Tomiya is a new Japanese grocery store that opened this month by the owners of Tomi Jazz, a jazz club that features homey Japanese food in Midtown Manhattan. The grocery store located above the jazz club on the 2nd floor offers take out versions of the Tomi Jazz menu in addition to all the other basic Japanese grocery standards like sauces, frozen foods, dried foods, and snacks. Take-out foods such as lunch boxes and rice balls are prepared in their own kitchen, allowing customers to enjoy homemade, hearty flavors. “Our store is targeted to help our very busy business people who generally come by to get what they need for that day, much like a “conbini”, convenient store in Japan”, explains owner Mr. Ken Mukohata. Naturally, energy drinks are one of the best sellers.

Serving homemade take-out foods, accessible from commercial and business areas, and open late, Tomiya Japanese Grocery Store is indispensable for city life. It is also open until 4 am Mon.-Sat. and untill 2 am on Sun. and houses many household products so you can always go home with what you need.

Tomi Jazz Bar menu items such as curry rice, hayashi rice, chahan (fried rice), are always available to go.

The store is stocked with a great selection of energy drinks that sell like hotcakes.

Homemade breads and rice balls are made fresh daily, so even the single guys won’t miss out on the home-cooked taste.

———————————————–———————————————–
Tomiya Japanese Grocery Store
239 E. 53rd St., (bet. 2nd & 3rd Aves.), New York, NY 10022
TEL: 212-510-7311 / www.tomiyagrocery.com

———————————————–———————————————–

As the weather warms up in NY, our desire for summer drinks is rising up naturally. Here we introduce two new sakes from Japan that will quench your thirst as well as amuse your palate.

Just released in the beginning of April, Kaori Mikan Sake from Yamagata Honten Brewery is a fruity, sweet, and tart sake that blends junmai sake and local specialty Unshu mikan (Unshu variety mandarin orange famous for its flavorfulness) in Yamaguchi Prefecture, home of the brewery.  Kaori junmai sake from Yamagata Honten boasts distinctive rice flavor which goes very well with Unshu mikan’s characteristic sweetness and tartness. Lower in alcohol content at 7%, it’s light and refreshing on your palate, perfectly soothing in summer heat.  Best enjoyed as an aperitif and with dessert. You can even make sorbet out of Kaori Mikan Sake.

Another newcomer is Kotsuzumi Junmai Ginjo Nama: Seasonal Draft Sake, scheduled to be released in early May. Using the softest water, locally grown sake rice “Kita Nishiki” and unique yeast No. 10, Kotsuzumi series from Nishiyama Brewery is characterized by its elegant, round flavor. This draft sake is excellent in the sense it maximizes the elegant, lively and pure flavor through bottling freshly pressed, unpasturized sake.  It should be served chilled for appreciating the freshest flavor. With a hint of rice koji aroma, Kotsuzumi Junmai Ginjo Nama pairs great with delicate flavored dishes such as sushi, sashimi, and food lightly seasoned with dashi broth. Brewed and bottled on pre-order only, its availability is limited. Keep an eye on where you can enjoy this rare offering.

(Left)With a lovely blend of Unshu mikan and junmai sake, Kaori Mikan Sake is particularly popular among female clientele in Japan.

Distributed by JFC International
www.jfc.com
Info: www.oboshi.co.jp/kuramoto/yamagata/ (Japanese only)

(Right) By skipping filtering processes, this seasonal draft sake from Kotsuzumi series allows you to enjoy the freshest flavor from the pressing process. To maintain the delicate quality and flavor, it’s carefully shipped and stored chilled all the way.

Distributed by JFC International
www.sakeexpert.com
Info: www.kotsuzumi.co.jp/global

With the pro-vegetable trend of this health conscious society, it is difficult for those who despise vegetables to incorporate them into a healthy diet, especially with small children. Many mothers try tricks to convince their children to eat more vegetables, and a new kitchen tool just might be their new savior, developed and released by KOKUBO. Their VEGGIESHAPER’S is an inventive way to not only cut vegetables into cute shapes but also allow you to build the cut vegetables just like building blocks. The fun three-dimensional vegetable shapes are sure to be a hit with kids.  There are 5 kinds of shapes currently available: bear, rabbit, elephant, penguin, and airplane. It’s the perfect way to involve kids in creating their own kawaii sculptures with vegetables, fruits and cheese.

