I love mushrooms. I am particularly fond of Maitake mushrooms. “ Yukiguni Maitake” cultures and sells mushroom products. It is said that Maitake help  people build a strong immune system. I love Maitake because they are low or zero in calories, tasty and look interesting. Natural Maitake are very rare and difficult to find. People seem to have known their beneficial effects for many years. 300 years ago or perhaps even earlier, natural Maitake were worth their weight in silver. That’s how valuable and hard to get they were. Let me tell you the meaning of “ Maitake “. “ Mai “ means dance and “ take” means mushroom. Those who discovered rare natural Maitake mushrooms danced with joy so the mushroom has been called “ Maitake”.

We went to a festival at Daitsuuji temple. They exhibited and demonstrated “ Zoubihai”. “ Zou “ means elephant. “ Bi “ means nose. “ Hai “ means glass. Doesn’t  the lotus leaf looks like an elephant’s ear and nose ? Here’s the kanji characters which represent “ zoubihai”. All they had to do was to make a hole on the middle of the leave, since inside is a tube-like structure that can be made into a straw. Chilled sake ( rice wine) was poured onto the leaf ( glass ) and you can drink the sake through the lotus straw. Since this temple is at the foot of Mt. Fuji they served sake for the goddess of Mt. Fuji “Konohana sakuyano hime”. The gentleman who tried it is 100 years old ! He was wearing jeans and looked very young and healthy. Best of all, he seems to be curious about many things and that makes him young.

I tried lotus nuts. They sold a box lunch with these nuts. It is said that any part of the lotus can work as medicine but especially the nuts gives you energy. I can buy roots at supermarkets but I don’t think I can buy other parts. Now I started to think about growing lotus so that I can view and eat or drink various products afterward.

I was very lucky to have a chance to visit the tea valley and factories in Kanaya with two American tourists. This beautiful American couple are very keen on learning about green tea and have a strong passion to make green tea more prevalent in the US. Particularly, Dan has been engaged in the tea industry ever since becoming enchanted by green tea.www.drinktheleaf.com and Teresa is making and selling wine from Napa Valley in California.www.zdwines.com

 Interestingly, growing grapes and tea leaves have many similar points. For example they can produce high quality tea and grapes on steep hills. Frost is a big threat for both of them.

     

Delicious tea is made by nice people. The tea is appreciated by nice people like this American couple. Good tea makes people healthy. It sounds like a wonderful chain.

I was very glad to get to know Teresa and Dan, The Sugimotos and the farmers in Kanaya. I hope more people in the world visit Shizuoka and share the same experience. Also I feel like visiting Napa Valley where the couple live. It looks like a very beautiful place and their wine looks delicious, too !

We had zazen tours on 21^st and 27^th of June at Chokoji temple in Numazu. According to Reverend Matsushita, zazen is like doing the laundry. We accumulate lot of bad things inside of us such as anger, jealousy, grudges etc. We do zazen to rid these things from our mind and try to be in the state of “ Mu” or “ zero “. Proper breathing and posture are important. As we uncover ourselves, we can see things clearly and then we come to feel new energy to initiate something new or get some creative ideas. Zazen breathing affects people’s skin, too. No wonder many priests’ skin is beautiful. Probably another reason could be that the food they eat is based on vegetables. After a zazen session that was relatively long for beginners, we all felt refreshed.

Then we moved to the restaurant nearby called “ Garden Bells”. There we enjoyed Shojinryori ( vegetarian dishes ) followed by Zen temple style food. Eating itself is also training in zen so we are not supposed to speak while eating. Eating time is very short since we all concentrated on eating. When the course finished we came back to normal mode and enjoyed eating more food while talking. All of us were amazed by Garden Bells’ service and savory dishes. The menus on 21^st and 27^th were slightly different. Now it’s the humid and muggy rainy season in Japan but the food and drink were a cool balmy breeze.

On 27^th’s tour, after the lunch we took a short walk to Shoinji Temple. Hakuin, zen master, was the head priest of this temple. So it has Hakuin’s painting and calligraphy. Every year on April 29^th it is open to the public.

