Sunday, October 7, 2007
Don't Drink the Water and Read the Prayer Boards: What to do at a Shinto Shrine
I have been to several Shinto Shrines. The first time I was by myself. When I entered through the gate, there was a beautiful stone well of water, carved with fabulous twisting dragons, and with what looked like a little drinking cup resting on the side. It was SO hot and miserable and the water looked SO cool and inviting and there was no one around...sooooo, I almost took a quick sip. I am sooooo happy I did not take that sip. Apparently, there is a purification protocol to follow upon entering a Shinto shrine....
I learned the proper protocol later with a tour group, while visiting one of the major Shinto shrines in Japan.
There were three gates at this shrine. Passing through the first gate rids one of evil spirits (which is the evil within oneself).
Passing through the second gate is for purification - And this is where the beautiful stone well of water is positioned. To properly purify oneself, you pick up the little cup and pour water over your left hand, then pour water over your right hand, then pour water INTO your left hand, then drink the water from your left hand - BUT don't swallow it - just swish it around and then spit it into the designated spitting place...and don't miss.
Now that you are purified you can enter the actual shrine by passing under the third gate.
Once inside, there are several rituals to choose from. You can pay a few yen and write your prayers on a little board. It is then hung up on a wall for all to see. There were some great prayers - the usual requests for millions of dollars, for Ferraris, and for true or not-so-true love - but my favorite was "To heal Pam's heart."
Just beyond the prayer wall was the actual shrine. After approaching the shrine, you clap 3 times, throw your offering of coins into a grilled area, then clap 3 more times..... and that's all there is to it ....
The main lesson I learned from visiting Shinto shrines is "when you're in a foreign country, don't drink the water till you see what the natives do with it..."
... Of course, this protocol does not explain what Shintoism is...and it is a very important concept for understanding all that is Japanese....
Shinto is the native religion of Japan. It's ways of thinking are deep in the subconscious fabric of Japanese society. The emphasis is placed on fitting into this world - Fitting into your group is VERY important in Japan. You do not want to be the "nail that sticks up" because you will be hammered down. Shinto has no absolute commandments for its adherents outside of living "a simple and harmonious life with nature and people."
1. Tradition and the family: The family is seen as the main mechanism by which traditions are preserved. Their main celebrations relate to birth and marriage. By the way, they are REALLY into the big, white Western style wedding dresses here.
2. Love of nature: Nature is sacred; to be in contact with nature is to be close to the kami - thus the beautiful Japanese gardens.
3. Physical cleanliness: Followers of Shinto take baths, wash their hands, and rinse out their mouths often - The bath is one of the most essential rituals of the Japanese - that's why I have that button in my kitchen to fill up my bath tub while I cook dinner.
JAPANESE RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY...TO BE CONTINUED
Making Rice Balls With the Franciscans
In the heart of Tokyo Mid-Town, just blocks away from the Ritz Carlton Hotel is a Franciscan Monastery. This week I showed up for one of their Rice Ball making sessions. Hundreds of these Rice Balls are made to be given to the homeless that sleep in the nearby subways. It's quite an operation. Every day a group of people show up at the Franciscan kitchen to help. The sticky rice has been made the night before. We are each given a rice mold which has 4 triangular cut-outs in it. Water is smeared all over the inside of the mold so that the sticky rice won't "sticky" to the sides of the mold. The rice is squashed into the mold and of course you try to squash as much as possible into the mold so that it will hold it's shape. The person that eats it will get more rice that way also. After sufficient squashing, we poke our finger into the middle of the Rice Ball and put a beautiful red plum into the hole - they look like cherries to me.
The group that I worked with were very interesting and quite nice. There were the wives of some Disney Tokyo consultants, the wife of an Otis Elevator executive, a chef from the Ritz Carlton, and I can't remember the info on the other women - at that point, I had to pay attention to my Rice Ball making ... Afterwards, all decided Starbucks was in order - with further discussion on thoughts about living in Tokyo. One woman was pregnant with her first child - due in a month. The big discussion was how she would get to the hospital when her labor begins. It was decided that the subway would be faster than a taxi. I'll let you know what happens....
The group that I worked with were very interesting and quite nice. There were the wives of some Disney Tokyo consultants, the wife of an Otis Elevator executive, a chef from the Ritz Carlton, and I can't remember the info on the other women - at that point, I had to pay attention to my Rice Ball making ... Afterwards, all decided Starbucks was in order - with further discussion on thoughts about living in Tokyo. One woman was pregnant with her first child - due in a month. The big discussion was how she would get to the hospital when her labor begins. It was decided that the subway would be faster than a taxi. I'll let you know what happens....
