Living & Working in Ishikawa, Japan
I’ve got a book, a car and a mission–I want to try as many awesome cafes in Ishikawa as I can before I finish JET in 2013.
Backstory
About a year ago I went to 浪漫遊 (Rōmanyū), the second-hand store in Nonoichi, with some friends. While browsing the book section I found this gem discounted down to ¥200. As a cafe enthusiast and former barista I figured it would be a crime not to buy it. It’s been sitting on my bookshelf ever since, lonely and neglected, but with just over a year left on my JET contract, I’d like to see just how many of the places in the book I can explore.
The title
The title of this series, 恕の珈琲帖 (Jo no cōhījō), is a play on the title of the cafe guidebook I’m referencing. My name, plus coffee, plus the counter for folding books–I like to think I’ve fashioned a nice little play on words, “Jo’s Coffee Journal”.
The plan
Check back to see what kind of delicious places my adventures take me! I’ll review each cafe as I go.
Joanna is soon to be a 3rd year ALT in Kahoku City, which she hopes is home to at least one of the cool cafes on her adventure.
The three Hokuriku prefectures took the top three spots in a study by Hosei University in Tokyo trying to pinpoint the happiest prefectures.
Fukui came in first place followed by Toyama and Ishikawa coming in second and third respectively. The study used 40 socioeconomic indicators such as crime rate and welfare services to determine a numerical “happiness scale” which was measured in all the prefectures. One of the things that propelled Fukui to the top spot was its low crime and accident rate as well as an excellent preschool system.
So what’s the unhappiest prefecture in Japan? Osaka! The study cited Osaka’s high crime rate as a main reason it ranked so low on the list. So what do you think Ishikawa dwellers? Are we living in one of the happiest places in Japan?
Read the article (Japanese only)
The Ishikawa JET Kitchen gives you adapted and original recipes made for your kitchen.
Are all the new foods you’re finding at the supermarket a bit overwhelming? Have you been wracking your brain trying to convert your favorite chocolate chip recipe to your metric measuring cups? Are you sick of not knowing which flour you need for what kind of cooking?
Cooking in Japan can be a challenge, but now it just got a little bit easier with The Ishikawa JET Kitchen, an interactive digital cookbook from Ishikawa AJET. This cookbook is the brainchild of former Anamizu CIR Leah Zoller. With the help of a dedicated group of recipe contributors and testers, the penultimate cookbook that every JET should own. Whether you’re new to cooking, or a culinary whiz you will benefit from the wide range of traditional Japanese and homegrown recipes from Ishikawa JETs around the world.
Recipes for people with dietary restrictions have been tagged for easy searching – so whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, lactose intolerant, or keep gluten-free you can find what recipe will work for you in no time.
For only ¥1000 you can get over your fear of the supermarket and use your kitchen like a pro. All proceeds from The Ishikawa JET Kitchen will go to Second Harvest charity. If you like the cookbook, make sure to tell your friends, family and coworkers!
To get the Cookbook, please transfer your payment of ¥1000 to the Ishikawa AJET account:
Bank name 北國銀行（ほっこくぎんこう）
Branch name 宇野気支店（うのけしてん）
Acct number 381962
Acct name エージェットイシカワシブ
Please send an email with the subject line “Cookbook Payment” to ishikawaajet[at]gmail.com with your name as it appears on your bank book. We’ll email your copy of the cookbook once payment is confirmed.
Please not that a direct “buy now” option is no longer available.
Summer brings lots of great things—vacation, festivals and tasty cold foods come to mind—but Ishikawa’s humid heat also brings a number of less exciting things, namely mold, smells and bugs. Here are some quick, cheap tips for keeping your home fresh, relatively dry and bug-free this summer.
Stay Dry, Avoid Mold
Keeping your apartment dry as possible will save you a lot of potential mold-cleaning hassle, and fortunately, Japan has an easy answer to keeping your closets, toilet room and other spaces moisture-free. Head down to your local home goods or grocery store and pick up some desiccant boxes (湿気とり, shikketori). Buy a three-pack for under ¥200, and put them anywhere you want to keep dry. Once you peel off the top, the crystals in the box will soak up moisture and trap it in the bottom. Keep an eye on these, though; you’ll have to replace them relatively often.
