 |
| Green Tea KitKat |
Just like Sakura, tea is an important symbol of Japanese life. It is everywhere. I never liked green tea until I had a cup in Japan. In fact I brought back Japanese green tea leaves so that I could start my day with green tea. Nestle produces many verities of KitKat only for Japanese market. Green Tea KitKat is one of the most popular chocolate flavor among those.
 |
| Green Tea Mochi |
Seafood based food is common in Japanese culture since the fish and other creatures have been the key for survival in this tough terrain. Rice is another Japanese favorite. Japanese believe that the short grain and sticky '
Gohan' is the best rice variety in the world. Remember that rice, not fish, is the key ingredient of famous Japanese Sushi. Traditional Japanese sweet
mochi is also made by rice. Of course sugar is added along with the flavor of choice. I liked the green tea mochi sprinkled with 24 karat gold particles as shown in the picture.
 |
| Indo Ryori at Kamakura Bhavan |
When I visited Japan for the first time, people scared me that a vegetarian like me will not find anything to eat there. Even an incorrigible optimist like me had to carry granola bars with me to be on safer side. Contrary to general belief, it is not difficult to find vegetarian food in Japan. Language could be a barrier but almost everyone knows the term vegetarian, commonly pronounced as '
bejitarian'.
 |
| Guards protects the shrines |
In fact there is a native vegetarian food category, called '
sh┼Нjin ry┼Нri' literally meaning 'devotional food' which is derived from the practice of non-violence. A friend told me that sh┼Нjin ry┼Нri, not only spares animals, it doesn't really kill any plants. This kind food is generally comprised of soy, tofu, nuts, seeds, fruits or leaves, used without killing a plant. Just like the concept of traditional Indian '
Satvik' food, '
sh┼Нjin ry┼Нri' restricts foods like garlic and alcohol too.
For me it was always easy to find an Indian restaurant, and order vegetarian food of my choice. The Japanese term for Indian food is '
Ind┼Н ry┼Нri'. Many of the Indian restaurants in Japan are owned by people from Nepal. But we found a good one in Kamakura which was run by a Japanese who lived in South India. It is a tradition in Japan to display three dimensional real looking plastic food outside the restaurant to give you an idea of how your order will look.
 |
| Achal Nath is among five wisdom kings |
As a nation, Japan has a lot of distinctive attributes, but if I have to describe only one in a sentence, I would say, "If you want to understand the meaning of politeness, visit Japan at least once in your lifetime."
My 2017 trip was my third visit to Japan. Each time I visited Japan, I loved this country more than before. Though this time I was limited to Tokyo metropolitan area, I could explore a lot of areas, especially shrines on foot.
 |
| A street in Asakusa |
I was born and brought up in India. I have lived in various regions of India and traveled extensively throughout the country before coming to USA. Arriving in Japan from USA is almost like homecoming. Of course, I don't understand the Japanese language, but that's true about many languages of India too. There were occasions in India while travelling in a bus or train when everyone around me was speaking a language which I did not understand. Japan gives me a similar feeling as if I am in India, and I don't understand the language of that region. In fact it stimulates some memories of my childhood and teenage years when I spent some time in Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir states.
Of course there are sad reminders of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. There are cute Jizo Bosatsu statues (Sanskrit: Ksitigarbha Bodhisatva) in many shrines. Jizo is depicted as a cute little child with an intention to protect all beings, especially the children, from sufferings. I heard that the devotees can adopt a specific Jizo statue and take care of it.
