Today is a mid-autumn festival. I hope everyone can see the beautiful moon at night.
This festival came from China to Japan, and cerebrate among nobles. Since Edo period, the common people started to celebrate as well.
When I was little girl, I was told that there are rabbits and they pound rice cakes in mid-autumn day on the moon. When I could see moon clearly, I looked it up very carefully and tried to find rabbits. And I have prepared rice dumplings with my mother to offer for the moon. In Japan, we pray with white rice dumplings, silver grass, potatoes and fruits harvested in autumn in mid-autumn festival. I will introduce why we offer these things.
In the old days, people who were doing agriculture thought full moon is a symbol of fertility. They prayed with potatoes and fruits harvested in Autumn with their grateful of harvest. According to a story, people offered taros because they ate taros mainly instead of rice before people started rice farming, so sometimes it is called “potato moon”.
Because during this season, rice is still not harvested so people tried to use silver glass instead of because they look similar. And also people believe that silver glass can be house of God. In addition, silver glass acts as a charm against evil. It can protect harvests from evils so that people pray for rich harvest next year with silver glass. It is said that if we hang the silver glass which we offered for the moon in front of the house, it can prevent illness for a year.
Rice dumplings are displayed like mountain because the top of mountain of dumplings will connected to the spiritual world. White and round shaped rice dumpling express full moon. According to a story, people stared to offer rice dumplings to pray for good harvest is the beginning.
It is said that if we eat the things offered on mid-autumn day, we can get good health and happiness.
Recently, people who enjoy this culture is decreasing. However, I hope many people look up the moon today and enjoy the beauty.
A lot of Japanese women hate to tan. Especially in summer, they try very hard to hide their skin by clothes, put on strong sunscreen and walk in the shade as much as possible everyday.
There are many kinds of products to prevent sunburn are sold in Japan. For example, parasol, hat, sun visor hat, arm cover and cosmetics of UV cut… If tourists come to Japan in summer, they can see many women who hold parasol, wear broad-brimmed hat and big sun glasses to hide their skin. Their fashion might be curious for people from abroad.
Also, Japanese people often ride bicycle, and there is a special product to fasten a parasol on bicycle. It’s very sunny and sunshine become strong these days, so we can see women who ride bicycle with fastened parasol often.
In my case, recently I don’t even put on sunscreen so often, and I cannot stand to wear to much under hot sun. I don’t like to hold un umbrella even in rain because it is heavy so I have never gotten parasol. Therefore, I respect women who try hard to protect their skin everyday.
While I respect them, I cannot think the fashion to prevent sunburn is nice. I think we can keep our skin nice until we get old if we try not to tan. However, I cannot think it is happy that trying hard to hide face, skin, hold parasol and avoid sunshine as much as possible in summer. Is it a happy life?
I love the fashion of people in foreign countries. I can see they often wear casual tank top and short pants, sun glasses, and sandal. Their skin is tan and look healthy.
I think that it is very lovely to enjoy summer in the sun. I don’t care even if I got stains and wrinkles when I get old. I hope to spend summer with casual cool fashion and enjoy the sunshine. I’m sure that living with the sun openly and refreshingly is important for my health and my heart.
For previous blog “The Fashion which is not suitable to wear in Malaysia. ( My personal opinion. )”, press here.
傘スタンドを付けた自転車。特に大阪に来てから良く見かける気がします。 A bicycle with an umbrella stand. I noticed I often see this since I moved to Osaka.
日本の夏には多くの女性がこのようなアームカバーをつけて歩いています。試着してみましたが、暑い！Many Japanese women walk with arm cover like this in summer. I tried to wear it, it was so hot!
帽子、サングラス、上着など、対策をしている人がたくさんいます。 Many women wear hat, sun glasses, cardigans and black clothes to cut UV in summer.
This is my personal opinion, there are some fashion which I think is not suitable for Malaysia. Whenever I go to Malaysia, I learn something about fashion, and I find my style and what I should wear in Malaysia.
“Wide pants” is popular fashion in Japan now. It’s good to hide your body line and easy to move, so the cloth looks good for traveling. However, there is a reason why I thought it is not suitable for traveling in Malaysia. That is toilet. Malaysian toilet is basically wet because Muslim people wash after using toilet with furnished shower or hose instead of using papers. Japanese toilet is very dry but I don’t want my clothes to touch the floor even in Japanese toilet. When you take off your wide pants, it’s easy to fall on the floor soon, so you need to roll before taking off. It’s troublesome. I wore wide pants in Malaysia because I thought it’s comfortable and easy to move, but it was hard in toilet. I think that short pants or skirt is better in Malaysia.