Why don’t you try experiencing Zazen and having a short tea ceremony ? Chokoji in Numazu ( Shizuoka ) has a beautiful garden and tea room. This temple has strong ties to the Zen master, Hakuin.

Zazen and tea ceremony will make your mind clearer and give you more energy !

For those who have problems with kneeling, we will prepare a table and chair for the ceremonies, so that anybody can participate with ease.

Afterwards we will enjoy Japanese Buddhist dishes.

Date and  Time : June 21st ( Mon ) 10:00 AM ~ 13:00 PM  ,  June 27th ( Sun ) 10:00 AM ~13:00 PM

Meeting point   : JR local Tokaido line, Hara station ( 9:40 AM )

Fees                  : 5,000 yen

Schedule           1.  Zazen

                          2. Viewing the tea room and garden, enjoying powdered tea and confectionary

                          3. Lunch    Buddhist dishes  ( at Bells )             13:00 PM  Finish

Dress code         : Please wear something loose and flexible such as sweat pants.

                            We take off our socks when we do zazen.

Cancellation charges  : If you have to cancel, please let us know as soon as possible.

                                     Day before the tour  50% of the fee

                                     Day of the tour 100 % of the fee.

Please refer to February 23rd’s blog entry and user’s voice ( comment ).

If you are interested in this event, please let us know. You might leave your e-mail address as comment then we’ll contact you later.

Notice :  Chokoji Temple holds its annual festival on May 30  http://www11.plala.or.jp/cyokoji/annai/naki.html

 http://www11.plala.or.jp/cyokoji/nakizumou2009/index.html#top

 We had a zazen tour last Sunday at Chokoji in Numazu. This temple belongs to the Myoshinji school of the Rinzai Sect. All of the participants tried zazen for the first time. Some of them were worried about whether they could sit in the lotus or semi-lotus posture or not. We prepared chairs for the people who might have  difficulties or find it hard to get used to. We use Japanese flat cushions (zabuton) and a pillow-like round cushion which make it easier for us to keep a good posture for zazen.

Since we are beginners, Reverand Matsushita explained various details. We live in a very stressful society. Many people are suffering mentally and physically. Zazen can be one of the solutions for it. He showed us a Daruma doll. In fact a famous Daruma festival is going on in Fuji City. We have to sit like Daruma or Mt. Fuji. We have to breath slowly and deeply and concentrate on our mind. We hold power at the point called Tanden which is located around 3 centimeters below our bellybuttons. The priest used an air pump for bicycles to show us how to breathe properly. This breathing method can be a key to stay healthy and to be successful.

After zazen we relaxed with confectionary and powdered green tea. We enjoyed the scroll painting and talked about it. Usually at tea gathering, the scroll and the arranged flower constitute a message from the host to the guests. Today’s scroll was Mt. Fuji.

Then we moved to a nearby restaurant named Garden Bells. The owner is a great chef. Today she made a Buddhist’s meal. In zen’s teaching, eating is a kind of training. They have certain rules to have meals and we got to know a little. As they chant sutra we serve food by ourselves. It’s a kind of busy but fun.

We give a lot of thanks for the food and the people who prepared it and reflect if we are really worthy of it. We consider the meaning of eating and try not to devour the food greedily.

 The food was so delicious that I devoured it . I’m sure the food I had was too good for me. I feel like talking about the restaurant to many people but on the other hand I’d liketo keep it as a hidden diamond.

We’ll have the same kind of tour on June 21^st and 27^th. If anyone feels like coming, please contact me.  

 What’s your soul food ? Miso soup is my soul food. This is our family’s favorite miso which is made for Eiheiji Temple in Fukui. This miso is made from soybeans, salt and rice koji as a fermentation agent.

 One of my children caught a cold and he didn’t feel like eating anything but he had this miso soup this morning. It has minced green onion, mitsuba herb and fried Fu. Fu is made from wheat protein. Baked fu is very common . Raw fu is also available but it is more expensive than baked or fried. You may find many kinds of raw fu in Kyoto. Miso soup is also good when you are suffering from a hangover. In that case I don’t put anything in it and have only soup. The content of the miso soup stock plays an important role in making it delicious. I use dried fish but some vegetarians may use kelp or mushroom.