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Salt - The Newest Trend in Seasoning
Decided to head over to Roppongi on Sunday and do some exploring. Roppongi is where all the Ex-Patriots and Westerners hang out. It is a very nice part of town and many of the Embassies are located in the surrounding area. They also have some great international grocery stores - the international versions of Whole Foods.
I had a very short shopping list. In fact, only one item. I needed Salt. How hard could this be???? Very hard. There were 60 different types of salt - believe me, I counted them all. There was Jurassic Salt, Sicilain Salt, Italian Salt, French Salt, Alpen Salz, Moon Salt, Bonin Salt, Sel Marin de Guerand, Liquid Salt Water, Black Salt, Green Tea Salt, Homemade Pinkish Salt, Pahar Rock Salt, Himalayan Salt, and on and on. I chose Pahar Rock Salt because it was such a pretty pink color with cute black speckles. It's probably best that I don't know what the cute black speckles are....
After the "Salt Escapade," I had to re-energize with some food tasting. The problem with food tasting in a store like this is that there is no way to politely choke and spit the food out. The Japanese have NO trash cans anywhere. It's either down the throat or into your purse. You cannot believe the things that I swallowed with a smile.
I had a very short shopping list. In fact, only one item. I needed Salt. How hard could this be???? Very hard. There were 60 different types of salt - believe me, I counted them all. There was Jurassic Salt, Sicilain Salt, Italian Salt, French Salt, Alpen Salz, Moon Salt, Bonin Salt, Sel Marin de Guerand, Liquid Salt Water, Black Salt, Green Tea Salt, Homemade Pinkish Salt, Pahar Rock Salt, Himalayan Salt, and on and on. I chose Pahar Rock Salt because it was such a pretty pink color with cute black speckles. It's probably best that I don't know what the cute black speckles are....
After the "Salt Escapade," I had to re-energize with some food tasting. The problem with food tasting in a store like this is that there is no way to politely choke and spit the food out. The Japanese have NO trash cans anywhere. It's either down the throat or into your purse. You cannot believe the things that I swallowed with a smile.
Food Winners and Loosers of the Week - Who Says Fish Bait Doesn't Go on Salad?
Looser:
We ended up in a restaurant with no English spoken and no pictures on menus. When in doubt, the "Special" is usually a good choice. This time it was not a good choice. A beautiful plate was placed before us. It had a baked potato-sized lump covered with with a light pink icing sort of "stuff" and lightly sprinkled with bright red fish eggs - this was not in the caviar category - this was in the fish bait category. The fish bait tasted just like fish bait. The icing "stuff" had a soy flavor - not too bad....and underneath were avocados - not too bad....but underneath that was raw, ground meat... who knows what kind of meat it was. I tasted it and Greg actually ate it. This leads me to believe that there is good reason that women live longer than men.
Sort of Looser:
After the raw meat, this looked good. The salad was beautiful. It had teeny, tiny little red fish eggs all over the top. They still tasted like fish bait.
Looser:
Freshness Burger. A really bad hamburger at the Japanese version of a fast food restaurant. The restaurant is called "Freshness Burger" also. There is a reason McDonalds is doing so well here and it is because of Freshness Burger.
Sort of Winner:
Amino Supli. As you can tell by the name of this drink, Amino Supli, the Japanese love to add "English" names to things. Who knows what Amino Supli means but it sounds good. It even tasted pretty good. It was a watered down grapefruit, orange, lemon type canned drink. I would buy it again.
Winner:
Anna Miller's American Style Pies. This was a Pennsylvania Dutch restaurant with the Amish style logo of "Cookin' Lasts, Kissin' Don't" on their cute take-away boxes. This place gets a 3 YUM rating (YUM, YUM, YUM).
We ended up in a restaurant with no English spoken and no pictures on menus. When in doubt, the "Special" is usually a good choice. This time it was not a good choice. A beautiful plate was placed before us. It had a baked potato-sized lump covered with with a light pink icing sort of "stuff" and lightly sprinkled with bright red fish eggs - this was not in the caviar category - this was in the fish bait category. The fish bait tasted just like fish bait. The icing "stuff" had a soy flavor - not too bad....and underneath were avocados - not too bad....but underneath that was raw, ground meat... who knows what kind of meat it was. I tasted it and Greg actually ate it. This leads me to believe that there is good reason that women live longer than men.
