Bon Odori at Kita Mido Temple - Osaka 2018

During the summer, I usually love to go out and find Bon Odoris to dance to, but this year, it had been so hectic, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to go at all. I was so grateful to have caught wind of a bon odori happening at a temple in downtown Osaka.

There are two major Buddhist temples in downtown Osaka, Kita Mido and Minami Mido temples, both on Osaka's Midosuji Boulevard; Osaka's very own "Main Street." To be sure, these temples are the street's very namesake. Every summer, a major Bon Odori is held at one of these temples. This year, the event took place at Kita Mido Temple, literally called "Temple of the North."

The temples have slightly different architecture. While Minami Mido Temple is at street level, Kita Mido Temple is built higher, and visitors need to climb up a flight of stairs to get to the main grounds. I took pictures of the venue, and I'm sharing them here.

 Steps from Midosuji Blvd. leading to Kita Mido Temple

 

 Yagura on the temple grounds

 

 The singer that evening; Kawachiya Kikusuimaru

 The bon odori was held on the temple grounds at the foot

of another flight of stairs before getting to the main building.

Bon odoris at major venues like this one are already packed as it is, but what made the venue even more packed was the fact that famed Kawachi Ondo singer Kawachiya Kikusuimaru made the scene. He is quite possibly the most famous singer of this song, and followers will flock wherever he goes. I'm happy that I was able to go to a bon odori, and glad that for my one and only bon odori this year, the singer was none other than Kawachiya Kikusuimaru.

Until next year...

Related Post:

Summer: Obon Season in Japan

Japanese Summer Lemony Goodness 2018

Hey readers!

I really must apologize for my lack of activity. Things have been rather hectic on my end lately, that I haven't had time to write.

I'm afraid I don't have much to say this time around either.

Things are finally settling back down again, and I think I'll be able to write better posts soon. For now, please enjoy these pictures of Japanese lemon snacks I've had the opportunity to try this year!

As I've said in other posts, in Japan there are snacks that tend to appear at different times of the year. In the summer, Japanese snack companies love to put out lemon-flavored snacks, and every year, I look forward to trying them!

Here are some pictures of the kinds I've had the opportunity to try.

 OK, this isn't really a "snack," but a bento box I had.

I was on my way to Osaka from Hakata, when this

bento box at the train station caught my eye.

 

 I was pleasantly surprised. The chicken was seasoned

with a lemon marinade. It went very well with the white

rice. This meal came with rolled egg and fish cake.

 

 I found what looked like lemon pound cake at Family Mart.

It's called "lemon bread." (レモン・ブレッド, remon bureddo)

 Very light and spongy.

It was OK, but the there was only a subtle hint of lemon.

 Another snack from Family Mart; "Lemon Doughnut."

(レモン・ドーナツ, remon dounatsu).

 Very similar to the "lemon bread." It's just a little bit firmer.

 The lemon taste is rather subtle and not at all a burst of flavor.

 I don't know what this is called in English, but the

Japanese katakana says "remon finanshe." It looks

like a lemon mini pound-cake.

 It's much smaller than the other snacks, but it is a bit firmer.

 The texture is a bit crunchy towards the edges, but

overall firm. The taste is a lot more concentrated

in this one. I really liked it much better than the others.

Yet another snack from Family Mart: "Lemon Baum"

In Japan there is this cake called "Baum Kuchen,"

which is supposed to mean "Tree Bread," in German.

It's called this because it's supposed to look like

the rings of a the trunk of a tree when split open.

 I'm not sure if they actually have "baum kuchen"

in Germany though. "Lemon Baum" is most likely

short for "Lemon Baum Kuchen."

It's got a soft, spongy texture. The external part of the cake

has a glaze that is nice, but the bread itself is rather

unexciting I must say. Rather bland and boring.

This is 7-11's "mochi mochi ring."

( もちもちリング mochi mochi ringu)

It's a lot like a Mister Donuts donut called "pon de ring."

It's chewy and covered in a flavorless glaze.
This was was very disappointing and I'd never buy it again.

This is Fujipan's "Lemon Cake"
(レモン・ケーキ, remon keeki)

Out of all them, I think this was probably my favorite

this year. I bought this many times this year already.

It's got a sweet lemon glaze that really gives you a pucker.

They're shaped like lemons and the inside is delicious and moist.

