Anna Matsushita

    Nearly 40 years ago, while living in Britain, I was once asked an intriguing question by a Swiss friend:   "Japanese eat raw fish, don't they?"   When I confirmed this, the response was swift and unfiltered: "That's disgusting."   The phrase "raw fish" conjures up visceral, almost grotesque imagery—the notion of biting into a fish, freshly plucked from a stream, scales and all. To clarify, I explained that what we eat in Japan is akin to Italian carpaccio—thinly sliced fresh fish served with soy sauce rather than olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My friend appeared somewhat reassured, if still perplexed, by this cultural culinary nuance.   Curiously, the term "raw fish" persists today in articles about Japan, especially those catering to Western audiences. While such descriptions aim to demystify sashimi, they inadvertently evoke a sense of barbarism, fostering reactions like the one I encountered: "disgusting....

 In my early years, I resided in the Tohoku region of Japan. Near the housing complex nestled in the mountains, there was a forest where various fruits grew.   Among them, the mountain grapes held a special fascination for my young heart. Simply put, they looked delicious. Despite being warned by adults never to eat them, they seemed even more tempting.   During that time, I heard a folktale called "Saru-zake" (Monkey's Wine). It narrated a story of a monkey living in the mountains who hid the mountain grapes he had gathered in a tree hollow. Over time, it miraculously turned into wine. A woodcutter who discovered it tasted the wine, found it incredibly delicious, drank too much, and ended up drunk—such was the essence of the story, if I recall correctly.   This wine made from mountain grapes (Vitis coignetiae) is considered one of Japan's oldest alcoholic beverages archaeologically. Its origins can be traced back to the Jomon period, approximately 10,000...

 In 1990, I came back to Japan from the UK, in an attempt to go to a university in Tokyo. Back in those days, high school diplomas given by scholls in abroad were not really accepted by universities in Japan, Even though you finished A-level or SAT, you still have to go through an entrance examination. Not many universities let students who studied abroad, so we were left with very few choices.   I failed my first university examination. I have not used Japanese for a while, and I was not familiar with essay writing in Japanese. It was pressurising to write these Kanji characters in handwriting, hoping that I didn’t make much mistakes – which, probably I did.   I took summer course for students who graduated from high schools abroad, to brush up English and Japanese languages, as well as essay writing, Withing two months intense course, I became much more confident using the both languages.   I took another entrance examination at a university in Tokyo....

It must have been about twenty-five years ago. I had just graduated from university and landed jobs at a small travel agency. The company, which specialised in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, immersed us thoroughly in the geography, history, tourist attractions, and diverse cuisines of Europe as part of our work. Among our team were those who, during their student days, had embarked on budget travels abroad, boldly exploring various countries. We exchanged experiences, learning from one another, and absorbed knowledge like sponges from our seniors as we navigated our daily routines. At the time, my role involved researching travel ideas for sales by gathering information from overseas branches. Domestically available information required my personal effort to research, compile, and organise. Despite the economic bubble having burst five or six years earlier, Japan still had a thriving appetite for information on luxury cuisine, fine wines, and high-end resorts. In the pre-internet...

Many years ago, during my stay in the UK, I became aware that pubs offered cidre , known as "cider" in English. However, for reasons I didn’t quite understand, my British acquaintances strongly discouraged me from ordering it. They claimed it was not something young people should drink, that it wouldn’t suit Japanese taste buds, and that Japanese people weren’t accustomed to strong alcohol, which they believed cider to be. Their insistence that "it doesn’t suit Japanese palates" left me puzzled. Despite their claimed familiarity with Japan, they seemed determined to dissuade me from trying cider. Looking back, I wonder if they had a negative experience recommending it to a Japanese person in the past and were simply trying to avoid disappointing me. Several decades later, I finally had the opportunity to savour British-made apple cider. A Tokyo-based restaurant featured about eight varieties of cider on its menu. Remembering my earlier encounter in the UK, I was det...

 My friend uploaded pictures of her roses on SNS. She loves gardening, and after spending few years in England, she grew interest to roses in England which decorated the entrance of her house in England.   “ The scent and colours are wonderful. I’m still searching for deep pink rose with right colour “   She is looking for the type of rose which you can find here. It is developed by David Austin.   English Roses - David Austin Roses   Her SNS was having rose festival for few days, with many wonderful varieties – light pink, vivid orange, deep pink, red, and many more.   There are various gardens in Japan where you get to see wonderful roses – I saw lots of photographs during May, where people posted various photographs of roses from across Japan.   Here are some suggestions, in my local area, Kanagawa. (Yokohama and Hakone) In case if you missed, June is also a season of flower – Hydrangea will be in full bloom, you can also e...

