issue 21

iJapanese Newsletter

14th March 2016

Ryokan – Japanese Style Accommodation
When visiting Japan, there are many types of accommodations both westernstyle and Japanese-style that vary widely in terms of style and budget. If you want
to experience Japanese culture, you should stay at Ryokan!
Ryokan is a traditional Japanese styleinn. You will find ryokan throughout
Japan, especially around onsen (hotspring) resorts in the mountains and bythe coast.
Ryokan usually offers dinner andbreakfast and specialty meals called
kaiseki ryori (traditional Japanese multicourse haute cuisine) that featureslocal and seasonal specialties. The
opportunity to experience thetraditional Japanese lifestyle and‘omotenashi’ is typically know as
hospitality at its finest.

TERM 1 EVENT

DATE:
TIME:
PLACE:COST:
RSVP & PAYMENT
n evening ofLet’s enjoy a fue!
Japanese cuisin

When you arrive at the ryokan the staff
will welcome you with friendly smiles
and take you to your room, but before
entering you must take off your shoes
and change to the slippers provided
at the entrance. Once at the door ofyour room, you must take off yourslippers to enter to tatami (straw mat)floor.
Green tea and assortment of little
sweets are prepared at the table. You
will be asked what time you would liketo have dinner served, which will bedelivered to your room so you canenjoy a private dinner. After dinner,
you may choose to relax and unwind
with a walk to explore the naturalserenity found around ryokan, or
immerse yourself in an onsen. You may
even decide to hit the local bars, oreven just a coffee but while you areout from your room the ryokan’s staff
are skillfully clearing away your tableand rolling out your futon (Japanesestyle mattress and doona) in
preparation for a good night sleep.
There are in fact more than 43,000
ryokans throughout Japan. Ryokan
originally date back to the Nara period(710 - 794) and thrived during Edo
period (1603 - 1868).
Nowadays, there are many different
kinds of ryokan varying significantly insize, cost and styles.
Minshuku is family operated, Japanesestyle bed and breakfast
accommodation. They are considereda budget version of ryokan, yet far
more rewarding from a culture
experience as you sit down for dinnerwith fellow travellers for Japanese stylehome cooking.
Kominka is another accommodation
usually found in the countryside ofJapan and typically found aroundkyoto. Kominka is a Japanese term for“traditional Japanese residentialhouse” and are hundreds of years old(some are known to be more than 300years old) and because of traditional
Japanese architecture engineering
they are kept in remarkable conditionand have been renovated to create a
nostalgic atmosphere of old Japanesefor visiting people to the countryside.

By NorikoiJapanese Newsletter issue 21

Page 2 of 4Student from iJapaneseKelsey Rowe san
こんにちは みなさん！(Hello Everyone!)
Last year I visited
Japan with myboyfriend. We visited
Tokyo for a week andthen travelled toNozawa Onsen to go
skiing for anotherweek. In Tokyo westayed in Shibuya. I
was really excited totry my Japanese, myfirst Japaneseconversation was topurchase train tickets
to Shibuya from theairport. I got thetickets so I must havedone well.
I absolutely love Japanese food (well…apart fromnatto). My teacher at the time (Kissai sensei) gave me amission to find and eat おはぎ(ohagi). I was not allowed
to Google it, so I had no idea what I would be eating…
Sweet? Savory? I found a スーパー(supermarket) andasked where I could find this mysterious food. I waspleasantly surprised to find it was sweet and really tasty.
I have since tried to make もち(mochi) it is similar to おはぎ (ohagi) but in reverse – rice on the outside. I found itvery tricky to make them look as good as the ones Ibought in Japan!

