Opinion: Sad to miss the Tokyo Games? Explore Japanese culture right here in San Diego

Takagi is the Japanese program coordinator on the College of San Diego. She lives in Menifee.

The Tokyo Olympic Video games might be held from July 23 till Aug. 8 after a yr of delays as a result of pandemic. Since Japan will not be allowing any international vacationers in an effort to stop the unfold of COVID-19, we might want to benefit from the video games on tv. Fortunately, San Diegans can expertise Japanese tradition proper right here at residence with out embarking on an extended 12-hour flight.

Japan consists of 4 predominant islands and over 6,500 smaller islands. The lengthy and slim nation may cowl the gap of Maine to past Florida when superimposed over the East Coast. Seventy-three p.c of Japan is mountainous and uninhabitable. It has a inhabitants of 126 million, 38 p.c of the U.S. inhabitants. The nation has an extended historical past, which dates again to 30,000 CE.

For the final word Japanese expertise, discover a restaurant which has Japanese-speaking waiters or waitresses. As you enter, please take note of the greetings. You’ll hear “irasshaimase,” which suggests “welcome,” because the waiters or waitresses and cooks bow. If you order, I encourage you to do this Japanese phrase, whereas mentioning an merchandise you need on the menu: “Kore o onegai shimasu.” It means, “This, I request,” and is pronounced: Ko-ray-oh neh-gahy shee-mahs. Please bear in mind to pronounce every vowel clearly, considerably just like talking Spanish.

Washoku, conventional Japanese delicacies, was designated by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage in 2013. Three fashionable Japanese meals are sushi, tempura and ramen. Some could take pleasure in curry rice: a curry seasoned vegetable or meat stew served over rice, and katsudon: breaded pork over rice with egg and onion. For many who have already tried the aforementioned, listed below are extra Japanese dishes chances are you’ll like: okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza), takoyaki (hush puppies with octopus), sukiyaki or shabu shabu, yakitori (historically hen on skewers), udon (thick white noodles) or soba (thinner brown noodles), and gyoza or shumai (dumplings).

One custom you will see in a restaurant, and all through Japanese tradition, is Omotenashi or Japanese hospitality. In truth, the phrase Omotenashi was used by Christel Takigawa, a newscaster, when she spoke about why Tokyo ought to host the 2020 Olympics on behalf of Tokyo’s Olympic bid staff in 2013.

Omotenashi is the Japanese manner of receiving visitors, which has its roots within the tea ceremony. Based on Favy Japan, a web site that gives meals information and eating guides for Japan, “The essence of Omotenashi is service from the center, with out expectations of receiving one thing in return. Omotenashi means not simply offering excellent service, however offering hospitality that goes above and past the expectations of the individual receiving the service.” For instance, tipping will not be customary in Japan.

If you need to additional immerse your self within the conventional Japanese tradition, I like to recommend you go to the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. Some might imagine that is only a fairly Japanese backyard, however it’s also a museum that gives occasions, courses and displays that afford alternatives to study Japanese tradition in a enjoyable hands-on manner. It additionally affords classes within the Japanese language in addition to conventional Japanese arts, resembling origami (paper folding), shodo (calligraphy), ikebana (flower association), go (board sport with black and white stones) and so forth.

On Aug. 7, the Japanese Friendship Backyard might be celebrating Obon Festival with refrain performances, taiko (drums) performances and toro nagashi (floating lanterns). Obon is a Buddhist customized to honor the spirits of 1’s ancestors. It’s believed that the spirits of their ancestors return residence to this world. In the course of the spirits’ keep, choices of food and drinks are offered at particular altars within the residence. Japanese individuals additionally dance at night time within the precincts of the temples or at any open space within the neighborhood to welcome the spirits. In some areas, they float paper lanterns down the river and pray for the spirits’ secure return to their world.

When you want to remain at residence to expertise Japanese tradition, enterprise into books. Strive studying the globally celebrated Japanese creator Haruki Murakami or Yasunari Kawabata, the winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1968. One other advice is “The Story of Genji,” one of many world’s oldest novels written by Murasaki Shikibu, a noblewoman, within the early eleventh century.

I hope you benefit from the Tokyo Olympics and the chance to expertise Japanese tradition at residence in San Diego.