Hakone (箱根町)

Sorry for the long delay, but I am very busy this days, and as my only readers are Yuuki and Yusuke it's not very motivating me for do my blog haha. Today I'll talk about Hakone! Hakone is a small town in Kanagawa Prefecture, the attraction Hakone is that it is on a volcano, surrounded by mountains, and it's convenient because it's not far from Tokyo/Yokohama. During my first trip to Hakone (it's been 3 years!) I went to Owakudani (大涌谷 great boiling valley), a Hakone volcanic valley. Volcanic activity is manifested by its onsen (hot springs) and sulfur fumes, which gives a certain warmth to this place... and especially a rotten egg smell! (this is the moment for fart nobody smell the fragrance haha!). The speciality of Owakudani is chicken eggs cooked in the hot springs (shell turns black). It seems that eating an egg cooked here gives 7 years of more in your life, eat two and a half eggs gives 17 years, but if you eat the third egg whole it cancels all effects. But hey, it's a legend okay? xD

Hello Kitty is really everywhere in Japan xD

The "Kuro Tamago", the taste is like a normal egg.

Now let's go to the Ashi lake! The lake Ashi is a crater lake was formed there in 3000 after explosion of a  phreatic table which caused a collapse part of Mount Kami. This is a very popular spot for picture because when the weather is clear you can see Mount Fuji reflected on the lake. Unfortunately I never had this chance the both times I went there!

On this lake you will see a large red torii which designates the location of Hakone Jinja Shrine. I will now tell you about the legend of the dragon with nine heads of Hakone! This dragon was dozing at the bottom of Lake Ashinoko. He terrorized the village until that a monk of Mount Komagatake exorcise him and he become a protective deity (the dragon, not the monk ok? xD).

Me and the big torii.

Stairs leading to the sanctuary. I've also seen Japanese girls with heels, it's really stupid to come in the nature with such shoes.

The only nine-headed dragon that I saw was a fountain haha.

Another feature of Hakone is its hot springs! Japanese people love onsen very much. So I wanted to try, but not anywhere. I am very shy, so I don't want to show myself naked in front of another womans, but luckily there is a Hakone onsen where swimsuits are allowed! The name of this onsen is "Yunessun" it's not traditional but very nice nonetheless. There are very original pools in this onsen, with wine, coffee, sake, coal, lemonade, green tea etc... mixed with thermal water. I just feel like a piece of meat floating in a soup haha! But there are also some traditional basins, outdoors near waterfalls, surrounded by mountains... wow! *o*

Me and mascots of Yunessun, cats with square head? This is weird xD

 

Japanese food (日本の食べ物)

If you do not know it yet, I love to eat and discover new things! So Japan is truly paradise for me, I had never eaten Japanese food before going in Japan (even sushi!). When foreigners talking about Japanese Food, they think immediately to sushi, but Japanese food is not just sushi or fish, this is a very varied food,
and most often very good for health (ah but.. not always haha). I'm going to talk today about the Japanese food I've experienced when I was there!

I will begin with the Tonkotsu Ramen! There are several variety of ramen, but for me the best is the tonkotsu ramen. The broth is made with bone of pork (don't made ​​the grimace it's delicious!), with noodle (I prefer big noodle), and chashu (チャーシュー) this is pork roasts, and eggs cooked in soy sauce, few sheets of nori (dried seaweed), and in the ramen of the photo, some spinach! It's absolutely delicious, but against this is not very good for your health, it's very fat!

Now I will talk about donburi. The donburi is a big bowl of rice with a garnish. There are a lot of different variety. I'll start with my favorite, the Oyakodon! Oyako means "parents and children" because this dish is composed of egg and chicken.

 Yes I know, it seems disgusting, but actually it's so great!

In fact I do not know if the Salmondon is considered as a donburi or as a chirashi,
but I know it's delicious xD! It's composed of salmon (as the name suggests), and salmon eggs (イクラ ikura). The green sauce is of course wasabi.

Gyudon, composed of strips of beef with onions.

And for finish with donburi, the Unagidon! with grilled eel (this is a delicious fish). I ate it in a Japanese restaurant in Paris with my beloved Yusuke, thank you so much ♥ You know I like eat a lot XD

Yakitori means "grilled chicken". These are skewers made with different parts of the body of the chicken. We usually eat that in a izakaya (a sort of small restaurant where we eat while consuming alcohol).

 Udon are not totally a flat alone. The udons are big noodle that can be eaten in many different ways, hot or cold, with or without a broth. I love it! ^-^ My photo is a dish called "Bukkake Udon".

Soba are thin noodles made ​​of buckwheat flour. Such as Udon, they can be enjoyed hot or cold. This is not what I prefer to eat, but it's very good for health.

 Kake Soba, kind of soba served in a hot broth.

Zaru Soba it's a kind of cold soba, and need to soak in a small bowl of cold broth (called mentsuyu) before eating. On my photo soba are accompanied by two shrimp tempura.

