The Year of the Tiger

The tiger is the third animal of the Chinese zodiac featuring a well-known series of twelve animals, which are also common in Japan as “eto.” Japan has never known tigers in the wild, so the zodiacal tiger is a 100% import from its neighboring country. Tigers were very common in China in ancient times – although today only about 30 wild tigers are left (generally speaking, the tiger is an Asian animal, with a present population in the wild of roughly 3,300 in India, 500 in Bangladesh, 430 in Siberia and 370 in Indonesia). 

['Sitting Tiger' by Maruyama Okyo, 1777,]

In China, the tiger is a yang animal and is associated with a potent male principle of bravery, dignity and magisterial sternness. As the emblem of courage and fierceness, which should be characteristic of a soldier, a tiger head was formerly painted on the shields of soldiers. The presence or roar of a tiger is synonymous with danger and terror.

Throughout Chinese history, the tiger has incited a sense of both awe and admiration. It embodies the spirit and drive to achieve and make progress. It is said that it has the power to drive away demons - a painting depicting a tiger is often hung on a wall inside the building facing the entrance - in this way demons are scared away and cannot enter. For the same reason, the shoes of small children are often embroidered with tiger’s heads.

Each direction of the compass is traditionally believed to be ruled by a mythical creature; the White Tiger is the ruler of the West. The tiger is also associated with autumn, when it comes down from the mountains into villages. Medicinal virtues were ascribed to the ashes of the bones and other parts of the tiger (unfortunately helping its extinction).  

 

In the days of Marco Polo, the multitude of tigers in the northern part of the empire rendered traveling alone dangerous – the most famous tiger-slaying story by a lone traveler can be found in the chapters about Wu Song in the famous novel Water Margin (chapter 23, also adapted as the first chapter of another classical novel, Jinpingmei), where the hero, although half drunk, with his bare hands kills a tiger which attacks him in the mountains.

The tiger was an important motif in Chinese art, and tiger paintings were also popular in Japan, especially among samurai or in the palaces of feudal lords. Tigers, for them, were a symbol of strength. Japanese painters therefore studied the tiger paintings produced in China, but, as they had never seen a real tiger before, they often modeled their tigers on cats! As a result, Japanese tiger paintings look both a bit stiff and too cute -  so to speak “just a cat, which failed to become a tiger.”

I close this post with the first stanza from William Blake's famous poem "The Tyger" from 1794, which beautifully imagines the beast:

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

(Read the whole poem at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43687/the-tyger)

Have a great Year of the Tiger!

 

Koji-kin, Aspergillus oryzae

Koji-kin, koji mold, Aspergillus oryzae こうじ、麹

A fungus (mold, kabi) used in East Asia to saccharify rice, sweet potato, and barley in the making of alcoholic beverages such as sake and shochu, rice vinegar and also to ferment soybeans for making soy sauce and miso. Because of its importance in Japanese food and beverage production, koji-kin has been called a "national fungus", and the Japanese kitchen a "koji kitchen." Note that while koji-kin refers to the spores of the fungus, the word "koji" is used for the rice, barley etc. after the koji has grown on it. The spores are also called "tane-koji," "seed koji."

[Aspergillus oryzae growing on rice]

Aspergillus oryzae is a type of mold that is native only to the warm and humid Southeast and East Asian regions. Koji is made by sprinkling tane koji over steamed rice and cultivating the fungus under temperature conditions suitable for its growth. As the fungus propagates, enzymes break down the grains' starch and proteins into sugars and amino acids. The enzymes produced are thus also responsible for the taste of the final product.

Different koji are employed for different fermented foods, such as sake, soy sauce, miso, vinegar, shochu, mirin, natto, and pickles.

Seed koji are distributed by seed koji dealers, centuries old family companies which possess the special skills for producing and storing seed koji. That knowledge has been kept strictly secret by each dealer, and consequently only a dozen or so dealers exist in all of Japan.

Making koji is the beginning of the brewing process. It takes place in a koji-mura, a separate room in the brewery, which is warm with high humidity. Koji for high-quality sake is always made by hand. For standard sake it can also be made by machine.

Note: koji is sometimes translated as "malted rice," but as the process of making koji is completely different from malting (which relies on germination), this is misleading.

Photos from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Wagashi, Japanese sweets

Wagashi is a general term for traditional Japanese confectionery. The term was coined in modern times to differentiate Japanese sweets eaten with green tea from Western-type cakes.

Although already the prehistoric Jomon people ate cookies made from chestnut powder, wagashi as we know them are of more recent origin.

[Sakura-mochi, typical wagashi]

In fact, there were five stimuli, through the course of history:

1. Chinese confections in the Nara period (brought back by Japanese scholars studying in China);

2. Zen Buddhism (wagashi were part of the vegetarian diet of priests);

3. Contact with Spain and Portugal in the 16th c., which led to the introduction of Namban-gashi as kasutera.

4. Also in the 16th c., the introduction of sugar (before that, sweet bean paste (an) and dried fruits like persimmon were used for sweetening). In the Edo-period, Amami-Oshima became the production center of sugar cane. Further, a new type of sugar, wasanbon was perfected in this period and is still used exclusively to make wagashi.

5. The fifth and biggest stimulus was the development and popularization of the tea ceremony during the Edo period.

In the late 17th c., the first kashiya, confectionery shops appeared in Kyoto, Osaka and Edo (Tokyo). Regional varieties of wagashi also developed.

Japanese confectionery is very different from its Western counterpart in the following respects:

• Japanese confectionery contains no butter, baking powder or yeast
• Japanese confectionery is not baked
• Japanese confectionery originally contained no sugar
• The main ingredient of Japanese confectionery is an, a paste made from red azuki beans and other ingredients
• The other main ingredients are rice flour and mochi (glutinous rice cakes)

Wagashi are made from natural, plant-based ingredients. Oil or dairy products are not used and there are no strong aromas (and of course, no artificial flavoring). The most distinctive ingredient (often used in one way or another) is a sweet paste (an) made from red azuki beans, which was first developed in the Kamakura period. Wheat flour and glutinous rice are also often used.

[Wagashi in the shape of ayu, sweetfish, are sold in early summer]

Like all things Wa, wagashi are by their shape and color attuned to the seasons – some types are only sold at certain times of the year. The names of wagashi can be fanciful and sometimes contain allusions to classical literature. Certain wagashi are part of the formal tea ceremony, even more types are eaten informally, but always with green tea. Wagashi are a popular gift among the Japanese and when visiting a Japanese family, one can not go wrong when bringing a nicely packed box of wagashi.

Wagashi are sometimes divided into several types as namagashi (“moist” i.e. uncooked confections), higashi (dry confections) and yakigashi (grilled confections), but as most types belong to the category of namagashi, this division is not very useful. And there are also new types as “chilled wagashi!” Note that usually wagashi can not be kept very long.

Types
The most popular Japanese confection is probably the manju, a sort of dumpling made from wheat flour, filled with red bean paste and steamed. There are countless types of manju, for example with a green tea taste or different fillings as chestnuts, and travelers will find them to take home in onsen towns and other tourist destinations.

Also yokan are very popular. This is a jellied dessert made of red bean paste, sugar and kanten (agar-agar), sold in block form and eaten in slices. There are various types: neri-yokan, which is sturdier, and mizu-yokan, which contains more water and is often eaten chilled in summer. Yokan contain much sugar and can be kept longer than other wagashi.

 

[Mizu-yokan packed in a bamboo container]

Daifuku ("great luck"), is a popular cake consisting of a quantity of red bean paste wrapped in a mochi, a layer of glutinous rice.

Sakuramochi are a special type of Daifuku and are wrapped in pickled cherry leaves. Traditionally they were eaten at the Doll’s Festival on March 3.

Chimaki are soft rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves. They were eaten especially on the Boy’s Festival on May 5.