  During COVID-19 restriction, I did another project: writing essays on drinks in mainly in Europe, Japan and Caucasus.   As a one engaged in travel industry, I wrote many writings for my job to introduce European drinks, including wines, beers, whiskeys and liqueurs.   The work involves many research on internet as well as trying the drink myself. I felt it important to experience the drink itself, as I was introducing the drinks to potential Japanese travellers abroad – I did not want to sound fake.   This time, I could spend more time researching the backgrounds of each drinks. It was interesting to learn the history of each drinks and passion of those who made the first drink, and success of the business.   The main reason I wrote this subject was that I wanted to carry on researching food and drinks abroad. When I was working at travel company, the work involved many research. I wanted to carry on with that, in order to keep the antenna up a...

 When I was young, I came across with a picture of two entertainers in Medieval Japan, called Kusemai dancer, and Shrabyoshi.   They were one of the prominent street performers in Medieval Japan, and they were mentioned in a book called “Seventy One Songs on Craftsmen", illustrating various craftsmen which was established at the end of 1500’s   Here is the link to the original painting of Kusemai dancer and Shirbyoshi. (On the bottle left) 狂言・能楽の歴史｜文化デジタルライブラリー (jac.go.jp)   (Kusemai dancer on the left, Shirabyoshi on the right )   能・世阿弥｜文化デジタルライブラリー (jac.go.jp) So, what are Kusemai dancer and Shirabyoshi ? Kusemai, also known as Mai-Mai (Roughly translated as "dance, dance") is a male street dancer, usually paired up with a singer, and dance while holding a folding fan. Shirabyoshi is a female dancer dressed in men’s clothe and sing song while dancing. Kusemai | the-Noh.com | Noh Terminology Shirabyōshi - Wikipedia   In a boo...

 One of my friend giggled on SNS, posting a photo of shiso ( Japanese Basil ), saying that nature took its course. Her large garden pot was literally covered with a thousand’s sprouts of shiso.   Shiso (Japanese basil ) is a delightful herb which is harvested throughout summer. It is fragrant, has fresh and slightly sweet aroma.  It has two colour varieties, green and deep red. I think you will see lots of green variety at markets and shops. Red one is mostly used to make pickles. You might recall umeboshi ( Japanese plum pickles) which you can find it in some onigiri rice balls. The colour of umeboshi comes from the red shiso. It gives natural colouring.   Shiso goes well with sashimi or sushi, topped with wasabi horse radish. It has small and pretty white flowers, which is also edible. You could pop some shiso flowers into soy sauce, and dip the fish. The fresh aroma simply fills your nostril.   It is easy to grow from seeds. It is prolific so it i...

 One afternoon, I found some beautiful Kogyoku apples at a supermarket shelve. The apple is pretty hard to come by, it only shows up in Autumn. Kogyoku apple is sour apple, perhaps little sweeter than Granny Smith. When you see this apple, it’s time to cook warm apple pies or apple crumble. This year, I tried making apple pudding. Apple pudding is a simple dessert, and simple to make. And moreover, it is delicious – When I made this at home, half of it went to my neighbor. Within 10 minutes, she rang back and said she loved it.   <Recipe> -----------------------------------------------  Butter – 120g Caster sugar – 120g Egg – 2 large eggs Plain flour – 120g Baking soda – 1/2 tsp Salt – 1 pinch Ginger powder – 1 1/2 tsp Milk   - 3 tbs Kogyoku apples – 1   peeled and quartered, thinly sliced. Honey tbs Whipped cream  ----------------------------------------------------- Grease the baking tin with some butter Pour ...

The state of emergency was declared at many authorities in Japan from early .July to the end of September 2021. The number of Covid-19 positive case was high, and it persisted nearly 2 month and half. During this period, I was looking for a job. I briefly worked at a call centre in Tokyo, but I left there due to my lack of high-quality voice, as well as professional speech needed at call centre. Job market was quite fast during the spring of 2021. To be on safe side, I looked for permanent job, or temporary to permanent job, since I will be turning 50 years old soon, and I needed a stable position. While browsing on job agent’s websites and platforms, I came across many temporary position open for young people newly graduated from schools and colleges. It reminded me of recent concern for the job market for young generation in Japan. As far as media reports said, many young college or university graduates in Japan were reportedly struggling to find permanent job. Many can’t get c...

  The third COVID state of emergency was lifted in the Kanto region of Japan at the end of March 2021. People gradually started to go out more often. On the surface level the life seemed to be returning to normal – except that people were wearing face masks even those without cedar pollen fever – allergy similar to hay fever. On a weekend, I visited Yokohama. Yokohama is located about 30 minutes from Tokyo by train. It is known as one of the oldest port towns which started trade with western countries, such as France, Britain and America about 200 years ago. It is pretty big city with many areas to visit, such as the three towers of King, Queen and Jack, Hikawa-Maru ocean liner, Minato-mirai area, China town, Yokohama English Rose garden and many more. The Yokohama station is one of the spots where you can see some iconic figures which represent Yokohama’s history. Once you are out of central ticket gates of JR or other private railways, you might notice very small trails of the hi...