If you do find yourself facing a mold infestation despite your best efforts, bleach (漂白剤, hyouhakuzai) is a surefire cleaner. It’s stronger and more effective than other products targeted towards cleaning mold, but make sure you wear gloves and ventilate the area you’re cleaning as well as possible.
Say No to Smells
Even the most diligent cleaner may find that bad smells are difficult to control, especially in summer. No matter how many times you clean the toilet/bathroom/kitchen sink, mysterious odors can permeate the home. In many cases, your garbage can is the culprit. Japanese apartments and homes are difficult to keep cool, which means that your garbage can is likely to be a festering hotbed of things you really don’t want to think about, even if you take your garbage out on a regular basis.
My favorite way to reduce the smell is to freeze my raw garbage (scraps and peels from cooking and leftovers) in a small plastic bag until garbage day. You can also find deodorant (防臭, boushuu) for your garbage can at home goods and grocery stores. They’ll typically be located near the sponges, dish soap and other kitchen cleaning items, and will have a picture of a garbage can on the packaging.
Don’t forget to keep a box of baking soda—if you can’t find it anywhere else, it’s definitely available at Kaldi Coffee in Kahoku AEON—in your fridge and freezer!
Exterminate Bugs
Check out these posts about dealing with bugs in the home:
Forgive me for the following lines of shameless self-promotion. I’m a CIR in Tsubata who happens to adore food – its cultural relevance as well as its production and consumption. A few months ago it was getting to the point where it seemed like my Facebook wall was almost nothing but photos of things I had eaten. So I decided to consolidate. I started a blog.
I try to keep my content local when I can, and particularly enjoy trying out mysterious seasonal produce – but I post everything from bento ideas to restaurant reviews, as well as recipes and stories. If you’re a fellow food enthusiast, would like guidance on cooking in Japan, or are just looking for a fun way to experience more of Ishikawa, Hokuriku Expat Kitchen is meant for you.
Look for a weekly update on my culinary adventures every Thursday, here on the Ishikawa JET Blog!
Without further ado, today’s post is a restaurant review.
Unkai (雲海) is an awesome gyoza restaurant in the hills just inland of central Tsubata. It’s a bit of a trek, even with a car, but I promise it’s worth your while. You can sample twelve unusual dumpling varieites (including curry and black sesame) as well as Chinese teas and homemade desserts, served against the backdrop of an elegantly restored 100 year old house. The owner/chef is generous and accomodating, and will gladly design a menu that fits the needs of your party. Vegetarian versions of all of the gyoza are available upon request.
Hours: 10:00 a.m.~7:00 p.m. (Closed Wednesdays) Open by reservation only
Phone Number: (076) 288-0308
Address: 石川県河北郡津幡町字上藤又ト９ (Ishikawa ken, Kahoku gun, Tsubata machi, Kamifujimata To 9)
For more information, see the full review, or visit Unkai’s webpage (Japanese only)
Yes, yes, yes, summer festival season is here! This guest post was written last year by Ginny Middleton, a second-year ALT working in the Noto. This festival is one of Noto’s most famous, so if you aren’t taking the July 2011 JLPT (or even if you are), plan to attend!
Noto Abare Matsuri 暴れ祭り(Fire and Violence Festival)
Photo thanks to gazoo.com
Arguably the best festival in the Noto, Abare Matsuri (the Fire and Violence Festival) will take place from 9 am on the first Friday and Saturday in July every year (1st and 2nd July 2011 – same weekend as the JLPT)–although most of the best parts are after dark. The festival is held in the rural town of Ushitsu 宇出津 in the northern Noto peninsula and has been running for 350 years!
