Tag: Japanese

Travel

Barlingen International Folkdance Festival (1)

I can’t believe this is 1month ago already…It’s about my trip to Germany. Our Shishimai website also updated more detailed stories and pictures, check it out! As I hadn’t performed Shishimai since I came to London, I was so looking forward to joining them in Germany this time! I was thinking of joining them in Frankfurt as the members flied to there, but decided to go to Stuttgart and meet them in Balingen as the flight was not early in the morning…well, I mean, more efficient. It was the first time for me to go to Germany! It was only […]

TV&Films

Close Encounters of the Third Kind? “Hai! Karate”

This is about a TV show again, a TV show called “Hai! Karate” on CBBC. Four pairs of a parent and a child visit Japan to learn Karate in order to get closer relationship. It’s quite interesting. Looking at “futon” (Japanese type bed) and shouting “Do we sleep on the floor!?”, not knowing how to wear “dougi” (a special clothes for martial arts), panicking at cicada, sitting on the floor in Japanese style…hahaha. Usually teachers will be furious if you are doing Karate taking such an apparant “I don’t care” attitude. But it might be a bit hard for them […]

Foods

Ohagi

My friends invited me to her place and taught me how to cook “ohagi” (Japanese traditional sweets). It was the first time to cook this for me so I could help only an easy part of it. The smell of red beans and rice when they are cooked always makes me feel relaxed. We cooked normal ones, as well as kinako (a kind of sweet powder?) and sesame. It was soooooooooooo yummy! She also served some other sweets and sake for us… It was such a nice time chatting and eating 🙂 Thanks!

Art&Exhibitions, Life in London, Music, Theatre

Kodo at Southbank centre, London

I went to see a performance by “Kodo” (A group of Japanese traditional drum players). To be honest, I hadn’t seen any proper Japanese drum performance before, and I just went there because it was 50% off for students! But it was amazing. Just amazing. I thought it would be good when I saw the promotion video on their website, but you can never experience the sounds of “big drum” unless you go to see them. It echoes inside your body, rather than on the surface. It was like thunder. Another thing I liked about them was that they were […]

Diary

Japan is great???

I found an article like this. “9 Reasons Why Japanese Interactive Work is Awesome” http://www.crackunit.com/2009/03/17/9-reasons-japanese-interactive-work-is-awesome/ The first reason, “The work is polite” made me laugh a bit. I don’t know if these reasons are right, but it’s really nice to hear someone says Japanese contents are awesome. Not only about interactive media, but I think we have a lot of things we should be proud of. Foods, technology, design, traditional culture, politeness… But usually these things are delivered in misunderstood or distorted way! I wish more Japanese people could work a lot internationally. I should try harder too. Of course […]

Life in London

Tokyo Day

As I heard there will be an event about Japan, I went to have a quick look after shopping. “Origami”, “calligraphy”, “Koma” and “Robots”, there were lots of “let’s try” booth, and there were lots of people as well. At “Tea Ceremony” corner, I saw some British people showing slightly curious looks, and shitting in Japanese style (=seiza). They looked so cute. This event was organised by Tokyo, but I wondered if they always call volunteers. If so, I want to help them next time! By the way, Shishimai was performing at the stage. A woman was playing the flute […]