Dango are small rice-flour dumplings served three to four on a skewer and eaten coated with bean paste. They can also be grilled on a wire rack and then coated with a sticky sauce. In 1998, dango experienced a surge of popularity when the song Dango san kyodai (“three dango brothers”) was released – dango being a wordplay on Tango.

Ohagi are steamed balls of glutinous rice wrapped in red bean paste (so the reverse of Daifuku) or kinako (soy bean powder). Traditionally, they are made during the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes. The term ohagi derives from the autumn flower hagi (bush clover), while in spring the confection is called botamochi, after the spring flower botan (peony).

Monaka is a thin, crisp wafer filled with red bean paste, often round on shape.

Kasutera is a typical Namban-gashi, learned from the Portuguese who came to Nagasaki in the 16th c. It is a sponge cake made from eggs, wheat flour and sugar.

Higashi are a dried and hard form of wagashi. The best example are Rakugan, a sugar and flour mixture pressed into various shapes with wooden molds.

Toraya is the most famous wagashi shop in Tokyo (main shop in Akasaka, but also on the Ginza and in other places). In Kyoto, there is a huge choice. I'd like to mention Heianden (near the Heian Shrine) and Surugaya (main shop in Fushimi).

Photos own work.

Japanese Food Dictionary

Oden, hodgepodge

Oden, hodgepodge. おでん

Various ingredients are simmered for a long time in a broth of dashi. Popular items are: slices of daikon (white radish), konnyaku (devil's tongue jelly), shelled boiled eggs, ganmodoki (type of deep-fried beancurd), yakidofu (grilled beancurd), fresh tofu, atsu-age, satsuma-age, chikuwa (fish paste rolls), kamaboko (fish paste), hanpen, cabbage rolls, potato, gobo rolls, tsukune, grilled pork, chicken, sausages, wakame (sea weed), etc.

[Oden stewing at an oden stall.]

Oden is eaten hot with a little stock in the bowl and a dab of karashi (Japanese mustard). It is a typical blue-collar yatai dish, but now also going more upscale.

The full name of oden is nikomi dengaku. In the Kansai it may also be called Kanto-daki, in Nagoya Kanto-ni. This points at the Kanto origin of the dish - it began as fish dumplings from Tokyo Bay eaten with miso. These dumplings were served on wooden skewers and became known as "dengaku" after an ancient dance where performers walked on stilts. "Dengaku" was later abbreviated to "den," which became oden with the honorific "o" in front.

[Portion of oden]

Although you can easily buy the ingredients separately and make an original combination, supermarkets also sell oden sets. Besides that, fresh oden is nowadays sold in most convenience stores in Japan in wintertime. Most street stalls selling the dish have disappeared, but there are still some specialist restaurants. Where fresh oden is sold, it sits simmering in large steel containers divided into compartments for the various ingredients. New ingredients can be added all the time. Besides that, it is normally served in izakaya during winter. It is excellent with sake!

Photos from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Surimi, fish paste

Processed fish paste product. すり身。

"Surimi" literally means "ground flesh." Surimi was developed in Japan many centuries ago (first documented in 1115; tsumire is even older) when it was discovered that washing minced fish meat, and then heating it, resulted in a natural gelling. Such "fish gel products" can then be mixed with other ingredients as starch or egg.

[Kanikama]

Neriseihin or nerimono is the general name for such "kneaded seafood." It has a smooth, somewhat resilient texture. Usually white fleshed fish such as cod or pollock is used of a type that easily gels. The minced fish is then mixed with starch, sugar, salt and egg white. In the 1960s frozen surimi was developed.

Products made from surimi are popular in the Japanese kitchen and take many forms.

[Tub of surimi]

Types:

• Kamaboko, fish cake formed into distinctive loaves. First produced in Kanagawa prefecture.
  
• Kanikama, imitation crabmeat sticks, also popular outside Japan. Wide variety of use, from futomaki sushi to salads.
  
• Chikuwa, tube shaped, broiled fish cake
• Satsuma-age, deep-fried fish cake from Kagoshima (in the past called Satsuma), small, flat disks with a distinctive, rich flavor
  
• Tsumire, fish balls
• Gobo-maki, surimi rolled around a piece of burdock and fried
• Hanpen, soft and fluffy white fishcake, made by mixing pureed fish with grated yam. The mixture is whipped to create air bubbles and then placed in a mold and simmered.
  
• Jako-ten. Tempura made with surimi and shaped as flat rectangles.
• Ebi-dango, surimi from shrimp made into balls
• Ika-dango, surimi from squid made into balls
• Fish sausage or gyoniku sausage. Sausage made from surimi - tastes unexpectedly fishy!

All products - except the fish sausage - are used as ingredients in Japanese hot pot (nabemono) and oden.

Photos from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Zoni, mochi in soup

Zoni, soup with rice cake (mochi). 雑煮。Also called o-zoni.

Traditionally served at New Year. Eaten in the morning after a toast with otoso, the spicy New year's sake.

[Zoni]

There are many regional variations. For example, in East Japan a clear soup (sumashijiru) flavored with dashi and soy sauce is favored, while in Western Japan the soup is made from white miso (shiromiso). And as the name "simmered miscellany" already indicates, a variety of ingredients can be added besides the mochi. These include fish, chicken, leafy vegetables, carrot, kamaboko, etc. But the rice cake is the determining part. The name "zoni" itself also indicates that miscellaneous items of food (such as mochi, vegetables and seafood) have been boiled together.

The preparation of the mochi for the dish also varies by region. In the Kanto and Tohoku regions, the mochi are cut into squares and grilled before being added to the stock. In the Kansai region and the Chugoku region, a round, boiled mochi is generally preferred.

Sadly, sometimes zoni is literally a "killing" dish. The half-molten rice cakes get extremely sticky and every year several persons - mostly elderly - choke on them. The advice is to use smaller mochi vy cutting them into pieces and to take small bites off them - take care not to suck them up together with the soup!

Illustrations from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Cha, tea

For the Japanese, “tea” is the bitter green tea (ryoku-cha). Tea (cha or o-cha) in the form of the tea ceremony (cha-no-yu or chado) is the essence of Japanese aesthetics and it has influenced many other art forms, from architecture to ceramics, from ikebana to Japanese cuisine (in cha-kaiseki), from painting to landscape gardening.

[Camellia sinensis]

Tea plants (Camellia sinensis) are native to East Asia and probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north Burma. Although tea may in fact be much older, the earliest record of tea drinking in China concern a Han dynasty emperor in the 2nd century BCE. Tea became a popular drink in the Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) Dynasties. The first tea was drunk in Japan as early as the 9th century, but it only became popular when it was reintroduced by Japanese Zen monks who had studied in China in the 12th century. For meditating monks, strong tea was an effective means of staying awake - tea has a stimulating effect in humans primarily due to its caffeine content. It was also initially also drunk for medicinal reasons.

These monks drank matcha, powdered green tea, the tea that is still used in the tea ceremony. Some powdered tea is put in the bowl, hot water is added and it is then whipped into a frothy whole with a bamboo whisk. Matcha is strong and bitter. Matcha powder is also used in the Japanese cuisine: for matcha ice creams, matcha–latte, matcha-shio (salt with matcha) and cha-soba (green soba noodles containing matcha). Matcha is enjoyed with the most refined traditional confectionery (higashi), often inspired by the season. These are eaten first before drinking the tea.

It took until the 16th century for tea made from leaves to become popular. Easier to prepare than matcha, this type of tea caught on quickly. As with matcha, it is always green tea: tea whose young leaves are first steam sterilized to prevent fermentation (oxidation) (this also preserves the original green color), then rolled to release the juices and enzymes and finally dried with warm air. Green tea is rich in vitamin C and contains antioxidants. Shizuoka Prefecture has the largest production of green tea (40% of total Japanese sencha production), but the oldest tea-producing region in Japan is Uji, near the former capital of Kyoto. It is thought that seeds sent by the Zen priest Eisai were planted in Uji, becoming the basis of the tea industry there. Today, Japan's most expensive premium teas are still grown in Uji.

