What's Happenin' In Japan

"My Chopsticks" Movement Sweeps Japan

2007-07-28

posted by Akemi

This has popped up in blogs and commentary before, but Sankei Shimbun is reporting on the increasing popularity of "My Hashi" in Japan, spurred by environmental concerns as well as worry about the safety of Chinese-made products.

The term "My Hashi" is a linguistic mix of terms like "My Shoes" or "My Ball" that refer to your own personal bowling shoes or bowling ball, and "hashi," the Japanese word for chopsticks. If you've ever eaten at a Japanese restaurant, you're probably familiar with the disposable wooden chopsticks that usually accompany the meal. The same is true for nearly every non-European-style restaurant in Japan, and given the popularity of boxed lunches and after-work munching, that adds up to a lot of chopsticks.

One place the proliferation of personal chopsticks is visible is in "izakaya," pubs that serve appetizers along with the drinks. It's a common practice for bars and pubs to have a place set aside for "personal" bottles of liquor tagged for use by a particular customer. Now the same is being done for chopsticks--a shelf full of name-tagged chopsticks for that customer's personal use.

For example, one company that runs a chain of 740 pubs has switched entirely from disposable wood chopsticks to reusable plastic ones. Further, an increasing number of their pubs are adding a "my hashi keep service," where customers buy a pair of chopsticks for 280 yen (about US$2.50) that are kept at the bar. They've even sweetened the deal by offering customers who use their own chopsticks points toward a free meal. If environmental concern wasn't enough, the prospect of free food has apparently made this popular among businesspeople.

Another example on the less leisurely end of the spectrum is a city hall in Chiba prefecture. Beginning this July, they're requiring their 2800 employees to bring their own chopsticks for lunch. There were complaints, but this simple move will keep 410,000 chopsticks--about two tons worth--out of the garbage every year.

Then there are "pocket" chopsticks, which come with a case or bag so they can be easily carried for meals away from home. The convenience store chain Mini Stop has started selling "my hashi" made of deluxe Japanese-grown cypress, and the competing chain Lawson has supplied their 4500 employees with pocket chopsticks.

On the higher end of the scale there's the newly opened upscale chopstick shop Nihon-bo--meaning "Two Sticks"--in Tokyo. They carry colorful chopsticks, quality pocket chopsticks, chopsticks that fold up for added portability, and first-class Wakasanuri-hashi (a type of laquerware) that can sell for an unbelievable 520,000 yen (US$4,400) per pair. The store told the Sankei Shimbun that a combination of environmental awareness and concerns about the safety of Chinese-made disposable chopsticks have kept business brisk. They report that 70% of shoppers are women, and the younger generation has also taken an interest in these more traditional utensils.

"Having a personal rice bowl and chopsticks is part of Japan's unique culture," the shopkeeper was quoted as saying. "We should enjoy meals with our own chopsticks even when we eat out."

As for how much of a difference skipping the disposable chopsticks can really make, quite a bit. According to the Japanese Forest Agency, the Japanese run through about 26 billion disposable chopsticks every year, an average of 200 chopsticks per person. Do the math and that works out to well over 100,000 tons of waste to deal with, not to mention a significant impact on forests in China.

Currently 98% of disposable chopsticks in Japan are imported, almost all from China. The Japanese Forest Agency was quick to defend the 2% produced domestically, though, pointing out that they are produced from scrap wood like mill ends and small trees culled in forest thinning projects. This waste-to-product industry, they claim, makes more efficient use of Japan's limited resources.

If you want to take part in this easy environmental gesture yourself, there are Japanese restaurants across the world that offer the same sort of "my chopsticks" service for regular customers, and you might even consider BYOC the next time you eat out at an Asian restaurant.

Labels: environment, food

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Cubic Watermelons Ship After Drought-Induced Delay

2007-06-28

posted by Akemi

FNN is reporting that Zentsuuji City, located in Kagawa prefecture, has just begun shipping its world-famous signature agricultural product, the square watermelon.

This spring was unusually dry, which lead to a one-week delay in the melons reaching marketable size. Zentsuuji City is the only place in the country (possibly the world) that produces the boxy produce. On the morning of the 25th, six farms that produce the produce delivered 124 of the melons to JA's distribution center. From there, most of the melons make their way to the department stores of Tokyo and Osaka, where they sell for about 15,000 yen (US$120) apiece.

