Agony or Fun?! Second Language Learning
I am a native Japanese speaker who used to teach Japanese in a university somewhere on this planet. Currently I don't work but stayed in my house in Northern part of JAPAN. I hope that you could enjoy reading my posts and know what life in Japan is like.
A farmer does this thing one hundred, two hundred, or more. But I am not a farmer. And my persimmon trees are still young and small. They are not so productive yet. Today, I set six persimmons hung under the roof. Two behind are not today’s. Drying is another way to remove bitterness of persimmons. But weather in Niigata tends to be wet in this season, I am worrying about mold on the surface of them.
Everything is different from my hometown in rural area of Niigata.
Super market in my village cannot serve Sushi of this quality. Now, I am going to eat this sushi 🤤.
I need to write some e-mails tonight. It is important for me to communicate one by one with my ex-students.
I went to the old downtown area of Niigata today. I got an influenza vaccination on my shoulder in a small clinic there. Since it’s the “old” downtown, anything there is going down. I think the reason of declining comes from multiple factors; Japan’s aging society, spreading of commercial districts from city center to surrounding area due to motorization, the long economic downturn of Japan aka “lost thirty years”, and so on.
There used to be three Chinese restaurants in that district. I mean that “Chinese Restaurant” is of serving Chinese food cooked by Chinese people. Having visited there today, I got to know that two of three such restaurants had been closed and taken place by another shops. One of the three, only “鵬龍” survives.
After the flu shot, I took my lunch in “鵬龍”. 広東麺 was hot, so it took a time for me to eat. And then I got on a bus to JR Niigata Station. I just wanted to go home soon. Getting off a local train, I bought a small flower bundle in my village in order to offer to the altar of my deceased father.
There is a mountain range whose name is Iide Mountain. The mountains are located among three prefectures; Niigata, Fukushima, and Yamagata. Since my house is in Niigata Plain, I can see the mountains in east, when the sky is clear. The straight distance is approximately 50 kilometers (30 miles) from my house to the mountains. Now, it is the mid-October, and temperature is going down. I think soon I will be able to see snow on the top of Iide Mountain Range.
The photo was taken on October 28, 2020. The peak is Kitamata-Dake (Mt. Kitamata) with altitude of 2025 meters (it is interesting that the altitude and this year are the same 2025). In the years of corona pandemic, I had quite often taken pictures of this Mt. Kitamata, and shared the photos with my students through SNS. Although very few of my students are taking a look at this blog now, when snow has fallen onto Mt. Kitamata of Iide Moutain Range, I will take a picture and post it on this blog.
Now it’s twenty-first century. But when I was a kid, it was twentieth century. Interestingly enough, there was one kind of pears whose name was “Nijyusseiki”. This “Nijyusseiki” means “Twentieth Century（二十世紀）”. When I was a kid, I had eaten that pear quite often, because it was a major pear in Japan. But recent years, it is very rare to see the “Twentieth Century” on the shelves in supermarkets. According to a book that I bought recently, the percentages of planting areas are as follows : 幸水(Kousui) 40%, 豊水(Housui) 27%, 新高(Niitaka) 9%, 二十世紀(Nijyusseiki) 9%*. In my impression, those major pears like Kousui and Housui are sweeter than Nijyusseiki. I think that is the reason why Nijyusseiki is no longer a major pear in the supermarkets in Japan.
There is a small corner in the supermarket where I go once in two days. The corner sells products coming through the more direct supply route from farmers. I found that the pear “Twentieth Century” was being sold by 500 JPY in that corner. There were four in one package. It was rare and I just wanted to taste what I ate in my childhood again. I bought one package.
Oh, by the way, I really want you to know that a grilled fish must be placed with its head towards LEFT. It is one of the very basics of Japanese cuisine. However, you see in the above photo, the fish’s head facing right. It is natural to place the grilled fish with its belly in front, and its back in the back. So, this type of flounder (鰈：カレイ) is put on a dish so that it would face right. Otherwise, the fish would be up-side-down. In the other type of flounder (平目：ヒラメ) is put on a dish facing left like other fishes.
*伴野潔ほか、”農学基礎シリーズ 果樹園芸学の基礎”, 一般社団法人 農村漁村文化協会, 2013.10.25, p24, 図2-II-3
Tonight, I don’t think of what to write for posting. My (ex)students can tell where the photos were taken.
It’s a little sad to say, but it seems to me they are things happened long time ago.
I worked in my garden in the morning hours, went to a supermarket for shopping in the afternoon, practiced piano at 4p.m., and cooked supper. Now today is going to end.
Oh, by the way, I wrapped one persimmon three days ago in order to get rid of bitterness. I didn’t expect, but it had turned to be soft. If I had waited some days more, it would have melted. So, I have already eaten it just before. It was not good. Soft but not sweet. I guess that is because the persimmon was not ripened well. I will try again to remove bitterness of persimmons with fully yellow one.
I cook for me and my old mother every day. What I always try in my cooking is to avoid a processed food and to cook from the scratch. I go to a supermarket frequently and always buy food that is natural ingredients. I need to buy vegetables, fruits, fishes, egg, meat, and so on. luckily enough, I don’t need to buy green vegetables recently, because I can get them from my garden.
Daikon leaves eventually become too hard to chew. So, it is important to use young leaves by thinning in early stage of their growing
I cook, because my mother can no longer cook, though it is still okay for her to boil water with a kettle, and to wash the dishes. Old people gradually lose their functions in daily life. It is more obvious in the case of dementia. The important thing is to let them do what they can do by using their remaining functions. My mother still has one important function, that is shopping. She can go to a supermarket and a convenience store nearby (, though she uses cash).
Going shopping by herself is basically good, however, here’s another problem. She buys what she wants to eat like oily food and/or processed food which her son is trying to avoid. When she comes back home, she shows me what she bought. And I always see those unhealthy foods. I wonder what is inside salad which says its expiry is the morning of the day after tomorrow. I feel the taste of chemical preservatives whenever eating a such salad.
It seems that most people like the taste of processed food of convenience stores. But I don’t like them. For me, taste of those foods is just of chemical seasonings. Therefore, I cook by myself from the scratch with natural ingredients.
I went to a town next to my village today. I had to go to the branch office of the city hall to get the national ID card of mine. The card is called “Mai Nambaa Caado (my number card)”, which is often shortened as “Maina Caado”. This “Maina” sounds like “Minor”, but nothing has to do with minority kind of things.
I got on a local train to go the next town.
On the way, I found a facility to serve drinking water. But is there anyone who drinks water here?
After I got the card, I walked to back to the JR station. I know there is a shrine near the railway, but today was the first time for me to visit this shrine.
Today was a windy day. These wind chimes were making sounds with wind blow. I didn’t know why there were so many wind chimes in this shrine.
I wanted to eat a hot Rahmen for my lunch. But I found that the chilled noodle was still available. The Hiyashi Chuuka is summer-only menu, but now it’s month of October. I guessed they were still serving it because the summer of this year has been too hot and lasted long.
Agony or Fun?! Second Language Learning 