This time I (Yumi) take a chance to talk about something I found interesting these days.
I would like to talk you about bento boxes and give you an idea about how it has evolved for the last 30 years.

Bento boxes I was using 30 years ago were made from aluminum. Most of aluminum bento boxes disappeared by early 80′s and plastic ones replaced them since then.
My bento life finished as aluminum bento boxes disappeared and started again in junior high school thanks to hermetic plastic models which solved the problem of wet dish leaking into the bag.
I remember that my favorite bento meal was some rice with nori (seaweed sheet). It was simply plain rice with nori added on the top. Other things such as octopus shaped sausages, omelet and apple rabbit completed the meal. I was very happy with this simple bento.

These days kid’s bento has changed a lot. The style which is very popular at the moment is called Charaben (character bento). Of course kids like them, but this is mothers who are really crazy about. There are many blogs featuring pictures and teaching how to make them.
I was very surprised when I heard that bento became very popular overseas.
Here is some little advices for those who are thinking to start a bento lifestyle.
- try to avoid wet dish in the box.
- use soft silicon cups in the case you put wet dish.
- enjoy your new lifestyle

With a few days late here are some pictures of sakura blossom taken last Monday.
We thought it would be quieter on Monday than during the weekend but there were still many people! It seems that retirees and mothers had the same idea as us.
So we went with family in a park located in Chita-shi.
This year the trees have flowered a little later than usual.

blind from YUKIHIRO SHODA on Vimeo.

We were supposed to do an article about Tanabata but unfortunately we didn’t have time to write it. We though we found a solution: publish some pictures we took during the previous years! Except we don’t have any picture related to Tanabata -_-’
And so er… So anyway have you made a wish for Tanabata?

Ok it’s been a few days already but it’s never to late to talk about…
So here are some pictures taken yesterday in our beautiful city of Tokai-shi.

Okkawa matsuri was held on 19th and 20th of March in Handa city near Nagoya. This festival is the first of all matsuri in this area. Many people attend the festival each year to see the dashi parade (dashis are wooden floats) to the shrine followed by the mikoshi (portable shrine).
This event celebrates the beginning of spring.
This festival is known as fighting festival because many young men try to get into the place from where the dashi is controlled. Once at the shrine, each of the four floats perform mechanical dolls accompanied with music.
There are 4 floats in Okkawa district and 27 more floats in Handa. Each area has its own festival so the events continue till 4th of May.
Every five years the city organize a huge dashi festival where the 31 floats are presented together.

Three of the dashi next to Yawatasha shrine. Many people were there.

Front view of the four dashi.

Some of the mechanical dolls called karakuri ningio.

Oni the red devil.

Ready to attack with an axe !

These long flags are called nobori.

The Mikoshi on its way to the shrine.

Today is Spring Equinox in Japan which means that there is 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark.
This national holiday which takes place around the 20th or 21st of each year was established during the Meiji Period. This day marks the end of the winter the return of the warm.
Some special ceremonies are organized in temples to celebrate the event.
Soon it’s gonna be Sakura blossom! For the moment people can still enjoy Ume Matsuri.

As you know, northern Japan was the victim on March 11 of a very strong earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami. There are already several thousands of dead people and many more are missing. As the days go by the chances of finding more survivors are dwindling. Following the event several nuclear reactors and fuel storage pools started to have many problems. Being in Japan (in case ou don’t know near Nagoya) we try to keep us informed at best. By the way we would like to thank those who sent messages of sympathy. But after reading the fears on all these messages it seemed to us important to talk about the issue.

What really is the situation in Japan?
It is amazing to see the state of panic that seems to be outside of Japan but here life goes on as usual. Tokyo is certainly victim of disturbances but I’m telling you inhabitants of the city are not running out of food or water and people are still going to work. Whether in Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka there are no disturbances and the life goes on.
In the region of Fukushima many people are still looking for members of their families in the rubble. Fortunately most of the people in the prefectures have survived and stay calm waiting for the situation to stabilize. We are not witnessing a mass exodus of people living in the region surrounding the nuclear site in question.
For your information my wife’s family is gathered in a house (17 people all together!) 70 kilometers from the nuclear plant and no one panic!
You should know that Japanese people are prepared for this kind of situation since they have the age of 4 years and they know that a disaster like this can happen at any time.
Lastly, the priority in Japan is to find people who are still alive. The priority for Japanese average Joe is to care about the real victims and not about a possible radioactive contamination.

But this is not what it says on TV!
That is where the problem comes from! Part of journalists seek for sensationalism and obviously what is more terrifying than an nuclear plant accident? I mean all the ingredients are here – fear, suspense, terrifying images – to make a great blockbuster.
People quickly talked about Chernobyl in making more or less intelligent comparisons.
So let’s be clear, no the situation is not identical to that of Chernobyl and in particular for the following reasons:
- Plants conceptions are very different (fortunately…)
- Power plants in Fukushima are still heating up but they are stopped
- There will be no massive explosion like Chernobyl where the radioactive particles were propelled at over 3000 meters above sea level!
Therefore in the worst case there would be a localized pollution on an area of about thirty kilometers. Note that Tokyo is located a little over 250 kilometers from the reactors so it would not be affected! Pollution would be much more concentrated than that of Chernobyl, however the affected area would be more polluted than the Ukrainian city and would become uninhabitable.

I was told that the Japanese TV does not inform the locals I have even seen a video of a French talk about it!
Not true, all Japanese TV channels talk non-stop about the situation and even advertising has almost totally disappeared! To convince you can simply take a look at the NHK World channel: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nhk-world-tv.

What can I do to help?
The best thing you can do is send a donation to the Red Cross who is on site since the early events. Come to Japan to play the hero will bring more problems than anything else.

What about Tokyo Smart?
The shop is operating normally there is no disruption for sending commands. No, our packages are not radioactive
The Japanese mentality is to continue working instead of complaining to support the country’s economy. It will be much needed for the next few years. Do not forget that Japan has become the second largest economy (the third today) while the country was totally destroyed after the Second World War. Something tells me that this disaster may act as a trigger and that the country will become even stronger than before. At least I hope it will happen with all my heart.
That said, have a good night!

Loic

Today we went to a park located in Chita-shi which has a lot of plum trees.
It is Ume Matsuri at the moment (literally Plum Festival in Japanese) which means this is plum blossoms.
A nice foretaste of sakura blossoms. The park is pretty nice and includes many trees and flowers, a lake and some green houses.

We went there with Misuzu our 3 year old niece who had a lot of fun in the tunnel and on the little bridges.

There are many kinds of species displayed around the park with pink flowers…

dark pink flowers….

and white flowers.

Detail of some of the plum blossoms. Looks pretty similar to sakura flowers!

Picture: shibuya246 - Flickr

Today is Girls’ Day or Doll Day called Hinamatsuri in Japanese. This event is held every 3rd of March.

A couple of weeks before this day families with a daughter set up a stair with a red carpet on which they display several dolls called Hina Ningyou which represent the Emperor and the Empress, musicians and some attendants. They wear traditional costumes from the Heian period (794-1185). The platform usually has 5 or 7 stairs with the one on the top receiving both the Emperor and the Empress.
The tradition say that the dolls must be removed on the 4th of March in order to avoid a late marriage for the daughter.

Some places organize special events such as Kada Shrine in Wakayama prefecture, a shrine surrounded by thousands of dolls, statues and maneki neko.