One of my favourite dinners in Tokyo was at a yakitori
restaurant in 思い出横丁(omoide yokochoo). The
restaurant could fit around 10 people, it was tiny! There
was absolutely no English in the restaurant and there
weren’t many words on the menu I recognised. Luckily
we sat next to aJapanese man who hadvery good English, so I
could check the meaningof some words so we
didn’t accidently orderchicken heart or gizzards.
Nozawa Onsen was areally lovely and peacefultown, very different to thefast-paced, bustling cityof Tokyo. Skiing was really
fun, I’ve only skied inAustralia and the snow is
so much better in Japan!
In Nozawa Onsen we also
did a day trip toJigokudani Yaen-koen to visit the snow monkeys.
I really want to go back to Japan, there are so many
more places to visit and delicious Japanese food to eat.

In Tokyo I also did a cooking class to learn how to make
お好み焼き(okonomiyaki). This is my favourite Japanese
food, I often make it at home. I also learnt how to makedashi, miso soup, a sesame spinach and chilled tofu
dish.

Ikkyuu sanThere is an anime series called “Ikkyu san” based on stories passed down by people
throughout the centuries about his childhood. In the anime, Ikkyu is portrayed as asmart, mischievous acolyte, and he always has intellectual ideas when problems
occur. The anime is popular by all ages in Japan and throughout Asia.
Whenever Ikkyuu is trying to think of a plan, he sits in a lotus position, wets his two index
fingers, and rotates them above his head.
However, you may be surprised to know that the real Ikkyuu san is far more different.

www.iJapanese.com.auPage 3 of 4

A drunkard monk
You wouldn’t think such a loafer was a good monk backin the old times (not even today), but this is ikkyuu Soojun(一休宗純), one of the greatest Master of Zen throughout
Japanese history.
Soojun was born on 1st January 1394 in Kyoto, Japan.
His father was Emperor Go-Komatsu and his mother wasa noblewoman from an opposed empire. It is said that
his mother’s mission was to assassinate the emperor,
later banished to Saga after it was revealed. At the ageof 5, ikkyuu was forced to become a monk by theopposed empire, so that he wouldn’t have anyoffspring. He was placed at Ankoku-ji in Kyoto, where helearnt Chinese poetry, art and literature.
When Ikkyuu was 13 he entered Kennin-ji, which was abureaucratic temple. Not satisfied with the temple’s
attitude of aspiring social stratum, he began writing
satires and poems frequently, criticizing the system ofKennin-ji.
In 1420, when Ikkyuu was meditating in a boat on Lake
Biwa, the sound of a crow sparked satori (spirituallyenlightenment). Kaso (a teacher from Zenko-an)
confirmed this great enlightenment and granted Ikkyuu
inka(zen master), but Ikkyuu saw the inka as an insult ofspiritual achievement and refused it.
Ikkyuu was known to drink in excess, and with histroublesome behaviour towards guests, Kaso had toinstead give the inka to Yoso, a more senior student who

was jealous of Ikkyuu. Ikkyuu left the temple at the ageof 34, and began his life as a vagabond. He was notalone, however, as he had a regular circle of notableartists and poets from that era. He made numerous
pieces of poems and artworks with Zen attitude that still
has great impact on Japanese literature, calligraphy
and arts.
He established a relationship with a blind singer named
Mori, who later became the love of his life.
As a monk his life was significantly eccentric. He worked
on to combine Zen with daily life, rather than its
traditional bureaucratic ceremony use. He openly
claimed his meat diet, consumption of excess alcoholand frequent visits to the brothels.
For ikkyuu, his sexual activities were one element thatundoubtedly deepened hissatori.
He is remarked as both aheretic and saint. He is
credited as one of the great
influences on the Japanese
tea ceremony, one ofmedieval Japan's greatest
calligraphers and sumi-eartists.

By Yueeie

New teacher – Naoko Okada
TEACHERS
PHOTO

Konnichiwa, Hajimemashite! My name is Naoko Okada.
I was born in Fukuoka, located to the south of Japan. When I was 3 years old I moved
to Tokyo for 3 years, due to my father's job, then we moved to Kobe, which is approximately
30 minutes from Osaka by train. I have lived in many places around Japan and myfavourite area is Kansai, especially Kobe and Osaka. The reason being that people are
more friendly and they have a better value for nice food such as Takoyuki (octopus ball),Kushikatsu (skewer fried pork).

