Summer in Japan- Ramune

Today, I thought that I could write about a popular carbonated soft drink from Japan. This drink is called ラムネ(Ramune)

Ramune comes in a glass bottle with a very distinctive shape. It is sold in many shops in the summer. You probably will not find it anywhere in the winter as it is a summer drink. But there is a specific way to open it. If you are drinking ramune for the first time, you may have problems openingn the bottle.Here is my guide on how to open ramune

How to open Ramune

You will need: a bottle of Ramune

                         a stable and firm surface like a table

                         a lot of force

Step 1: We need to first get the special bottle opener that only opens Ramune bottles. Remove the plastic covering from the top to reveal the piece that looks like a lid, which contains the special bottle opener. Push down on the center of the plastic lid to get the piece that opens the bottle.

Step 2: Put the narrow side of the special bottle opener on the marble

Step 3: Place the ramune on the stable surface and use one hand to hold the Ramune down

Step 4: Use as much force as possible and hit the top of the plastic with your other hand. This should dislodge the marble.

Step 5: When you see the marble drop, you have succeeded in opening the bottle. But this is the important bit. Keep you hand on the lid for 5 seconds before you let go otherwise it will fizz out of the bottle and you will end up with sticky hands. When all the pressure has been released, you can now drink from the bottle.

Step 6: Enjoy your fizzy drink!＼(^o^)／

A bottle of opened Ramune
By Fer1997 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

If these instructions seem unclear in any way, there are many videos on YouTube that demonstrate
how to open the bottle. I recommend the YouTuber Mimei's video on how to open the Ramune bottle.
Click here to go to her video. She speaks in Japanese but there are English subtitles so most people should be able to understand.

How to drink Ramune

Now you are probably wondering why the marble is important. There is a very good reason for the marble being there. The reason will become very clear when you try to drink it.

Ramune bottle indentations and marble
By Rikaris (Own work by uploader. Foto tirada por mim.) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

If you try and drink from the bottle, you may find that the marble will roll to the mouthpiece and stop you from drinking.

If you tilt the bottle, the marble will roll around the middle. If you look at the bottle, you can see two circular indentations. If you roll the marble so it sits below the two indentations and above the narrow middle section and drink, the circular indentations will stop the marble from rolling into the mouth piece and will not stop you from drinking the delicious fizzy drink.

The different flavours of Ramune

The normal flavour of Ramune is a subtle lemon flavour.  But in Japan, you can get many different flavours.

Different flavors of Ramune kept cool in ice and water
By Ruocaled (DSC02657) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Some flavours are:

• Banana 
• Blueberry
• Chocolate (yum :P)
• Grape
• Green apple
• Green tea
• Lychee
• Mango
• Octopus

There are at least 36 different flavors.

Why do Ramune bottles have a marble?

The bottle was invented by an English mechanical engineer called Hiram Codd in 1872. The bottles are actually called Codd neck bottles after him. The marble rises to the top of the bottle under the pressure from the carbon dioxide which seals the bottle without leaking the gas. They are only known as Ramune bottles because they are only used for Ramune.

If you enjoyed reading about Ramune, please comment below. If you want me to blog about something in particular, also leave it the comments. 

Summer in Japan- Kakigouri

This is my second post in the Summer in Japan series. Today, I will be writing about a dessert that you eat in Japan to cool yourself down.

Picture of kakigori
By nesnad (Own work) [CC BY 3.0
 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

カキ氷(kakigori) is a Japanese dessert that is eaten in the summer. It is basically shaved ice with a sweet syrup and a sweetener (often condensed milk) It is similar to a snow cone but the main difference is that kakigori is similar to falling snow and you eat it with a spoon. You can use a machine to spin a block of ice over a ice shaving blade by hand. But you can also use an electric machine as well. It is sold everywhere in convinience stores in the summer as it cools you down. Kakigori from a convinience store is sold in a cup and is not sold in a cone in the picture.


Fun fact: Kakigori used to be a luxurious dessert. In the Heian period (11th century) nobles would shave the block of natural ice with a knife and eat it with a sweet tasting sap from a type of ivy, hydrangea or vine. In the Meiji period (19th century), kakigori became affordable to the public when a food entrepreneur succeeded in transporting ice from Hokkaido to Yokohama and made a kakigori shop in Bashamichi in Kanagawa in 1872.

The frozen dessert was popularized during the second half of the 19th century when it became accessible to the public.

Popular flavours

Popular flavours include

• Strawberry
• Lemon
• Green tea
• Melon
• Grape

Some shops sell it with ice cream or sweetened red beans or tapioca pearls

So if you are in Japan in the summer, be sure to try kakigori.

私は、カキ氷食べたことがありませんが、いつか食べてみたいと思います。

I have never tried kakigori but I would like to one day

Summer in Japan- Temperature

As I have more time in the summer holiday, I am able to make more blog posts. I thought that I could post on an aspect of summer in Japan nearly everyday (hopefully). So this is my first post for my Summer in Japan series. Today, I am going to write about the heat and the temperature in Japan.

