TEMPURA is fried vegetables and fish battered with flour and eggs. The typical ingredients of tempura are the white fish called kisu, shrimp, sweet potato, renkon (Japanese lotus root) and other vegetables. There are two main streams of tempura depending on the area in Japan. Fish tempura was developed in the Kanto region of Eastern Japan by using fresh fish caught in Tokyo Bay, while vegetable tempura was developed around the southern-central region of Kansai and cities like Kyoto. As you may expect, Kanto and Kansai have different ways to cook tempura. For example, Kanto people fry the batter in the sesame oil. The batter includes eggs and is fried to a brown color. They use sesame oil to remove the odor of the fish. When they eat tempura, they use tentsuyu, a salty and sweet Japaense sauce made from soy sauce, sake and soup stock. Kansai people fry the batter in sunflower oil. The batter doesn’t contain eggs and is fried to a white color. Because they are used to eating vegetable tempura, they don’t use tsuyu sauce. They only add salt to take advantage of the natural flavor of the vegetables themselves. Tempura both fish and vegetable – is one of the most popular Japanese foods in Japan and around the world. Where did the name tempura come from? There are various views. But tempura most likely stems from “tempero,” a Portuguese word for seasoning or cooking.

How Yul Brynner and “Shogun” Made Sushi Popular

TJ: Can you tell us what you did before you became involved with Mutual Trading?
KANAI: World War II was a very big shock to me. So after the war I read about philosophy. I was very interested in Robert Owen, a famous English philosopher. I took his philosophy, which taught me many good things, and decided to make my own life to improve myself.

During the war, the U.S. was Japan’s enemy but during the Occupation they did very good things to help build Japan back up. We could not imagine that the U.S. would do so many good things for us. At that time, I met Mr. Chuhei Ishii, who was a food supplier to the U.S. before the war. He had been in the U.S. for 30 years in Santa Maria doing food distribution, but he went to China during the war to take care of the Peking Grand Hotel – a large, famous hotel owned by the French. Mr. Ishii bought the hotel and moved to Peking. At the end of the war, I met him in Japan. As his wife and my mother were friends in Japan, my mother told me, “If you do business with the United States, go see Mr. Ishii and ask him questions.” So I visited Mr. Ishii. Although he wanted to return to the States, he lost his U.S. permanent residency when he went to China. He said to me, “I am thinking of making a business exporting food to the United States because there are many Japanese immigrants who cannot get Japanese food conveniently. Why don’t you help me?” So I joined him.
“ Shogun really launched Japanese culture in the U.S.”

Performer Yusuke Onuki Reflecting on Dorian Gray, Dancing, Singing and Acting

Photo courtesy of HoriPro

Interview by Miyuki Kawai

TJ: How did you first get into dancing? What styles of dance have you trained to do?
ONUKI: My mother is a dancer and runs a dance studio, so I naturally started to learn dancing. I started with jazz and modern dance. But when I was a primary school student, I saw “Rave2001,” a TV dance program, and got interested in street dancing. I began taking dance lessons and was into street dancing in junior high and high school. And gradually I started to be interested in contemporary dance and ballet.

Honorable Visitors: Ulysses S. Grant, Rudyard Kipling and Charlie Chaplin

The following is part of Tokyo Journal’s Living Tribute to Donald Richie who passed away on February 19, 2013. Donald Richie’s contribution was originally printed in the April 1994 edition of the Tokyo Journal. It was excerpted from “The Honorable Visitors” by Donald Richie (Charles E. Tuttle Publishing Co., Tokyo. May 1994). Donald Richie’s first honorable visit to Japan took place in 1947. Since that time he became a celebrated film critic, author and composer, not to mention a journalist of many talents recording the changes of over half a century of life in Tokyo. Donald Richie contributed to the Tokyo Journal over the years and when asked about times in the nineties, Donald replied, “Frightening but exhilarating. I think everybody with a pencil should be out there taking notes.”

Yuki Furukawa leads “Playful Kiss” from Manga to Live Action Drama

Interview by Miyuki Kawai

TJ: You majored in control theory at university. Can you tell us what that is?
FURUKAWA: It deals with controlling things by programming. I focused on auto- motive breakdowns, but it can be applied to any field including the media or finance. In terms of automotive breakdowns, the hypothesis in the reduction of friction or slip is verified by programming.