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese dish composed of a dough who surrounds a number of vary ingredients cut into small pieces, the whole being baked on a hot plate. The main ingredients of okonomiyaki are, eggs and flour for dough, with "dashi" (kind of fish broth) and white cabbage. Other ingredients may be added later, if you want. After cooking the okonomiyaki is usually covered of mayonnaise, and of katsuobushi (fish shavings), and of aonori (small green algae).

The monja is a bit like okonomiyaki, but very more liquid! In appearance it looks a bit like vomit (sorry but it's true..! xD) but I prefer it that okonomiyaki! Especially with mentaiko (spicy eggs fish) and cheese! ^-^
If you want to eat the best monja of Tokyo, go to Tsukishima!

 Monja before preparation.

Monja after...  no I was not sick xD

Tonkatsu it's breaded pork accompanied of Worcestershire sauce, and with karashi (Japanese mustard). It is often served with sliced ​​cabbage, a bowl of rice and miso soup.

Umibudo (grape of the sea) is a feed from the Okinawa cooking (islands in the south of Japan). I love it! ^-^

Omurice it's fried rice with some vegetables and meat, surrounded by an omelette and usually covered with ketchup. I love it sooo much! XD Sorry on the photo it's plastic dishes (sampuru) in a restaurant window, but it is very similar to the real omurice.

Karee is Japanese curry. The curry sauce is thick and the degree of spice is more or less strong. This is the first Japanese dish I ate! This is a very easy dish to make at home. Just buy potatoes, carrots, onions, rice, meat (chicken or pork or beef),  and curry blocks! :p

 
Onigiri are like sandwich for Japanese people.These are very popular for picnic eg. They consist of rice, often wrapped with nori (seaweed), and the filling is very varied. I have a preference for those with salmon, or with mentaiko (spicy fish eggs), or with tuna/mayonnaise (Yuuki I miss onigiri tuna/mayonnaise that prepared your mother in the morning for me >_<!).

It is not finished yet, I'll finish this article another day. See you soon o/

Yasaka Hall, Gion Kyoto (弥栄会館)

During my first trip to Kyoto (I went there twice) I had the chance to attend at 7 rep of Japanese traditional arts in the Yasaka Hall, in the famous Gion geisha district. It was very rewarding and very quiet of understand more the traditional Japanese culture.

The show began with a tea ceremony with precise gestures.

Another Japanese art of flower arrangement! Called Ikebana in Japanese. Sorry, we see nothing on the picture T_T (there was also a large Japanese instrument called koto).

 

 Gagaku is the name given to the dance and music performed at the Imperial Japanese court, and in the shrines and temples.

The kyōgen is a form of comic theater where are described the pleasant habits and life of common people in ancient Japanese society. The old man make me scared, he was really ugly o_o'

Finally dancing maiko! As you can see they are very young. They performed the dance "kyo-mai".

 And finally a traditional puppet show called Bunraku. Men dressed in black behind take care of each part of the doll for make it move, beautiful teamwork. This is the story of a woman who falls madly in love with a young monk, who had to leave his temple because there was a big fire (logically monks never go outside but there was no choice ). So for see him again, she made ​​a second fire, except that she causes an uncontrollable fire and it's a disaster. End of the story. Haha! Idiot woman.

Ghibli museum (三鷹の森ジブリ美術館)

I've finally been there! *-* This is kind of the ultimate goal for all those who love movies of studio Ghibli, but this museum is extremely popular in Japan too, so we must book a ticket before go in the museum. This museum is unique in the world ♥ The museum is located in Mitaka, western Tokyo, it's not far from the park Inogashira, so the environment is really nice, there is a forest near of the museum ^-^ But  I'm sorry, it's forbidden to take pictures inside, but frankly go there it's really great and interesting! (I've already been twice xD). I even saw a unique short movie with Mei (it's the little girl in Totoro) and the bus cat, actually the cat bus is not unique, there are many cat bus! Well, maybe you'll get to see this film if you go to studio Ghibli, but I think they change every year because the second time I went to Ghibli museum it was a different film (the story of a little boy and a rabbit, I preferred the first short film with Mei). Anyway, it will remain etched in my memory all my life *-*

 The facade changes according to the seasons, each plant have her favorite season...

 A Totoro window, necessarily saw by the extérior it's not so beautiful xD

The robot of "Castle in the Sky".

The flag of the museum.

An incense holder "Porco rosso".

I love the colorful mosaics! Very cute.

In the museum café I took "Ramune" is a kind of Japanese lemonade. The peculiarity with the ramune that there is always a little ball inside the neck of the bottle (in this case there were two.. don't think at hentai things please xD). There is nothing more boring to drink, I think it is the most useless Japanese invention... I'm very thirsty and a small ball prevents me from drinking waaaw.. I DON'T LIKE THAT! xD It's not funny at all, just bored!

An beer "Nausicaa".

