3 in 30 - 2001.04.28 Saturday
Front window of Ekos
Here is Beverly inside the Ekos store, buying a head of lettuce.
She says, “Ekos is similar to an “overgrown” 7-11. They have an abundance of prepackaged, prepared food. However, they have a produce/meat section that reminds me of many of the local grocery marts in the states. The gentleman behind me was telling me how much I needed to pay the cashier, but I already knew, and then he pointed to Paul, (outside the store) and said “is that your husband”...(In Japanese) and I replied “Yes” in Japanese, and then I told him (in Japanese) that I only understood a little bit.
“Ekos also carries a small amount of “western” or American/European packaged food (e.g., Philadelphia Cream Cheese etc.), but the writing is in Japanese. It’s always a momentary pleasure to see Campbell’s soup cans in Japanese, or packages of Kellogg’s corn flakes. Most people don’t realize that these brands market overseas...it was a surprise to us!”
Local delivery vehicle
There are a few little restaurants out on the street from our alley. The Sayuri also does some delivery of orders. Many restaurants use small motor scooters like this one for delivery.
Since the kinds of foods ordered and delivered in Japan are ones that don't take kindly to jostling, there is a special hanging tray for the foods. In addition to delivering soups in ceramic bowls, this shop delivers sushi sets. People wouldn't like soup spilled all over or their carefully constructed sushi smashed all together.
The tray hangs on a specially dampened spring. Kind of like shock absorbers. Since this is a somewhat traditional sushi shop, the delivery container is a shallow wooden bucket with a handle. Wooden buckets are a popular traditional decorating item.
Daily Daikon
Once again, Mrs. Sakonaka-san appears in our 3 in 30 series. Our neighbor was chatting with another neighbor who had just returned from some brief vegetable shopping. The other neighbor had just purchased—among other things—this Japanese daikon radish. To Americans, it seems like quite a curiosity, but we find that when we eat Japanese food, daikon is included in nearly every meal.
This mild radish is finely shredded as a salad, pickled for a salty side dish, included in big chunks in soups, or thinly sliced and included in sushi rolls. Its uses are endless. It is probably eaten in abundance similar to how Americans eat potatoes, though the daikon radish is probably a bit more versatile.
Tie-dyed fabrics were a fad in the US in the sixties, but they have a longer history of use in Asia. This woman's tie-dyed blouse seems quite normal. We have seem some amazing tie-dyed silk kimono. The craftspersons create all sorts of intricate patterns and subtle color combinations.