[Sencha]

There are four different grades of green tea.

  • Matcha (“powdered green tea”). Like gyokuro, matcha leaves are shaded before plucking. The plucked and processed leaf is called tencha. These are then ground into a fine powder, matcha. Because tea powder is very perishable, matcha is usually sold in small quantities and is rather expensive. Matcha is the type of tea used in the tea ceremony. It is prepared by whisking the tea with hot water in a bowl, until the surface is frothy.

    • Gyokuro (“dewdrop”). The highest and most expensive quality green tea, for which tender, young leaves are used. These are grown in the shade for three weeks prior to plucking, protected by bamboo screens. The shading technique imparts a sweeter flavor, and produces a particularly rich color thanks to the higher amounts of chlorophyll in the shaded leaf. The leaves are carefully picked by hand. Gyokuro is light green in color. It may only be brewed with warm (50˚ C) water, preferably soft water with a low mineral content. Savored in small amounts – for guests and on special occasions rather than just personal use. Like sencha often served with wagashi, traditional confectionery to neutralize the bitterness of the tea.
Gyokuro is one of the most exclusive varieties of tea produced in Japan and is associated with the Uji region, the oldest tea-growing region in the country. It is often made using smaller-leaf cultivars of the tea plant.

    • Sencha (“pulled tea”). Also quality tea intended for guests or for special occasions. From young soft leaves brewed with water of 80˚ C. A sencha ceremony also developed in the Edo period, but it is little known compared to the tea ceremony using matcha, especially outside of Japan. Both gyokuro and sencha use a small teapot called kyusu. This is made of earthenware or porcelain and has a handle on the side. Sencha makes up 80% of all tea grown in Japan.

    • Bancha. Ordinary green tea, used at home with meals and sometimes drunk throughout the day. Also the tea that is served for free in restaurants. It is a coarse tea of ​​somewhat older leaves that still have twigs in them and which must be brewed with hot boiling water. It also has to be brewed longer than sencha. But there is nothing wrong with the flavor, which is somewhat bolder than sencha. Bancha leaves are plucked each season after sencha production is finished.

[Hojicha]

Besides these four basic grades, there  are also different types of Japanese green tea:

    • Shincha ("new tea"). The first harvest of tea, made from the youngest new growth leaves, plucked from early April to early May. Because of the limited quantities in which it is produced, shincha is highly prized.

    • Kukicha ("twig tea") has a mildly nutty flavor, unique due to its being composed of parts of the tea plant that are excluded from most other teas: it is made of the stems, stalks, and twigs of the plants with which sencha and gyokuro are made. When exclusively coming from gyokuro's production, it takes the name karigane. Kukicha is steeped in water between 70 and 80 °C.

   • Hojicha ("roasted tea"). Roasted coarse green tea. Sencha leaves are combined with kukicha twigs. Has a wonderful smell, a smoky taste and less caffeine than usual, so it is suitable for drinking late in the evening. A 20th century invention from Kyoto.

    • Genmaicha ("brown rice tea"). Coarse green tea to which with toasted puffs of rice (rice popcorn) have been added. Has a somewhat nutty taste.

With these last three types of coarse tea, a somewhat larger pot is used because more leaves are needed. Hot boiling water is always used.

By the way, English tea is called kocha (“black tea”) in Japan and is drunk with a Western breakfast or in coffee restaurants by people who don't like coffee.

Recently, oolong tea from China is also very popular because it neutralizes fatty foods. This is mainly drunk in cold form.

Cold tea in PET bottles and cans has really taken off in Japan. All kinds of flavors of green tea, of course without additives, oolong tea, pu-erh tea and also English tea are sold from vending machines as well as in the ubiquitous convenience stores. Both sell cold and warm cans and PET bottles. Tea in all forms is the largest category among all bottled and canned beverages sold in Japan. The consumption of green tea has grown enormously as a result of this modern way of selling. As green tea is trendy, a number of tea cafes have sprung up, and Starbucks Japan also sells lattes made with matcha instead of coffee.

Finally, it should be mentioned that "tea" (in a wider sense of the word) is also made from roasted barley, the popular mugicha that is drunk cold in the hot summer; from soba (sobacha) – especially served in soba restaurants; from konbu (kobu-cha), from shiitake and from yuzu... and so on.

Images from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Buta no Shogayaki, ginger pork sauté

Ginger pork sauté (buta no shogayaki), also called "pork shogayaki," consists of thin slices of lean pork (buta), browned in the pan, and then briefly braised with a sauce of grated ginger (*shoga), soy sauce and mirin.

 

[Buta no shogayaki]

The ginger helps remove the oil and any unpleasant smell. Shoga also improves the appetite. This pork dish is typical Japanese home cooking. It is usually accompanied by rice and miso soup. In the picture you see sauteed *moyashi, but shredded cabbage is also often used. This is the second most popular Japanese pork dish after *tonkatsu.

The recipe for shogayaki occurs already in the early Taisho period, but only became popular thanks to delivery menus of restaurants in the immediate postwar years because it can be prepared very quickly. After that, it was also added to catered lunch boxes and quickly became a menu for eating out as well as for home cooking.

Shogayaki is usually eaten hot, but can also be enjoyed cold as an addition to bento boxes.

Photo own work.

Japanese Food Dictionary

 

 

Chikuwa, tube-shaped fish cake

Chikuwa, tube-shaped, broiled fish cake. ちくわ、竹輪

Ingredients are surimi, salt, sugar, starch and egg white. After are made into a paste by mixing them well, then are wrapped around a bamboo or metal rod and steamed or broiled. Chikuwa, "bamboo ring," refers to the shape it has after slicing into smaller rings.

[Chikuwa]

Chikuwa is eaten as follows:

• As a side dish during lunch or dinner
• It is also often used as an ingredient for nimono like oden, chikuzenni, chirashizushi, yakisoba, and yasai-itame (vegetable stir fry). 
  
• As a snack. In that case the hollow center may also be stuffed with cheese, cucumber or other ingredients. It is delicious with beer or sake!

Chikuwa is a cheap and low-fat source of protein.

Other well-known surimi-based products are kamaboko and satsuma-age.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Chawan-mushi, steamed savory custard

Chawan-mushi. Steamed, savory custard. 茶碗蒸し、ちゃわんむし

Literally, "steamed (mushi) in a tea bowl (chawan)." Usually served in special china cups with lids and eaten with a spoon. Normally served warm, in summer it has sometimes been cooled. Unlike many other custards, it is usually eaten as a dish in a meal, as it contains savory rather than sweet ingredients.

[Chawan-mushi]

The custard consists of an egg mixture flavored with soy sauce, dashi, and mirin, with numerous ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms, kamaboko, ginkgo nuts, thin slices of yuzu and mitsuba, and boiled shrimp, placed into a tea-cup-like container. Since egg custard cannot be picked up by chopsticks, it is one of the few Japanese dishes that is eaten with a small spoon.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Oshizushi, "pressed sushi"

Oshizushi "pressed sushi," (押し寿司), also known as hako-zushi, "box sushi" (箱寿司).

In contrast to Edomae-zushi from Edo/Tokyo, oshizushi is Osaka's contribution to the sushi world. Sushi rice and seafood are pressed in a rectangular wooden box (oshibako) and then cut into slices. The chef lines the bottom of the mold with the toppings, covers them with sushi rice, and then presses the lid of the mold down to create a compact, rectilinear block. That block is next cut into bite-sized pieces. In oshizushi, all the ingredients are either cooked or cured and different from nigirizushi raw fish is never used.

