New Year links
Jan 2nd, 2009 by Ad Blankestijn
In the first place: a very Happy New Year to all readers! I hope the Year of the Cow will be a bullish year for you!
Start the New Year with sake and mochi!
Five Ways to have a Japanese New year anywhere in the world (Tokyo Mango).
Japanese food is going global, not only as expensive “health food”, but also with more affordable noodles – Globaltalk21 comments on “Two Japanese Restaurants in NYT Top Ten New Restaurants List.”
[P.S.: also see this NY Mag article about "Cut-rate Asian food"]
The new Michelin Guide celebrates Tokyo’s restaurants:
As the old city and its customs disappear, what is left of Kyoto is fast becoming a themepark for tourists. Most of the maiko (”geisha”) you meet in the streets are other tourists, dressed up for a couple of hours of fun… Of course these custumed visitors like to get attention from other visitors and enjoy having their picture taken. Is it a wonder that foreign tourists make the mistake (BBC) thinking that the rare real maiko is part of the same game?
When the Kyoto “neighborhood patrols” announced in the BBC article above make it difficult to take your own pictures of real maiko, enjoy them in this book about Komomo, a real geiko in Miyagawacho:
