Hello! This week I will be researching on a very interesting topic which is Japanese original two popular cartoon characters: Hello Kitty and Doraemon! Hello Kitty is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio. The first hello kitty product is a vinyl coin purse designed by Ikuko Shimizu in 1974. Ever since it was developed, it had earned a lot from the sales. Some hello kitty products are dolls, stickers, greeting cards, clothes, accessories and home appliances. There is even a Hello Kitty theme park in Japan known as Sanrio Puroland. Hello kitty was later been made into animated series to target towards young children. In the animated films made by Sanrio from 1977 to 1985, Hello kitty has made cameo appearances in them. The earliest Hello kitty animated series was “ Hello Kitty’s Furry Tale Theatre” with is aired throughout 1986. The Japanese anime series “Hello Kitty and Friends” was made and aired in 1991. In 1993 and 1994, another anime series “Hello Kitty’s Paradise” was produced. Hello kitty and other Sanrio characters also appear in their versions of different fairy tales. Hello kitty not only appears on television but also on video games. The first video game is in 1992 which is “Hello Kitty no Hanabatake”. Other examples of video games are: Hello Kitty’s Big Fun Piano, Hello Kitty’s Cube Frenzy and Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams. Hello Kitty can be found on a variety of consumer products ranging from school supplies to fashion accessories. There is even a Hello Kitty album, Hello World, featuring songs inspired by Hello Kitty performed a collection of artists. They even produce hello kitty guitar and jet airplane. Hello Kitty is not only popular in Japan but also around the world. For example in Taiwan, there is a hello kitty restaurant and even a hospital.

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Hello... this week I will blog on Japanese hobbies which are music and cosplay! The modern Japanese music scene includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern, ranging from rock, electro, punk, folk, metal, reggae, salsa and tango to country music and hip hop while the old Japanese music has no specific beat and is calm. The two oldest forms of traditional music are shomyo(Buddhist chanting) and gagaku( Orchestral court music). Gagaku is a type of classical music that has been performed at the Imperial court since the Heian period(794-1185). It is divided into kangen(instrumental music) and bugaku(dance accompanied by gagaku). The samurai often listened to and performing in these music activites, in their practices of enriching their lives and understanding. During Edo period, actors performed the lively and popular kabuki theatre where kabuki could feature anything from historical plays to dance plays and are accompanied by nagauta style of singing and shamisen performance. The biwa, a form of short-necked lute, was played by a group of itinerant perfomers who used it to accompany stories. It is a type of folk music. In addition, numerous smaller group of itinerant blind musicians were formed and they will toured their local areas and performed a variety of religious and semi-religious texts to purify households and bring about good luck and good health. Blind woman also toured the land since the medieval era, singing songs and playing accompanying music on a lap drum. Taiko is a Japanese drum that comes in various sizes and used to play a variety of musical genres. Taiko drum were used during battle to intimidate the enemy and to communicate commands. During 1970s, , the government allocated funds to preserve Japanese culture and many community taiko group were formed. Later in the century, they were spread across the world and video games on this were created. Japanese folk songs are grouped into four main categories: work songs, religious songs, songs used for gathering and children’s songs. In minyo(folk music), singers are typically accompanied by the three-stringed lute known as the shamisen, taiko drums and a bamboo flute called shakuhachi. Terms often heard when speaking about minyo are ondo(describes any folk song with a distinctive swing that may be heard as 2/4 times rhythm), bushi(a song with a distinctive melody), bon uta(songs for Obon, the lantern festival of the dead) and komori uta(are children’s lullabies). Western music was introduced during the Meijij Restoration(latter half of the 19th century). It was later became popular in Japan. Two major forms of music that developed were shoka, which was composed to bring western music to schools and gunka, which are military marches with some Japanese elements. In the 1950s, tango and other kinds of Latin music became very popular in Japan. In 1960s, Japanese bands imitated The Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stone. In the late 70s and 80s, electronic pop music in Japan became a successful commodity with the technopop crazy. Art music like western classical music and jazz and Popular music like rock music, punk rock and heavy metal were also introduced to Japan. All these created the idea of Japanese modern music known as J-pop.


