Signs of Spring

When I started drafting this, it was still Sakura season. There are countless varieties of these blooms, so while the most famous variety appears for only a few days, I think of Sakura season being a weeks-long affair. 

Taken by my sakura-smitten daughter

According to Wikipedia, licensed courtesans in 17th century Japan were not allowed outside their quarters except to visit dying relatives and, once a year, to view the cherry blossoms. Such was, and is, the significance of this season. It is the renewal of both the academic and fiscal year, a syncopated step off from most of the rest of the world. If you are visiting Japan during this time, my advice would be…head for the countryside. Forget Tokyo, Kyoto. This year foreign tourists returned will full force alongside domestic tourists spurred on by the government’s travel subsidies. Points of the city became no-go zones. Can barely walk and breathe, let alone enjoy cherry blossoms. So go country, or come earlier or later for the less iconic (though no less spectacular) varieties. 

It is also the season for fresh bamboo shoots, takenoko. This is Japan’s takenokozeit. Its ubiquity is such that it turns up at roadside pit stops in the form of soba and takenoko. It’s sold fresh for bags at supermarkets (for only the equivalent of $5 usd). 

It's hard to appreciate how big they are...each is the size of my foot.

Cooking fresh shoots is a bit of a production, but the taste is worth it compared to the prepackaged type. The shoots have to be washed well. They underground and come with a lot of dirt, which I somehow take as a sure sign of freshness. The tips have to be cut off and the outer layer slitted to ensure the insides cook. Most importantly, they have too simmer in rice bran, or absent that, the water leftover from washing white rice. This helps neutralize the bitterness and natural toxins found in bamboo shoots. Finally, after cooking, the tough outer layers are peeled off to reveal the tender center.

My favorite thing to do with these is to sauté them with Japanese mayonnaise and season with sea salt and seaweed. I’ve embraced Japanese ingredients and given up on sticking to old favorites. It is just easier (and less expensive) to make Japanese curry compared to American chili. I haven’t seen a cannellini bean or a fennel in two years. I do miss them, but...when in Rome, right (does this apply when you are actually living in "Rome")? 

What else? It's May 1st today and I am reminded of all those who work impossibly hard - even on the day that was meant as a tribute to them - so we have food delivered to our doorstep the exact time we want it, so we don't deal with the garbage we produce, so we can place convenience on a pedestal and easily forget all the inconveniences necessary to create it. It is a day where I am thinking of all the things I too often take for granted. 

In Japan, the first week of May is Golden Week, a volley of holidays within a seven day period. It began with Showa Day at the end of last week. May 3 will be Constitution Day, marking the establishment of Japan's postwar constitution. May 4 is Greenery Day (because it is said that the former Emperor Showa loved plants and nature...), and finally, May 5 is Children"s Day, marked by the iconic carp streamers fluttering outside homes, parks, and other public spaces. Golden Week is possibly Japan's most popular week for travel, and it will be insanely crowded everywhere. The husband is on call anyways. The plan is to stay put, clean the house, put away our winter clothes, cook things we don't usually have time to cook, and play lots and lots of Uno, to which E is completely addicted. 

Golden Week 2022

Golden Week is a cluster of Japanese holidays that all occur in the last week of April and the first week of May. The first two are historical holidays: Showa Day (honoring the Emperor Showa) and Constitution Day (celebrating the establishment of the modern Japanese Constitution). Then comes Greenery Day, which as its name would suggests, celebrates nature. Finally, there is Children's Day, which traditionally celebrated boys and fathers (there is a Girls Day in March) but now celebrates boys and girls as well as their parents and family unity in general. 

Japanese workplaces don't offer as many annual personal days or vacation days compared to its western European or even American counterparts. Yet the total number of days off most workers receive annually is not bad thanks to these national holidays. It's just that everyone has to take the same holidays, so it gets really, really crowded. Add to it the fact that foreign travel is still pretty much off limits, and you get crowds everywhere: the supermarket, parks, roads, museums, city offices - quite literally, everywhere. What to do then during Golden Week?

We went to Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture last weekend. Of course, since Karuizawa is only a couple hours from Tokyo, it was also crowded, but we were able to stay away from the crowds for the most part. My mother-in-law's friend, who is also a tennis coach, gifted our girls two small tennis rackets and a net. We gave it a go in the backyard. Although they can't hit the ball over the net yet, they had a lot of fun trying. We also went hiking, as Karuizawa is home to many hiking paths with views of the Japanese Northern Alps. While the shopping streets were totally congested with people, the hiking paths were surprisingly empty. The rest of the time, it was raining anyways, so we stayed indoors doing puzzles and games. 

In a country as mountainous as Japan, you don't have to go far to experience early spring again. You might recall that Hakone. Though south of Tokyo, Hakone still had plenty of sakura blossoms due to its higher elevation. Karuizawa, on the other hand, is north of Tokyo and higher in elevation. There, you could still see sakura blossoms and many other ones, like these:

The last few days back in Tokyo, we have been taking a lot of walks, frequenting our regular park, and exploring new parks. And reading. A few weeks ago, I read Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, which inspired me to read South of the Border West of the Sun (one of the few Murakami ebooks immediately available to borrow at the library). I enjoyed it more than expected, and so I am now reading Men Without Women, a collection of short stories. At least Golden Week gave me more time to read. 

Days off are great, but when the entire country is taking the same days off, and international travel is still unfeasible (per Japanese border regulations), the country feels like it is bursting at the seams with people. I suppose we will think of this the same way as we thought of the first lockdown: how many opportunities will we have to sit around and spend time together without distraction? That said, I hope next year brings more travel opportunities during Golden Week.