Sort of Looser:
After the raw meat, this looked good. The salad was beautiful. It had teeny, tiny little red fish eggs all over the top. They still tasted like fish bait.
Looser:
Freshness Burger. A really bad hamburger at the Japanese version of a fast food restaurant. The restaurant is called "Freshness Burger" also. There is a reason McDonalds is doing so well here and it is because of Freshness Burger.
Sort of Winner:
Amino Supli. As you can tell by the name of this drink, Amino Supli, the Japanese love to add "English" names to things. Who knows what Amino Supli means but it sounds good. It even tasted pretty good. It was a watered down grapefruit, orange, lemon type canned drink. I would buy it again.
Winner:
Anna Miller's American Style Pies. This was a Pennsylvania Dutch restaurant with the Amish style logo of "Cookin' Lasts, Kissin' Don't" on their cute take-away boxes. This place gets a 3 YUM rating (YUM, YUM, YUM).
Hazukashi: I'm so embarassed...
"Hazukashi" is a great word to know. It means "I'm so embarassed." Little children often say it when their parents try to make them speak in English to foreigners. Parents are the same everywhere aren't they????
It is also a great word to know when one is trying to get away from a street hawker and one finds herself (in this case "me")in the middle of a busy intersection - crowds of people on one side of the street, crowds of people on the other side of the street - all patiently waiting for the light to change - and trying to ignore the crazy woman who is out in the middle of the street holding up traffic. At the same time all the taxis and cars are patiently - and QUIETLY - waiting for the crazy woman to get out of the middle of the street - no one honks or screams. If I would have known how to say "Hazukashi" it could have helped to fill the silence.
Another time that "Hazukashi" would have come in handy was when I nearly tripped the blind man who was trying to get onto the train. He put his cane right between my feet. It was all I could do to keep from falling out onto him. I was not sure what the penalty would be for "blind man tripping" and did not want to find out.
Though I have heard negative comments regarding Japanese services for the handicapped, they seem to go to great lengths to assist the disabled in getting through the mass transit maze. All of the walkways have patterned strips of bumps on the flooring that lead to entrys and exits - as well as to boarding areas for the trains. Somehow I'm always on the wrong side of the bumps... Even more imaginative are the sound systems at the boarding areas. Each station has it's very own tune that plays when the trains are coming and going. The tunes sound like a cross between a Christmas music box and the a Merry-go-round at the circus - very happy, sweet notes. Believe it or not you can hear these little songs because Japan is a very quiet place. This is a land of introverts who place the highest priority on "not disturbing your neighbors." Everyone sits on the train very quietly. Cell phone use in public places is frowned upon and there are recordings to remind you of this. Instant messaging is the norm here - too bad I can't figure my phone out. When I hear my phone ringing in my purse, I look around and act like it must belong to someone else....Hazukashi....
It is also a great word to know when one is trying to get away from a street hawker and one finds herself (in this case "me")in the middle of a busy intersection - crowds of people on one side of the street, crowds of people on the other side of the street - all patiently waiting for the light to change - and trying to ignore the crazy woman who is out in the middle of the street holding up traffic. At the same time all the taxis and cars are patiently - and QUIETLY - waiting for the crazy woman to get out of the middle of the street - no one honks or screams. If I would have known how to say "Hazukashi" it could have helped to fill the silence.
Another time that "Hazukashi" would have come in handy was when I nearly tripped the blind man who was trying to get onto the train. He put his cane right between my feet. It was all I could do to keep from falling out onto him. I was not sure what the penalty would be for "blind man tripping" and did not want to find out.
Though I have heard negative comments regarding Japanese services for the handicapped, they seem to go to great lengths to assist the disabled in getting through the mass transit maze. All of the walkways have patterned strips of bumps on the flooring that lead to entrys and exits - as well as to boarding areas for the trains. Somehow I'm always on the wrong side of the bumps... Even more imaginative are the sound systems at the boarding areas. Each station has it's very own tune that plays when the trains are coming and going. The tunes sound like a cross between a Christmas music box and the a Merry-go-round at the circus - very happy, sweet notes. Believe it or not you can hear these little songs because Japan is a very quiet place. This is a land of introverts who place the highest priority on "not disturbing your neighbors." Everyone sits on the train very quietly. Cell phone use in public places is frowned upon and there are recordings to remind you of this. Instant messaging is the norm here - too bad I can't figure my phone out. When I hear my phone ringing in my purse, I look around and act like it must belong to someone else....Hazukashi....
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