JAPAN

QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

Not surprisingly, the little crispy critters in my last post generated some discussion. I had mentioned to one reader that it could have been worse: for one wild moment I worried that the dish was actually cockroaches rather than grasshoppers. The reader responded thus:

“[The grasshoppers] must actually taste good or people wouldn't keep eating them. Why do we dare to eat lobsters? I think cockroaches are bitter or bad tasting in some way. You never hear about people eating them. They live in filth, but grasshoppers just eat a lot of vegetation, so they are probably very close to the vegetable themselves.”

I wondered, therefore, if vegetarians (the ones that draw the line at meat-eating but will accept fish, etc) would contemplate eating grasshoppers?

Another reader asked if a picture of the half-tanned me is in the offering. Answer: NO!!!

I have had a few of my students taking ‘study breaks’ (the Family Law exam is in two days) with my weblog. I’m all for that (the study breaks I mean). And yes, you can consider fish as ‘brain food.’ Go ahead, take a sushi break as well.

CHILDREN’S DAY

Throughout the country I see wind socks (is that what they’re called?) flying, suspended over rivers and near shrines: colorful carp, blowing in all directions. Much of this is in celebration of the third and last of the Japanese Golden Week holidays: today (May 5) is Children’s Day.


Often, the very young children here eye me with complete suspicion and distrust: I look THAT different to them. Their parents will coax and prod them to smile or wave. Sometimes they comply, but often times they do not (consider the picture of the twin girls at a train station; since the parents were there, I asked for permission to photograph. The parents said yes, but this was the girls’ response-->)

As they get older, their admiration of things (and people) from across the ocean grows. They go out of their way to demonstrate friendliness and curiosity, often wanting to practice their English, or wanting me to say something about my travels to Japan. A simple complement about their town will send them into paroxysms of delight.


Children. We, the travelers, are so drawn to them! Their faces look so lovely, genuine, even when touched by economic disparity, they are still beautiful. It is wonderful to have the entire nation take a day off to celebrate their worth.


MOVING ON

Nagano’s flowers recede as I take my various combinations of trains to my next stop, the longest of the trip – in Kyoto.