———————————————–———————————————–

KOKUBO USA, INC
3838 W. Carson St. Suite 216, Torrance, CA 90503  TEL: 310 543 7550
www.kokubo.co.jp

———————————————–———————————————–

After 20 years of serving in Midtown East as Manish, Hazuki Hair Salon has been re-named, overhauled and opened on April 3rd just one block away from the previous location. Upon entering you’ll find cute little antique decorations on the brick wall and you’ll be filled with a warm, welcoming feeling. At its fresh start, Mr. Ishihara weighs in on the salon’s amenities. “I like to offer a relaxing environment to our customers so they can feel at home, with more room, more sunlight, and a more friendly atmosphere, etc. The entrance area is like a lounge for customers where they can just hang out with favorite drinks and enjoy chatting. The interior space, used as a treatment area, creates a rather organic, rustic ambience reminiscent of Tuscany,” Mr. Ishihara explains. In fact, the salon is 3-4 times more spacious than the previous location and now has enough capacity for all their 7 experienced Japanese hair stylists to work for their clientele. Two big skylights bring natural sunlight during daytime, falling on customers and stylists alike. Hazuki Hair Salon is a hair salon, indeed, but at the same time, it’s a relaxing space where you can recharge yourself and socialize with people.

Named after his 4-year old daughter, Hazuki, the salon reflects the owner, Daichi Ishihara’s hospitable mind and aesthetic sense

———————————————–———————————————–
Hazuki Hair Salon
328 E. 53rd St., (bet. 1st & 2nd Aves.), New York, NY 10022
TEL: 212-755-2623 / www.hazukihair.com
———————————————–———————————————–

Unlike dense Japanese cities, Hokkaido is a destination for pure outdoor adventure. Not only having an abundance of world class powder snow for skiing and snowboarding, Hokkaido, the northern most island of the Japanese archipelago, offers more for warm seasons.  While the rest of the country heads toward the rainy season that consequently brings high humidity in summer, Hokkaido’s location is unaffected, and remains comfortable with dry weather throughout spring and summer.  Having immense open space, Hokkaido becomes a large nature and adventure playground.

The prolonged winter pushes spring back, and as a consequence Hokkaido is the place to go for late cherry blossoms. As Japan’s iconic cherry blossom season  creeps up the country from south to north, it reaches Hokkaido in May. At the southern most point in Hokkaido, Matsumae Park starts the floral season with about 10,000 cherry trees that blossom one after another in early May.  Goryokaku Park, in the historic port city Hakodate, welcomes spring with 1,700 cherry blossom trees as well.  The same ephemeral beauty is celebrated along with Hokkaido’s unique open landscape.

Thousands of flowers fill the panoramic field up to the horizon, looking like colorful patchworks of carpet.

The flower season continues on after the cherry blossoms: Central Hokkaido is an open plain with a panoramic view of Mt. Daisetsu National Park over the horizon, whose name literally means great snow mountain. The area’s fertile and flat lands are some of Japan’s largest agricultural regions, and flower farming is particularly abundant.  In spring, the plains in Biei, Furano and Asahikawa turn into colorful patchworks of flowers in yellow, pink, red, white, purple and different tones of green. The colorful rolling hills is one of the most picturesque places in Japan with sunny blue skies that add more contrast to the floral ground.

The famous powder snow in Hokkaido melts into perfect streams for water rafting in spring and summer.

Hokkaido’s open land is reminiscent of America’s Midwest, and in tandem with drier weather, Hokkaido is the paradise of outdoor activities.  All the powder snow and panoramic hills change into water rafting venues in spring, when Hokkaido opens up another season of outdoor activities.  Although Hokkaido’s mountains are not high in elevation, its 13 major rivers and mildly hilly geography create streams through winding rocks perfect for rafting, and by the mid-summer, children and adventure lovers alike flock to experience the dynamism of northern nature.

Thanks to the open geography and less urban development, Hokkaido’s nature uniquely differs from mainstream tourism destinations in Japan. During late spring and summer when most parts of Japan get into high humidity, Hokkaido is a good escape for more comfortable weather for culture and nature lovers.

Summer delicacies in Hokkaido

Uni (sea urchin)
Hokkaido’s Sea urchin fishery generally starts around mid-June and lasts until the end of August. In Hokkaido there are two kinds of uni: Ezo Bafun Uni and Purple Uni. It is recommended to be eaten fresh, right out of its shell for a rich, sweet taste.

Surume ika (Pacific flying squid)
Squid season runs from summer to autumn. Freshly caught squid looks almost dark brown. The freshness of brown colored squid is recommended to be eaten as sashimi with ginger and soy sauce.