[Selection of oshi-zushi}

Osaka is especially famous for battera (バッテラ), a pressed sushi of mackerel (saba). The name has been derived from the Portuguese word "batteira," boat. The vinegared mackerel is topped with a transparently this slice of konbu.

[Battera]

Not all oshizushi are from Osaka. Two other famous types are:

• Kakinoha-zushi, from Nara and Wakayama prefectures. Sliced mackerel, sea bream or salmon is added to bite-sized vinegared rice, and then wrapped in persimmon leaves (kaki-no-ha) and pressed. The persimmon leaves are removed when eating. They are thought to have an antibacterial effect, and help preserve the sushi. To soften the leaves, they are pickled in salt.
  
• Masuzushi, from Toyama. Bamboo leaves (sasa) are placed around the base of a round container, and covered with a layer of vinegared rice. On top of this are placed slices of trout (masu) that have been salt-pickled and seasoned. The sasa leaves are folded over the top and then a weight is placed on top to press the sushi into a firm cake.
  

[Kakinoha-zushi]

Photos own work.


Japanese Food Dictionary

Bakagai, Surf clam, round clam

Bakagai, Surf clam バカガイ、馬鹿貝
(Mactra sinensis)
Alternative names in English: Japanese orange clam, hen clam, round clam

The Japanese bakagai is found all over Japan, living in sandy substrates in shallow marine habitats. Main production areas are the Bay of Tokyo, the Bay of Ise, the Inland Sea, the Ariake Sea and Hokkaido. It is the same size as the hamaguri clam (ark mussel) - 4 cm wide and about 9 cm long.

[Bakagai, Aoyagi]

The Japanese name "baka-gai" literally means "idiot clam" and has its origins in the fact that when this shell lets its orange-colored foot loosely hang out, it looks like an idiot with the tongue out of the mouth. This is not politically correct, which is why it is now called “aoyagi” (青柳, "green willow") after a place outside Tokyo where it is commonly found (and the orange tongue has the form of a willow leaf).

Bakagai is a classical topping of Edomae-zushi. When the round shell is opened, the intensely orange-colored leg (peduncle) is visible. This is lightly beaten with a knife and then parboiled. When after butterflying it is put on the sushi, care is taken to keep the foot intact and have it stick up in the air like the tail of a rooster.

The most prized part of the clam are however the adductor muscles (columella) which are called kobashira ("little pillars"). Large ones are called "oboshi" ("big stars") and smaller ones "koboshi" ("small stars"). They are usually served on gunkanmaki and are an expensive and rare delicacy.

Bakagai has been a favorite since the Edo period, and continues to appeal to sushi fans today thanks to its crunchy texture, sweet flavor and concentrated umami. The best season (shun) is winter and early spring. Besides being eaten on sushi, it is also prepared as sunomono or used as an ingredient in kakiage.

In the Edo period there was another use for bakagai as shown on the ukiyo-e below: they were used in Fukagawa-meshi instead of asari clams.

[Preparing bakagai at Fukagawa]

Illustrations from Wikimedia Commons


Japanese Food Dictionary

Ayu, Sweetfish

Ayu, sweetfish あゆ、鮎
(Plecoglossus altivelis)

Popular freshwater fish. Both caught and farmed in mountain streams. Can grow up to 30 cm in length, but the usual size is about 15 cm.

The food of this herbivorous river fish consists of algae. They have a very long intestine for digestion.

The main methods for catching ayu are by means of fly fishing, by using a fish trap, and by fishing with a decoy which is known as "ayu-no-tomozuri" in Japan. The decoy is a living ayu placed on a hook, which swims when immersed into the water. It provokes the territorial behavior of other ayu, which assault the "intruder" and then get caught. Ayu is also fished commercially, and captive juveniles are raised in aquaculture before being released into rivers for sport fishing.

A very romantic way to catch ayu is with trained cormorants and flares at night. The fishermen work from shallow, wooden boats and each of them leads about a dozen cormorants on leashes which swim alongside the boat and dive under the water to catch ayu by swallowing them whole. The bird stores the fish in its crop, and delivers it later to the fisherman (the catch is prevented from being swallowed by a snare around the bird's neck). After that the catch goes via the grill straight into the mouths of the eaters. Cormorant fishing (ukai) is practiced on the Nagaragawa River, Gifu City (May 11 to October 15), on the Hozu River, Arashiyama-Kyoto (July 1 to September 23) and the Uji River, Uji (July to September). These events are popular with tourists from all over the world and special sightseeing courses are offered.

But these are rare, touristic events. Most ayu are caught by rod and line, or trapped as indicated in the above, by sport fishermen.

[Salt-grilled ayu]

The white flesh of ayu has a delicate, somewhat sweet flavor with "melon and cucumber aromas." It is consequently highly prized as a food fish.

Ayu is usually sprinkled with salt and grilled whole (shioyaki). The best season (shun) is summer and autumn. The late season fish, ochiayu, heavy with roe, is especially prized. Ayu are not cleaned, but eaten whole. A common method of preparing ayu in Japan is to skewer it in such a way that its body forms a wave, making it look as though it is swimming.

Photos from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Buri, Yellowtail

Buri. Yellowtail, Japanese amberjack.  ぶり、鰤
(Seriola Quinqueradiata)

Large fish about 15 kilos in weight and reaching a length of 1.3 meters. It is a migrating, fast swimming, predatory fish, found in the north-western Pacific, and belonging to the family of the Carangidae. It is an important fish in the Japanese cuisine.

 

[Buri no terayaki]

Buri is extensively cultivated artificially (about 120,000 tonnes per year) in cages in the sea. In May, small wild fry (mojako), which can be found under floating seaweed, are caught for that purpose.

In Japan, buri is called "shusse-uo," literally a "fish that makes career," which is indicated by the different names by which it is called at different stages of growth. In other words, buri is not always called buri! On top of that, there are many regional differences in naming - I give here those from the Kanto and Kansai which are most common, but note that for example in the Hokuriku area again totally different names are used! The system is basically as follows:

Kanto (Eastern Japan): wakashi (less than 35 cm) → inada (35-60 cm) → warasa (60-80 cm) → buri (more than 80 cm)

Kansai (Western Japan): tsubasu (less than 40 cm) → hamachi (40-60 cm) → mejiro (60-80 cm) → buri (more than 80 cm)

[Buri-daikon]

To make things more complicated, "hamachi" is used in the Kanto area to designate cultivated buri.

The largest number of wild buri is caught in Shimane Prefecturre, followed by Tottori, Nagasaki, and Ishikawa. Cultivated buri mainly come from Kagoshima Prefecture, Ehime, Nagasaki and Oita.

Among the wild buri, the most delicious is the so-called "kan-buri," or "buri from the cold season." This fish has the highest fat content, as it puts on fat in winter before producing eggs in spring. This type of buri, caught in the wild, is a typical delicacy of the Hokuriku area such as Toyama. As also the Sinograph with which buri is written (alluding to "shiwase," the poetical name for the month of December) indicates, buri indeed is a typical winter fish, best from December to February. In Western Japan, the fact that its is a "career fish" gives it an auspicious quality, and therefore it is often used in the meal eaten at the New Year (osechi).

[Nigirizushi of hamachi]

The small fish called inada (hamachi in the Kansai) is in contrast to the full-grown buri a summer fish. The use in the Japanese cuisine is also different:

inada: sashimi, zuke (pickled in soy sauce), marinated.

buri: teriyaki (grilled with a glaze of soy sauce and mirin - see the photo above), shioyaki (grilled with salt), buri-daikon (a form of aradaki, the head and body with the bones still on it simmered in stock flavored with soy sauce, sake and mirin).

Photos from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Bettarazuke, Daikon pickled in Koji

Daikon (radish) pickled in koji. べったら漬.