This one is a "Lemon Cake Donut," by Family Mart.

It's a lot like an old-fashioned glaze donut.

The donut is sweet, and the glaze does have a hint

of lemon, but overall, it felt like I was eating a plain

old fashioned donut. Nothing too special.

This one is another one from Family Mart called a

"Lemon Whip Danish." I'm assuming it's called so

because of the lemon whipped cream it's stuffed with.

( レモン・ホイップ・デニッシュ, remon hoippu denisshu)

Here it is, out of the package.

Here you can see the cream filling. Like all the rest,

rather disappointing. The cream was bland with a faint

hint of lemon. The bread didn't have much going for it either.

Another one from Family Mart, a "Lemon Sandwich Cake."
(レモン・サンド・ケーキ, remon sando keeki)

The outside looks rather bright, like it could sterilize me

or give me cancer. The color is probably all there is to it.

Like the lemon danish before it, all it is is just
colored bread with bland filling. I don't know why,
but this year it has been nothing but disappointments.

Well, that's all I've got for this month's post. I hope you enjoy it!

Related Posts

Check out my lemon posts from years past!

2016 -  Early Summer: The Season for Lemony Goodness

2017 - This Year's Summer Lemony Goodness

Rhinoceros Beetle Update: THEY'RE ALIVE!!!

So last year, I was given some rhinoceros beetles which were supposed to have died come the end of summer. Well, they did, but not before leaving behind a bunch of eggs, which my wife wanted to hatch and take care of. For more details, please read my past posts on this topic (links below, please scroll all the way down).

I'm pleased to announce that we have become the parents of 8 robust males and 4 healthy females. After a long period of sleeping in the dirt, the young, energetic rhinoceros beetles have emerged from the soil which we changed every month or so. It was a lot of work, but it paid off.

Here are some pictures our babies.

BUT WAIT! There's more...

So here I thought, "This is it. After I give away these m*ther f***ers or they die, no more."

Taking care of rhinoceros beetle grubs, changing out their dirt, feeding them their jelly every day is a lot of work! I really was looking forward to getting rid of them all, as much fun as it was watching them grow and emerge from the ground. I really didn't want anymore. My wife and I were actively taking care to separate the males from the females in order to prevent them from reproducing. That's 8 males and only 4 females. But what happened?

My wife started noticing that there was one or two white, round little grubs rubbing up against the plastic walls of one of the tanks.

"This can't be," I told her. "We've been keeping them separate haven't we?"

We've been giving the beetles away in pairs to friends who want them. We already gave away three pairs, which means there should be only 6 more of these creatures left. We thought it would be nice to change out the dirt for these creatures one last time so that they could live out the rest of their lives in clean dirt.

I dump out one of the tanks, and as I sift through the dirt, I came to find out that one of the beetles had died and was consumed by the others; cannibalism is not unheard of amongst rhinoceros, even stag beetles. It was kind of sad and gruesome to find parts of the dead beetle here and there, so now we only have 4 males and a female rhinoceros beetle left.

It was the second and the largest of the tanks which hid a bit of a frightening secret; WE HAVE BECOME PARENTS OF RHINOCEROS BEETLES AGAIN.

As I dumped out the second tank, I was surprised to see a number of grubs roll onto and off the dirt that was proceeding from the tank, like many miniature Sonic the Hedgehogs in super-sonic spins.

I was expecting to see 3 or 4 grubs in the dirt, but how many did we find?

Sift after sift would yield more and more grubs, until finally, when after long last I had finished sifting all the dirt there was, we found a total of 40 grubs.

HOW COULD THIS BE???

4 females, and one by one we removed them from the cases as they emerged. There was one female that didn't really show up until towards the end.

This means that these grubs are the product of either 1 or 2 females!!!

What's going to happen now?

My wife and I have decided to save all the grubs and see if anyone wants them.

We found a large, empty, plastic container, put in some of the new dirt we bought, and we're now using it as a sort of "nursery." There is plenty of space, but even so, grubs are known to eat each other.

I plan to sift through the dirt in another month or so. I wonder how many will survive...

We laid out one layer, and then another...

The tank completely full yet, but we're going to get some more dirt soon, and hopefully not too many will be eaten.

Until the the next rhinoceros beetle update!


Related Links:

Accidentally Rhinoceros Beetle Breeders

UPDATE: Rhinoceros Beetle Babies