You can meet the ninja

You can meet a ninja at a theme park.

Ninjya、忍者

I am sorry to break your dream. In a fact, Ninja appearing in manga or anime etc is fiction. The role of a ninja was not a warrior but a spy. Therefore they did not wear ninja costumes. For excample, they disguised themselves as a farmer, and engaged in secret maneuvers at the war or a power struggle. They do not use the magic called ‘ninjutsu’, and had not super natural power.

However, the demand for ninja as entertainment is high, Therefore, we sometimes see a ninja recruitment advertisement. You will may be ablet to get a job as a ninja.

Well, I want to correct it. There is a village of ninja somewhere in Japan, and ninja tribe may live in secret.

Sinigang

I’m used to the taste of Sinigang because I have been to the Philippines many times. But Japanese who have never been to the Philippines may be surprised. They think that taste of that sour soup “is this damaged?” Because there is no Japanese food using Tamarindo.

Knorr Sinigang

But  Let’s serve it to a Japanese friend, you could enjoy their reaction.

Ramen

Ramen is originally Chinese cuisine. But it developed independently in Japan. Now it became one of the representative of Japanese foods.

There are various kinds of ramen for each ingredient of soup. Perhaps, the most popular among Filipinos is ‘Tonkotsu Ramen.’ Anyway, pork is popular in the Philippines.

Ikkousha Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen、一幸舎の博多豚骨ラーメン

Tonkotsu means pig bones. The soup is made by boiling pig bones for a long time. It is light brown and has a deep taste.

Depending on the ramen shop, the soup has a unique smell, and there are many people love it, but some people deny it.

By the way, the home of Tonkotsu Ramen is Fukuoka prefecture. And there are many Tonkotsu Ramen shops there. A Filipino ESL teacher who is assigned to Fukuoka Prefecture may be happy.

Mt. Fuji will erupt

Mt. Fuji in Japan is famous worldwide, but few people know this beautiful mountain is a volcano.

富士山

Mt. Fuji has repeated eruptions at an interval of about 100 years since ancient times. But it has not erupted for about 300 years.

Therefore, next time, it will erupt with energy three times stronger than last time. However, it may not erupt forever. But conversely, it may erupt tomorrow. It is unpredictable.

In Addition, Depending on the size of the eruption and the direction of the wind, volcanic ash accumulates, making daily life difficult. There is a high possibility that the larger damage on the east side of Mt. Fuji due to the air current.

Earthquakes

Japan is a country with many earthquakes. If we include a weak shake, earthquakes are occurring somewhere everyday. This is because Japan is on the boundary of the following four plates from a geological.

  • North American Plate
  • Eurasian Plate
  • Pacific Plate
  • Philippine Plate

However, do not worry. Many buildings in Japan are made of earthquake resistant construction. But some old buildings do not conform to the new building standards. So be careful when the strong earthquake occers. Especially wooden houses may cause fire due to earthquake.

Catfish、ナマズ
In ancient Japan, people believed catfish occur an earthquake. It was a strange superstition.

Earthquakes are rare in the Philippines, and make people fuss. But Japanese do not panic with a walkable earthquake. we are used to it.

Because of that, when a big earthquake occur someday, Many Japanese may be sacrificed without evacuating immediately. But almost Filipinos may be evacuated immediately and saved.

By the way, it is unpredictable by current science technology when and where earthquakes occur.

Traffic on the left

When you first came to Japan, you might be surprised that the car is running on the left side of the road. This is British style. Although Japan has never been a British colony, it was strongly influenced by the UK on modernization that began about 150 years ago.

Japanese roadway
The car runs on the left side in Japan.

Also, the old samurai had a rule to walk on the left side of the road. Because they had a sword on the left side of the body. Therefore, it was necessary to avoid hitting each other’s sword when passing each other. Perhaps this custom was adopted for car traffic.

Dr. Jose Rizal

The statue of Dr. Jose Rizal is built in Hibiya Park in Tokyo. It is a memorial that he came to Japan in 1888 and stayed at a nearby hotel.

Dr. Jose Rezal memorial in Hibiya ParkWell, the other day, the event “Philippine Festival 2017” was held at that Hibiya Park. 90% of the visitors are Filipino residents in Japan. The event is exciting with singing, dancing and parades by Filipino entertainers.

I heard that Rizal is a hero of the revolution and a historic great man for Filipinos. So I thought that many visitors would do a commemorative photograph in front of his statue. However, most people did not care. I felt a little unexpected. You guys are not interested in the monument of your hero who stands in a foreign land?

But later, when I asked an acquaintance Filipino about that, she said “Because we are familiar with his monuments, we are more interested in Japanese-style things.” I see.

Sara Udon

Sara Udon  is a famous dish of Nagasaki lining up with Champon.

皿うどん、Sara Udon
Sara Udon

Although the word “udon” is contained in the name, it is not a kind of udon, but uses thinly deep-fried Chinese style noodles.

There is no soup in the Sara Udon, put the fried noodles on the dish, eat it with fried vegetables, fish paste, shrimp、cloud ear mushroom and starchy sauce. My recommendation is to wait for a few minutes and eat fried noodles after softening them. Let’s put a Worcester sauce or mustard  with your choice.

The Sara Udon is healthy with plenty of vegetables, It has a distinctive taste different from any of the other Japanese noodle such as ramen, udon, soba, Champon etc.

You can eat Sara Udon in Ringer Hut as well as Champon.

Mentality of Japanese

Many Japanese are more pessimistic than the Filipino. There are several reasons. Of course, this is just a general theory. It’s depends on the individuals.

Perfect thinking

Many Japanese are perfect thinking. Therefore, in school education, it was important to not mistake the answer to a question for a long time.

However, no one is perfect in the world. A handful of excellent people will behave without fail but others will make a mistake and regret it.

Japan makes high quality products. That is the result of working perfectly oriented of Japanese. But sometimes it works for the worse. In that case the high demands imposed on them hurt themselves.

Family unity is weak

Compared to the Filipino, the unity of Japanese families is weak.

Also In Japan, family consisting of three generations were common in the past. But now it is a minority. It is the result of economic development, population has moved to urban areas, nuclear families have increased.

Japanese tended to give priority to work rather than family in the past.

However, people who does not supported by their families is fragile in mental.

Geographical reasons

In tropical island countries, seafoods and fruits are easily obtained. And if they lost a house to live, they will not die soon. But it is different in cold areas.

Now, Japan has become rich but In the past, laziness came directly to death in the past. Even though people are diligent, if the climate worsened they faced to fear of starve to death. Therefore a careful personality or a pessimistic way of thinking was the key to survival.

I hear that many Filipino people use lots of salary without thinking afterwards. It is possible only people who live in a tropical country and have strong unity in their families.

Balut

BalotThere is no custom to eating balut in Japan. Most Japanese can not to eat balut. Because They feel balut is so grotesque.

Therefore, it is hard to obtain fertile egg of ducks. A limited imported food store sells it but it is not freshly boiled.

Please enjoy balut when you return home.