A type of tsukemono (pickled or preserved vegetables) popular in Tokyo. It can be rather sticky or "bettara" due to the amazake on the surface and that is how it got its name. The taste is crisp and sweet, and it has an alcoholic aroma.

[Betterazuke]

The main difference with takuan, another pickle made from daikon (with the nukazuke method) is that the radishes used for bettarazuke are not dried. Therefore the liquid content of the pickle may be as high as 80%. It does not keep very well and should be consumed soon after opening.

Bettarazuke stems from the Edo period, when at the Takarada Ebisu shrine in Nihonbashi Honcho a "Bettera Fair" (Bettera Ichi) was held on the night of October 19 - a custom which still continues.

Photo own work.

Japanese Food Dictionary

Awabi, Abalone

Awabi, Abalone あわび、鮑
(Haliotis discus discus).

Abalones are small to large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs. These slow-moving, konbu-eating sea snails are very expensive. They can reach a length of up to 20 cm.

Abalone shells are round or oval with a dome towards one end. The shell has perforations sitting in a row, through which water is drawn into the gill cavity and waste products are removed. The muscular foot has strong suction power permitting the abalone to hold on to rocky surfaces. The inside of the house usually shows iridescent mother-of-pearl colors, which are used to make jewelry or mother-in-pearl decorations.

[The raw meat of abalone]

The meat of abalone is since the Heian-period seen as a delicacy. It has a crunchy texture and is full of the aroma of the sea. It is eaten raw as sashimi or on sushi. In kaiseiki and kappo cuisines, one encounters awabi also served steamed, grilled, boiled, or simmered in soy sauce. While the chewiness of raw awabi is quite popular, steaming increases the umami of awabi, and sushi made with steamed awabi (mushi-awabi) is a type of Edomae-zushi that has an exceptional appeal in summer. The intestines (wata) eaten with ponzu sauce are also very flavorful. Awabi is best from summer to fall (shun).

[Ama diving for abalone, by Utamaro (1788-90) ]

In all, this is a real delicacy and a luxury item. In central Honshu (the Bay of Ise) awabi used to be harvested by female divers (ama) - it now still exists as a spectacle for tourists.

[Inside of an abalone]

Photos from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Atsu-age, thick slices of deep-fried tofu

Atsu-age, あつあげ、厚揚げ.

Thick-sliced (2.5 cm) tofu broiled briefly in hot oil. The inside remains soft and white, while the outside is golden brown. Another name for this type of tofu is nama-age. Difference with abura-age: abura-age is thinner and fried through. Can be eaten as such in izakaya etc. with flavoring of soy sauce and ginger, used in oden, miso soup, etc. Pour hot water over the cake and lightly press in paper towels before using it to remove excess oil.

[Atsu-age]

Photo Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Asari, Short-necked clam

Asari, Short-necked clam あさり、浅蜊
(Tapes Philippinarum)

A bivalve mollusk that can reach 7.5 cm in length and 3.5 cm in width. This clam is native to the coasts of the Indian, Philippines and Pacific Oceans from Pakistan and India north to China, Japan, Korea and the Kuril Islands. It can be found in shallow waters in substrates of coarse sand, mud, and gravel. It lives in the littoral and sublittoral zones. It burrows no more than about 10 centimeters into the substrate. It sometimes lives in eelgrass beds.

The color can vary from yellowish white or tan to brown. The shell is often spotted.

[Asari in miso soup]

Only eaten in winter and early spring and never raw. Mainly added with shell and all to miso soup. Also (without shell) used in tsukudani, kakiage and zosui.

This clam is considered to be a sustainable aquaculture product.

Photo Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Anko, Anglerfish

Anko, Anglerfish あんこう、鮟鱇
(Lophiomus setigerus).

Also called "angler," "monkfish" and "seadevil." Grows from 1 to 1.5 meter. One of the most fearsome and ugly fishes in existence. Called "anglerfish" because the first ray of its spinous dorsal sticks out of the head like a line and bait, a device for attracting prey to the wide mouth. Head extremely big, mouth filled with large and sharp teeth. As the body is very soft, anko is not cut on a cutting board, but while hanging down. Lives on sandy mud bottom. Feeds on other fishes, octopus and squid. Found from Hokkaido to Japan's southern prefectures. There are more than 200 species of anglerfish worldwide.

Here is a detailed description of this weird fish from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica at Wikisource:

"The wide mouth extends all round the anterior circumference of the head; and both jaws are armed with bands of long pointed teeth, which are inclined inwards, and can be depressed so as to offer no impediment to an object gliding towards the stomach, but to prevent its escape from the mouth.

The pectoral and ventral fins are so articulated as to perform the functions of feet, the fish being enabled to move, or rather to walk, on the bottom of the sea, where it generally hides itself in the sand or among sea-weed.

All round its head and also along the body the skin bears fringed appendages resembling short fronds of sea-weed, a structure which, combined with the extraordinary faculty of assimilating the color of the body to its surroundings, assists this fish greatly in concealing itself in places which it selects on account of the abundance of prey.

To render the organization of this creature perfect in relation to its wants, it is provided with three long filaments inserted along the middle of the head, which are, in fact, the detached and modified three first spines of the anterior dorsal fin. The filament most important in the economy of the angler is the first, which is the longest, terminates in a lappet, and is movable in every direction. The angler is believed to attract other fishes by means of its lure, and then to seize them with its enormous jaws. It is probable enough that smaller fishes are attracted in this way, but experiments have shown that the action of the jaws is automatic and depends on contact of the prey with the tentacle.

Its stomach is distensible in an extraordinary degree, and not rarely fishes have been taken out quite as large and heavy as their destroyer. It grows to a length of more than 5 ft.; specimens of 3 ft. are common.

The spawn of the angler is very remarkable. It consists of a thin sheet of transparent gelatinous material 2 or 3 ft. broad and 25 to 30 ft. in length. The eggs in this sheet are in a single layer, each in its own little cavity. The spawn is free in the sea. The larvae are free-swimming and have the pelvic fins elongated into filaments. "

 

[Anglerfish]

The anglerfish described above is only a female specimen. Males do not hunt on their own, but have turned into permanent parasitic mates of the female. When a young male anglerfish encounters a female, he latches onto her with his sharp teeth and gradually fuses his body with hers. He connects to her skin and bloodstream and looses his eyes and internal organs except the testes. Females may carry several males on their body.

[Ingredients for Anko-nabe]

Despite its hellish appearance, this fish tastes excellent! Anko is best in winter when it is often eaten as anko nabe (hotpot) after simmering in a sauce of soy and mirin (warishita). The liver (an-kimo) is especially sought after (it is one of the chinmi, special delicacies of Japan) and many people think it tastes even better than foie gras. The cities of Mito in Ibaraki and Iwaki in Fukushima are known for their anko cuisine.

Photos from  Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

An, Red bean paste

An, anko, azukian, sweet paste mostly made from red beans 餡こ、餡子、小豆餡

A paste (mostly) made of red beans (also called "azuki beans"). The paste is prepared by boiling the beans, then mashing or grinding them, and kneading them into a paste. The paste can be sweetened with sugar or left as it is. The color of the paste is usually dark red, which comes from the husk of the beans. The skins of the beans can be removed by sieving, resulting in a smoother and more homogeneous paste.

Red bean paste is distinguished according to its consistency, sweetness, and color. The most common types are Koshian and Tsubuan. Here is a complete list::

• Tsubuan (粒餡): Whole red beans are boiled with sugar but otherwise untreated
• Tsubushian (潰し餡): The beans are mashed after boiling
• Koshian (漉し餡): The beans are passed through a sieve to remove bean skins. This is the most common type
• Sarashian (晒し餡): The beans are dried and reconstituted with water
• Ogura-an (小倉餡): A mix of koshian and tsubuan.
  

