8/01/2009

Tenzo, the Zen Cook

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Tenzo, the Zen Cook

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation


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Tenzo is the name for the cook in the kitchen of a Zen temple in Japan.
How he should conduct his work has been laid down by Dogen Zenji 道元(Doogen どうげん) in the following.

tenzoo 典座 the Zen cook


absorbing wisdom -
I do the dishes
with a sponge

Gabi Greve, February 2014




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Tenzo kyokun 典座教訓: Instructions for the Tenzo
by Eihei Dogen 道元禅師

Translated by Yasuda Joshu roshi
and Anzan Hoshin sensei
(published in Cooking Zen, Great Matter Publications, 1996)

The text was copied from the
White Wind Zen Community Website at

http://www.wwzc.org


From ancient times communities of the practice of the Way of Awake Awareness have had six office holders who, as disciples of the Buddha, guide the activities of Awakening the community. Amongst these, the tenzo bears the responsibility of caring for the community's meals. The Zen Monastic Standards states,
"The tenzo functions as the one who makes offerings with reverence to the monks."

Since ancient times this office has been held by realized monks who have the mind of the Way or by senior disciples who have roused the Way-seeking mind. This work requires exerting the Way. Those entrusted with this work but who lack the Way-seeking mind will only cause and endure hardship despite all their efforts. The Zen Monastic Standards states,
"Putting the mind of the Way to work, serve carefully varied meals appropriate to each occasion and thus offer everyone to practice without hindrance."

In times past such great masters as Guishan Lingyu, Dongshan Shouchu, and others have served in this post. Although this is a matter of preparing and serving meals, the tenzo is not just "the cook."

When I was in Song China, during spare moments I enquired of many elder monks who had served in the various offices about their experience. Their words to me were from the bone and marrow of the Awakened Ancestors who, having attained the Way, have passed it through the ages. We should carefully study the Zen Monastic Standards to understand the responsibility of the tenzo and also carefully consider the words of these senior monks.


The cycle of one day and night begins following the noon meal. At this time the tenzo should go to the administrator and assistant administrator and procure the rice, vegetables, and other ingredients for the next day's morning and noon meals. Having received these things, you must care for them as you would the pupils of your own eyes. Thus Zen master Baoning Renyong said, "Care for the monastery's materials as if they were your eyes."
The tenzo handles all food with respect, as if it were for the emperor; both cooked and uncooked food should be cared for in this way.

Following this all of the officers gather in the kitchen building in order to carefully consider the next days meals with regard to flavourings, vegetables to be used, and the kind of rice-gruel. The Zen Monastic Standards states, "In deciding the morning and noon meals, the amount of food and number of dishes, the tenzo should consult the other officers. The six officers are the administrator, assistant administrator, treasurer, disciplinarian, tenzo, and head caretaker. After the menu is decided post it on boards by the abbot's residence and the study hall." Following this the morning gruel may be prepared.


Do not just leave washing the rice or preparing the vegetables to others but use your own hands, your own eyes, your own sincerity. Do not fragment your attention but see what each moment calls for; if you take care of just one thing then you will be careless of the other. Do not miss the opportunity of offering even a single drop into the ocean of merit or a grain atop the mountain of the roots of beneficial activity.

The Zen Monastic Standards states,
"If the six flavours are not in harmony and three virtues are lacking, then the tenzo is not truly serving the community."

Be careful of sand when you wash the rice, be careful of the rice when you throw out the sand. Take continuous care and the three virtues will be naturally complete and the six flavours harmonious.


Xuefeng once practiced as tenzo under Zen master Dongshan. Once when he was washing rice, Dongshan said, "Do you wash the sand away from the rice, or the rice away from the sand?"
Xuefeng said, "I wash them both away together?"
Dongshan said, "Then what will the community eat?"
Xuefeng overturned the washing bowl.
Dongshan said, "You should go and study with someone else. Soon."


Senior students, from ancient times, always practiced with the mind which finds the Way and so how can we of later generations not do the same? Those of old tell us,
"For the tenzo, the mind which finds the Way actualizes itself through working with rolled up sleeves."

You yourself should examine the rice and sand so that rice is not thrown out with sand. The Zen Monastic Standards states,
"In preparing the food, the tenzo is responsible for examining it to ensure that it is clean."
Do not waste grains of rice when draining off the rinsing water. In olden times a cloth bag was used as a filter when draining the rinse water. When the rice is placed in the iron cooking pot, take care of it so that rats do not fall into it or idlers just hang around poking at it.

After cooking the vegetables for the morning meal and before preparing rice and soup for the noon meal bring together the rice pots and other utensils and make sure that everything is well-ordered and clean. Put whatever goes to a high place in a high place and whatever goes to a low place in a low place so that, high and low, everything settles in the place appropriate for it. Chopsticks for vegetables, ladles, and all other tools should be chosen with great care, cleaned thoroughly, and placed well.

After this, begin work on the coming day's meals. Remove any weevils, lentils, husks, sand, and pebbles carefully. While you are selecting the rice and vegetables, the tenzo's assistants should chant the sutras to the shining being of the hearth. When preparing the vegetables or ingredients for the soup which have been received from the office do not disparage the quantity or quality but instead handle everything with great care. Do not despair or complain about the quantity of the materials. Throughout the day and night, practice the coming and going of things as arising in the mind, the mind turning and displaying itself as things.

Put together the ingredients for the morning meal before midnight and begin cooking after midnight. After the morning meal, clean the rice cooking pots and soup pots for the noon meal. The tenzo should always be present at the sink when the rice is being soaked and the water measured. Watching with clear eyes, ensure that not a single grain is wasted. Washing it well, place it in the pots, make a fire, and boil it. An old teacher said,
"Regard the cooking pot as your own head, the water your own life-blood."
Place the cooked rice in bamboo baskets in summer and wooden serving buckets in winter and set these out on trays. While the rice is boiling, cook the soup and vegetables.

The tenzo supervises this personally. This is true whether the tenzo works alone or has assistants to tend the fire or prepare the utensils. Recently, Zen monasteries have developed positions such as rice-cook and soup-cook who work under the tenzo. The tenzo is always responsible for whatever is done. In olden times the tenzo did everything without any assistance.


In preparing food never view it from the perspective of usual mind or on the basis of feeling-tones. Taking up a blade of grass erect magnificent monasteries, turn the Wheel of Reality within a grain of dust. If you only have wild grasses with which to make a broth, do not disdain them. If you have ingredients for a creamy soup do not be delighted. Where there is no attachment, there can be no aversion. Do not be careless with poor ingredients and do not depend on fine ingredients to do your work for you but work with everything with the same sincerity. If you do not do so then it is like changing your behaviour according to the status of the person you meet; this is not how a student of the Way is.

Strengthen your resolve and work whole-heartedly to surpass the monks of old and be even more thorough than those who have come before you. Do this by trying to make as fine a soup for a few cents as the ancients could make a coarse broth for the same amount.


The difficulty is that present and the past are separated by a gulf as great as between sky and earth and no one now can be compared to those of ancient times. However, through complete practice of seeing the nature of things you will be able to find a way. If this isn't clear to you it is because your thoughts speed about like a wild horse and feeling-tones careen about like a monkey in the trees. Let the monkey and horse step back and be seen clearly and the gap is closed naturally. In this way, turn things while being turned by them. Clarify and harmonize your life without losing the single Eye which sees the context or the two eyes which recognize the details.

Taking up a vegetable leaf manifests the Buddha's sixteen-foot golden body;
take up the sixteen-foot golden body and display it as a vegetable leaf.

This is the power of functioning freely as the awakening activity which benefits all beings.


