Cafe Marine with Hashi

A few weeks ago we went to a restaurant with Hashi called Cafe Marine in nearby Hayama. They really cater to dogs here - considering dogs outnumber kids in Japan this is a smart business move! They offer free treats, hookups at each table and even a dog menu (no, I am not kidding)! The people food is pretty good too :)

Lovely view

Hashi - hot, but happy

Tables where you can sit with your dog off leash

Yummy food

Wind Bell Festival at Kawasaki Daishi

Kawasaki Daishi temple is best known for the infamous fertility festival (Kanamara Matsuri) at the shrine within its grounds, but every July a wind bell festival (Furin-ichi) is also held for 5 days. There are 30,000 wind bells from all over Japan made of all kinds of materials. Each material makes a different sound. The chiming is supposed to distract you from the heat and humidity and make you feel cooler, among other things.

Glass

Cast iron

Ceramic

Living moss and plant wind bells

Woven basket wind bells from Kyoto

Main Hall

Shopping street leading up to the temple

Lots of daruma for sale

Making deliveries via bicycle

Making and selling traditional candy

Our cast iron wind bell is from a company named Shuzendo located in Awate Prefecture in northern Japan. It weighs over 2 lb.!

Kaji!

Tokyo Fire Dept.'s mascot (119 is Japan's emergency number)

Every once and a while you hear a group of people banging sticks and chanting rhythmically as they walk through the neighborhood at night. For the longest time, I had no idea what they were doing. I found out recently that this group is the shōbōdan, or volunteer fire corps on their yomawari (night rounds).

A fire extinguisher box in our neighborhood

The shōbōdan have been patrolling cities around Japan for hundreds of years. They warn people to beware of fire, especially during the dry winter. Usually (I've heard) they chant things like "Watch out for fire!" or "A single match can start a fire!). In a neighborhood like ours, where most of the houses are older and made of wood, everything would burn quickly. There are even fire extinguishers in boxes about every block or so.

Here's a video of yomawari in Kyoto (skip to 0:51 to see them in action:

Tokyo has a long history of devastation by fire. One of the worst fires occurred after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Because the quake struck around lunchtime, many people were cooking lunch  and the fire spread quickly. Over 45% of Tokyo burned to the ground.

In Yokosuka they have a disaster prevention center where you can try firefighting gear like we did below (it's really heavy!) or experience using a virtual fire extinguisher while yelling "kaji!" (fire)

Container Gardens of Tokyo and Environs

They love flowers here...and lots and lots of pots :)

Deep Fried Japan

Kushiage/kushikatsu is the deep fried friend of yakitori. We first tried it in Osaka. If you like deep fried food (who doesn't?), you will be in heaven.

Osaka Shinsekai

Must eat lots of cabbage in between

Then a chain called Kushiya Monogatari opened up in our local mall in Yokosuka. They offer fry-it-yourself all you can eat (for 90 min.) kushiage for 1999 yen (that's about $20). Oh, did I mention they also have a salad bar and chocolate fondue dessert bar? Oh yeah. I was too busy eating to take good pictures of that but here are some on another blog. Igor and I managed to eat a respectable 50 sticks but the high school girls next to us put away about 50 sticks EACH.

From the Kushiya Monogatari website

Fried pumpkin, sweet potato, bacon,  cheese, shrimp, salmon, and taiyaki oh my! My favorite were the cheese rolls and Igor liked the salmon.

This would never be allowed in the U.S. Lawsuit!

First you dip it in the batter, then in the crumbs, then fry, then in the sauce!

GET IN MY BELLY - YUM