To get the unusual shape, the young melons are placed into a 20cm (8 inch) reinforced plastic frame. As they grow, the box forces them into the unusual shape. Whether a square melon would be easier to eat is a question that remains unanswered, however, since the melons aren't allowed to fully ripen--they're entirely decorative.

As for who's spending a small fortune on an inedible watermelon, the report doesn't say.

Labels: food, weird products

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Random Video of the Day: Bucket-sized Parfait

2007-06-19

posted by Akemi

Japan is well known for the prowess of its professional eaters, and one NNN variety show (streaming WMV, no subtitles) takes a look at a couple of restaurants offering unique challenges.

One eatery specializes in parfaits. They will stick nearly anything in a fancy glass--including one topped with an entire slice of cake. But their piece de resistance is the monstrous Bucket Parfait. Served in, quite literally, a metal bucket, the 4kg (not including the weight of the bucket) dessert consists of 3 liters of ice cream with assorted other confections plastered to the outside--among other things the better part of a pineapple, several other fruits, a few large ice cream cones, and about a box of pocky. It's served sprouting several lit sparklers.

Surprisingly, it's actually a popular item (among groups, obviously)--the owner (who has had carpal tunnel surgery from scooping so much hard ice cream) says he's served as many as ten in a single day.

The TV show brings in a renowned eater--a woman who looks to weigh less than the parfait she's challenging--to consume the beast. As it turns out, her enemy isn't the size, but the fact that eating nearly a gallon of ice cream in one sitting makes you very, very cold. Solution? Hot packs on the back, and then eating a large plate of steaming curry and rice for a break from dessert. Yes, she stuck a full-sized dinner in there just to warm up. AND finishes up with the lunch special.

The show also takes a break midway to visit at an Okonomiyaki joint with one unusual menu item. Okonomiyaki is a popular Kansai-region food that is something like a dinner pancake--a variety of vegetables and meat mixed with batter and cooked on a griddle into a flat cake that is eaten with a sort of barbecue sauce. Okonomiyaki is usually about the size of your average pancake, but this restaurant also serves a pizza-sized 3kg plate that includes, among other things, ten eggs and an entire head of cabbage.

If you manage to eat it in 20 minutes, you not only get it free, but you even win a 1010 yen (about $8) prize. The show follows one slightly portly fellow on his second attempt to eat his way to victory. Unfortunately for him, the food wins again, so he goes home full but poorer.

The video is sans-subtitles, but pretty much speaks for itself. It will be available into July, so have a look if you're so inclined.

Labels: food, wacky TV

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Ice Cucumber Pepsi Hits Japan

2007-06-12

posted by Akemi

There's a new product hitting the shelves of Japan for a limited run this summer: Ice Cucumber Pepsi.

The gimmick product is being produced by the sole Japanese distributor of Pepsi products, Suntory Limited, a company best known for whisky and beer (you may remember their product from Lost in Translation). Apparently Suntory and Pepsico sat down to come up with a completely new seasonal product and settled on the rather unexpected cucumber. The company has already committed to produce a fixed number of bottles, with the product being rolled out to coincide with the hottest time of year in Japan, which is also (of course) the best season for soda sales.

The somewhat radioactive-looking teal liquid is being sold only in half-liter bottles for 147 yen (with tax--about US$1.20). The label features a bold (and English) "Ice Cucumber" and the following descriptive text in Japanese: "'CUCUMBER' means cucumber in English, and this surprising combination of cola and cucumber is a refreshing cola!"

So how does it taste?

Business Media Makoto, a business news site, offers a detailed review (J). According to the writer it smells something like cucumber; sort of grassy. They say it tastes something like Pepsi's cola, and while it doesn't taste much like cucumber, it does have a cuke-ish aftertaste. After drinking some, they claim the subtlety of the flavor comes out, and brings to mind something like cucumber, the white part of watermelon rind, or maybe diluted melon-flavored shaved ice.

This does not, admittedly, sound terribly appealing, but their reviewer says it's actually better than expected although it's pretty sweet. Commenters elsewhere on the web mostly say that it only smells like cucumber and tastes more like melon (as in cantaloupe, a popular flavor in Japan), although one person did say it reminded them of Ramune, a classic, fruity Japanese soda.

The drink does not, by the way, actually contain any cucumber--the label just lists artificial flavors and fructose.

Whether this wacky new flavor will appeal to overheated soda-drinkers looking for something different remains to be seen.

Labels: food, weird products

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