Having prepared the food, put everything where it belongs. Do not miss any detail. When the drum sounds or the bells are struck, follow the assembly for morning zazen and in the evening go to the master's quarters to receive teachings. When you return to the kitchen, count the number of monks present in the Monks' Hall; try closing your eyes. Don't forget about the senior monks and retired elders in their own quarters or those who are sick. Take into account any new arrivals in the entry hall or anyone who is on leave. Don't forget anyone. If you have any questions consult the officers, the heads of the various halls, or the head monk.

When this is done, calculate just how much food to prepare: for each grain of rice needed, supply one grain. One portion can be divided into two halves, or into thirds or fourths. If two people tend to each want a half-serving, then count this as the quantity for a single full serving. You must know the difference that adding or subtracting one serving would make to the whole.


If the assembly eats one grain of rice from Luling, the tenzo is the monk Guishan. In serving a grain of that rice, the tenzo sees the assembly become the ox. The ox swallows Guishan. Guishan herds the ox.


Are your measurements right or are they off? Have those you consulted been correct in their counting? Review this as best as you can and then direct the kitchen accordingly. This practice of effort after effort, day after day, should not be forgotten.

When a patron visits the monastery and makes a donation for the noon meal, discuss this with the other officers. This is the tradition of Zen monasteries. Other offerings to be distributed should also be discussed with the other officers. In this way, the responsibilities of others are not disrupted nor your own neglected.

When the meal is ready and set out on trays, at noon and morning put on the wrap robe, spread your bowing mat, offer incense and do nine great bows in the direction of the Monks' Hall. When this is done, send out the food.

Day and night, the work for preparing the meals must be done without wasting a moment. If you do this and everything that you do whole-heartedly, this nourishes the seeds of Awakening and brings ease and joy to the practice of the community.

Although the Buddha's Teachings have been heard for a long time in Japan, I have never heard of any one speaking or writing about how food should be prepared within the monastic community as an expression of the Teachings, let alone such details as offering nine bows before sending forth the food. As a consequence, we Japanese have taken no more consideration of how food should be prepared in a monastic context than have birds or animals. This is cause for regret, especially since there is no reason for this to be so.


When I was staying at Tiantong-jingde-si, a monk named Lu from Qingyuan fu held the post of tenzo. Once, following the noon meal I was walking along the eastern covered walkway towards a sub-temple called Chaoran Hut when I came upon him in front of the Buddha Hall drying mushrooms in the sun. He had a bamboo stick in his hand and no hat covering his head. The heat of the sun was blazing on the paving stones. It looked very painful; his back was bent like a bow and his eyebrows were as white as the feathers of a crane. I went up to the tenzo and asked,
"How long have you been a monk?"

"Sixty-eight years," he said.
"Why don't you have an assistant do this for you?"
"Other people are not me."
"Venerable sir, I can see how you follow the Way through your work. But still, why do this now when the sun is so hot?"
"If not now, when?"

There was nothing else to say. As I continued on my way along the eastern corridor I was moved by how important the work of the tenzo is.


In May of 1223 I was staying aboard the ship at Qingyuan. Once I was speaking with the captain when a monk about sixty years of age came aboard to buy mushrooms from the ships Japanese merchants. I asked him to have tea with me and asked where he was from. He was the tenzo from Ayuwang shan.

He said, "I come from Xishu but it is now forty years since I've left there and I am now sixty-one. I have practiced in several monasteries. When the Venerable Daoquan became abbot at Guyun temple of Ayuwang I went there but just idled the time away, not knowing what I was doing. Fortunately, I was appointed tenzo last year when the summer Training Period ended. Tomorrow is May 5th but I don't have anything special offerings for the monks so I thought I'd make a nice noodle soup for them. We didn't have any mushrooms so I came here to give the monks something from the ten directions."

"When did you leave Ayuwangshan?" I asked.
"After the noon meal."
"How far is it from here?"
"Around twelve miles."
"When are you going back to the monastery?'
"As soon as I've bought the mushrooms."
I said, "As we have had the unexpected opportunity to meet and talk like this today, I would like you to stay a while longer and allow me to offer Zen master tenzo a meal."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I just can't. If I am not there to prepare tomorrow's meal it won't go well."

"But surely someone else in the monastery knows how to cook? If you're not there it can't make that much difference to everyone."

"I have been given this responsibility in my old age and it is this old man's practice. How can I leave to others what I should do myself? As well, when I left I didn't ask for permission to be gone overnight."

"Venerable sir, why put yourself to the difficulty of working as a cook in your old age? Why not just do zazen and study the koan of the ancient masters?"

The tenzo laughed for a long time and then he said, "My foreign friend, it seems you don't really understand practice or the words of the ancients."

Hearing this elder monk's words I felt ashamed and surprised. I asked, "What is practice? What are words?"

The tenzo said, "Keep asking and penetrate this question and then you will be someone who understands."

But I didn't know what he was talking about and so the tenzo said, "If you don't understand then come and see me at Ayuwang shan some time. We'll talk about the meaning of words." Having said this, he stood up and said, "It'll be getting dark soon. I'd best hurry." And he left.


In July of the same year I was staying at Tiantong shan when the tenzo of Ayuwang shan came to see me and said, "After the summer Training Period is over I'm going to retire as tenzo and go back to my native region. I heard from a fellow monk that you were here and so I came to see how you were making out."

I was overjoyed. I served him tea as we sat down to talk. When I brought up our discussion on the ship about words and practice, the tenzo said, "If you want to understand words you must look into what words are. If you want to practice, you must understand what practice is."

I asked, "What are words?"
The tenzo said, "One, two, three, four, five."
I asked again, "What is practice?"
"Everywhere, nothing is hidden."

We talked about many other things but I won't go into that now. Suffice it to say that without this tenzo's kind help I would not have had any understanding of words or of practice. When I told my late teacher Myozen about this he was very pleased.

Later I found a verse that Xuedou wrote for a disciple:

"One, seven, three, five.
What you search for cannot be grasped.
As the night deepens,
the moon brightens over the ocean.
The black dragon's jewel
is found in every wave.
Looking for the moon,
it is here in this wave
and the next."


What the tenzo said is expressed here in Xuedou's verse as well. Then it was even clearer to me that the tenzo was truly a person of the Way.

Before I knew one, two three, four, five; now I know six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Monks, you and those to follow must understand practice and words through this and from that. Exert yourself in this way and you will practice the single true taste of Zen beyond words, undivided into the poisonous five flavours. Then you will be able to prepare food for the monastic community properly.


There are many old stories we can hear and present examples of monks training as tenzo. A great many teachings concern this because it is the heart of the Way.

Even if you become the Abbot of a monastery, you should have this same understanding. The Zen Monastic Standards states, "Prepare each meal with each detail kept clear so that there will be enough. Make sure that the four offerings of food, clothing, bedding, and medicine are adequate just as the Generous One offered to his disciples the merit of twenty years of his lifetime. We ourselves live today within the light of that gift because the energy of even a white hair between his brows is inexhaustible." It also says, "Just think about how to best serve the assembly without being hindered by thoughts of poverty. If your mind is limitless, you enjoy limitlessness." This is how the abbot serves the assembly.


In preparing food, it is essential to be sincere and to respect each ingredient irregardless of how coarse or fine it is. There is the example of the old woman who gained great merit through offering water in which she had rinsed rice to the Thus Come. And of King Ashoka creating roots of wholesomeness through offering half a mango to a monastery as he lay dying. As a result of this he realized the deathless in his next life. Even the grandest offering to the Buddha, if insincere, is worth less than the smallest sincere offering in bringing about a connection with awakening. This is how human beings should conduct themselves.

A rich buttery soup is not better as such than a broth of wild herbs. In handling and preparing wild herbs, do so as you would the ingredients for a rich feast, wholeheartedly, sincerely, clearly. When you serve the monastic assembly, they and you should taste only the flavour of the Ocean of Reality, the Ocean of unobscured Awake Awareness, not whether or not the soup is creamy or made only of wild herbs. In nourishing the seeds of living in the Way rich food and wild grass are not separate. There is the old saying, "The mouth of a monk is like a furnace." Bear this in mind. Wild grasses can nourish the seeds of Buddha and bring forth the buds of the Way. Do not regard them lightly. A teacher must be able to use a blade of wild grass to benefit humans and shining beings.

