japan– tag –

The Cold Rice Test: Why Your Microwave Is Useless. Truly exceptional rice remains delicious even when cooled—a cultural point missed by the microwave generation. We explore the brutal efficiency that made rice, not wheat, the cornerstone of Japan, sustained by 400,000 km of ancestral labor (ten turns around the Earth). This profound history culminates in a farmer-run curry house where a simple meal becomes a 10,000-year philosophical experience.

Academically, the value of things is composed of three factors: rarity, utility, and timeliness. Let's put aside timeliness here because things get too complex. First of all, diamonds are no longer so useful at least in industrial activities because we can artificially make them. Let's rule out utility. Next, what about rarity? Do you still believe diamonds are rare?

If you wanna eat the best bread in Japan, you need to come to Hokkaido because it is the kingdom of the agricultural (wheat) and dairy (milk) industries in Japan. There are many well-known bakeries, and one of the major groups is bakeries opened by bakers breaking away from Maison Kayser.

Hokkaido is sometimes called the milk kingdom that boasts the largest milk production (about 55% of the total milk production in Japan). Only a short drive takes you to the road where dairy farms spread on both sides anywhere in Hokkaido. Every time I see cows lazily munching, an environmental issue occurs to my mind, which is methane gas produced from cow belching and manure.

As I wrote before, finding big trees on googlemap is one of my hobbies. One day when I had things to do in the east of Hokkaido, I went to the following point to visit a giant tree there. Toyotomi elm stands alone on a roadside in a smal...

【What's the civil engineering heritage?】 Does your city or region have civil engineering heritage? They may be a big bridge, dam, bund, tunnel, and any construction or architecture that have a significant impact on the development of l...

I've been traveling around the world and staying in many hotels, though most of them were cheap ones. In my experience, Japanese budget hotels are best in cost performance.

【Wood lathe craftsman in Hokkaido】 The other day, I attended a trila session of wood lathe. It was a rare opportunity to learn from a veteran craftsman, who has 60 years of experience in this field. Until a decade ago, all the legs of ...

In order to gain objective information about hometowns, what helps us is "travel YouTubers." As checking some videos by such YouTubers to introduce Hokkaido, I found very beautiful scenery only seen in autumn. The YouTuber introduced it as a magnificent view that we'll want to see before we die. It's the field of coral grass (the ones consisting of the red field in the first image).

What's the secret to successful fishing? I confess that my human ego prefers bait over the grace of fly fishing. This leads to the salmon homecoming—a majestic life-and-death spectacle in Hokkaido's rivers. I explore the profound ecology of the salmon, arguing that our wooden furniture is made from the ocean's nutrients. I conclude with the amusing human paradox: why you should savor the freshest Ikura (salmon roe) after witnessing the species' great sacrifice.