[An]

Strictly speaking, the term an can refer to almost any sweet, edible, mashed paste, although without qualifiers red beans are assumed, while azukian refers specifically to the paste made with red beans. Other common forms of an include shiroan (白餡, "white bean paste"), made from white kidney beans, and kurian (栗餡), made from chestnuts (kuri).  Other ingredients can be potatoes, sweet potatoes and lily roots.

An is the basis of all kinds of fresh confectionery (namagashi) that go well with green tea. It is also used in a sweet hot soup with mochi rice cakes called shiruko or zenzai. Also popular are anpan, sandwiches with a filling of an.

[Yokan]

Here is a complete list:

• Anmitsu, a dessert consisting of red bean paste, small cubes of agar jelly, and pieces of fruit served with syrup.
• Anpan, a sweet bun filled with red bean paste.
• Daifuku, a confection consisting of a small round rice cake stuffed with red bean paste.
• Dorayaki, a confection consisting of two small pancake-like patties made from castella wrapped around a filling of red bean paste.
• Manju, a steamed cake filled with red bean paste.
• Oshiruko or Zenzai, adzuki bean soup, commonly served with rice cake.
• Sakuramochi, a Japanese sweet consisting of sweet pink-colored rice cake (mochi) with a red bean paste (anko) center, and wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom (sakura) leaf.
• Taiyaki, a fish-shaped cake stuffed with red bean paste.
• Yokan, a thick jellied dessert made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar.

Photos from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Anago, Conger eel

Conger eel, アナゴ、穴子
(Conger myriaster)

Also called "Japanese conger," a popular seafood dish. Grows usually to 35-50 cm, but congers of up to 1 meter in length also exist. Looks like an ordinary eel, but has conspicuous white dots along its body.

The name "anago" means "child of the hole," because these eels like to bury themselves in the sandy sea bottom with only their heads jutting out, or hide in dark crevices. Found in waters around Japan, Korea and in the East China Sea.　

Delicious as a topping on sushi (after being simmered in seasoned stock, but anago is also eaten raw or deep-fried as tempura. On sushi it is best (shun) from June to August ("Rainy Season delicacy"). Anago has a very soft texture and sweet taste, and melts in the mouth with its savoriness.

In Japan, contrary to other countries, sushi chefs are not very fond of unagi (eel) as they consider eel to oily for sushi. While eel is usually barbecued with a sauce (kabayaki), conger eel is just simmered in stock. Anago is less rich and oily than unagi. Now that unagi is getting scarce, anago is a good replacement.

Kuro-anago, a black variety, grows up to one meter and is mainly used in kamaboko fish paste.

[Anago tempura]

Photo own work.

Japanese Food Dictionary

Amazake, sweet rice drink

Amazake (あまざけ、甘酒、醴) is not a type of sake, as is often wrongly thought, but rather a hot and sweet rice drink that contains no or very little alcohol. It is the perfect refreshment for a cold day. And nowadays there is even amazake for drinking cold in summer!

The saccharification agent koji (Aspergillus Oryzae, a fungus) is set to work on cooled, steamed rice. In less than 48 hours, it turns part of the starch in the rice grains into natural sugars. As the mixture incubates, sweetness develops naturally. To this, water is added.

[Amazake]

An even easier way to make amazake is to use the lees from the sake brewing process (sakekasu). These contain some small traces of alcohol. Usually sugar is also added.

Amazake is often drunk with a pinch of finely grated ginger. It is usually enjoyed piping hot. Amazake is quite healthy and nutritious.

Amazake is sold in winter at stalls, during temple and shrine festivals (often at New Year) and "ready to drink" in cups and cartons in supermarkets. 

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Akagai, ark shell

Akagai, ark shell, blood clam　あかがい、赤貝
(Anadara broughtonii)

The Japanese ark shell has beautiful red flesh. Adult blood clams can reach a shell length of 12 cm and are commercially harvested in China, Japan, and Korea as a source of sashimi. The shell lives at the sandy bottoms of shallow waters at the mouth of rivers or in bays. It has 42 radial ribs in its shell. Like other bivalves of the ark clam family, the respiratory pigment is erythrocruorin, which has iron porphyrin as a prosthetic group like hemoglobin, so the blood is red, which is the origin of the name. When the shell is opened, a lot of the blood comes out, which can be somewhat shocking to see, as it is unexpected in the case of shellfish. 

[Akagai on sushi]

Popular on sushi since the 19th century, it is still the most popular sushi shell due to its delicious aroma. The best season (shun) is spring. The meat is usually washed in vinegar. Popular are organs such as the sphincter. In addition to being used as a topping on sushi, it is also eaten raw with soy sauce and wasabi dipping sauce, or baked (sometimes in the shell). 

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Japanese Food Dictionary

Agedashi-dofu, deep-fried tofu

Agedashi-dofu, deep-fried tofu breaded with potato starch. 揚げ出し豆腐

Firm silken tofu (kinugoshi) is cut into cubes, before being lightly dusted with katakuriko or potato starch and then deep fried until golden brown. It is then served in a hot broth (tentsuyu) made of dashi, mirin, sake and soy sauce, with finely-chopped negi (spring onion), grated daikon radish or katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) sprinkled on top.

[Agedashi-dofu]

An old and well-known dish, already included in a Japanese tofu cookbook Tofu Hyakuchin ("One hundred tofu"), published in 1782, alongside other tofu dishes such as chilled tofu (hiyayakko) and simmered tofu (yudofu).

Other agedashi dishes can be prepared with a similar technique, such as for example agedashi-nasu (揚げ出し茄子), using eggplant. 

Photos from Wikimedia Commons.

Japanese Food Dictionary

Abura-age, deep-fried, thinly sliced tofu

Abura-age, deep-fried, thinly sliced tofu. 油揚げ

Made by cutting tofu into thin slices and deep-frying them first at 110–120 °C, and then again at 180–200 °C.

[Abura-age]

An ingredient of udon dishes called kitsune (fox) udon, because legend tells that foxes are fond of deep fried tofu!  In small stripes, an ingredient of miso soup, and soups of mizuna, komatsuna etc. Also an ingredient in stir fries.

Can also be sliced open and used as a wrapper ("tofu pouch") and filled with vinegared rice to make inari-zushi - "Inari" is a name of the fox deity.

[Inari-zushi]

Remove excess oil before using tofu pouches.

Photos from Wikimedia Commons.

Japanese Food Dictionary

 

Aji, horse mackerel

Aji, horse mackerel, Japanese jack mackerel, Japanese scad
(Trachurus Japonicus)

The Japanese horse mackerel is a very popular and important fish that has delicious oily flesh with lots of DHA and amino acids – the name "aji" means “tasty!” for a good reason. A favorite on Japanese menus since the Nara Period and still going strong - aji is popular and inexpensive. The season (shun) is from May to September, when the fat content is highest thanks to the spawning season, but the fish is in principle available all year. The character with which it is written combines the formal character for "three" with "fish," indicating that it was traditionally caught in the third month (May in the modern calendar).

[Sekiaji from Oita prefecture]

Can grow to 40 cm, but usually smaller, 13-17 cm. Large eyes, projecting lower jaw, curved lateral line of hard scales. Tail in V-form. Fast swimmer. Lives both near bottom, in midwaters and near the surface. Feeds on crustaceans, shrimps and small fishes.

Found in waters around Japan, Korea and in the East and South China Seas.

There are 40 species in the waters around Japan. The most important are the ma-aji, which can be served in a wide variety of ways: on sushi (either fresh or marinated in vinegar and salt), as sashimi, tataki (lightly seared), grilled in salt (shioyaki), deep fried (as karaage or as furai), as nimono, à la meunière, or (the smaller fish) marinated. It is best on sushi in the summer when the fat content is highest. The muro-aji is mainly grilled with salt and the shima aji is a delicacy on sushi and as sashimi.