Do not discriminate between the faults or virtues of the monks or whether they are senior or junior. You do not even know where you stand, so how can you put others into categories. Judging others from within the boundaries of your own opinions, how could you be anything other than wrong? Although there are differences between seniors and juniors, all are equally members of the assembly. Those who had many faults yesterday may be correct and clear today. Who can judge "sacred" from "common." The Zen Monastic Standards states,
"Whether foolish or wise, the fact that one trains as a monk provides for others a gift that penetrates everywhere."

If you stand beyond opinions of right and wrong, you bring forth the practice of actualizing unsurpassable Awakening. If you do not, you take a wrong step and miss what's there. The bones and marrow of the ancients was just the exertion of such practice and those monks who train as tenzo in the future realize the bones and marrow of the Way only through just such exertion. The monastic rules set forth by great master Baizhang must always be maintained.


After I returned to Japan I stayed at Kennin-ji for around two years. They had the office of tenzo there but it was only nominal because no one actually carried out the real activity of this training post. They did not understand it as the activity of Awake Awareness so how could they have been able to use it to express the Way? Truly, it was very sad. The tenzo there had never encountered a living one who could use the office of tenzo as the functioning of Awake Awareness and so he carelessly idled away, breaking the standards of practice.

I watched the tenzo there quite closely. He never actually worked at preparing the morning and evening meals but just ordered about some rough servants, lacking in intelligence and heart, leaving to them all the tasks whether important or not. He never checked on whether they were working well or not, as if it would be shameful to do so like peeping into the private quarters of a neighbouring woman. He just hung about in his own rooms, reading sutras or chanting when he wasn't lying down or chatting. Months would go by before he would even come close to a pot, let alone buy utensils or make out a menu. He did not understand that these activities are the exertion of Awareness.

The practice of donning the wrap robe and offering nine bows before sending out the food was something he would never have even dreamed of; it just wouldn't have occurred to him. As he himself did not understand the office of tenzo, when it came time for him to teach a novice how to carry out the office what understanding could be passed on? It was very regrettable. Although one might have the fortune to hold this post, if one is without the mind which uncovers the Way and fails to meet with one who has the virtue of the Way, it is like returning empty-handed after climbing a mountain of treasure or entering an ocean of jewels.

Although you might not have the mind which uncovers the Way, if you meet one manifesting the True Person you can then practice and unfold the Way. Or, even if you cannot meet with one who is the display of the True Person, by yourself deeply arousing the seeking for the Way, you can begin the Way. If you lack both of these, what is the point?

In the many monasteries of the mountains of Song China that I have seen, the monks holding the various offices train in these posts for a year at a time, each of them in each moment practicing by three standards.
Firstly, to benefit others benefits yourself.
Second, make every effort to maintain and renew the monastic environment.
Third, follow the standards set forth by the examples of excellent practitioners of past and present and come to stand with them.

You should understand that foolish people hold their practice as if it belonged to someone else, wise people practice with everyone as themselves.

An ancient teacher said,

"Two-thirds of your life has passed
without clarifying who you are.
Eating your life,
muddling about in this and that,
you don't even turn when called on.
Pathetic."

From this verse we can see that if you have not met a true teacher, you will just follow the lead of your tendencies. And this is pathetic. It's like the story of the foolish son who leaves his parent's home with the family treasure and then throws it away on a dung heap. Do not waste your opportunity as that man did.

Considering those who in the past made good use of their training as tenzo, we can see that their virtues were equal to those of their office. The great Daigu woke up while training as tenzo and Dongshan Shouchou's "Three pounds of flax," occurred while he was tenzo. The only thing of value is the realization of the Way, the only time that is precious is each moment of realizing the Way.

Examples of those who long for the Way are many. There is the story of a child offering the Buddha a handful of sand as a great treasure. Another is of someone who made images of the Buddha and had reverence for them and thus had great benefit follow them. How much more benefit must there be in fulfilling the office of tenzo through actualizing its possibilities as have those excellent ones who have practiced before us?

When we train in any of the offices of the monastery we should do so with a joyful heart, a motherly heart, a vast heart. A "joyful heart" rejoices and recognizes meaning. You should consider that were you to be born in the realm of the shining beings you would be absorbed in indulgence with the qualities of that realm so that you would not rouse the recognition of uncovering the Way and so have no opportunity to practice. And so how could you use cooking as an offering to the Three Jewels? Nothing is more excellent than the Three Jewels of the Buddha, the Teachings, and the Community of those who practice and realize the Way. Neither being the king of gods nor a world ruler can even compare with the Three Jewels.

The Zen Monastic Standards states, "The monastic community is the most excellent of all things because those who live thus live beyond the narrowness of social fabrications." Not only do we have the fortune of being born as human beings but also of being able to cook meals to be offered to the Three Jewels. We should rejoice and be grateful for this.

We can also reflect on how our lives would be were we to have been born in the realms of hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, or jealous gods. How difficult our lives would be in those four situations or if we had been born in any of the eight adverse conditions. We would not then be able to practice together with the strength of a monastic community even should it occur to us to aspire to it, let alone be able to offer food to the Three Jewels with our own hands. Instead our bodies and minds would be bound within the limits of those circumstances, merely vessels of contraction.

This life we live is a life of rejoicing, this body a body of joy which can be used to present offerings to the Three Jewels. It arises through the merits of eons and using it thus its merit extends endlessly. I hope that you will work and cook in this way, using this body which is the fruition of thousands of lifetimes and births to create limitless benefit for numberless beings. To understand this opportunity is a joyous heart because even if you had been born a ruler of the world the merit of your actions would merely disperse like foam, like sparks.

A "motherly heart" is a heart which maintains the Three Jewels as a parent cares for a child. A parent raises a child with deep love, regardless of poverty or difficulties. Their hearts cannot be understood by another; only a parent can understand it. A parent protects their child from heat or cold before worrying about whether they themselves are hot or cold. This kind of care can only be understood by those who have given rise to it and realized only by those who practice it. This, brought to its fullest, is how you must care for water and rice, as though they were your own children.

The Great Master Shakyamuni offered to us the final twenty years of his own lifetime to protect us through these days of decline. What is this other than the exertion of this "parental heart"? The Thus Come One did not do this hoping to get something out of it but sheerly out of munificence.

"Vast heart" is like a great expanse of ocean or a towering mountain. It views everything from the most inclusive and broadest perspective. This vast heart does not regard a gram as too light nor five kilos as too heavy. It does not follow the sounds of spring or try to nest in a spring garden; it does not darken with the colours of autumn. See the changes of the seasons as all one movement, understand light and heavy in relation to each other within a view which includes both. When you write or study the character "vast," this is how you should understand its meaning.

If the tenzo at Jiashan had not thus studied the word "vast," he could not have woken up Elder Fu by laughing at him. If Zen master Guishan had not understand the word "vast," he would not have blown on dead firewood three times. If the monk Dongshan had not understood the word "vast," he could not have taught the monk through his expression, "Three pounds of flax."

All of these and other great masters through the ages have studied the meaning of "vast" or "great" not only though the word for it but through all of the events and activities of their lives. Thus they lived as a great shout of freedom through presenting the Great Matter, penetrating the Great Question, training great disciples and in this way bringing it all forth to us.

The abbot, senior officers and staff, and all monks should always maintain these three hearts or understandings.

Written in the spring of 1237 for those of coming generations
who will practice the Way by Dogen, abbot of Kosho-(Horin-)ji.