Read more of this post
The Ishikawa Prefecture Tourism League seems to be increasing its efforts to court foreign tourists via the creation of multilingual tourism websites: Hot-Ishikawa started producing an English-language quarterly tourism e-newsletter (see prior link), through which I found Gourmet Ishikawa, a new multilingual resource for dining in Ishikawa. The site may be viewed in Japanese, English, Korean, or Chinese (traditional or simplified) and has great information on not just restaurants but also Japanese dining etiquette and Ishikawan food culture.
Red Cross Japan is 日本赤十字社 (nihon sekijuujisha).
This information comes to us from Megan Lam, our charity representative:
In case you are in Japan and you want to donate but don’t know how, Family Mart convenience stores will have a machine near the door where you can choose to donate to a charity of choice.
1) Look for 寄金 (kikin) or 寄付 (kifu) and press that button.
2) It will go to a page with various charities. Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, etc. Choose one (I’m not sure if there’s an option to do multiple donations, so you may have to do the process again if you want to do more than one)
3) Choose the amount you want to donate (500yen, 1000yen, etc).
4) A receipt will come out at the bottom.
5) Take the receipt to the cash register and pay them there.
From Leah Zoller, editor:
If you prefer to donate via your bank account, you can make a transfer to Red Cross Japan there. Hokkoku Ginkou does not have English support for transfers, but here’s how to do it. (There is a great general pictorial guide on Surviving in Japan if you are unused to the process.) If you know how to do a transfer, just scroll down for the bank information.
1. Click 振り込み (furikomi, transfer.)
2. If you using cash (as in sticking money into the machine, not from your account), click 現金 (genkin); if you want to transfer from your account/cash card, click キャッシュカード (kyasshu kaado). You will be asked if this is a transfer account you have registered; if you have not registered Red Cross, you will need to do so. Click the button with 新振込先 (new transfer recipient) or the one with 初めて next to it (first time transfer).
3. Put in your PIN.
4. お振込先 (ofurikomi-saki, recipient). Enter the name of the bank, the branch, and the account type.
This is not Hokkoku Bank, so select その他 (sono hoka, other) and then 銀行 (ginkou, bank). You will need to search by kana for the name of the bank first (ミ for Mizuho, for example). If you don’t see the bank you want, click その他 again. Mizuho was on the second page for me.
After you find the correct bank, search for the branch (支店名, shitenmei) by kana, then select the type of account (usually 普通, hutsuu, regular) and type in the account number (口座番号, kouza bangou)
This information is here, but the site is down. LUCKILY, I copied the information earlier! All of these accounts are for the Red Cross.
Japan Post
口座番号 (Account number)：00110-2-5606
口座名義 (Recipient)：日本赤十字社 (nihon sekijuujisha)Mizuho: みずほ銀行：新橋中央支店 （普）1032121 (Mizuho Ginkou; Shinbashi Chuuou Branch, regular account)
Mitsubishi: 三菱東京UFJ銀行：東京公務部 （普）0000302 (Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ Ginkou, Toukyou koumubu, regular account)
Mitsui: 三井住友銀行：銀座支店 （普）7176649 (Mitsui Sumitomo Ginkou; Ginza branch; regular account)
楽
Rakuten: 天銀行：マーチ支店 （普）7009729 (Rakuten Ginkou Maachi branch, regular account–this is an online bank)As you enter more information and the ATM has time to think, the recipient’s name should pop up in katakana. The Japanese Red Cross is ニホンセキジュウジシャ (nihon sekijuujisha). Be sure this is correct!!
5. Enter your phone number (denwa bangou, 電話番号). You may be asked to confirm your name, too (振込人名, furikomijinmei).
6. Press 振込金額 (furikomi kingaku, transfer amount), and enter the amount you want to donate–this looks like your withdrawal screen.
7. If all the info is correct, hit the confirm (kakunin, 確認) button. You will receive a receipt for this.
1. Kanazawa Illumination and Craft Fair; Kanazawa, July 29-Aug. 1
2. A Summer’s Night’s Tale of Koiji, Koiji Beach (Noto); Aug. 8
3. Hometown Summer Festival in Masuhogaura; Shika; Aug. 8
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