There is a famous story from Osaka. Oba-chan (old ladies) are said to always carry lollies intheir bag and give them to strangers whom they have just met on the streets or on the train.
So if you get lost in Osaka, you can ask Oba-chan and get some lollies!
I grew up in Kobe so I speak kansai-ben (Kansai dialect) as well as standard Japanese. I also have a passion forJapanese calligraphy and have been learning since I was 10 years old. Before coming to Australia, I taught
calligraphy and spent my time creating exhibition pieces, sometimes they would take me 2 or 3 hours to complete. If
you are interested in, I would love to talk about them.
I like learning foreign languages too because I love travelling and communicating with other people from all over theworld. Lately I started learning Spanish which is not easy but I love it and enjoy it. It is definitely a big challenge tolearn a new language but also a lot of fun.
I enjoy living in Melbourne. I can meet lots of people from different countries and I love cafe culture here! I used todrink only tea in Japan but since I've tried coffee here I became a coffee lover.
I'm so excited to be a part of iJapanese and to start working with all you amazing people.
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

www.iJapanese.com.au

Page 4 of 4

Guild House Tookamachi
We would like to introduce you to Megumi Suga, she has interesting Kominka’s story to tell.
I am a working single mother.
Between my job and caring for my daughter I barely got
10 minutes to spare in a day. When my daughter Akari
turned 3 years old, I felt like I was stuck living two
separate lives. I decided to move into my current
residence, the share house called "Guild House
Tookamachi".

We began managing the house under the concept of“free living”, by which we mean to create a hospitable
place that invites others to share life experiences with us
like it was their own home. Many people find it exciting
to be a part of the community, and they havegenerously offered us their technical skills and helped us
renovate.

In the village where we created the share house, there
were only 6 homes and 6 residents. Everyone could feelthat the threat of the village disappearing was hanging
overhead. There was one house in particular that noone had lived in for 30 years, and there were plans todestroy it. It was a 120 year-old house that was once
used to make silk fabrics. Having discussed with theother villagers, we decided to work together to repair
the house and try to breathe new life into the small
community.

Oftentimes at night, wewould watch films together
on the bedspread projector
screen, or share stories
around the “kotatsu” table.
Passersby can see thewarm light from the old
cottage left on deep into
the night as a beacon for
those who may be lost,while the laughter andhappiness of our sharedcompany fills the once
isolated village until thewee hours.

We began working side by side with others in the local
community to repair and renovate the old house.
People would give us fruits and vegetables from theirfields, assorted utensils and furniture, and even someelectrical appliances. Each of us living and working in
the house would help others in the community byrepairing other houses and assisting with other tasks ofcountry life. The people we helped, in return, would offer
us the remaining repair materials, or allow us to collectmaterials from homes that were deserted or being
demolished. We only bought less than 10% of what wasused to renovate the house on our own. It was throughthis communal process that we managed to transformthe old silk house into a home for us to share withtravellers.

As the residents of our village grow and change, I tell mydaughter Akari that she has many grandpas, grandmas,uncles, aunts, sisters and brothers that she can trust,
regardless of their nationalities. I want to give her aplace where she can trust the people surrounding her.
While we do not live a very luxurious life, I can say withfull certainty that it is a very rich one. Just as our little
village has grown, our little family of 2 has also grown toinclude many more people from all different types.
For us, hospitality is not simply welcoming a guest, but
creating an entire community and experience that they
can join. At "Guild House Tookamachi", we don't justwelcome guests into our home, we welcome them intoour lives.
“Beyond anywhere” gives us a family.

Guild House
263 Hitsujiko, Tookamachi, Niigata Prefecturesudamegumi@gmail.com(Megumi Suga)

iJapanese Language & Culture School
Suite 3 Mezzanine Level, 257 Collins Street
0401 886 629
Info@ijapanese.com.au