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more translations
source : Tenzo kyokun


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Worldwide use

Anweisungen für den Koch
Zen für Küche und Leben:
Zen-Meister Dogen


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Things found on the way



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HAIKU and SENRYU


CLICK for crumbs of wisdom

tenzoo cooking -
we eat the crumbs
of wisdom

Nakayama Ishino, 1995


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mindful eating -
the Zen cook gets
an extra bite


Gabi Greve
February 2012

. Mindful Eating .


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rooshi 老師 Roshi, Zen Master
"old master"

I eat breakfast
and wash the dish -
my old Zen Master

breakfast -
before I finish drinking
my coffee mug empty


25 years ago, during my Sesshin ( a period of intensive meditation) in a Zen Monastery near Jerusalem, the Zen Master was quite old. He was from Kyoto. We called him Roshi.

After breakfast, wash your dish!
- Shared by Freddy Ben-Arroyo -
Haiku Culture Magazine, 2013


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Related words

***** Eihei-Ji Temple 永平寺

Fucha ryori, fucha ryoori 普茶料理 Chinese monk quisine
Temple Manpukuji

Vegetarian Temple Food (shoojin ryoori 精進料理)

Kaiseki Ryori 懐石料理 Kaiseki Meal

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AUGUST NEWS

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AUGUST ... hachigatsu 八月

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.............. August 6, 2009

Asahi First Brewery in Japan to Produce
Beer with Green Power

Asahi Breweries, Ltd., a major Japanese brewer, announced on April 16, 2009, a plan to manufacture its main product -- Asahi Super Dry Beer (350 ml size) --and other beers included in gift sets using power from green sources such as wind and biomass energy. This is the first time in the Japanese food industry that a manufacturer uses green electricity to produce products in-house.

The company entered into a contract with Japan Natural Energy Co. to purchase 40 million kilowatts of renewable energy per year. This is the largest green power purchase contract so far in the Japanese food industry. Under the contract, the company expects to reduce its emissions by about 18,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is equivalent to the annual emissions of 4,500 households.

Asahi Breweries plans to print the Green Energy Mark logo on applicable products from all nine of its breweries in late May 2009 as proof of its green power usage. The company is going to switch half of its total electricity consumption, usually produced from non-renewable energy supplied by power utilities, over to green-sourced power, and ...
source : www.japanfs.org


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.............. August 7, 2009

Due to the long rainy season and not enough sunshine and heat, many vegetables are now getting more expensive! Peaches in Okayama are not sweet enough for shipment and are given away for free or thrown away.


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.............. August 14, 2009




The white guy in the photo above is Mr. James, the mascot for 4 new burgers of McDonald’s “Nippon All-Stars” series. Residents of Japan who have been riding JR trains or passing by McDonald’s restaurants have probably already seen his face on advertisements. In his TV commercials, Mr. James speaks annoying foreigner Japanese (not unlike the wacky foreigner who spoke NIPPONGO in a recent Sony Commercial). Print advertisements convey his goofy gaijin Japanese by rendering everything he says in katakana.

Mr. James has an official blog chronicling his love for Japan and McDonalds. Its blog posts, no doubt written by a Japanese employee of McDonald’s Japan’s marketing department, put everything in a mix of katakana and hiragana.
source : www.japanprobe.com




ウシクダイブツにつづいて、カナガワのカマクラにいきましたよ!
In Kamakura !
NIPPON ALL STARS Mr.ジェームスの食べある記
日本マクドナルド
http://mcdonalds.dtmp.jp/blog/



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.............. August 28, 2009

Sushi Chef Examination
The All Japan Sushi Association intends to give online examinations about how to prepare sushi and if you pass, you can print out your own certificate about it.
全日本寿司協会 Yamagata Tadashi
national union of sushi chefs


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.............. August 31, 2009


After the elections

Hatoyama saburee / 鳩山民衆サブレー / 鳩山サブレー
. WASHOKU
Hatoyama bisquits / Yukio Hatoyama
 


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Related words


JANUARY ... ichigatsu 一月

FEBRUARY ... nigatsu 二月

MARCH ... sangatsu 三月

APRIL ... shigatsu 四月

MAY ... gogatsu 五月

JUNE ... rokugatsu 六月

JULY ... shichigatsu 七月

AUGUST ... hachigatsu 八月


NOVEMBER ... juuichigatsu 十一月  

DECEMBER ... juunigatsu 十二月  



***** WASHOKU ... SEASONAL DISHES SAIJIKI


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7/31/2009

Bunraku and Joruri

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Bunraku puppet play performance

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic / see below
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation

The Japanese puppet theater has a long history.
Here first are some dishes in its memory.
There are quite a few restaurants in Japan using the name
BUNRAKU 文楽.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Jooruri, jōruri じょうるり【浄瑠璃】Joruri
the dramatic narrative which accompanies a Bunraku puppet show



wasabi to jooruri wa naite homeru
山葵と浄瑠璃は泣いてほめる


wasabi and Joruri puppet theater recitation are praized with your tears.

Good wasabi is so hot you start to cry.
Good bunraku theater performance is so sad that you cry.

 WASHOKU : Wasabi


CLICK for more photos
The Tayu 太夫 narrator has to act all the persons of a play, from young children to wailing mothers, lost lovers or desperate villains, and does it in such a perfect way that the audience is captured to tears by his recitation.
It takes long years of practise to become a Tayu, often a family tradition. Just to be able to sit for long hours during the play takes years of practise. He reads form a special script with indicators of how to use the voice in a certain situation, most of these books are secret family treasures.


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文楽新名物 Dishes remembering Bunraku


Bunraku no Natsu Soba 文楽の夏そば
with local chicken, Japanese style




shichifuku soba 七福そば
Soba noodles with sevenfold good luck
A new menu item for the Bunraku season, with seven toppings for good luck.

source : 麺酒房 文楽 奈良東向通店
奈良県奈良市東向南町19吉田ビル1F

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CLICK for more photos

quote
Bunraku, also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃), is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684.

Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance:

Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai - Puppeteers
Tayū たゆう【太夫】 - the chanters
Shamisen players
Occasionally other instruments such as taiko drums will be used.

The most accurate term for the traditional puppet theater in Japan is ningyo joruri. The combination of chanting and shamisen playing is called jōruri and the Japanese word for puppet is ningyō.

Bunraku puppetry has been a traditional activity for Japanese citizens for hundreds, even thousands of years. For many it is something which is of great excitement and something which ties younger generations to the ways of the past in Japan.

History
Originally, the term "Bunraku" referred only to the particular theater established in 1872 in Osaka, which was named the Bunrakuza after the puppeteering ensemble of Uemura Bunrakuken(植村文楽軒), an early 19th century puppeteer on Awaji, whose efforts revived the flagging fortunes of the traditional puppet theater in the 19th century.

The later prominence of the National Bunraku Theater of Japan, which is a descendant of the theater founded by Bunrakken, has popularized the name "Bunraku" in the twentieth century to the point that many Japanese use the term to refer generically to any traditional puppet theater in Japan.

Puppets
Bunraku puppets range in size from two-and-a-half to four feet tall or more, depending on the age and gender of the character and the conventions of the specific puppet troupe. The puppets of the Osaka tradition tend to be somewhat smaller overall, while the puppets in the Awaji tradition are some of the largest as productions in that region tend to be held outdoors.

CLICK for more joruri photos The heads and hands of traditional puppets are carved by specialists, while the bodies and costumes are often constructed by puppeteers. The heads can be quite sophisticated mechanically. In plays with supernatural themes, a puppet may be constructed so that its face can quickly transform from a nice lady into that of a fearful demon. Less complex heads may have eyes that move up and down, side to side or close, and noses, mouths, and eyebrows that move.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !



Chikamatsu Monzaemon 近松門左衛門
(1653-1724)
a famous writer of stories for the puppet theater

for example
Sonezaki Shinju 曽根崎心中
The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
with Ohatsu and Tokubei
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



. Kubi ningyoo 首人形 head dolls .
from Bunraku puppets


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one famous performance is the New Year Celebration with

Sanbaso (sanbasoo 三番叟)
It started in the ninth century as a dance to avoid earthquakes. Then it was performed in Noh, Kyogen and even Kabuki.