最近流行のスカンチョとか特に大変そう… The latest wide pants which is very wide like skirt is not suitable, I think…
I thought that beach sandal is necessary in warm country like Malaysia, but I didn’t wear it so often. The best reason is also Malaysia toilet which is wet. I need braveness to go into toilet which is wet with thin sandal. And also, there are some road which is not paved well so going out with thin beach sandal is not good for your feet. I suggest you to wear sneakers or sandal with stable sole. My favorite sandal now is from Keen which is American outdoor brand. I can wear it with bare foot and also socks like sneakers when I walk long. The shoe is fit and stable.
Black clothes are easy to coordinate so look good for traveling. However, I feel very hot with black clothes in Malaysia. Black clothes become hot with strong sunshine, so if you are very sensitive to heat, better not to wear black. In my case, I’m sensitive to heat and sweat a lot so I stopped wearing black clothes in Malaysia. Because I easy to see spots by sweat on black clothes, and after my sweat dries, it becomes white stain with salt of sweat… So now I choose clothes which is white or thin color in Malaysia because stain of sweat is not stand out.
体型カバーに黒い服よく着ていましたが、着なくなりました。I used to wear black clothes to hide my body shape, but now I don’t often wear.
I think Japanese people like to wear layered clothes even in summer. I also liked layering until few years ago. In Japan, layering thin long gown of lace or flower print is current trend. I don’t layer clothes now. I love to wear just comfortable T-shirt or tank top now. Malaysia is very hot everyday, so the Japanese popular motto which is “Beauty needs patience.” may not work. If I endure on fashion in Malaysia, I will be sick because of hot weather so I’m pursuing coolness on my fashion in Malaysia.
最近巻いている人は減ったと思いますが、カーディガンを巻くのもすごく日本人っぽい。This is very Japanese style with cardigan which was popular in these few years.
Because Malaysia is too hot, so I sweat soon just after going outside. In my opinion, the best clothes for Malaysia is white or thin color that stain of sweat is not easily stand out, T-shirt of cool fabric, tank top, short pants, one-piece which is not too short and easy to move, and stable sandal. They should be flexible and cool. However, in the restaurant and some places, it is very cool by too much air conditioner so you should bring thin jacket or cardigan with you.
In my image, women of Malaysian Chinese often wear quite sexy just like a very thin top and very short pants. But I can understand now because they live in very hot weather whole year. There are many Muslim in Malaysia so you need to care about wearing too much bare fashion, but Japanese fashion is basically not bare. So you can wear your usual summer clothes or a bit thinner is no problem.
I think this is Japanese feeling, but I think wearing only short pants and tank top or camisole is cool because it’s like a foreign people’s fashion. Not Japanese like. When I see a woman who wear like this in Japan, I think the person likes foreign countries. Japanese woman who has been to abroad to study or whatever, her fashion changes to that country. Don’t you think so? My fashion is changing little by little after going to Malaysia several times. I stop layer clothes, and pursuing coolness and comfort to move.
By the way, My Malaysian husband said that enjoying local fashion in foreign countries is very Japanese like. I mean that buying ethnic dress and wearing it in resort place or something like this. And he also said Japanese fashion is easy to recognize so he can recognize Japanese people even in any Asian countries. I think it’s true. I can also recognize Japanese people easily in foreign countries. In addition, wearing hat during trip is characteristic of Japanese. Even though Malaysia is very hot, local people don’t wear hat or straw hat often. When I wear straw hat in Malaysia, I looked like very tourist. lol
Fashion during trip is very important for enjoyingthe trip. If you need to be active and move well, you wear sporty clothes. And sometimes enjoy to dress up. Let’s enjoy fashion which fits the countries and your action.
I love Japanese home cooking. For a lot of Japanese people, Japanese meals are always is the best foods. Especially, home-cooked meals by mother is even the best regardless of country.
My Malaysian husband often send pictures of my home-cooked meals to his family in Malaysia. Sometimes his family asked for recipe, but I could not answer well because I always put seasoning roughly with my hunch and make dishes in my own way.
Then, my husband thought it is good to make videos about how to make Japanese home cooking and show it to his family and friends. So we started to make and upload videos on YouTube.
We try to make simple and easy videos explaining how to make Japanese home cooking and upload continuously.
It is very hard to measure amount of seasonings and water because that I always put roughly. And also we are not sure people can get ingredients as same as we get in Japan. In addition, my husband says that many Malaysian people don’t cook so often compare to Japanese, so I try to make ingredients and ways of cooking as simple as I can…
Even if the dish is something I often make, making it’s videos is much more difficult than expected. It’s something very good for us to learn.