The second time, I went with my friend Kentaro. I met him in France, he is soooo nice! ^-^

Few small goodies that I bought during my trip, we can find Ghibli products everywhere in Japan. I bought in the museum cards with landscapes of several different films, I am very happy to have them, I greatly admire the work of people who have made these funds, the paint job is amazing *-* I bought the little Totoro towel in a store in Ueno. Little towel are very convenient in Japan because there is not always something for wipe their hands in public restrooms, so every Japanese has his small towel in his bag :p I have many other goodies Ghibli, but I'll stop there XD

I had this poster on my first visit of the museum.

For those who don't know very well the Ghibli universe, I'll make a list of the films they have done, because no Ghibli is not just Hayao Miyazaki. Some films were created before that Ghibli exists (for studio Toei more exactly), but I still put them in the list.

Horus Prince of the Sun 太陽の王子 ホルスの大冒険 (1968) by Isao Takahata

Panda! Go, Panda! パンダ・コパンダ (1972) by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata
The Castle of Cagliostro ルパン三世 カリオストロの城 (1979) by Hayao Miyazaki Got it!

Jarinko Chie じゃリン子チエ (1981) by Isao Takahata 

Goshu the Cellist セロ弾きのゴーシュ (1981) by Isao Takahata
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 風の谷のナウシカ (1984) by Hayao Miyazaki Got it!

Castle in the Sky 天空の城ラピュタ (1986) by Hayao Miyazaki Got it!

My Neighbor Totoro となりのトトロ (1988) by Hayao Miyazak Got it!

Grave of the Fireflies 火垂るの墓 (1988) by Isao Takahata Got it!

Kiki's Delivery Service 魔女の宅急便 (1989) by Hayao Miyazaki Got it!

Only yesterday おもひでぽろぽろ (1991) by Isao Takahata
Porco rosso 紅の豚 (1992) by Hayao Miyazaki Got it!

 Ocean Waves 海がきこえる (1993) by Tomomi Mochizuki
Pompoko 平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ (1994) by Isao Takahata Got it!

Whisper of the Heart 耳をすませば (1995) by Yoshifumi Kondo
Princess Mononoke もののけ姫 (1997) by Hayao Miyazaki Got it!

Nono-chan ののちゃん (1999) by Isao Takahata

Spirited Away 千と千尋の神隠し (2001) by Hayao Miyazaki Got it!

 The Cat Returns 猫の恩返し (2002) by Hiroyuki Morita Got it!

Howl's Moving Castle ハウルの動く城 (2004) by Hayao Miyazaki Got it!

Tales from Earthsea ゲド戦記 (2006) by Goro Miyazaki Got it!

 Ponyo 崖の上のポニョ (2008) by Hayao Miyazaki Got it!

Arrietty 借りぐらしのアリエッティ (2010) by Hiromasa Yonebayashi Got it!

 From Up on Poppy Hill コクリコ坂から (2011) by Goro Miyazaki Got it!

The Wind Rises 風立ちぬ (2013) by Hayao Miyazaki

The Tale of Princess Kaguya かぐや姫の物語 (2013) by Isao Takahata

Omoide no Marnie  思い出のマーニー (2014) by Hiromasa Yonebayashi

 

Sugamo (巣鴨)

How you don't know Sugamo? Sugamo is a district in the north of Tokyo. Ok I admit, this is not a very popular area, that's why it's interesting to talk about it here! :p I went to Sugamo with Yuuki (yes, him again XD), because every time we took the yamanote line and that was at the "Sugamo" station, Yuuki told me "This is the district for old people, we will have a house here in our retirement". Finally a day Yuuki went to Sugamo and told me "Sugamo is great, we need go there together!".おす♪ 行きましょう!

 

 A temple which I forgot the name. This statue reminds me of a Jizo/mushroom, new pokemon? haha.

 Sugamo is called "The Harajuku of grandmothers", I find the approximation rather amusing haha. In this photo it's the shopping street "Jizō-dōri".

 The "mode" here it's... red panties! Yes, yes xD In Oriental medicine it seems that the red worn at that point have the possibility of heat throughout the body, it also seems that in Japanese culture that give red things at a person helps to ward off evil spells. I think in summer people buy it more for the second reason, because we are already so hot! haha. There are "normal" size, but also the "grandmothers" sizes, ie parachutes, which goes up under the arms. So sexy haha.

The mascot of the neighborhood is a duck (named "Sugamon"). Not surprising given that Sugamo means "nest ducks".

A statue of monkey in a small temple. It makes me a little scared haha T_T haha. We can see on its base three wise monkeys who covers his ears, mouth, or eyes, I've already saw that on the stable of Nikko.

Garlands of 1000 cranes, it seems that if someone make 1000 origami of cranes he sees his wish come true.

Toden Arakawa, the last tram line in Tokyo. Station Sugamo-Shinden.

For end this day, Yuuki and I went to a karaoke (karaoke it's very popular in Japan... I don't really like that). I sang this song, Yuuki had the good idea to take a video of me and show this video to all his family... So shame T_T' Anyway, it was a very good day, I want back in Sugamo again!