When I was younger and traveling in Europe I was really missing Japanese food. I didn’t bring things like umeboshi, miso, shoyu when because I was determined to enjoy local food. That time I happened to find a Portuguese restaurant. To my surprise, the food they served was very familiar to me, even though I was trying it for the first time. They had soy bean soup (I was not sure if it were fermented or not ) and grilled fish. If I had a bowl of rice, it would have made Japanese meal. This is one of the reasons why I love Portuguese dishes. 

I went to a concert at Maple House, a photographer’s house. When I arrived, there were already a lot of people, probably more than 50. We enjoyed three different kinds of performances.

1. Jazz : Two Japanese guitarlists and one American Shakuhachi (a traditional Japanese bamboo flute ) player performed together. I met the shakuhachi player John Kaizan Neptune for the first time in many years and enjoyed talking with him. I sometimes listened to his CD but I haven’t been to this kind of concert for many years. He is a self-made man. For example he makes Shakuhachi by himself and he made a new type of percussion. He says buying shakuhachi is very expensive so he makes them. Both the players and audience enjoyed the music. I always think that jazz can be enjoyed fully in that style, I mean very casual and in a smallish and intimate room.

2. Hula : A very beautiful Japanese woman danced hula. I tried to take a good photo of her but I couldn’t make a successful one. Her dance is very graceful. According to her hula is said to be very good for our health, too. Some doctors are studying how the dance affects people’s bodies. She is keen to introduce hula to many people.

3. Mongolian folk songs: The singer, form Mongolia, lives in Fujinomiya. He played Mongoloian violin and sang Mongolian folk music called khoomii or throat singing. He paints,too. I really like Mongolian music because it’s very powerful and mysterious. I like the costume,too. He gave us a short khoomii lesson. I had a chance to talk with him and asked a strange question. Someone told me that if one keeps singing khoomii for a long time, the person will die. I doubted it that but I asked about it.He laughed and said, “ No way, I’m going to live up to 200 years old. In fact this type of singing is very good for health. “

They are sword beans which I saw at the vegetarian restaurant in Mishima.I heard the beans are originally from somewhere in Southern Asia. They were brought to Japan from China in the Edo era. A person at the restaurant told us that they are very good for our health. I checked about them and discovered tea made from the beans. I tried it and found it very tasty. It smells of beans. It tastes kind of sweet and mild.

This tea works as follows;

1. Aids one’s kidney

 2. Facilitates urination.

 3. Reduces inflammation.

 4. Reduces swelling and eases joint pains.

  5. Lowers high blood pressure.

I don’t have any health problems now but as my age advances, my body gets older If my kidney gets tired, I look older. I want to do my best to stay young. So I’m going to keep drinking it.

I stayed at a hot spring called Hijiori Onsen in Yamagata. I wish I could stay there for a week without doing anything special.

This hot spring was discovered about 1,200 years ago.

“Hijiori” means ” break your elbows” and according legend, someone broke his arm but after bathing in the hot spring it got better.

Some people stay longer at relatively little expense . ( around 3,000 yen for room for a person ) They can cook for themselves.For them, an early morning market opens. Old ladies from the nearby village come and sell the vegetables they have grown. When I stay at an inn I’m happy to have a big dinner on the first day but I don’t need one the next day. The main point of staying there is to enjoy the hot spring a few times a day.

The hot spring water is drinkable. It is said to do good for our stomach and can solve constipation, diabetes,gout and kidney trouble. Taking the bath for 7 to 10 days is preferable but even for a short time I could see the difference.

 This hot spring is located in a remote vally. I went up to the mountain there and saw this kind of paddy field on the slope of the mountain. It must have been very hard job to develope this field. I was amazed to see its beauty and the diligence of the people. No wonder ” Oshin “, the character in the drama who overcame every hardship she faced, is from this area.