We hope that people in other countries become interested in Japanese home cooking by our videos, and would like to help to make your family’s dining table become deliciously and happily. Please watch our videos and if you like it, please like and subscribe. Thank you!
For previous blog “What Malaysian people do but Japanese do not”, click here.
When we go to foreign countries, we can always find interesting customs and cultures that are very different from our own country. Sometimes have culture shock too. That’s one of the pleasures to visit aboard. I also have experiences to be surprised by Malaysian cultures when I visit my husband’s hometown. Also, I have said to my husband “Hey, what are you doing!?” in Japan when I saw his curious behaviors. So I write about Malaysian custom which I thought “It’s curious!”
① They wipe the cover of caned drinks before they open it.
In Malaysia, sometimes the cover of canned drinks is dirty so Malaysian people wipe it before they open it. My husband do it with his cloths or something to wipe even in Japan. I try to do this in Malaysia but I forget to do this in Japan because I don’t have this custom. When we buy canned drinks in Malaysia, there are some fine dust on the cans. So I try not to forget to wipe before open it in Malaysia.
② They wash instant noodles before mixing with soup.
My husband doesn’t eat cooked instant noodle straight away. Instead, he boils noodle and pours away the water, lightly washes the noodle then only mixes with the soup. He said the oil which covers instant noodles is not good.
We do not know that Malaysian egg is clean or not, so some people wash it before they boil it. Malaysian egg is not really fresh so some people do not eat raw or soft boiled egg. If you live in Malaysia, better do not to eat raw egg with rice or sukiyaki as same as Japanese style. However, I like to eat soft boiled egg which is a typical breakfast in Malaysia…
これはマレーシアの定番の朝食、半熟卵。温泉卵のようなとろとろの卵を崩して、醤油や胡椒をかけてスプーンでいただきます。 This is a typical Malaysian breakfast. Eat soft boiled egg with soy sauce and pepper.
④ Some people peel the surface skin of steamed meat bun before eating.
I heard that some workers blowed water on meat bun by their mouth to make bun soft in the past. I guess it was like a human sprayer. I heard workers don’t do it now but My husband’s family peel surface’s thin skin of bun still now because they already get used to it.
It is a Chinese superstition. They believe that if they open umbrella indoor, ghost that hides in the umbrella from outdoor will get out of the umbrella and come indoor. When I tried to open a new umbrella in our room, my husband stopped me to do it and said “Please do it outside!”
Not all Malaysian people do all these things, some customs are only among Chinese or only among my husband’s family. In wherever countries, it is sure that there are rules only for each families or specific area. If I start to live in Malaysia in the future, I guess that I will be surprised by more other things and customs. I’m looking forward to knowing them!
If I recall some other curious things which Malaysian people do and Japanese do not, I will write about them in my blog again!
My husband and I watched a wonderful Malaysian movie yesterday, so I’d like to introduce you the movie.
The movie is 『TALENTIME』.
This movie is made by a Malaysian movie director, YASMIN AHMAD.
YASMIN made films about Malaysia which is her hometown. Her films are included problems of humanity, religion, love…as a multiracial nation. She uses some kinds of languages like Malay, Tamil, English and Chinese in her film which is just like a daily life in Malaysia. A lot of fans love her heartwarming films. However, YASMIN passed away in 2009, she was just 51 years old.
This movie is her last long film.
When we went to a Malaysian restaurant in Osaka, the owner’s wife introduced this film to us because the movie is shown in Osaka at that time. So we decided to go to watch the film and IT WAS JUST WONDERFUL.
Both of us cried because of the heartwarming story and beautiful music.
We don’t have many chances to watch Malaysian movie in Japan, but if you have a chance to watch YASMIN’s movie in Japan, PLEASE watch it. I have never watched other YASMIN’S films but I’m sure they must be wonderful.
This story is about “TALENTIME” which is a competition of music in high school in Malaysia where different races students and teachers are belonged. My husband said there are some points which only Malaysian people can feel, but we can really enjoy the film except these points.
What is the standard proposal of Japanese men? It is usually done in a romantic restaurant with nice view, or maybe in natural situation in the couple’s house when there are only two of them… Also a lot of Japanese women have an ideal to be proposed when there are only two of them in romantic situation.
However, surprise proposal with a lot of friends is becoming popular among young Malaysian people.