. Sanbasoo 三番叟 Sanbaso Dancers .


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CLICK for more photos Liquor called
Bungo Joruri

焼酎豊後浄瑠璃
Shochu, Made in Oita prefecture
25% alcohol




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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


Tokiwazu Moji Tayuu 常磐津 文字太夫 Tokiwazu Mojitayu (1709 - 1781)
The was a narator and reciter of Joruri and began the Tokiwazu-bushi in 1747.
He lived in the 檜物町 / 檜物丁 HimonoCho District in Edo.


source : ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/collections
襲名披露口上 四代目常磐津文字太夫 Tokiwazu 4th generation


- quote -
Tokiwazu-bushi 常磐津節
Tokiwazu-bushi is generally abbreviated as "Tokiwazu." Tokiwazu is a school of 浄瑠璃 Joruri, and originated in 豊後節 Bungo-bushi, founded by Miyakoji Bungonojo. Bungonojo was extremely popular in Edo, but because his works were mostly Michiyukimono (lovers traveling together) which culminated in double suicide, Bungo-bushi was banned by the Tokugawa Shogunate for the reason that Bungo-bushi corrupted public morals. After Bungonojo left Edo, Mojitayu an apprentice of Bungonojo, founded Tokiwazu-bushi.



In Kabuki, Tokiwazu is mainly responsible for Degatari (onstage performance) as the accompaniment for Buyo (dance). Tokiwazu group consists of reciters called Tayu, and Shamisenkata (shamisen players). The shamisen used are chuzao (medium-neck). The distinction of Tokiwazu-bushi is that it is slower-paced and more solemn than Kiyomoto music.
- source : ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/kabuki -


- quote -
- Tokiwazu -
Tokiwazu is a style of Joruri narrative music that is used in the Kabuki theater for dances and dance plays. It never appears with puppets. There are several styles of singing that ultimately derive from a style called Bungo Bushi. These styles include Tokiwazu, Tomimoto, Kiyomoto and Shinnai. Of these styles, Tomimoto has virtually disappeared and Shinnai almost never appears in the theater. So Tokiwazu is the oldest of the Bungo Bushi styles performed in Kabuki today. Technically Tokiwazu, Tomimoto and Kiyomoto are much the same, but they differ in atmosphere since their repertory reflects the tastes of the ages that produced them and the personalities of the singing stars that originally performed them. Bungo Bushi takes its name from Miyakoji Bungo-no-Jo who traveled from Kyoto to Edo, and became famous for his beautiful voice and fashionable clothing. He appeared in Kabuki, and seems to have mostly performed love suicide plays that were reworked versions of masterpieces by Chikamatsu. But love suicide plays were banned by the shogunate and, broken hearted, Bungo-no-Jo returned to Kyoto and in 1740, soon died.

Tokiwazu began when one of Bungo-no-Jo's students who remained in Edo began performing under the name Tokiwazu Mojitayu (1709 - 1781).
The first period of greatness for Tokiwazu was in the 1750's with long, colorful dance dramas like Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Seki no To (The Snowbound Barrier) and Modori Kago Iro no Aikata (The Returning Palanquin), both created to feature the dancing skills of Nakamura Nakazo I (1736 - 1790). In the first play, he appears as a boisterous barrier guard who is actually a pretender to the imperial throne. In the second play, he appeared as a palanquin bearer who is also actually a larger-than-life villain. Before Nakazo, dance was considered the exclusive preserve of the onnagata female role specialist and the music was usually Nagauta, but Nakazo opened the way for dances featuring male characters that used other styles of music......
- source : jtrad.columbia.jp/eng -

. Himonochoo 檜物町 HimonoCho District in Edo .


- quote -
Nagauta (長唄), literally "long song",
is a kind of traditional Japanese music which accompanies the kabuki theater. It was developed around 1740. Influences included the vocal yōkyoku style used in noh theater, and instruments included the shamisen and various kinds of drums.
The shamisen, a plucked lute with three strings, is a very popular instrument in nagauta. Nagauta performers generally play the shamisen and sing simultaneously.
Nagauta is the basis of the Nagauta Symphony, a symphony in one movement composed in 1934 by composer Kosaku Yamada.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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HAIKU and SENRYU


kigo for late summer
suzumi jooruri 涼み浄瑠璃 cool jooruri song
puppet theater performance, often by laypeople, outside in the cool evening air.


kigo for mid-autumn
Saikaku ki 西鶴忌 memorial day for Saikaku
Ihara Saikaku 井原西鶴 (1642-1693), August 10 according to the old calendar.
author of many ningyo joruri plays.


kigo for mid-winter
Chikamatsu ki 近松忌 memorial day for Chikamatsu
Soorinshi ki 巣林子忌
Soorin ki 巣林忌
On November 22 of the old calendar.




CLICK for photos of Ihara Saikaku

夕空を血の色に染め西鶴忌  
yuuzora o chi no iro ni some Saikaku ki

the evening sky
is colored in blood red -
Saikaku memorial day


source : Nao なを


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Related words

***** Memorial Days of Famous People, Celebrities

WASHOKU : General Information
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[ . BACK to DARUMA MUSEUM TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
- #bunraku #joruri #tokiwazu -
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7/25/2009

Kenko Shokuhin Health Food

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Health food

kenkoo shokuhin けんこうしょくひん【健康食品】
health food


The guideline for health food has been established in November 1988.

Some food is qualified as "medical food" 医薬品 (ishokuhin).

Supplements サプリメント (sapurimento) are called
栄養補助食品 (eiyoo hojo shokuhin).

CLICK for more photos


daietto ダイエット diet
bejitarian ベジタリアン【vegetarian】
saishoku shuji 菜食(主義) vegetarian


kenkoohoo 健康法 diet to become healthy



Reference : Health Food Japan


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kizuki shokuhin 気づき食品 
"food to make you realize your health"

especially for metabolic syndrom

Prepared meals for health-concious people on a diet. Mostly made with tofu, chicken meat, saba mackerel and meat with potatoes. You get a booklet to inform on healthy eating habits.


© PHOTO : www.reishoku.co.jp


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makurobaiochikusu マクロバイオチクス
macrobiotic food


A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics), from the Greek "macro" (large, long) and "bios" (life), is a dietary regimen that involves eating grains as a staple food supplemented with other foodstuffs such as vegetables and beans, and avoiding the use of highly processed or refined foods. Macrobiotics also addresses the manner of eating by recommending against overeating and requiring that food be chewed thoroughly before swallowing.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


Nishimura Mayumi 西邨まゆみ
born 1956
was the macrobiotic cook for Madonna !
makurobiotikku マクロビオティック
She is promoting regional macrobiotic dishes, according to the ingredients available in each country.
Also a kind of petit-macro プチマクロ , a bit easier to prepare.
西邨マユミのプチマクロで美人ごはん 
マドンナ・プライベートシェフ
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



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Erica Angyal エリカ アンギャル
is a nutritionist, health consultant, speaker, and author of five books on health and beauty.
Currently based in Tokyo, she is the official nutritionist to Miss Universe Japan since 2004 ...

http://www.gorgeous-skin.com/about_erica.htm
http://www.erica-angyal.com/




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Worldwide use

Gesundheitsessen, Diät. Makrobiotik


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Things found on the way



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HAIKU and SENRYU




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Related words

 WASHOKU
Yakuzen 薬膳 ( やくぜん) Food as Medicine



***** WASHOKU : General Information

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7/09/2009

Danshi Gohan Men are Cooking

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Men are cooking ! (danshi gohan)


Danshi Gohan 男子ごはん

More and more men are cooking in Japan.
Some elderly out of necessity, some young ones out of interest.
Some because it has become quite "fashionable".

