Happy New Year, Everybody!
明けましておめでとうございます！ 本年もどうぞよろしくお願いいたします。
I hope you all had great holidays and wish you the best for 2018.
Since the 50’s, watching “Kouhaku uta gassen” (紅白歌合戦) is a New Year’s Eve (大晦日 – oomisoka) tradition for Japanese families. This annual music TV show features singers of all genres and generations competing against each other through the evening, on the TV channel NHK. Being asked to appear on it is very prestigious, and fans of Amuro Namie (安室奈美恵) were hoping to see her one last time before her planned retirement in September 2018. Amuro has been declining to appear on TV for more than a decade so she can to focus on stage performances. When NHK finally confirmed her performance after 14 years of hiatus, fans were truly delighted. She performed as a special guest and the audience rate during her act reached a record 48.5%. Since she announced her retirement last September, Amuro has sold nearly 2 million copies of her best of album “Finally,” showing her strong popularity even after 25 years.
JAPANESE TEA TIME ／ お茶会
I tried this new Japanese dessert pop-up in San Francisco and it was lovely! Oyatsuya serves delicious desserts at the izakaya (居酒屋) Rintaro on weekends. They recently started a weekly Japanese tea time pop-up on Sunday afternoons at the delicious sushi restaurant Sasaki in the Mission. For $25 per person, you receive a dessert plate of handmade sweets, accompanied with green tea. You are seated at the counter and can enjoy a very special moment of Japanese and Western sweets in a peaceful decor. Oyatsuya’s pop-up is reservation only, so check out their website and sign up for their newsletter. (Menus are prix-fixe and substitutions are not made, so please check their menu before making reservation.)
ART ／ アート
New York-based artist Miya Ando’s (安藤美夜) exhibition “Oborozuki” is on display through February 17 at Nancy Toomey Fine Art in San Francisco. The show’s title reveals Miya Ando’s inspiration: “oborozuki” (おぼろ月) means “hazy pale moon.” The show includes a new series of paintings called “Yoake” (夜明 – Dawn), “Kumo” (雲 – Cloud) and “Gekkou” (月光- Moonlight). The themes are inspired from the oldest known Japanese novel, The Tale of Genji (源氏物語) by Murasaki Shikibu (紫式部). Not to be missed!
http://nancytoomeyfineart.com/artists-exhibitions/miya-ando-oborozuki-moon-obscured-by-clouds/
SUSHI ／ お寿司
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In my last newsletter, I mentioned Kusakabe as one of my favorite expensive sushi restaurants in San Francisco. This month, I would like to introduce another favorite, Sasaki, which is in the Mission and was mentioned above in Japanese Tea Time. Opened a year ago, Sasaki is a prix-fixe, omakase course-style restaurant that is VERY pricy, but the food is truly amazing and some of the best I have ever eaten. To me, the perks include sitting at the 12-seat counter in small groups and seeing the master chef work just in front of you. You get to learn about sushi directly from him while in an intimate ambiance. It is definitely worth going there for a special occasion and to impress your guests. By the way, the owner-chef Masaki Sasaki has been a consultant for Delage, my favorite sushi restaurant in the East Bay. Check it out!
TOKYO GEMS ／ 東京ジェム
As I have mentioned in previous newsletters, I have started a Tokyo travel curation service for my clients and provide a customized list of magical places and hot new spots for them to visit during their trip. I want my clients to have the best experience possible in Tokyo, so I am happy to contribute to make it even more special. For example, in November, I suggested this temporary Christmas installation (see photo) to a client and he LOVED it. If you would like me to help you find Tokyo gems, don’t hesitate to ask me during our sessions!
SUMO SCANDALS ／ 相撲スキャンダル
It’s been almost 2 months now that the Japanese media have been talking about sumo every single day and it’s not for good reasons. Last October, the yokozuna (横綱) Harumafuji (日馬富士) assaulted Takanoiwa (貴ノ岩), a wrestler from a lower rank, and fractured his skull. As a result, Harumafuji retired and Takanoiwa’s stable master, Takanohana (貴乃花), was dismissed from his post as director of the Japan Sumo Association (相撲協会). Takanohana, who had reported the incident to the police, refused to collaborate and communicate with the Japanese Sumo Association, allegedly because he worried that they would try to hide the assault under the carpet. The Japanese Sumo Association decided to make Takanohana’s dismissal official a few days ago. Yokozuna are the highest rank of sumo wrestlers and are considered divine. They are expected to set an example and have an appropriate attitude, as well as hinkaku (品格), dignified and elegant behavior.
That’s all for today—thank you for reading. Looking forward to seeing you soon at our next lesson!
最後まで読んでいただき、どうもありがとうございます。皆さまにまたお会いできるのを楽しみにしています。よろしくお願いいたします！
★MY PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER CAN BE SEEN HERE
★BAY AREA CALENDAR
■ January 22 / Screening of “Ghost In The Shell” (original version) in SF
■ February 16 & 17 / Screening of “Mind Game” in SF
■ ~ February 17 / “Oborozuki” in SF
■ March 16 / “Yamato Drummers” in Sonoma
■ ~ March 18 / “The Buddha’s Word” at Stanford
■ ~ March 18 / “Earthly Hollows: Cave and Kiln Transformations” at Stanford
■ ~ March 31 / “Exclusion: The Presidio’s Role in World War II Japanese American Incarceration ” in SF
■ May 6 / “Drum Heart” by TAO in Berkeley