Photographs from a small group of islands
Whilst Japan has a zero tolerance approach in regards to drug use, it doesn’t mean that people are lacking in knowledge when it comes to illegal substances.
Far from it in fact. This ‘My Little Syringe’ and syrup set* for example giving youngsters an early chance to get acquainted with intravenous drug paraphernalia.
*Strap sold separately.
After years of, ahem, fruitless effort, 71-year-old Tetsuo Watanabe has finally achieved his ambition of growing an apple over a thousand grammes in weight. The happy horticulturist boasting, “I have finally achieved my goal.â€
Watanabe-san’s Stark Jumbo apple — a variety unsurprisingly known for its size — measures a whopping 15 centimetres in diameter; weighing an equally impressive 1,030 grammes. Yet despite his understandable glee, the large fruit specialist may well have achieved his aim last year, had a similarly large apple he’d nurtured not been stolen.
However after finally tasting success, Mr. Watanbe appeared relaxed about the theft, even joking, “Next year, I want to grow an apple too big to stealâ€. The old man’s sense of humour equally apparent in this decidedly freaky looking photo.
On Tuesday morning, a fleet of whaling ships bound for the Antarctic, left Shimonoseki, in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The purpose of the trip being more ‘experimentation’ for the Institute of Cetacean Research.
During the expedition, the institute hopes to bag its first batch of fin whales – ten apparently being enough. Plus in what will no doubt be a busy trip, the research organization plans on doubling its catch of mink whales. Bringing the figure to somewhere in the region of 850.
Now the cynical amongst us may point an accusing finger at such ‘studies’, claiming that it’s merely a ruse for the commercial sale of whale meat. The recent introduction of whale burgers arguably backing up such claims.
Yet this is obviously grabbing the wrong end of the stick. Asked (on its website) if the research program wasn’t simply commercial whaling in disguise, the Institute of Cetacean Research robustly stated:
The fact that the whale meat ends up on the market is a requirement of the treaty to ensure that resources are not wasted. It is not a “loophole” or “illegal” or “commercial whaling in disguise” as the anti-whaling rhetoric suggests. Income from the sale of by-products (meat) is used to partially offset the cost of the research.
Ah, now it all makes sense. The sale of whale meat helps fund further research trips, which in turn just happens to produce more edible extras. So much so in fact that kids can now enjoy the odd bit of whale in their school lunch. A situation that harks back to ‘the good old days’ when there was precious little else to eat.
Anyway, regardless of what any doubters may think, the institute clearly believes that the big greedy beasts deserve all they get. Why? Well, do you know how much they eat?
The research has found for example that whales are consuming 3 to 5 times the amount of marine living resources as are caught for human consumption. In the waters around Japan we have a situation of declining catches in certain fisheries while at the same time the sampling from our research program reveals that minke whales are eating at least 10 species of fish including Japanese anchovy.
Yes, it seems they are nothing but gluttons, wolfing down fish like it’s going out of fashion. And Japanese anchovy too! With behaviour like this, perhaps ‘research’ is exactly what they deserve.
Or not, as they case may be.
Given that approximately 96.37% of Japanese television programmes have a food-based theme, it should come as no surprise to anyone that certain individuals have started the practice of designating days to individual dishes. And to get the ball rolling, October 30th will now forever be linked with ‘tamago-kake gohan’ — a splendidly simple rice and egg dish. Its uncomplicated nature encompassed in these four easily manageable steps:
1. Make some rice and put it in a bowl.
2. Pour over a raw egg and a dash of soy sauce.
3. Mix together. Vigorously if so inclined.
4. Eat.
The surprisingly well supported tamago-kake symposium was held in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, where participants passionately discussed the merits of the gooey egg and rice combination. Plus as hard as it is to believe, proceedings were spiced up even further with an award ceremony; a member of the group being honoured for managing to eat tamago-kake gohan for 30 straight days. And before any passerby got the chance to yell ‘cholesterol’ or ‘salmonella’, the prize winner enthusiastically explained that whilst he began tiring of the taste after only 10 days, by adding a nutritious (yet undisclosed) tonic to the soy sauce, he was able to infuse the dish with a bit of variety and soldier on for the remainder of his challenge.
Warming to his topic, the egg enthusiast continued to wow the crowd by confessing that on the last day he added beer to the concoction — making it into a celebration of sorts. Finally rounding off the spellbinding story by proclaiming, “The tastiness of tamago-kake gohan is universal.â€
A statement that could probably be deemed as something of an exaggeration.
What on earth could it be?
Why, it’s an exciting Japanese snack of course.
And if that wasn’t enough, it’s hot too.