Awabi (abaloni)
Hokkaido’s Ezo awabi season is from June to July. Compared to other awabi found in Honshu, they are smaller in size and the meat is tighter in texture. Eaten as sashimi, you can enjoy the crunchy texture and flavor of the sea.

Sweet corn
Hokkaido is the number one producer and exporter of Japanese corn. At the start of the summer season, the corn harvested in the morning is basically eaten by the end of the day and is surprisingly sweet.

Yubari melon
Developed in the city of Yubari in 1961, the Spicy Cantaloupe and Earl’s Favorite cultivars were combined to make a high quality orange flesh cantaloupe. It is characteristically juicy and surprisingly soft, with a harvest season from mid-May to the end of August. Highly prized, an expensive one can go for around 500,000 yen (about $6,000).

Today, the Japanese term “bento” is widely used in the U.S. Referring to a Japanese lunch box, bento has several unique features.  Since bento contains a variety of small portion dishes, it is well balanced in nutrition. Often using leftovers from the day before, it reduces waste and ultimately is economical. The boxes are also environment-friendly, as they can be reused over and over again. Healthy, economical, and environment-friendly, bento fits the modern day of life. To help you start a bento life, here we will introduce some basic tips for success:

Very first step
Carefully choose a box that fits your lifestyle.  If you are a big eater, the box should be big and a box with separate containers is more convenient.  If you always carry a small bag, the box also has to be slim, too.  There are many kinds of boxes available.  (Shops are listed below)

Tips for Food Preparataion
Strong flavors/seasonings are better
So as to not change the flavor even with passing time, use a little stronger seasoning than usual.

Use seasonings and spices to prevent bento from spoiling
Seasonings and spices like ume boshi (pickled plum), wasabi, ginger, lemon and vinegar, make it less likely for the bento to spoil. Mixing the rice with pickled plum, also prevents spoiling.

Use dishes with less juices and oils
When packing boiled and simmered dishes, remove the liquids and juices as much as possible.  Fried dishes made with batter like tempura can become soggy, so more crunchier batter like in karaage (fried chicken) is better for bento.

Tips for Packing the Bento
Pack side dishes when cooled
After cooling down dishes, leave the lid off to remove any residual heat and once all heat has properly dissipated, close bento tightly with the lid.  If you close the lid of your bento with dishes and rice still hot, it will cause moisture to build up inside as they cool down and ruin the food.

Properly divide dishes, making sure to leave no gaps.
As the bento is something that you carry around and transport, you may be surprised when opening up the lid. What you packed in the morning can look completely different, but this can be prevented.  Try to tightly pack dishes without leaving any gaps.  When packing different types of dishes, to not lose or mix the flavors, partition them using an aluminum cup. To prevent the flow of scents and liquids with things like fruit, or dishes with strong scents, wrap them separately with plastic wrap.

Pack additional seasonings separately
Putting sauces and mayonnaise on top of dishes will only make a mess, and probably get on the lid.  Also, because some time passes before eating the bento, the sauce on the dishes will cause them to get soggy. Putting sauces and mayonnaise in small, separate containers or an aluminum cup is best.

Places you can find bento boxes
Family Market (29-15 Broadway, Astoria, NY / 718-956-7925)
Japanese Culinary Center (711 3rd Ave., NYC / 212-661-3333)
Kinokuniya Bookstore (1073 Avenue of the Americas, NYC / 212-869-1700)
Kiteya SoHo (464 Broome St., NYC / 212-219-7505)
Korin (57 Warren St., NYC / 1-800-626-2172)
Mars New York (595 River Rd., Edgewater, NJ / 201-945-1134)
Midoriya (167 N. 9th St., Brooklyn, NY / 718-599-4690)
MIKI HOUSE (Bloomingdale’s 59th St. Store, NYC / 212-922-9090)
Mitsuwa Marketplace (595 River Rd., Edgewater, NJ / 201-941-9113)
Sunrise Mart East Village (29 3rd Ave., NYC / 212-598-3040)
Sunrise Mart SoHo (494 Broome St., NYC / 212-219-0033)

Online shops
Lunch-a-Porter (www.lunchaporter.com)
JShoppers.com (www.jshoppsers.com)
J-life International (www.jlifeinternational.com)

Over a century ago, the Impressionists and Art Nouveau artists avidly incorporated Japanese arts into their own style. It was about 30 years ago when Ridley Scott took visual references from Japanese cityscape to create the futuristic town in Blade Runner (1982). Most people might consider Japan merely an exporter of automobiles and home electronics, but it’s a country that has much more intangible cultural resources to share. In this new article feature, from traditional art, pop art, fashion, architecture, designs, anime, manga and movies to cosplay, we will introduce cultural trends that are somewhat obscure to non-Japanese. This issue discusses “Cool Japan”, a governmental project to promote Japan’s unique assets to the world.

