Photographs from a small group of islands
Yes, a soy sauce animation. Not something you get to see everyday it has to be said. Or at least I don’t anyway.
I’ll warn you now it’s quite odd, and the only information I can give you is that it’s made by a sauce manufacturer. I think. Hence the topic. So without further delay click here to experience Kikkoman, and feel free to sing along if you want to.
I’ve mentioned before on this site how David Beckham has managed to attain god-like status in Japan. He’s the lord of fashion, a hairstyling guru, and at times even a half-decent footballer. But in an attempt to embellish his CV even further, he’s recently taken on the role of chocolate covered foodstuff promoter.
Now Mr. Beckham has made some pretty woeful commercials for Japanese TV, but his latest offering in support of Fran chocolate is arguably his worst.
Brace yourself, and then click here for the full ad in all its misconceived glory. And as David philosophically suggests, be sweet!
The current avian flu scare sweeping across Asia, and concerns about mad cow disease in North America, have created something of a boom for Japan’s Ostrich farmers.
Bird flu has already struck in Japan, but so far ostriches are in the clear. And as the birds’ upper legs and back apparently taste like beef, their popularity is soaring (no pun intended).
One chef even went so far as to claim that “If beef, pork, and chicken are the big three meats, this (ostrich meat) is the fourth.â€
So there you go.
kokku-san. This is the Japanese pronunciation of cook (and a word that is also used for chef).
Even though I’ve been here for over 5 years, the cry of kokku-san never fails to amuse me. Kokku obviously sounds like cock, with the added san being a polite term similar to Mr. (or Ms.). So it means that after years of study and hard work, a chef ends up saddled with the name Mr. Cock.
As comedy goes, I know it’s not exactly high brow, but you’ve got to admit it’s pretty funny. No?
I’ve always been a beer drinker, but in a desperate attempt to slow down the ever-increasing size of my stomach, I’ve recently started drinking wine. So on a recent visit to Ginza, I had a look in the rather fancy wine shop Enoteca.
The shop contains all manner of wines, which unfortunately mean little or nothing to me. But one bottle in particular caught my eye. Lying in a wooden box dangerously near the door, was a bottle of wine with the hefty price tag of 130,000 Yen (675 Pounds). No cover, no chain, no security at all. It was just there, begging to be stole purchased.
Can you imagine that in any other country? I don’t know whether the owners are either very trusting or very foolish, but in a bid to teach them the error of their ways, I had no choice but to steal it.
No, only joking.
Or am I?