Photos from Wikimedia Commons.

Japanese Food Dictionary

The Subscription List (Kanjincho), by Namiki Gohei III (1840)

Kanjincho (The Subscription List) is a Kabuki play written by Namiki Gohei III, based on the Noh play Ataka. It is part of the story cycle around Yoshitsune, the famous 12th c. military commander of the Minamoto clan, and his helper, the warrior monk Benkei. The young Yoshitsune had been so successful in the campaigns against the Heike clan that his elder half-brother Yoritomo, the clan leader, had become jealous and turned against him, after which Yoshitsune fled to the more friendly territory of Hiraizumi in northeastern Japan. The play depicts the verbal fencing that occurs when Yoshitsune and Benkei with their followers, dressed as mountain priests (yamabushi), have to pass through the checkpoint barrier at Ataka on their way to the north. The barrier guards have strict orders to capture Yoshitsune and persistently question the travelers, who need all their resourcefulness to pass through the checkpoint, The play was first performed in March 1840 at the Kawarazakiza in Edo and is one of the most popular plays in the modern kabuki repertory.

[Kunichika]

Kanjincho is not only a historical play (jidaimono), but also a dance drama (shosagoto), which uses a nagauta ensemble. And it is a matsubame-mono, a Kabuki play based on a Noh play.

The plot is as follows:

Togashi Saemon, a local noble who is in charge of the barrier, explains in an introductory speech the reason why Yoritomo has ordered checkpoints set up all over the country. He warns his men to be vigilant, for Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the great warrior of the Minamoto clan, is said to be traveling to the north, disguised as a yamabushi.

Yoshitsune and his small party of retainers enter along the hanamichi to a famous passage of lyrical singing (nagauta). Yoshitsune's men were for fighting their way past the barrier, but the formidable Musashibo Benkei, Yoshitsune's right-hand man, advises against it and proposes a ruse: Yoshitsune is dressed as a porter with a wide straw hat, carrying a load on his back and bringing up the rear. Benkei then leads the group to the barrier, where he claims that they are simple priests journeying around the northern provinces, seeking donations for the rebuilding of the Todaiji in Nara.

Togashi asks that they prove themselves to be priests and demands to see a kanjincho, a subscription scroll in which the purpose of the fund raising is explained and people are exhorted to donate generously. In a particularly famous moment in Kabuki, Benkei pulls out a blank scroll and begins reading from it as if it were a real subscription list, in a magnificent improvisation. As Benkei is reading, Togashi tries to catch a glimpse of the scroll - Benkei's pose as he attempts to keep the scroll from being seen, is very famous in Kabuki. But Togashi does manage to glance at the scroll and Benkei realizes that Togashi has seen that there is nothing written on it.

But although Togashi knows for certain now that the scroll is a fake, he says nothing as he appreciates Benkei's courageous ingenuity and is prepared to let him go on with the deception. Togashi then asks Benkei in a yamabushi-mondo about the costume and equipment of a priest and the meaning of some difficult Buddhist terms. Benkei answers all these questions correctly. Togashi is very impressed by Benkei's display of knowledge, and says there is no longer any suspicion. He thanks Benkei for having given him the chance to come into contact with Buddhism and asks to make his own offering to the fund.

Togashi gives the group permission to pass through the barrier, but when Yoshitsune is about to go through it, he is recognized by one of the guards and ordered to stop. Benkei, thinking quickly, pretends that Yoshitsune is simply his personal porter and censures him for arousing suspicion and causing trouble. In a second climax, he even strikes him - striking one's superior in feudal Japanese society was a lèse-majesté crime. The compassionate Togashi sees through the ruse, but out of admiration for Benkei's devotion to his master, allows the group to pass. When they have safely passed the barrier, Yoshitsune thanks Benkei, and his display of gratitude as well as Benkei's emotional reaction to it, form the third climax of the play.

Meanwhile, Togashi has followed them with an offer of sake to speed them on their journey. Benkei becomes drunk and performs a "dance of longevity" (ennen no  mai). At one point, he signals Yoshitsune and the others to depart while the barrier guards are not watching. As Benkei leaves, he turns one last time to Togashi, whom he knows now has to pay with his own life for helping the enemy.

As the curtain falls, Benkei is left alone at the foot of the hanamichi, to perform his famous tobiroppo exit, a Kabuki technique for leaving the scene, chasing after the others in a series of exaggerated leaps and bounds.

In this way, the relatively short play is full of highlights. Benkei's role is a difficult one, demanding a heroic and stirring yet thoughtful character, and needing both oratorical skill and accomplishment in dance.

[Ebizo Ichikawa V as Benkei and Danjuro Ichikawa VIII as Tokashi,
by Kunisada]

Kanjincho by Namiki Gohei III from 1840 was not the first Kabuki play about the troubles of Benkei and Yoshitsune at the Ataka Barrier. A well-known earlier play is Gohiiki Kanjincho, "Great Favorite Subscription List," by Sakurada Jisuke I, dating from 1773. This is even more an aragoto-style showpiece than Kanjincho and it also contains quite a lot of farce. The ending is also different: when Benkei remains behind, he does battle with the barrier guards and kills them all. He then puts their severed heads in a huge vat with water and performs a grotesque "potato washing" (imo arai), what in fact seems to be a New Year's ceremony (normally with real potatoes, not heads!). So it makes the play suitable for a New Year's kaomise performance. But in this play everything is exaggerated - the flamboyant mie poses, the larger-than-life characters, the colorful kumadori make-up, and the long battle scene - the play by Namiki Gohei III is closer to the original Noh play, more realistic and above all more sophisticated. Moreover, in the course of the years, the production has been refined by many famous actors, making Kanjincho a very popular repertory piece that is performed regularly even today.

A film adaptation worth mentioning is The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (Tora no O wo Fumu Otokotachi), by Kurosawa Akira, filmed in 1945. Kurosawa added a character not in the original: a porter, played by the popular comedian Enoken. His total misunderstanding of the principles motivating the behavior of the samurai slyly undermines the feudal ideology of the play. In other words, this is a rather strongly anti-feudal film - something the Occupation authorities didn't get, for they banned the film in the immediate postwar years and it was only shown in 1953.

Kanjincho was translated into English by James R. Brandon and Tamako Niwa in Kabuki Plays (The Zen Substitute and The Subscription List), published in 1966 and now out of print.

Gohiiki Kanjincho is available in Kabuki Plays on Stage, Villainy and Vengeance 1773-1799, ed. James Brandon & Samual Leiter (Hawaii U.P.) in a translation by Leonard C. Pronko.

The Noh play Ataka is available in Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600, ed. Haruo Shirane (Columbia) in a translation by Anthony H. Chambers.

Illustrations from Wikimedia Commons.

Greatest Plays of All Time

 

Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan, by Tsuruya Nanboku IV (1825)

Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan (The Ghost Stories of Yotsuya on the Tokaido) is the most famous Japanese ghost story of all time, written as a Kabuki play in 1825 by Tsuruya Nanboku IV. The five act summer play appeared at the Nakamuraza Theater in Edo on a double bill with the immensely popular Kanadehon Chushingura. Over two days, both plays were given in full, Yotsuya Kaidan interwoven with Chushingura and commenting on it by problemetizing the value of the traditional vendetta, as well as by contrasting its ghosts and grim lower class life with the aristocratic heroics of the other play.

[Hokusai's image of Oiwa emerging from the lantern]

The details of the Yotsuya Kaidan story were altered over time and numerous characters and subplots were added. Here is the main plot of the original Kabuki play of 1825.

Yotsuya, now fully incorporated into Tokyo, at the time of the play was a village near Edo. Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan was performed with the costumes and sets suited to the gritted low-life (kizewamono) of the Bunsei period (1818-1830). Act 1 is a sort of prologue which establishes the evil characters of the protagonists, in particular Iemon's treachery toward his master Enya Hangan (from Chushingura) and Iemon's murder of Oiwa's father. This sets into motion the play's main theme: Oiwa's vendetta against Iemon, which parodies the feudal revenge against Ko no Moronao in Chushingura.