The TV show "Taichi and Kentaro Danshi Gohan" is very popular, and has even become a book.
The book of men's cooking
"Boy's Food"

CLICK for more english information

with pop star Taichi Kokubun and the cooking teacher Kentaro.
太一×ケンタロウ
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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bentoo danshi 弁当男子 lunchbox men
men who prepare their own bento box lunches.

"Boxed-lunch men" try to cater for themselves !

CLICK for more photosSpecial bento boxes are now sold to cater to a male taste and BLOGs have come up with photos, recipes and advise for the male cooks. Supermarkets also sell ingredients for this kind of lunchbox.





Advise on how to arrange your ingredients
CLICK for more photos


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http://gogopara.com/archives/othernews/post_137/



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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


quote
Thoughts of rice and Japanese men
by Kaori Shoji

If you’re like me or the men in my life, you probably broke down and wept for joy on June 4, when Japanese midfielder Keisuke Honda scored the goal that bagged Japan’s slot in the FIFA World Cup next year. At such sports events, one or another of my brothers turn up at my place, hauling their boozy, hulking frames from the corner of some sports bar (Ueno, not Shibuya) and blubbering incoherently about how wonderful it is to be Japanese. “Tokorode (ところで, by the way) is there any kome (米, rice)?”

In our family, the shime (締め, finale) to any joyous occasion, from weddings to soccer victories — is the shiromeshi (白メシ, white rice). Not ramen or the recently popular udon, but a piping hot bowl of rice. My father grew up in a komedokoro (米所, rice growing) region, and he used to talked about ta-ue no kisetsu (田植えの季節, the season of rice planting), which is right about now, and how the boys in his neighborhood took off from school to help out in the paddies. He could tell the taste of different rice varieties — (Koshihikari from Uonuma in Niigata prefecture was his choice for No. 1), and got annoyed when my mother served non-rice dinners. “Kome wo tabenaito tabeta ki ga shinai” (「米を食べないと食べた気がしない」 “I don’t feel like I’ve eaten unless I’ve eaten rice”) was an oft-heard paternal complaint.

My brothers were the same way and consequently, my mother cooked up to issho (一升, 10 cups) of rice a day to keep the peace. The isshodaki (一升炊き) rice cooker dominated our tiny kitchen and I privately seethed with resentment that brownies and purin (プリン, puddings) never came forth from its quarters. The refrigerator was primarily stocked with gohan no otomo (ご飯のおとも, rice companions) such as tsukudani (佃煮, veggies or fish simmered in soy sauce, sake and sugar) and furikake (ふりかけ, dried fish and vegetable flakes). As a matter of course, the brothers all hung out by the isshōdaki clutching rice bowls and panting like wild dogs.

Keisuke Honda by the way, is reputed to be a dedicated rice-lover, along with most of his teammates. The story going around among soccer fans is that the Nihon Daihyou (日本代表, Japan national team) only really started performing well after getting a Japanese chef on board to feed them komeshoku (米食, rice meals) and cut down on eiyō dorinku (栄養ドリンク, energy drinks). It also seems to be the jōshiki (常識, common practice) in the Japanese sports world for athletes to marry young, so they could have someone at home to cook proper rice meals.

Interestingly (and tellingly), the word for rice (ご飯, gohan) is the same for as “gohan” — meaning meal. The holy trinity of a Japanese meal consists of rice, misoshiru (みそ汁, miso soup) and otsukemono (お漬け物, pickled vegetables). The combo was once held in contempt, mainly in the decade following WWII as shabby and under-nourishing. It is now however, being minaosareta (見直された, re-examined) as one of the most sustainable and healthy fares in the world.

On the other hand, Japanese women, tired of cooking rice for their men, are likely to turn to kashipan (菓子パン, processed bread products) for snacks and solo-meals. Nutrionists have warned that this is the fast-track to ill-health and declining looks. And get this: many Japanese men profess that the sight of a woman using her ohashi (お箸, chopsticks) properly and eating happily from a bowl of rice, is a huge turn-on. As rice is a metaphor for hōjō (豊穣, bountiful rice crops, or the state of fertility and prosperity), this seems to make sense.

You’ve probably caught on that rice goes above and beyond its function of mere food. Consider the traditional meshi mori onna (飯盛り女, rice-serving women) who worked in rural inns well into the 20th century. On the surface, their job was to ladle the rice and pour out the tea. If during this brief interlude the woman and the traveler guest were to hit it off, she would sneak into his room at night. It wasn’t outright prostitution but an exchange that involved rice along with cash and sex. The first factor neutralized the other factors, and made it less cold and business-like. Which leads me to a personal conviction that most Japanese relationships involve a bowl of rice somewhere.

My grandmother, who was on rice duty from the day she was old enough to stand at the kitchen sink to a week before her death, used to say “Otoko ni wa okome wo takusan tabesasenakereba ikenai” (「男にはお米をたくさん食べさせなければいけない」”Men must be fed a lot of rice)” — for any marriage to work. The younger women in the family scoffed at such gender inequality. But I will say this: my grandfather adored and worshipped her.
source : japantimes.co.jp - June 2013




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Related words

***** WASHOKU : General Information

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7/03/2009

Karee Curry INFO

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Curry (karee)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation

Curry is a dish of India, but in Japan it has taken on a life of its own.


CLICK for more photos

quote
Curry (カレー, karē) is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. It is commonly served in three main forms: curry rice (カレーライス, karē raisu), karē udon (thick noodles) and karē-pan (bread. Curry rice is most commonly referred to simply as 'curry' (カレー, karē).

A wide variety of vegetables and meats are used to make Japanese curry. The basic vegetables are onions, carrots, and potatoes. For the meat, beef, pork, chicken and sometimes duck are the most popular, in order of decreasing popularity. Katsu-karē is a breaded deep-fried pork cutlet with curry sauce.

Curry was introduced to Japan during the Meiji era (1869 - 1913),
at a time when India was under the administration of the British. The dish became popular and available for purchase in supermarkets and restaurants in the late 1960s. It has been adapted since its introduction to Japan, and is so widely consumed that it can be called a national dish.
As curry rice was introduced to Japan via English cuisine, it was originally considered to be Western cuisine.

original curry (オリジナルカレー, orijinaru karē), Japanese style

Curry sauce (カレーソース, karē sōsu) is served on top of cooked rice to make curry rice. Curry sauce is made by frying together curry powder, flour and oil, along with other ingredients, to make roux (ルー, rū); the roux is then added to stewed meat and vegetables, and then simmered until thickened. Adding potatoes to curry sauce was introduced by William S. Clark of the Sapporo Agricultural College, due to rice shortages at the time.

While curry roux and curry sauce are strictly speaking not the same, many people do not distinguish between the two, and it is common for people to ask for 'extra roux' (ルー増し, rū mashi) when ordering extra curry sauce in restaurants.

Instant curry roux カレールー was first sold in powder form by House Foods in 1926, and in block form by S&B Foods in 1956.

