How to Deal: H.A. style

If you're not Japanese American, think about the last funeral you went to. There was probably a lot of crying and black. Lots and lots of black. Black dresses, black coats, black slacks. Mostly black. Along with the black clothes, you pobably saw black metaphorically as well. The black cloud that hung over the church (or wherever the ceremony had been held) and dark expressions on the faces of each attendee. Darkness. The unknown. That is part of what makes death so frightening. What will happen next? We as humans are programmed to feel fear.

If you are Japanese American, I would like you to picture the last funeral you attended (Hawaiians too). When you think about it, what do you see? Do you see black? Do you see anguish? Unless you are a very strange H.A., you probably see more colors. Bright colors. Flowers and different colored mochi. You might see your grandmother smiling with the deceased's spouse.

When you first see the contrast between the two, you may think of Japanese Americans as heartless people who do not respect death. I like to think of us as a step ahead. We see death as peace. We don't see anguish and defeat, we see the love and joy the deceased had lived . We see good times and our loved ones finally at peace. Through death we don't see pain or defeat or agony.

We see peace.

Bunny making Mochi in the Moon

One night, when I was a child, I remember being in a car with my family when we noticed there was a full moon.  My sisters and I were all gazing at the moon and my mom then asked us if we saw a bunny making mochi when we looked at the moon.  I had never been asked that before.  I had only been asked if I saw the man in the moon.  My mom said if we looked closely we could see the bunny pounding the rice and making mochi. I believe I did see that bunny making mochi (rice cakes) that night.   Source of picture above: Wikipedia                                        

My mom told me that Fugetsu-Do, the Japanese Confectionery store owned by my relatives has the logo of a bunny in the moon.  I thought that was cool!

Happy New Year! - Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu!

Happy New Year! For Japanese Americans this is one of the most important days of the year. There are many traditions we follow and special foods we eat.

In my family, we have a tradition of eating a special soup before we eat anything else on New Year's day.  The soup is called Ozoni.   There are different varieties.  This is a fish stock soup with mizuna (green vegetable) and omochi (white rice cake).  At the Japanese American church my sister goes to they have Mochitsuki in December - an event where the omochi is made.  Toasted omochi with shoyu (soy sauce) and sugar is also delicious.  Sometimes though, we will just microwave the omochi.   We drink the soup to have good luck in the New Year.

Bacon and Chopsticks

"How many chopsticks does it take for a Japanese American to change a light bulb?" Well I don't know about that but I do know that my mother can cook anything with chopsticks. So can my grandma. And my aunties. Chopsticks are THE most essential part of Japanese American cooking. Maybe because Japanese cooking is "fussy". Maybe it's because we have small, skinny fingers. Whatever the reason, I know chopsticks, or ohashi, are the most important part of cooking.