TJ: How did you first get into acting?
FURUKAWA: When I was a junior at university, I went job hunting, but I had no specific career goals. Although Break dancing was my passion, I knew I couldn’t make a living out of it. While I passed my exam for graduate school, I applied to some companies. At that time, I was chosen as “Mr. Campus” of the university, and I automatically became a contestant for HoriPro’s 50th anniversary talent audition. A winner was chosen through competitions in blog making, fashion, shoe design, etc. I had no acting experience, but I received an award. That’s when I started my acting career.

Taking Anime and Manga Heroic Roles to the Big Screen Interview

by Miyuki Kawai

TJ: How did you first get into acting?
SUZUKI: I have been interested in acting since I was a junior high student. I moved to Tokyo when I entered university, and I joined an acting club. Then I looked into how to become an actor. I contacted nearly 50 agencies, and one company advised me to start as a model. Fortunately, after almost a year, the company got a partnership deal with HoriPro, and I stated to take acting lessons. An acting instructor took notice of me, and I joined HoriPro officially to start my acting career.

TJ:Has it been difficult adapting to fame?
SUZUKI:I am tall and stand out in a train, so I tend to avoid riding on trains. I often ride a bicycle, but don’t want to ride a motorcycle because I am afraid of accidents.

Danny Choo is the founder of media production company Mirai Inc., which focuses on sharing Japanese lifestyle with the world though the Internet, TV, mobile, print, products and conferences. He is also the director and presenter of the TV show “Culture Japan,” and a presenter on the morning show “Check Time” and Star Worlds’ “Japan Mode.” Danny speaks on Japanese pop culture and consumer generated media at conferences and universities worldwide. He has been featured on CNN, BBC, NHK and G4TV. He was appointed by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) as creative director for the Mazer project in 2012 and now consults for METI’s Cool Japan Project. Danny is the creator of “Culture Japan’s” mascot character Mirai Suenaga. Danny greeted the press while serving as master of ceremonies at the Anime Expo 2013 convention in Los Angeles.

“We share and make Japanese culture more accessible to the world.”

Q: Why do you think the popularity of anime has expanded so much?
CHOO:I think that one of the major influences is the Internet. When I first started off liking Japanese culture, we had to watch anime on VHS tapes. I got them from a Japanese bookshop in the UK which was recording Japanese TV shows and renting out these shows. But I was very reliant on this single location where I would have to take the train and go there to get these videos. But now with the Internet it is very easy to find something online these days. So I think that has definitely contributed to the proliferation of Japanese anime.

Q: Other than your line of dolls, is there anything else you’re going to do with your character Mirai Chan?
CHOO:Mirai Chan has become a mascot character for VOX, the Japanese convenience store Lawson, Kinokuniya International Bookstore and the low-cost carrier Air Asia. I’m working with someone now to write 13 episodes of an anime for Mirai Millennium. He has worked on things like “Cowboy Bebop” and “Ghost in the Shell.” The scenario is complete right now. The next step is to decide if we want to release manga or go for the anime route. I personally want to release manga first. Instead of going through the normal publishers, I want to do it myself. After I learn how to do it, I want to share the knowledge with everyone else so they can do it themselves as well. Mirai Chan is actually a 3D printed interactive Android-controlled robot and we want to make her interactive with social media. My first goal is to have her sitting on the edge of a desk while she swings her legs back-and-forth, looks around the room and when you get a Facebook notification, she will tell you about it in a cute voice. Extra motions and voices would be available for purchase later on through the Google Play Store

The Band that Put the Legendary Budokan on the Map

TJ Exclusive Interview with Rick Nielsen

TJ caught up with Cheap Trick guitarist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter Rick Nielsen to talk about the 35th anniversary of Cheap Trick at Budokan. It was their best-selling album and is ranked by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Cheap Trick was referred to by the Japanese media as the “American Beatles” and ranked #25 in VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Bands such as Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses, Green Day, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Weezer, Stone Temple Pilots, and Extreme have cited Cheap Trick as an influence.

Japanese Fashion, Film and Flora Flourish in Seattle

By Kimo Friese

SUMMER in Seattle, Washington is in full swing having kicked off with summer solstice events and continuing throughout the summer as long as the beautiful weather holds. Folk, rock and electronic musical events, outdoor film screenings, Shakespeare-in-the-park, and top attractions like Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, Seattle Center (location of the world famous Space Needle) as well as various open-air artistic and cultural events in the city’s neighborhoods will thrive during the long summer days... and well into the nights.

MAX has sold over 10 million albums since their debut in 1996. Tokyo Journal caught up with Nana, Lina and Mina, who recently recorded their first new single in over three years with fellow group member Reina. Their cover track of the worldwide hit “Tacata” by Tacabro was released on August 7, 2013.