Vacuum-sealed curry sauce, prepared by heating the pouch in hot water or the microwave, is also popular.

dorai karē (ドライカレー) dry curry
yaki karē / yaki karee (焼きカレー)

© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


It comes in three basic tasts

sweet 甘口 amakuchi
medium 中辛 chuukara
hot 辛口 karakuchi



It is served in small stand-only shops in the stations, Indian restaurants or curry restaurants, where it is served extra in a silver bowl.



look at many more delicious photos
Indo karee インドカレー "Indian Curry"


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CLICK here for original LINK ... blog.nufs.ac.jp

Some Curry Specialities 日本のカレー



aroe karee アロエカレー aloe curry with Aloe vera



CLICK for more photos
chikin karee チキンカレー chicken curry





Fujisan karee 富士山名物カレー "Curry a la Fujisan"
The rice is heaped like a little mountain top
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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Fukushima Curry specialities

karee chaahan カレーチャーハン fried rice with curry sauce
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

karee raamen カレーラーメン noodle soup with curry sauce
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

karee yakisoba カレーやきそば
fried noodles with curry sauce
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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. bengara karee ベンガラカレー Bengara Curry
from Fukiya village, Okayama 



biifu karee ビーフカレ beef curry
from all kinds of famous Japanese beef varieties
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
... Matsusaka gyuu karee 松阪牛カレー Matsuzaka beef
Mie prefecture



. Gegege no Kitaro (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎) . Beef Curry
from Tottori, home of Mizuki Shigeru, Manga Painter



CLICK for more photos
gooya karee ゴーヤーカレー bitter melon curry, goya curry
Okinawa


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gotoochi karee ご当地カレー "local curry"
from all the different regions of Japan


A shop in Kurashiki offers more than 60 varieties of local curry during the hot summer of 2010!


. . . CLICK here for more local curry Photos !



CLICK for more photos

A Book with recipes from 47 prefectures of Japan.


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Hokkaido howaito karee 北海道ホワイトカレー white curry from Hokkaido
. . . CLICK here for Photos !




hokki karee ほっきカレー / ホッキカレー hokki shell curry
hokki long shell, Spisula sachalinensis.
Speciality of the Ainu in Hokkaido
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



hotate karee ほたてカレー scallop curry
Aomori



ishiyaki karee 石焼きカレー curry sauce with rice served in a heated stone bowl
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



CLICK for more photos
jikaree 地カレー "local curry"
prepared in small factories for the local people.
With hacho miso and beans and other ingredients.




kaki karee 牡蠣カレー oyster curry
Hiroshima


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CLICK for more photos
karee aisu カレーアイスクリーム ice cream with curry flavor
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



karee bootoo カレーぼうとう / カレーホウトウcurry taste hootoo
from Yamanashi



CLICK for more photos
karee mame カレー豆 peanuts with curry flavor
Chiba prefecture



CLICK for more photos
kareepan, karee pan カレーパン curry bread
This is very popular, especially with children.


karee raisu カレーライス curry rice cooked rice with curry


karee ramune カレーラムネ lemonade with curry flavor
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



karee soomen カレーそうめん cold soomen noodles with curry sauce
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


karee soosu カレーソース curry sauce
to poor on many dishes for additional flavor
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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CLICK for original LINK
katsu karee カツカレー cotelette with curry sauce on rice
Because of the auspicious meaning of KATSU (to win) this is often eaten to pass an examination.



kiima karee キーマカレー keema curry, qeema curry
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



konan karee コナンカレー Conan curry  
From Tottori, with Manga illustration cover



maaboo karee マーボーカレー Mabo-Curry
sauce mix with Chinese-flavored mabo-sauce



nashi karee 梨カレー nashi pear curry
Shimane
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
... seiyoo nashi karee 西洋梨カレー western pears curry
from Niigata




orientaru raisu オリエンタルライス oriental rice
a kind of dry curry, with low-fat salami from local cows. On top of this a special demi-glace curry sauce.
From Nemuro, Hokkaido



pooku karee ポークカレー pork curry
similar to beef curry, but with pieces of pork meat.
Not common in Osaka.
CLICK here for PHOTOS !



Potato Curry Pizza, Hokkaido Style
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



ringo karee リンゴカレー / りんごカレーapple curry
Nagano
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



saba karee サバカレー mackerel curry
Chiba
Made fresh or sold in tins.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


shikaniku-iri karee raisu シカ肉入りカレーライス
curry rice with deer meat, Ezo-deer meat curry
Hokkaido


suupukaree, スープカレー soup curry
Curry ingredients are cut to big pieces and boiled in the soup. Vegetables, potatoes, carrots, paprica. Some even ladle this over boiled rice.
Sapporo, Hokkaido



tenpura karee 天ぷらカレー Tempura curry
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



udon karee, karee udon うどんカレー / カレーうどん
. . . CLICK here for Photos !



CLICK for more photos
tsepperin karee ツェッペリンカレー Zeppelin Curry
Tsuchiura 土浦



yakuzen karee 薬膳カレー Yakuzen curry
bean curry cooked “yakuzen-style” (medicine food)
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


yasai karee 野菜カレー vegetable curry
. . . CLICK here for Photos !





Yokosuka kaigun karee よこすか海軍カレー from Yokosuka navy
Kanagawa,横須賀カレー



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Tokyo X buta 東京X豚 Tokyo X pork from special pigs
Often processed into a Tokyo Curry.
WASHOKU
Tokyo X buta 東京X豚 Pigs from Tokyo





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Worldwide use


INDIA SAIJIKI
Food from India



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Things found on the way



Daruma Curry だるまカレー


In Osaka
大阪市西成区天下茶屋1-18-20




Snowman Daruma Curry ゆきだるまカレー




and Daruma Curry served at Daruma Mountain in Izu
だるまカレー
source : potawind/darumayama 達磨山


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HAIKU and SENRYU


梅雨湿りカレーライスを食べにけり
tsuyu shimeri karee raisu o tabe ni keri

humid rainy season ...
I go out to eat some
curry rice


Wakimoto Maki 脇本 眞樹(塾長)
月曜日, 6月 29, 2009
http://333751044.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-post_3891.html

Thank you, Wakimoto san.


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carry on !
oh, curry on !
Indian Spices


spilling curry
on my khadi suit -
all natural colors



When I want to tease my Japanese friends asking about our stay in India, I tell them:

"We ate rice and curry for breakfast,
curry and rice for lunch and later
rice and curry for dinner."


Gabi Greve
India Saijiki


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red hot pepper -
another fight over
Indian curry


Gabi Greve
my husband likes it REALY HOT !

WASHOKU
toogarashi 唐辛子 (とうがらし) red pepper, hot pepper


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lamb korma
topped with crisp fried onions-
a labor of love


Claudia Cadwell

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curried pandan rice
I add a teaspoonful
of mango chutney


According to some recent scientific study, a regular dose of curry keeps Alzheimer's at bay.

Ella Wagemakers

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in the outhouse
the curry burns
a second time


Mike Keville


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dose of curry
wondering where I left
my dose of curry


Melinda Hipple

source : my facebook
June 2009

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Indian delight...
the spouse adds spice
to life


Kumarendra Mallick
Hyderabad, whcIndia


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The pot belly crackles
Idli's steaming in bamboo
Raindrops shatter the window


Idli is a steamed rice ball from south India.

source : Gerard, Wild Lotus Art


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cold curry
lunch resumed after
a med call


bob (a medical worker)
people tend to want the ambulance just as we sit down to eat!
Happy Haiku Forum, July 2009


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veggie fest
curry soya beans
with white rice


kenneth daniels (GY)


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curry from Japan
Click for enlargement



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Related words

***** WASHOKU : General Information

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6/27/2009

Funaryoori Ships Boats

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
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Food served on board (funaryoori)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: All Summer
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation

CLICK for more photos

funaryoori 船料理 (ふなりょうり) food eaten on a ship
Food served on board, for visitors or for the fishermen during work.
The ship can be in motion along a canal or on sea, or fixed to the shore as a swimming restaurant.



funaikesu 船生洲 / 生け簀(ふないけす)"fish preserve" on a boat
fune no ikesu 船の生け簀

ikesubune 生簀船(いけすぶね)boat serving as a fish perserve

ayu ikesu 鮎生簀(あゆいけす), aquarium for ayu sweetfish


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the following are NOT KIGO

ikesu 生簀 "fish preserve"
CLICK for more photos
aquarium with live fish, kept until consumption. Mostly in expensive restaurants.
Awabi abalones, crabs and many others are often kept in an ikesu to serve them fresh throughout the year, after the official fishing season is over.