Act 2 stresses Iemon's uncouthness. Oiwa has just had their baby and feels ill, but Iemon is disgusted at her unkempt appearance. Out of need for money, Iemon has turned to making paper umbrellas. Oume, the beautiful granddaughter of their wealthy neighbor, has fallen in love with him. A revolving stage is used to contrast with dramatic effect the poverty of Iemon with the splendor of Oume and her grandfather Kihei. Oume's grandfather wants Iemon to marry his granddaughter and become his heir; he therefore has sent Oiwa a medicine which will spoil her beauty. Oiwa naively drinks the medicine, which is in fact a sort of poison, and when it starts to work her face is horribly disfigured. Most famous is her left eye, which droops down her face, a feature exaggerated in Kabuki performances to give Oiwa a distinct appearance. In order to have grounds for a divorce, Iemon has asked Takuetsu, a masseur, to seduce Oiwa and elope with her. Takuetsu is unable to do that but instead forces Oiwa to look in a mirror at her own horrible face.

Iemon has carried off all Oiwa's belongings to sell and with the money buy some fine clothes for his wedding that same night at the neighbor's mansion. Oiwa is overcome with a jealous rage - when she combs her hair it falls all out, magnifying her ugliness (a subversion of erotically-charged hair combing scenes in Kabuki love plays). This is always played for effect by having the actor pull out an improbable amount of hair, which piles up to tremendous heights, thanks to a stage hand who sits under the stage and pushes more and more hair up through the floor while Oiwa is combing. Finally, she even wrings blood from her hair. 

Realizing that she has been deceived, Oiwa becomes hysterical and, picking up a sword, runs towards the door to take revenge on Oume. Takuetsu tries to stop her from leaving, and Oiwa, wanting to evade him, accidentally cuts her own throat with the sword's tip. As she lies bleeding to death before a stunned Takuetsu, she curses Iemon's name. Takuetsu flees in panic.

Iemon returns and - as the scheme with Takuetsu has failed - murders his servant, Kohei, so that he can blame his wives' death on him. To make it look as if Oiwa and Kohei were lovers who have committed "double suicide," he orders his cronies to nail their bodies on opposite sides of a raindoor and throw it into the Onbo Canal.

Not long after, Kihei and Oume arrive at Iemon's house for the marriage. They will both spend the night there. However, when Iemon approaches Oume sitting in his bedroom to sleep with her, she turns into the ghost of Oiwa and he cuts of her head - of course he slashes off the head of Oume. And when he turns to Kihei, he sees Kohei and the same things happens - he cuts off the head of Kihei. Struggling with a ghostly force that wants to hold him back, he finally manages to escape from the house. Thus ends Act 2.

In act 3, Iemon attempts to go into hiding, but while fishing one day his hook is caught in a heavy object. On closer inspection it turns out to be the raindoor onto which he had previously nailed his wife. In one of the most famous and shocking stage tricks in Kabuki, the "raindoor switch," a single actor plays the part of both Oiwa's and Kohei's corpses, which have been nailed to either side of the raindoor. Both come briefly to life - raising their hands beseechingly as if calling him - before turning into skeletons. By the way, there happens more in this scene. Before the raindoor makes its appearance, Iemon meets among others Kihei's wife (the grandmother of Oume) at the canal side and after she accuses him of killing her husband and daughter, he kicks her into the canal.

At the end of this scene, various other characters emerge in the darkness and play a nighttime mime scene (danmari) as they search for a scroll containing the names of the vendetta conspirators (in a subplot linked to the Chushingura play).

Act 4 contains a subplot about Oiwa's sister, Osode, but in the final act we return again to Iemon. Iemon, still haunted by the ghost of Oiwa, flees to an isolated mountain retreat, Snake Mountain Hermitage. There he rapidly descends into madness as his dreams and reality begin to merge and Oiwa's haunting intensifies. At the time of the Tanabata Festival he dreams about a beautiful woman who closely resembles Oiwa - the  dream culminates in a love scene (nureba), but the ghost is finally transformed into a monster.

Iemon intends to renounce his loyalty to Hangan and instead gain admission into Moronao's service (again linking up with Chushingura). In a scene full of special effects, Oiwa confounds Iemon's plan. A famous scene here was added in 1831: a "lantern-escape episode" in which Oiwa's blood-smeared ghost directly confronts Iemon by peeking out from a large lantern he is just trying to light. And in the so-called "Buddhist altar-change episode" the ghost of Oiwa is played by an actor attached to a wheel built into the scenery, appearing and disappearing from behind the Buddhist altar. It seems as if she is floating just under the ceiling and from that position she strangles Iemon's companion Chobei. She takes his body with her and blood starts dripping down from the altar. This is followed by a series of other graphic murder scenes: Oiwa kills both parents of Iemon who had come to the hermitage. When she appears, the stage swarms with rats who are her helpers - Oiwa was born in the Year of the Rat. The play ends with the death of Iemon during a highly stylized combat scene (he is finally killed by Yomoshichi, the husband of Oiwa's sister).

[Lantern scene by Kuniyoshi]

Tsuruya Nanboku IV (1755-1829) is known for writing plays in both the ghost story (kaidan mono) and raw-life genres. Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan is a masterful combination of those two styles.

Oiwa is more brutal in her vengeance than previous Kabuki ghosts. This added level of violence thrilled audiences, who were seeking more and more violent forms of entertainment. In addition, the performance of Yotsuya Kaidan was filled with fantastic special effects, with Oiwa's ruined face projecting magnificently from an onstage lantern, and her hair falling out in impossible amounts.

Another Kabuki technique repeatedly used in the play is the "quick change" (hayagawari), in which a single actor plays several roles, changing from one to another with incredible speed - an example is the raindoor scene where the same actor plays Oiwa and Kohei. Today, only (parts of) acts 2, 3 and 5 are commonly performed but they allow actors interesting double roles.

Nanboku incorporated two sensational and real-life murders into Yotsuya Kaidan, combining fact and fiction in a manner that resonated with audiences. The first involved two servants who had murdered their respective masters. They were caught and executed on the same day. The second murder was from a samurai who discovered his concubine was having an affair with a servant. The samurai had the faithless concubine and servant nailed to a wooden raindoor and thrown into the Kanda River.

As a popular Kabuki play, Yotsuya Kaidan soon became a much used subject for ukiyo-e artists, as Shunkosai Hokushu, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Kuniyoshi.

Scores of film adaptations were made, starting as early as 1912 and continuing into the present century (for example, Nakata Hideo in 2007). The best adaptation is The Ghost of Yotsuya (Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan), filmed in 1959 by Nakagawa Nobuo. Other famous versions of the story were made by Mori Masaki in 1956 and by Toyoda Shiro in 1965, but Nakagawa Nobuo tops them all. In 1994, Kinji Fukasaku returned to the Kabuki roots and combined the stories of Chushingura and Yotsuya Kaidan into the single Crest of Betrayal. Interestingly, Sadako from the film Ring by Nakata Hideo is a clear homage to Oiwa, including the cascading hair and drooping, malformed eye.

There is no full translation of Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan available - today, only acts 2, 3 and 5 are commonly performed -, but the major scenes from those acts have been translated in Kabuki Plays On Stage, Darkness and Desire 1804-1864, ed. James Brandon & Samuel Leiter (Hawaii U.P.) by Paul B. Kennelly (Act 2), and in Traditional Japanese Theater, An Anthology of Plays, ed. Karen Brazell (Columbia U.P.) by Mark Oshima (Acts 3 and 5). 

Illustration from Wikimedia Commons

Greatest Plays of All Time