What is the “Cool Japan” Strategy?
The term “cool Japan” in general refers to products and subjects that are recognized as “cool”.  But what we specifically talk about here is the project facilitated by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).  In 2011, the METI inaugurated a committee in hopes of promoting creative industries and revitalizing the Japanese economy by taking advantage of Japan’s cool assets including fashion, food culture, traditional and pop cultures, design, architecture, and aesthetic sense.  Under the supervision of the panel formed by public and private entities, the project motivates the industries and supports them to promote their products.  In New York, as part of the Cool Japan promotional activities, two exhibitions were already held; Future Tradition WAO, exhibition of Japanese crafts and collaborative artworks of the world’s top designers and artists, and JAPAN NEXT EXHIBITION of Fine Arts, exhibition of craftworks made by 10 Living National Treasures.

JAPAN NEXT
JAPAN NEXT EXHIBITION of Fine Arts held at the Museum of Arts and Design at the end of March was one of events under JAPAN NEXT campaign. The campaign was designed to show appreciation to the world that supported Japan after the disaster in 2011 as well as showcase Japan’s recovery through introduction of “Cool Japan” in 16 countries all over the world. For New York, traditional craftworks and arts were exhibited and demonstrated. “NEXT” in the title also connotes Japan’s strong will to move on to the next stage. Mr. Osamu Hoshino, Deputy Counselor of Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters of the Cabinet Secretariat explained at the opening event, “We intentionally selected the masterpieces that incorporate new twists into conventional styles and techniques that were handed down for centuries.”

Whether they are traditional crafts or futuristic robots, minimalistic couture or clamoring street fashion, stylish arts or imaginative manga, Japanese culture is an important vehicle that drives the country forward.

The events and activities organized under the Cool Japan Strategy are updated online. Check out Cool Japan Daily website.  http://cooljapandaily.jp/

©Chopsticks NY / Myles Mellor

Across

1. The Winter Olympics in 1998 took place in _____
3. J-pop idol group, _ _ B 48
5. Legendary anime title in 1988, now in development to be a Hollywood live action movie
7. Buddhism based philosophy widespread in Asian coutries
8. Distilled alcohol drink enjoyed in Japan
10. The Oscar nominee, ___ Watanabe
11. Japanese word for “hair” and “paper”
12. Plant used as the Tokugawa clan’s family crest
13. Referring to a person who is unable to sense the atmosphere of a situation or conversation

Down

2. Japanese word for “school”
4. Japanese word for “anniversary”
6. Red bean paste made from _____
8. Fava beans are called ____ mame
9. Tea
11. “Qi” or “Chi” energy in Japanese

Beauty Interview: Ms. Mako Iijima of Cocoro Salon

What is unique about your salon?
We are unique in that we have three owners who each have their own specialty, including a massage therapist, hair and make-up stylist, and colorist, so that we can offer a space dedicated to total beauty. We provide everything from various styles of massages to haircuts and manicures, as well as combination menus. But perhaps our most featured service is the photo service we offer in collaboration with a “life style” photographer, Carolina Wahnish Rivera, who captures our customer’s once-in-a-lifetime moments such as weddings, baby showers and birthdays, with her original, sensual, yet graceful style in an album that will prove to become a lifetime keepsake. We like to think that we provide a space and services that allow our customers to become the heroins of their own day to celebrate themselves.

What are some of the important aspects of your job?
To be in the know of what’s new in fashion is very important in this business, so we always try to keep our eyes out towards the world for new trends. Right now, the newest thing is hair tinsels that we offer in various colors, starting at $3 a strand.

Please share the things you do to maintain your beauty and health.
I like to do yoga and meditate frequently. I’ve noticed meditation has made a huge difference with how I handle daily stress. It’s very important to give your body a chance to heal from within not only so that you feel great inside out, but so you can take on life with renewed energy and give yourself a chance to live up to your potential.

It takes only a minute to attach a strand of tinsel and add sparkle to your hair.

————————————————————————————————————

Cocoro Salon
122 Ludlow St., (bet. Delancey & Rivington Sts.)
New York, NY 10002
TEL: 212-228-8388
CocoroSalonNYC.com

————————————————————————————————————