• Average temperatures can vary from 21C to 30C
• The heat starts to rise from June to August
• As well as the high temperatures, it is also very humid
• The temperature can exceed 30C
• The highest temperature ever recorded in Japan was 41C in Shimanto, Kochi prefecture on August 12 2013
• In the summer, it seems very hot but there is usually air conditioning in buildings so you only feel the heat when you go outside.
• But in Japan, it might not cool down in urban areas. This is because, ( here is the sciency bit) all light is absorbed by black surfaces and no light is absorbed by white surfaces. Most buildings in the urban areas of Japan are dark so a large amount of light is absorbed. When light is absorbed, it is converted into heat energy. This heat energy is released and warms up the whole city. At night, the heat cannot escape quickly because it is trapped in the city.
• There are also other ways of keeping cool but I will mention them in other Summer in Japan posts

私は、イギリスに引っ越してから、夏の間に日本に行ったことありません。できれば、2020年の東京オリンピックに行きたいですが、多分熱射病で倒れるのではないかと思います。私は、暑い日がとても苦手です。

Ever since I moved to England, I have not been to Japan in the summer. I really want to go to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but I think that I will get sunstroke and hyperthermia. I hate the heat.

How to greet a Japanese person in Japan

Hi! Sorry about that fact that I have not posted in ages. While I was away, I noticed the way people say hello in japanese to me after they find out that I am Japanese. People seem to put their hands together, bow and say こんにちは (konnichiwa) but this is wrong. Here is my guide on how to and not to greet a Japanese person in Japan.

My survival guide to greetings in Japan

1. Do not put your hands together unless you are apologizing to someone or praying.
2. Bowing is a very important custom in Japan. Bow to people you know when you meet them. There are three types of bow: the informal bow, the common bow and the formal bow.               

      NB: These are not what they are called, I am going to use these names to differentiate between the bows.

When to use the informal bow

• You use this bow for casual greetings.
• Often it just involves nodding the head once.
• This bow could also be known as the 15 degree bow.

When to use the common bow

• This bow is used by shop assistants to greet their customers, when thanking someone or in buisiness situations
• This bow could also be known as the 30 degree bow

When to use the formal bow

• The formal bow is used when you apologize to someone or to someone very important like the Emperor
• This could be known as the 45 degree bow but you do not need use this one often

Whichever bow that you are using, you must return a bow if someone bows to you. Men bow with hand by their sides and women bow with their hands on their thighs and fingers touching.

    3. Greet the person verbally. Usually a conversation will start with こんにちは (konnnichiwa) In the morning, use おはようございます (ohayōgozaimasu) or おはよう (ohayō) for an informal greeting.  In the afternoon, use こんばんは (konbanwa).
    4. Be aware of the person's title. The most common title is (insert name here) さん (san) which means Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms. When addressing teachers and people with the title Dr, use (insert name here) 先生 (sensei) which means teacher. When adrdressing close friends, you can use くん (kun) for a male or ちゃん (chan) for a female. So a close male friend's name would be (insert name here) くん (kun) and a close female friend's name would be ( insert name here) ちゃん (chan)

If you enjoyed learning about greeting in Japan, please leave a comment. 

Tanabata

Tanabata celebration in Asagaya
By ITA-ATU
(contributor photographed)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Tanabata is a festival on the 7th of July which celebrates the meeting of the two stars, Vega and Altair. The two stars are also known as the deities 織姫 (Orihime) and 彦星 (Hikoboshi). Japanese legend says that the Milky Way separated the lovers and could only once a year.

Japanese people hang coloured, narrow strips of paper onto bamboo branches and write their wishes and Orihime makes it come true. What is really meant to happen is that you write down your resolution down. They also decorate the bamboo with paper decorations like paper chains and stars. For some people, this festival marks how the summer holiday is near

Japanese people dress in ゆかた(yukata) is a casual summer kimono often worn at summer. At  festivals, there is a variety of foodstalls which sell food like 焼きそば(yakisoba) and 焼き鳥(yakitori). Yakisoba are chow mein noodles which have been stir fried with a sauce, meat, cabbages and other vegetables. There is always pickled ginger on top. Yakitori are pieces of chicken which have been barbecued with a slightly sweet soy based sauce. Sometimes, they are served which just a sprinkling of
salt.

Sendai (Miyagi prefecture) and Hiratsuka (Kanagawa prefecture) are famous for their Tanabata displays.