Reserve a space, prepare many surprising things and presents, a lot of friends gather and propose in front of them. My husband showed me some videos and pictures of surprise proposal of his friends, they took place in big scale with many people. I think Malaysian people prefer to share precious times with important friends. It needs corporation from many friends and I can see that Malaysian Chinese people have strong bond of friendship and they can help each other all the time. That’s why this kind of surprise proposal is possible.
I think it is beautiful to be surprised and celebrate with a lot of friends, but it is too much to me. I don’t like to be surprised because I feel so shy, so I told my husband not to surprise me especially in particular style. To have surprised proposal in front of other people is too embarrassing for me that I want to run away. Of course there are Japanese people do surprise in particular ways, and many Japanese women like it. But also there are many shy Japanese women who don’t like to be surprised because they feel it is embarrassing as me. Some friends of mine said, “If I am proposed in front of many people, I am “forced” to say ‘YES’.” and , ” If I am surprised in a way like flash mob, it is too embarrassing and it is like a “punishment” in public.” Of course how to feel is different depends on each person, but I’m also in this side.
I think that many Japanese women think what is the reason to invite a lot of friends to propose, which is precious and important time in life. Most Japanese think proposal should be very romantic = must be done by only two of them.
By the way, I am always impressed that Malaysian Chinese people have strong bond between family and relatives, and also friendship is very strong. They have a lot of friends and their friendship is strong and last long. It is wonderful to have many friends who corporate kindly whenever you need.
For previous blog “To Carry Own Bottle of Water”, click here.
旦那さんの従兄弟のプロポーズです。 This is the surprise proposal of my husband’s cousin.
隠れていた大勢の友達が登場！ Many friends hid and appeared suddenly!
MARRY ME!
もちろん答えはイエス！ Of course she said “YES”!
旦那さんがムービー製作をしたので、私たちもムービーでちょこっと参加しました。 My husband made the movie for them so we joined a little in the movie.
When I was a university student, I often drank coffee so I used to made coffee in my bottle to bring to university, but a bottle of coffee was not enough. So I bought another coffee in university almost everyday. Moreover, if I needed to stay in university for a long time, I bought coffee and other drinks several times a day. I could get hot water in university so if I need, I can make instant coffee by myself. If I did so everyday, I could have saved money. However, it was troublesome for me at that time, and the coffee which I bought in university’s cafe or from vending machine were fresh and delicious so buying it everyday became my “habit”. Buying drinks is everyday’s “habit” for many Japanese people. And also, many Japanese people think that if they need to carry own bottle, the bottle must be cute, cool and fashionable. And if the bottle is not nice, many Japanese people think carrying it is “not cool”. Coffee of Starbucks or drink of plastic bottle become a part of fashion for many people. When I was young, I felt ashamed to carry old plastic bottle or flask with drink. And I felt happy to carry juice which I bought in convenience store or from vending machine. To buy and drink new and popular drinks, or carrying it is “status” for not only children but also a lot of people.
When I was a university student, my husband gave me a water bottle. Since I got it, I tried to carry my bottle of water or flask. He changed my mind, but we sometimes buy coffee and drink of plastic bottle in coffee shop or stores. I think we cannot stop buying it completely because sometimes it is necessary to buy drinks in somewhere outside.
A friend of mine said to me when she saw my water bottle, “It is something like very outdoors. lol”, and my mother and sister were surprised when they saw me carrying just tap water, not mineral water. I thought that differences of feelings and minds of “economy”, “ecology”, “status” and “fashion” between Japanese and people from other countries are very different. I hope more Japanese people make “habit” to carry own bottles of drinks for ecology, not for fashion.
マイボトルを持ち歩いていると、飲みたいときに飲めるので安心感もあります。When I carry own bottle, I feel relieved because I can drink whenever I need.
最近はとても軽量のボトルもあるので助かりますね。自分好みの飲み物を作って持ち歩けば、お財布にも、心と体にも優しいです。There are very light bottles these days, and they are really helpful. If I make and carry my favorite drink, it is good for my wallet, and also good for my heart and body.
My husband’s friend who works with Japanese colleagues in Singapore said to my husband like this before. “Japanese people don’t carry their own bottle of drinks.”.
I think it’s correct. In Japan, there are many kinds of bottles which is high quality and popular among foreigner tourists, and also there are many cute design bottles as well. But why there aren’t many people carry their own bottles?
When I went to Malaysia and other foreign countries, I often saw a lot of people who carry their own bottle of water. For them, carrying own bottle is a very natural thing in their daily life, but when I saw it, I thought their mind for “saving money” and “to be good for environment” is high.
