All things Japanese

日本語を少し頭にこの 1 週間以上です。

Apologies to any Japanese readers if Google translator isn't up to scratch but I am more than a little Japanese mad this week.
A few years ago I was lucky enough to have a 2 day stop over in Japan...wow what a country. It was a full on culture shock I have to say but kind of tweaked my interest in all things Japanese. I have been looking at quite a few blogs over the past week with definite Japanese influences and can safely say I am liking the Japanese culture/food/art/fabrics/quirkiness/scenery...the list goes on!

Bento boxes
I got this recipe book a while ago and have used it quiet a few times for lunchbox inspiration. I like to eat alot of Japanese inspired food, seaweed, rice, pickled vegetables etc. For those who don't know what a bento box is... Bento (弁当 bentō^?)^[1] is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware. Although bento are readily available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops (弁当屋 bentō-ya^?), train stations, and department stores, it is still common for Japanese homemakers to spend time and energy for their spouse, child, or themselves producing a carefully prepared lunch box.

I love the fun ways they present their foods and the recipes in this book are really easy to follow and recreate. I'd love to have a lunch-box like this each day...they are mini works of art!

Egg moulds..I have the car and the fish and love them!

Sushi
I love sushi! I love making it and love, love, love eating it. My two older children are just as addicted to it as I am and have been since they were babies- my oldest love her 'shoooshie' and would sit and plough her way through a mountain of it (using chopsticks like a pro).

Hehe not sure if I
could eat this...but quite funny.

Washi tape

This is the coolest craft item I've come across in a while! It is a paper tape that can be used for a multitude of projects. It comes in a million different patterns and colours and is well just lovely! I have added some links to sites that give examples of ways to use washi tape (sometimes called wasabi tape).
The art of washi tape
Craft ideas I love the washi tape covered pegs idea!
Decorating with washi tape A lot of washi tape was used in these projects and given it's cost I think I'd have to remortgage my house to copy them...but they are cool ideas non the less.
More washi tape craft ideas

I have a couple of rolls of this wondrous stuff but am now going to start a wee collection of it by getting a couple of rolls each month, so exciting! Watch this space for my washi tape projects!

Harajuku

Harajuku (原宿 "meadow lodging")  listen (help·info) is the common name for the area around Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan.

Every Sunday, moi young people dressed in a variety of styles including gothic lolita, visual kei, and decora, as well as cosplayers spend the day in Harajuku socializing. The fashion styles of these youths rarely conform to one particular style and are usually a mesh of many. Most young people gather on Jingu Bridge, which is a pedestrian bridge that connects Harajuku to the neighboring Meiji Shrine area.^[1]

Harajuku is also a fashion capital of the world, renowned for its unique street fashion.^[2] Harajuku street style is promoted in Japanese and international publications such as Kera, Tune, Gothic & Lolita Bible and Fruits. Many prominent designers and fashion ideas have sprung from Harajuku and incorporated themselves into other fashions throughout the world.

Harajuku is also a large shopping district that includes international brands, its own brands, and shops selling clothes young people can afford.

I find this part of Japanese culture fascinating. The time it must take for them to get all this get-up on is staggering, I can barely manage to slap on a bit of lip gloss and scoop my hair into a ponytail in the morning-this is definitely a major life style choice! The goth ones look at little scary and the dolls hmmmm? Well to me it's just a bit weird- but they certainly do look impressive. It must be an amazingly colourful spectacle to see when they are all gathered together.

Well that is my Japanese inspired post for today. I am looking forward to one day returning for a longer stay so I can really appreciate the country and it's culture and people. All of which I find amazing.

Have you ever been to Japan? What fascinated you the most about it?

Hope your Monday isn't as soggy as mine is today...stuck indoors with two bored children isn't fun, there are only so many blanket forts and craft projects you an create before tempers start to flare! Please someone cast me a sun spell!!!

xx P xx

"Cosmetics is a boon to every woman, but a girl's best friend 

is still a nearsighted man."

 Yoko Ono; Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist