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Category Archives: Feature Articles
Tosa Fighting Dog
Going along a coast road beside beautiful blue sea and sky, I reached Katsurahama. At Tosa token center here in Katsurahama park, we can see Tosa fighting dogs. Do you know Tosa-Inu? What do you imagine about them? Tosa-Inu is … Continue reading
Yamashi Tatsujin Sensyuken
As more time passed, the more beautiful nature appeared but at the same time there were a lot of winding road and I was hoping to arrive there soon. Just then a lovely sign announcing Umajimura appeared and we entered the … Continue reading
Umaji’s Dragon Yuzu!
A tiny village and its fruit “Are we there yet?” We are driving deep in the mountain. There are no konbini (convenience store), gas stations, no buildings of any kind, but only mountains! mountains! mountains!!! Can we really see and … Continue reading
Imokempi: Hard or Soft?
The sun is dazzling as the temperature soars above thirty degrees Celcius. The day is too hot, but Obiyamachi is full of energy because it’s Sunday the scene of the Sunday street market. A lot of stalls stretch as far as … Continue reading
Let’s Have Tea Time
Sweat is running on my face under the glaring sun one day in the middle of July. My friend and I have walked around Sunday Market all morning, and we’re now sitting in a comfortable Japanese-style room in Tosa-cha cafe. … Continue reading
Weird Awful Beauty: Ekin
Everyone is enjoyting this festival with the various street stalls and the beautiful and awful pictures. They are just Ekin! They are here and there illuminated by candle light. They are more awful than ordinary and use red like blood. … Continue reading
Gingerly Ginger
When I was a little child and caught a cold, my mother would make ginger tea for me explaining why it was so good for me. “Of course it’s good for you,” she would say, “It makes you warm and … Continue reading
Railway in the Forest
The forgotten heritage of Umajimura When we arrive at this village, the rain welcomes us. Umaji-village is surrounded by a lot of mountains, and the weather changes easily. So we run into the town hall where we are soon surrounded … Continue reading
The Yanase Sugi
The way to Umaji village from Kochi University takes us two and half hours. After one and half hours have past, we start lowering the car windows even though is summer, now in middle of July. We are surrounded by … Continue reading
Art of the Kayakuya: Fireworks
Every August, at 7:00 pm on the eve of the Yosakoi festival, people wearing traditional yukata and waving uchiwa fans crowd the banks of Kagami-river and line Tenjin-bridge. They leave their houses very early to try to find best place for … Continue reading
Umajimura Ryugaku
Arriving in Umaji village, we can breathe the clean air. This village is surrounded by trees, we find the sign of Umaji village. We feel our souls healed and we have been here before somehow. Despite the excitement we have, … Continue reading
Cosmos Festival
Kochi is at the height of summer. The sun is shining very strongly. I am on a motor bike on my way to Ochi town. It takes more than one hour to get there from Kochi city. It is exceptionally … Continue reading
The Hamono Festival
If you come to 鏡野 (Kagamino) park in 土佐山田 (Tosayamda) town on a Saturday or Sunday middle of October, you’ll find many people there. What are they doing? It seems to be a festival. As you can see the picture, … Continue reading
Eating the Sweet Wife
“It’s delicious! It’s great!” I hear many loud voices behind the door. There is a party with nearly 15 people. I’m late with a hungry stomach after a busy day at my part-time job. I run inside the door in … Continue reading
Kochi : Japans’ haven for drinkers
It is a wet and humid night in Kochi city and many regulars enter the Okinawan bar where I work. They sit at the counter with a karaoke mic in one hand and an Awamori – on the rocks or … Continue reading
Posted in Feature Articles
Tagged local cuisine, nightlife, okinawa, sake, shouchu, women
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Ushioe: The Bridge Nobody Knows
When you cross the bridge, you will smell the ocean. The color of the bridge is difficult to tell…. It is not red. Brown is also wrong. Of course it is not yellow. It almost seems to be made of … Continue reading
Furafu: Friend of Koinobori
A car went through the lane, and a flag came into view. A shop was surrounded by private houses. I opened the door, the shop was jammed with big flags. Wherever I looked, there were big flags. Many famous characters … Continue reading
Our Sawachi
In the village of Karyogo, in Nahari town–which prospered in Taisho and Showa periods from ocean Tuna fishery–is a shrine named Nobumori Jinja. In the autumn once a year, the Jinsai festival is held to get the god’s blessing for … Continue reading
Hachikin!
It’s five in the afternoon in the kitchens of Kochi “obiyamachi arcade”, and lots of women come and go, totting shopping bags with both hands. Delicious smell of croquettes from the meat shop makes me hungry. At the snack stand, … Continue reading
Alternative Lifestyles in Kahoku
One shiny Sunday morning at a market in Tosayamada,Katsutoshi Tsuzuki, 66 year-old-man is selling his bread to the local people as he always has. The market is held from about 8:00a.m to 15:00p.m and customers usually come to buy some … Continue reading
Kochi’s Sweeties Grown with Love
At the lively Sunday market in Kochi, people look for fresh fruits and vegetables for cooking for supper. And farmers sell their proud products like sweet tomatoes, juicy shaddocks, and so on, enjoying conversations with their customers with lots of … Continue reading
Kure: tiny fishing town with a long history
One hour from the city centre of Kochi, two Pachinko stores are either sides of the road and an old-looking sign of “welcome to Kure” looms over head. The day we visited, it was raining so heavily and loads of … Continue reading
Ice Crin? Ice Cream? What’s the difference?
For Kochi’s summer, ice crin is nessesary. Everyone thinks ice crin is Kochi’s original food,but actually it isn’t. Furthermore, everyone doesn’t know the exact differences between ice cream and ice crin.
Jizake in Kochi
It was a heavy rainy day when I visited the sake factory in my home town of Kure. I went to that store after, I don’t know, several years, and it had not changed at all. It’s an old Japanese … Continue reading
Posted in Feature Articles
Tagged Jizake, Kikusui Shuzou, Kure, local cuisine, Nishioka Shuzou, traditional craft
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Making Tosawashi
The sound of dripping water can be heard in a small room and a man who wears casual clothes and an old woman who wears an apron are working to make special paper. They rinse out materials from the water … Continue reading