the cherry blossom to be the mirror of their sensibility.

Marriage

In Japan, more than 700,000 couples get married each year, and wedding ceremonies are diverse in style.
1.The ceremony is being held at a church. It is said that more than 60 percent of all Japanese wedding ceremonies are Christian-style. And many Japanese women dream of wearing a Western-style wedding dress.
2.Shinto wedding,held at a shrine. The couple take matrimonial vows before a deity of Japan's ancient religion. In this setting, the bride is usually dressed head-to-toe in white. White is a sacred colour representing absolute purity. It symbolizes her immaculate heart, which from now on, will take on the "colour" of the family she is marrying into. There is a ritual involving sake at this type of wedding. The bride and groom sip sacred sake-three sips from each of three cups, making nine sips in all. This repetition of the lucky number three expresses gratitude to ancestors and a wish for many descendants.
Now let us take a look at the history of marriage in Japan. 1000 years ago, during the age of the Heian nobility, it was common for an aristocratic couple to live separately and for the husband to visit his wife only at night. Back then, Japanese aristocratic society was polygamous, and a man night several different wives.
In the 13th century, when the clans with the greatest military strength flourished, it became typical for a bride to move in with the groom's family. She was expected to take care of domestic matters and to guarantee the prosperity of the clan by bearing strong sons.
During the Edo period, emphasis was placed on the relationship was placed on the relationship between two families, as opposed to two individuals. This resulted in more marriages that ignored the feeling of the couple themselves. The growing desire for relationships based on personal feelings gave rise to numerous works of fiction that dealt with-and-romanticized-forbidden love. Some were presented as Bunraku and kabuki plays, and received accolades from the masses.

Huge changes came to the institution of marriage in Japan following the second world war. In 1946 the new constitution was promulgated. It proclaimed that marriage should be freely entered into by a man and a woman.
Today, most Japanese get married of their own free will, regardless of their parents' opinion.Along with the trend towards globalization, more and more Japanese are tying the knot with partners of different nationality. Slowly but surely, the institution of marriage is changing to mach the times.

rice

A bowl of hot, glistening white rice ... Rice has long been the staple food of Japan, and it still makes frequent appearances on the dining table. For many people in Japan, a sense of nostalgia is evoked by images of farmers planting seedlings or harvesting rice with the beautiful natural scenery of the season as a backdrop. Japan produces about 10 million tons of rice a year, maintaining near-100-percent self-sufficiency in rice. In a country of low overall food self-sufficiency, rice is unique and special. There are many ways to eat rice, but the standard way is to eat it plan. The flavour of rice is relatively simple, so all sorts of side dishes go well with it.
1. Onigiri rice balls have long been popular. They can be eaten with one hand and are easy to carry around. To make an onirigiri, the rice is firmly shaped into a ball around a filling, of which there are many varieties, such as grilled salmon, KONBU seaweed and cod roe.

2. CHASUKE: Ingredients are placed on top of a bowl of rice, and hot green tea is poured over them. It makes an ideal light meal.

3. Another popular way to enjoy rice is to eat with a simple topping of raw egg and soy sauce. there are now even restaurants that specialize in this dish.

Since ancient times in Japan, prayers for a bountiful rice harvest have given rise to many festivals and rituals. At festivals held to pray for a good harvest, known as OTAUE-MATURI, planting is accompanied by cheerful singing. In olden times, there was also a rite called SUMAI NO SECHIE, in which SUMO bouts were held at the Imperial court. Now regarded as Japan's national sport, SUMO was once a ritual to pray for a beautiful rice harvest. Rice was also used to pay taxes in the old days. TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSI unified the country in the 16th century and reformed the tax system, but it was never the less based on rice. He ordered a survey of entire country's paddy fields to find out how much rice they could field. Based on its findings, the standards for taxation were established

The sataus of a feudal lord then came to be determined by the amount of rice that could be harvested in his domain. Even today, Japan's agriculture centres around the production of rice. Rice the production of rice. Rice ripening in paddy fields... It is , and has always been, a source of bountiful joy for the Japanese.