Yakisoba
By yoppy (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

Male and Female yukata
By Corpse Reviver (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

Yakitori
By 竹麦魚(Searobin) (Own work)
 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/
copyleft/fdl.html),
CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
 or CC BY-SA 2.1 jp
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses
/by-sa/2.1/jp/deed.en)],
via Wikimedia Commons

The story behind the festival

Orihime was the daughter of  天帝 (Tentei) who was the universe himself wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the 天の川 (Milky way). Tentei was the Emperor. She worked very hard to weave the clothes. She was sad because she was lonely amd could never fall in love with anyone. Her father arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi who was a cow herder on the other side of the Milky way. When they met, they fell in love instantly and married. Orihime no longer weaved and Hikoboshi let his cows wonder to heaven.
Tentei got angry and forbade them from meeting. Orihime wanted to meet Hikoboshi so much so she
cried. Her father felt sorry for his daughter and allowed her to meet him on the 7th July as long as she carried on weaving. On the day that they were meant to come together, the river (Milky way) was too hard to cross so she got upset. A flock of magpies came and made a bridge for her to cross. The magpies would only come when it is not raining on Tanabata, so people always wish for good weather. This is just one variation of the legend.

Fun fact: In Japanese stations, there will be a short melody that is played when trains are about to depart. In Hiratsuka station, the name of the melody is called 七夕様 (Tanabatasama) which means Orihime.

Hiratsuka station
By そらみみ (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Fun fact 2: The original packaging design of a popular Japanese soft drink called カルピス (calpico) was based on the Milky Way.

If you liked this post, please leave a comment. If you want me to write about something in particular, please leave that in the comments too.

Wasabi

I thought that I would start with a post to do with wasabi because that is what this blog is called.

Wasabi stem
By EverJean from Nishiki-ichiba, Kyoto (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Random facts

• It is related to cabbages, horseradish and mustard
• It is a very pungent and makes your nose burn
• Freshly grated wasabi loses flavour in 15 mins if left uncovered
• Tubes of wasabi sold outside of Japan do not actually contain wasabi as the plant is difficult to grow and is very expensive. Usually they contain horseradish, mustard and starch and green food colouring.
• But as wasabi is hard to cultivate, even the wasabi tubes contain very little real wasabi
• Real wasabi is called 本わさび (pronounciation: hon wasabi)
• Wasabi is able to kill bacteria which is why it is often used with raw fish
• Dried wasabi loses its flavour so it tastes different from fresh wasabi
• Wasabi can be used as a smoke alarm. Japanese scientists have made a smoke detector which sprays wasabi spray when it detects smoke. A prototype sprayed wasabi spray at a man when he was sleeping and he woke up in 10 seconds. They recieved a Ig Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Where can it be grown

• In Japan, there are few places that the plant can successfully be grown even in the right conditions.
• It is mainly grown in the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka prefecture, Nagano prefecture, Iwate prefecture 
• However,  wasabi has successfully been grown in Dorset and is now being sold fresh in the UK

Map of prefectures in Japan
By Tokyoship (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

What conditions are needed to grow it

• Wasabi plants prefer wet comditions and likes the shade
• It likes humid conditions but does not like hot conditions
• It can survive temperatures down to -5C
• It takes 2 years to mature
• It thrives in well draining soil but likes a large amount of water
• It likes cool, fresh flowing water.
• Growing it on the edge of a pond with a large amount of shade is an ideal place
• If you want to buy or find out more about wasabi, click this link to The wasabi company.

How to prepare it

• You can grate it with a metal grater or you can use a tool made of sharkskin with fine skin on one side and coarse skin on the other.
• Wasabi leaves can be battered and fried to make chips
• You can eat the flowers raw when they grow in March and April or you can tempura batter them.

Sharkskin grater

"Oroshigane.Sharkskin" by Chris 73 / Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

What can you do with wasabi?

• The most common use would be with sushi
• But you can use it with nearly everything because it is so versatile.
• Recomended uses of wasabi include: sashimi ( slices of raw fish)
• When eating it with sushi, do not dissolve the wasabi in the soy sauce because it will lose its taste.
• When ordering sushi, wasabi will nearly always be contained between the top of the rice and underneath the fish
• However, if you want to have more wasabi on the sushi, you add it to the top
• You can use wasabi like mustard on top of steaks
• Mixing wasabi and soy sauce can be used a sauce on top of hamburgers
• Wasabi, soy sauce and avocado can be used as an appetizer

The difference between horseradish and wasabi

• Wasabi is often refered to as Japanese Horseradish but it is not the same as real wasabi
• Horseradish comes from Europe
• Wasabi comes from Japan
• They both taste very different, real wasabi has a mild taste and is less hot than horseradish which makes you cry

私は、イギリスではチューブに入ったわさびしか食べたことがありませんでしたが、日本に住んでいるおばあちゃんと行ったレストランで、自分で本物のわさびをすって食べました。自分ですったわさびは、全然辛くなかったです．チューブに入ってるわさびはとても辛いです。あまり好きではありません。チューブに入ってるわさびは、本物のわさびだと思っていましたが違うと知って、驚きました。

I have only tasted wasabi from a tube in England but when I went to Japan, I went to a restaurant with my grandmother and grated real wasabi. It tasted very mild compared to the tube wasabi which is very hot. I do not like tube wasabi. I have thought that wasabi from a tube was real wasabi so I was surprised to know that wasabi tubes do not contain much wasabi.

Please comment if you like this post. Also, if there is an aspect of Japan that you wish to know about, tell me in the comments and I will try and post about it.