Updated: Mar 5, 2024
Very famous idol group "AKB48" was born in 2005, in Japan. Its popularity was enormous at the time. Many young guys were crazy for AKB48. And its sales promotion was very unique, the system was taken which allowed fans to select the leader by their votes at the "election".
It was said that AKB48 is there on the top of Otaku culture. Its sister groups appear one after another, for example SKE48 and Nogizaka46 and so on, and its movement is going on now. These group have a feature, that all of them have the base theaters for acting.
The word "AKB" of AKB48 is shortened of "Akihabara(秋葉原)". Akihabara is a place name, and it is in Tokyo. Akihabara is said the sanctuary of Otaku culture. There are so many shops, electric equipment shops, Anime shops, souvenir shops. And many foreign tourists visit here.
In 1870 a huge fire happened here in Akihabara, many houses had burned. Until that time this place had not been called "Akihabara". By the direction of the emperor one shrine had been built there. Its name was "Akiba Shrine", so this place became called Akihabara.
Akiba Shrine is believed to be the God for preventing fire. From Edo-period(1603-1868) to around Showa-period(1926-1986), here in Japan, many fires happened in the cities. Therefore, too many Akiba Shrines were built all over Japan. The number of it is beyond 1000.
And in my town street too, there is a small Akiba Shrine. It is very small and built over the waterway. Here, within this town organization, there are about 35 houses. We 35 residents save and maintain this small shrine. And in January, we worship it as the New Year's event.
It is not well known, within Japan, there is a relationship between the idol group AKB48 and the local small Akiba shrine.
Regarding eating and drinking, it is said Japanese males are divided into two groups. One group is called "Ama-tou(甘党)". Which means sweets lovers. When it is called sweets, that means Japanese cakes.
And another group is called "Kara-tou(辛党)". Which means alcoholic drinks lovers. In short, Japanese guys belong to either sweets lovers or alcohol lovers. Speaking of me, originally I had belonged to the group Kara-tou for a long time.
When I started to drink whisky or beer, it was at the age of 17. Since then I have continued to drink for 40 years. And at last I stopped drinking in the autumn of 2020. I don’t have a deep reason, excluding the pandemic.
Until now I didn’t think I would become a sweets lover. That is because, since my youth, I didn’t like sweets very much. However my favorite is changing now, and I am recruited little by little by the group Ama-tou now.
Speaking of Japanese sweets, it can be said Japan has two big traditional sweets. One is called "Manjyu(饅頭)", which has the roots in China. Its shell is white and made of flour. In many cases, sweet red beans are wrapped in it.
And another one is called "Daifuku(大福)". I don’t know about it in detail, but it seems that Daifuku has its origins in Japan. Its shell is white and made of rice cake. Japanese have eaten rice for a long time. Same as Manjyu, in many cases sweet red beans are wrapped in it.
There are three traditional Japanese sweets shops near my house. Recently I often visit each shop, when I am taking a walk. And I realized one time, one of the shops sells a very unique Daifuku. It is called "Coffee Daifuku"(I attached the picture here).
Coffee Daifuku has very unique contents, which are composed of coffee powder, cream and red beans. When I eat it, I feel just like drinking coffee. “It’s so delicious and it has a very good balance!” My wife said, when I bought and brought it to my house. I agreed with her.
Here in Japan, various types of Daifuku are being invented one after another now. The type of one wrapping strawberries is especially popular now. Which is called "Ichigo-Daifuku(いちご大福)". That is a surprising taste.
Japanese people are good at developing things imported abroad. For example, Ramen is so. Also Daifuku will develop more and more. And we are waiting for the new type to appear in Japan.
At last it seems that I became a member of Ama-tou group, perfectly.
Updated: Jan 4, 2022
We are always like this, 1st January is in winter. In the case of Japan, it is always so. Last year was so too, and this year is so.
This year’s winter is quite cold. And we have a lot of snow. Also yesterday, it snowed since the morning. The road in front of my house was white.
I don’t know why, but Japanese people are quite busy preparing at the end of December. It is a preparation for the New Year. We clean all over the house, cook the New Year’s cuisine and go greeting relatives. I think you should do those things on very ordinary days because of being busy. But they are eager to do it this week.
My father is 80s and my mother is 70s. Though it snowed this week, my mother said that she was going to go tomb cleaning. So I said to her, “Don’t go tomb cleaning because it snows.” But she seemed to go with my father when the snow stopped.
My wife was arranging cutting flowers at night, for decorating on the New Year. It was a very cold night. Water in the kitchen is cold too. I thought you don’t have to do it now, at that time. As expected, the next day, she said to me, “I may have caught a cold today.”
We don't like a warm winter
I don’t know why, but it seems that Japanese people don’t like a warm winter. We seem to think that winter should not be warm. Surely, I feel the same too.
On New Year’s Eve night, many Japanese people are having dinner while watching TV, with family or friends. In many cases, its TV program is 紅白歌合戦/Kouhaku-Utagassen on NHK. It is a song program in which many singers sing.
Around the time when its program ends, Japanese religious events begin in many temples. It is called 除夜の鐘/Joya-No-Kane. And the sounds of bells in temples arrive within our houses. It is just the midnight of the last day of the year.
So we may often think this way at that time. It is beautiful if it is snowing outside now. My heart would be calm. We prefer a cold winter.
