One of Ours

Japan is a great place, with wonderful people and something interesting at every turn, but the weather is not the best in the world. Winter seems to last from November to April, followed by a short pleasant spring (famous for cherry blossoms in early April). May and June are the rainy season, when it rains most every day, and after that comes the full weight of Japan's humid summer. Gunma prefecture is located as far from the sea as you can get, yet is part of the low-lying Kanto Plain, so it really gets hot here. Thankfully, Japanese air conditioning is the best in the world.

Recently, the Japanese have really been active in international sports like baseball, soccer and golf. But they're also distinguishing themselves at eating contests too. For the fourth year in a row, Takeru "the Tsunami" Kobayashi has won the Hot Dog Eating Competition on Coney Island, wolfing down 53 1/2 wieners (with buns) in 12 minutes. Eating contests are popular in Japan, and every once in a while we'll turn on the television to see variety shows featuring people stuffing their faces with bananas, sushi, cheesecake, and so on. Our own Tomo is quite an accomplished eater, too. Despite being skinny as a pole, he can easily handle the 1300 Gram [almost 3 lbs.] Curry Challenge at our favorite curry restaurant. If customers can finish a huge plate of curry rice (which is nearly 3 pounds of steamed rice and curry) in 20 minutes, the meal is free.

Many famous Japanese companies were founded in the amazing years of the Meiji Era (1868-1912), when Japan was undergoing its program of rapid modernization. Paradigms were changing, and Japanese were wearing Western clothes and developing tastes for Western things like beer (Sapporo Brewery, founded 1886). They were developing a sweet tooth around this time, as well. In 1899 the Morinaga Confectionery Company was founded by Taichiro Morinaga, a Christian missionary who had spent several years in the San Francisco, home of the original See's Candies, learning about candy making. After several years of struggling to make sales with a single candy push-cart, he perfected a delicious recipe for milk caramels that were a big hit in Tokyo. The company still makes the caramels with the same recipe.