. dai no mono 台の物 food on a high tray .
served on yakatabune 屋形船 "palace boat", river cruise boat

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Regional food eaten on board the fishing boats


katsuomeshi かつおめし rice with bonito
used to be eaten on the fishing boats. Fresh fished fish is cut into pieces and simmered together with rice and soy sauce. For flavor, leek and nori are added.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
from Chiba prefecture



magocha, magochazuke まご茶, まご茶漬け
"rice for the grand children"

On board, the fishermen cut fresh bonito, makerels and other fish into small pieces, mixed them with cooked rice, added some leek and poored hot green tea over the mix. It was so good they talked about "giving it to the grandchildren" back home.
from Chiba prefecture



mamakari 飯借り (ままかり) Japanese sardinella
"to borrow rice from your neighbours"

They say the fishermen used to grill the fish right on their boats and when the rice of one boat was eaten, they would drive to the next one and ask for his to share.
from Okayama



suketo no okijiru スケトウの沖汁 / スケトの沖汁
halibutt soup on the boat

prepared by fishermen on the boat. On the fishing trip to Sado island they caught sukettodara すけとうだら(介党鱈) and cut it into bite-size in a pot with miso soup or salt water.
Alaska pollack, Theragra chalcogramma
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
from Niigata prefecture



tekonezushi てこねずし . 手こねずし
fish zushi mixed with the hands

Red fish like katsuo bonito and maguro tuna are sliced for sashimi and marinated in soy sauce. Then they are mixed with sushi rice. Perilla leaves, ginger or other seaweed can be mixed. It started with the fishermen of the SHIMA region on their boats, who did not have much time for preparing meals and mixed it with their hands. The ama divers also eat this.
Mie prefecture
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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CLICK for more photos

Food served on ferry boats フェリーの料理
ferii, from the English ferry.

Essen auf der Fähre
Autofähre


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Worldwide use


ikesu
Fischbehälter im Restaurant

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Things found on the way





Darumabune, a Boat だるま舟 Ships called DARUMA


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HAIKU and SENRYU


立ち上がる一人に揺れて船料理  
tachiagaru hitori ni yurete funaryoori

one person gets up
and all is shaking -
eating on board


Takahama Toshio 高浜年尾



船料理さらさらさらと水の音
funaryoori sarasarasara to mizu no oto

eating on board -
sara sara sara
the sound of water

Maeda Goken 前田伍健



醍醐味もさすがに土佐の船料理   

飯野鳴潮
Tosa no Funaryoori 

source
http://www.ami-yacon.jp/yume_haiku/yume_haiku_hunaryouri.htm


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eating on board
urchins chase 'grass hoppers'
landing from the deck


Dalip Daswani India


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Related words

WKD : ship, boat and related kigo


***** WASHOKU : General Information

***** WASHOKU : FISH and SEAFOOD SAIJIKI

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6/25/2009

Kobiru lunch

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO TOP . ]
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Rural lunch (kobiru)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity


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Explanation


CLICK for more photos
Kobiru, cobiru, kobilu (こびる) 小昼 
koburi
a small lunch, is food taken out to the fields by the farmers, when they had to work all day. At lunch, they would gather at the field side, unpack the little delicacies, warm them at a small fire and enjoy lunch outside.

This word comes from the dialect of Miazaki prefecture in Kyushu 宮崎.
The village of Takachiho is especially eager to promote this.
高千穂こびる研究会

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In former times, simple things were taken out, like round cakes of rice flour and corn flour or millet flour.
Even inarizushi tofu pouches filled with rice were grilled on the fire.
Onigiri of all kinds were grilled too.
According to the season, ingredients differed.
nishibe pickled daikon was eaten with the cakes.
kaki persimmons were cut in slices, dried or grilled.
mushipan, steamed bread with flavor of yomogi, kabocha or azuki beans.


kagura manjuu 神楽まんじゅう manju dumplings for the Kagura dance performance
were filled with chicken meat and goboo.
. . . CLICK here for Photos ! for Kagura manju from other areas


kappocha かっぽ茶 Tea was prepared in bamboo poles cut by the field side, split half open, some branches with tea laeves were put over the coals for a moment, then stuffed into the bamboo pole and heated over the fire.

In the village, people have come together, old and young, and exchanged new ideas to teach the children about this kind of lunch.

New ideas have come up, like a kobiru baaga, a hamburger baked with rice flour and a piece of pickled daikon instead of meat, all grilled on a skewer just before eating.

original ... nipponsyokuiku.net/syokumodel/2007/hokoku_17.html
nipponsyokuiku.net/syokumodel/2007/hokoku_17.html


The villagers have opened a small restaurant where you can sample these dishes at lunchtime.


ponpon chokobaa ポンポンチョコバー
chocolate bar with ponpon puffed rice grains
a desert with nostalgic taste.



This type of carry-on lunch for farmers exixts in other parts of Japan too, under various names.

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way



神楽饅頭 Kagura manjuu
CLICK for more photos
備中神楽のおまんじゅう
Kagura Manju from Bitchu
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HAIKU and SENRYU



草蒔や肴焼香も小昼過
kusa maku ya sakana yaku ka mo ko-biru sugi

sowing herbs--
the smell of fish cooking
a little past noon

Tr. David Lanoue



雉と臼寺の小昼は過にけり
kiji to usu tera no kobiru wa sugi ni keri

crying pheasant, pounding mill
morning till noon
at the temple


Kobayashi Issa

There are two types of usu or mill:
(1) shiki usu (grinding hand-mill) and
(2) a large wooden tub used for rice or herb cake making. Whichever type Issa meant, I think he is referring to its grinding or pounding sound, just as I assume that he is referring to the cries of a pheasant.
Literally, the "forenoon" (kobiru) of the Buddhist temple has passed with "pheasant and mill" (kiji to usu). I assume that Issa is hearing the sounds of both, on and on and on...
Tr. David Lanoue


- - - - -

kiji to usu tera no kobiru wa sugi ni keri

a pheasant, a hand mill --
snack time in the temple
now over

Tr. Chris Drake

This hokku is from the 3rd month (April) of 1812, when Issa was traveling around near Edo. It is also in the Kabuban anthology, which contains the hokku on the six realms of karmic existence by Issa and his friend, the priest Kakuro. The hokku evokes a moment in the daily life at a country temple.

In Issa's time, different temples had different customs, but most served a snack or light meal (kobiru) either in mid-morning or mid-afternoon. In the True Pure Land school to which Issa belonged, there are few restrictions concerning meal decorum, so probably the monks and visitors to the temple such as Issa have been talking as they ate their light meal, concentrating on the food and conversation. But as soon as they finish the temple returns to its usual silence, broken by the high, piercing cries of a pheasant looking for food on the temple grounds and by the rough scraping sounds made by a stone hand mill (hiki-usu) as the top stone moves around and around, grinding rice, buckwheat, barley, or perhaps even tea leaves. The loud sounds made by the pheasant and hand mill are obvious, so Issa simply implies them. Since the temple probably doesn't grow and harvest its own rice and the season doesn't call for pounding a lot of glutinous rice to make rice cakes, it seems likely someone in the temple is grinding with a small hand mill.

- - Chris Drake



hand-mill for grinding nuts and acorns


. WKD : cha-usu 茶臼 hand-mill for ginding tea leaves .

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老い二人畦の小昼(こびる)や柏餅  
oi futari aze no kobiru ya kashiwamochi 

two old people
have lunch by the field side -
sweet rice cakes


Maruyama 丸山蝉音

kashiwamochi are special rice cakes are for the Boy's festival on May 5.

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棟梁の好みや新じやが小昼とす
tooryoo no konomi ya shinjaga kobiru to su

the master carpenter
loves the new potatoes best -
let's take a quick lunch


Yoshioka Yutaka 吉岡ゆたか , 2007


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Related words

***** WASHOKU : Regional Japanese Dishes

WASHOKU
Miyazaki 宮崎


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