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Hello! Today’s new topics will be on a Japanese ceremony and hobby! The Japanese ceremony that I have research on is Japanese tea ceremony. In Japanese, tea ceremony is call sado(the way of tea) or chanoyu(hot water for tea). It is a multifaceted traditional activity in which matcha, powdered green tea, is ceremonially prepared and served. There are two types of tea gatherings. Firstly is call chakai which refers to a relatively simple course of hospitality that includes the service of confections, usucha(thin tea) and tenshin(light snack). Secondly is call chaji which refers to a more formal gathering usually include a full-course meal call cha-kaiseki followed by confections, koicha(thick tea) and usucha(thin tea) and it can last for more than four hours. Some history: Drinking tea was introduced to Japan in the 9th century by the Buddhist monk Eichu who had returned to Japan from China. It had started when he personally prepared and served “simmered tea” to Emperor Saga and through this, tea plantation began to cultivate. However, the interest of tea in Japan faded after this. Ideas of developing Japanese tea ceremony began when a Chinese author Lu Yu wrote a book about tea cultivation and preparation. Around the end of 12th century, the style of tea preparation was introduced by a Japanese monk Eisai who return from China and brought back tea seeds. Tea became popular in the 13th century and the actual Japanese tea ceremony was founder by Murata Juko. By the 16th century, tea drinking had spread to all levels of society in Japan.


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Hey! This will be the last post on food! So the two last types of food that I will be doing this week will be on tempura and katsudon! Firstly is tempura! Tempura is a popular Japanese dish of deep fried battered meats, seafood or vegetables. Tempura was introduced to Japan in the mid-sixteenth century by early Portuguese missionaries and traders. The word tempura comes from the word “tempora”, in Latin means ‘times’. It is used by both Spanish and Portuguese missionaries to refer to the Lenten period or Ember Days(refer to holy days when Catholics avoid meat and instead eat fish or vegetables), Fridays, and other Christian holy days. Today, tempura is widely used around the world. Some make into tempura sushi, tempura ice-cream while others make into tempura meat and cheese etc...So how do we prepare tempura? A light batter which is made of cold water and wheat flour is mixed in small batches using chopsticks. This creates lumps which result in unique fluffy and crispy tempura structure when cooked. The batter have to be kept cold by adding ice and over mixing the batter will create wheat gluten which causes the flour mixture to become chewy and dough-like when fried. Varieties of tempura can be made by just dipping in final coating such as sesame seeds before frying. Vegetable and canola oil is commonly used but the traditionally one would be using sesame oil. Oil temperature of between 160 and 180 is used, depending on the ingredient. It is important not to overcook if want to preserve the natural flavour and texture of the ingredient. Cooking time range between a few seconds for leaf vegetables to several minutes for thick items. It is also important to scoop out the bits of batter between batches of tempura so they do not burn and leave a bad flavour in the oil. Some common ingredients are: Prawn, scallop, eggplant, carrot, yam, potato and mushroom.


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Time flies! So fast its already june holiday! The first long break since the first day of school! Quite excited. Ok. Today what have I found out? Erm... I have found out another two more popular food which are udon and soba! Thinking of them makes me hungry! So first I will start of with udon.This is what I have research: Udon is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle. It is usually served in soup form with toppings like thinly chopped green onions, tempura, deep-fried tofu pockets, a thin slice of kamaboko( a type of seafood which is pink and white in colour), and a halfmoon-shaped fish cake. The flavour of broth and topping vary from region to region. Usually dark brown broth made from dark soy sauce is used in eastern Japan, light brown broth made from light soy sauce is used in western Japan. This is noticeable when buying packaged instant noodles, which are often sold at two different versions for east and west. Whao I didn’t know that different region have different taste. Next time I will take note when I visit Japan! Udon can be served in both chilled(in summer) and hot(in winter). The toppings chosen also depends on the season and to balance with other ingredients. Some examples of hot udon are: Kake udon known as plain udon served with just green onion and kamaboko. Kitsune udon: topped with Aburaage( sweetened deep-fried tofu pockets), favourite in Osaka. Houtou udon: a type of miso soup with udon and plenty of vegetables. And Tsukimi udon, “moon –viewing udon”, : it is topped with raw egg which poaches in the hot soup. An example of cold udon is: Zaru udon: chilled udon noodles topped with shredded seaweed and served on a draining basket made of bamboo and is usually accompanied by a chilled dipping sauce.


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