In Japan, there are many kinds of vending machines and so many convenience stores. They are open 24 hours everyday, so we can buy a lot of kinds of cold drinks (hot drinks in autumn and winter as well) anytime and anywhere. In addition, many delicious new drinks are sold one after another. New products are very attractive especially for young people and they are can be a hot topic among friends. So people often buy drinks. After buying cans or plastic bottles of drinks, I think it’s ok to recycle them. However, some people throw away just as litters. That’s not good for environment and it’s a big problem.
Japanese people tend not to drink just water, and some Japanese people couldn’t drink just water which has no taste. Tap water in Japan is safe to drink, so drinking it is a good way to save money, but if people carry their own bottles, it might be beverage like tea or coffee instead. Some people like to carry water but they normally buy a bottle of mineral water to carry. It is a bit troublesome to make favorite beverage and put in bottles to carry every morning, so even though people want to save money, they often go to convenience store to buy something to drink. In addition, in Japan, people often walk or use bus and train so carrying bottle is quite heavy. Therefore, many people buy drinks just after arrive destination.
日本にはどこにでも自動販売機があります。便利ですが、スーパーマーケットで買った方がかなり安く買えます。In Japan, there are vending machines everywhere. It is very convenient, but buying same drinks in supermarket is much cheaper.
I would like to write about “Doggy bag”, and a very nice culture which I saw in Malaysia called “Da bao”, related with large rejection of food in Japan that I wrote before.
“Doggy bag” is a bag to take food away if you cannot finish all in a restaurant. This bag is becoming popular because some famous people and actors use this in foreign countries. This is an action not to waste food, and they take food away with own responsibilities. The origin of “Doggy bag” is said that it is shy to say “I want to take food away which I cannot finish.” so someone said “I want to take food away for my dog.” That’s why the bag is named “Doggy bag”.
Many Japanese think it is embarrassing to say “want to take food away.” in front of other people because there isn’t anyone doing this. I also feel so shy so I have never done this. When I eat in a restaurant, I always try to order less so that I can finish all. Even if I become full before finish, I try to eat all as much as I can. I watched a news that there is a card to show to restaurants regarding “my mind to take food away with own responsibilities” in Japan. However, this card is not popular yet, so even if I show it to someone in a restaurant, I think most of them cannot recognize what does the card mean. It’s not useful.
In Malaysia, there is a culture to take food away called “da bao”. It is a very normal thing in daily life. About food, I think Malaysian people have “mottainai(do not waste)” spirit than Japanese. When we went back to Malaysia this Chinese New Year, I saw this action for several times. After we ate great CNY dinner in a restaurant, our family asked waitress to pack some food which we could not finish and can keep until next day. And also, when we ate hot pot, we took noodles away which we didn’t put in hot pot. I think this culture is great. And the restaurants in Malaysia can pack food to take away soon if I ask them because this is very normal for them as well. Malaysian restaurants use paper and thin plastic bag to pack food. I like it because they don’t use too much plastics like Japanese. There are many people who is obsessed with being clean so I think some Japanese people cannot accept this Malaysian culture. But I really like this culture. I want this culture in Japan as well.
I think if Japanese do da bao or use doggy bag in Japan, some problem will happen even though people do this with their own responsibilities. If they become sick after eating these foods which they took away, Japanese people complain about it to the restaurant even though it is customer’s responsibility. In addition, a lot of Japanese restaurants cannot accept to take food away because they are afraid some problems happen like food poisoning, and restaurants don’t like that the taste might change to not good until next day. Thoughts and stance of mind are very different depend on countries, so I’m not sure if the culture to take food away can become popular in Japan. However, there are the news of large rejection of food in Japan recently, so I hope many young people could do “da bao” or use “doggy bag” in the future. If famous people and actors use “doggy bag” and try not to waste food in foreign countries, Japanese people think “they are so cool!” However if Japanese people see someone do same thing in Japan, they think “it is so embarrassing!”. These are very absurd differences. Don’t you think so?
チキンライスをダーパオした時はこんな風に油に強い紙に包まれてきました。料理によってはバナナの葉に包まれてくるものもあります。残ったものを持ち帰ることをダーパオと言いますが、普通にテイクアウトすることもダーパオと言います。When we “da bao” chicken rice, it was packed by coated paper which is strong for oily food like this. Depends on food, sometimes people use banana leaf to pack too. We say “da bao” to take food away which we cannot finish, and also we say “da bao” to just takeout.
ドギーバッグがもっと流行って、食品を捨てるのではなく、リサイクルできる紙バッグやボックスを捨てられるようになったらいいなと思います。I hope “doggy bag” become popular in Japan, and I wish I could throw away paper bags or boxes to recycle, not food.
焦らない暮らし 