kappōgi

Theme Music for this post: Sunlight Through a Feather by 2002

The Kappogi is a traditional Japanese gown or apron worn by Japanese mama-sans. It was originally worn to protect the kimono from staining when cooking or preparing meals, is now worn with modern attire. The Kappogi is ORIGINALLY a Japanese gown and is essentially the most recognized symbol of the Japanese mom in all of Asia.



The first time I saw one of these gowns was on a gorgeous forty year old Japanese woman. She was organizing lunch for the both of us. She was looking exceptionally radiant that afternoon in her all white kappogi. The vivid golden sunshine was literally pouring into the kitchen that afternoon, which only added to the detail in her gown. There was something about her fair skin, black hair, and skirt that collaged so naturally and so fluidly with the sun's energy. It was a lovely sight. The hot energy in the air, her smile, her bouquet. The smell of onigiri and green tea was lovely.

No blog on Japan would be complete without talking about a traditional piece of gown. This is the first entry I have made on Japanese gowns and won't be the last. In the above picture the lady is wearing a light green kimono whereas in modern day society Japanese women may wear either a skirt, gown or nothing at all if you are lucky. Some women still adorn the light kimono as an undergarment, though. The Kappogi comes in a variety of different colors and patterns, but the best ones are those that are white and simple. Simple is best. Unlike the picture, most momma-sans will wear no tabi, and probably no socks either. In the picture you see the Kappogi in its original form.

Sun & Skin: Summer is the smell of.....

Summer is the smell of.....

For many, summertime is the smell of fresh mowed green grass. French fries at the fair. Cotton candy. Puppy breath. Sand and ocean. And then there's the general fatigue associated with heat and exhaustion and then you know it's summer.

Theme music: [ Song Title: Aether / Artist: Terra Ambient / Album: The Darker Space ]

I live in Japan now and my olfaction's have become keener than when I was living stateside. I have learned to appreciate so much more in terms of sensory stimulation. Like "Y's" sweat, for example. She perspired good for a 27 year old Japanese lady. I never passed up an opportunity to run my hand up her armpit and then taking a big nose flaring sniff of my fingers after removing them - divine. That used to irk her though, but I loved her pit. Musk is another allure of summer I believe. She had the prettiest and fairest taut skin with a nice musky pit. Can you imagine that? It was quite exquisite, actually. She was cute and musky. We were at a Tanabata Festival, a traditional Japanese summer festival held in July according to the Japanese lunisolar calendar. I do not recognize the Gregorian European calendar for Asian festivals for obvious reasons. There are some variations to the true date of Tanabata.

Summer festivals are the nicest events in Japan. You have the fireworks displays, kimono clad Japanese women with their traditional hand fans called sensu. Barbecue parties. Other things I love about summer are cold frosty mugs of beer and fried squid near a waterfront or a beach somewhere. I love the combination of smells I get with an ocean breeze, grilled squid and corn.

This summer I have a new squeeze, too, and I'm liking everything about her, so far. She drinks nihonshu. Amazing. It's only common sense for a Japanese to love the rice brew, I mean, if he/she chooses tequila over the refinement of Japanese nihonshu, well, then he/she mentally and spiritually challenged.

I also believe that summer in Japan will rival any other place in the world. That includes places like Daytona Beach in Florida, Santa Monica in Los Angeles....the list goes on. The Japanese women are not afraid to show the skin and them hams, all year round. Japan during the summer is a 'leg paradise' and the ladies here aren't afraid to flaunt them around. Japan is a nation that encourages perversion on many levels, yet the men walk around sterile to the chase, so to speak. Western men will jump at any opening a lady gives them/us... As a result of so much visible skin, my leers are becoming so obvious. I used to be able to just walk and glance a little, now I can't even walk and look anymore, I have to stop and look, and it looks so obvious. Should I feel ashamed? What are the prudes going to say to me next?

Summer sun blesses the earth which yields its bounty for us to enjoy in the form of fruits and vegetables. It tans us and gives our bodies definition and vitamin nutrients. This summer is looking to be fantastic. I can smell the ocean's delights already.

Would like to thank Loco for hosting this summer's matsuri.

Big ups to Locohama for this year's summertime matsuri

Corpulent Beauty

Corpulence depicted in Yasushi Tanaka's nudes is another interesting twist in how personal tastes change over time, especially in what most Japanese men find to be utterly repulsive - fat women. Yet, they, the slender woman loving Japanese men would drool in secret, along with the prudes, over the sheer naked sight of a beautiful voluptuous woman and fantasize about what it would be like to be with such a woman, not only reveal an undercurrent of hypocrisy in the modern Japanese male psyche, but also in how erotic beauty is understood in general nowadays.

Mr. Yasushi Tanaka is a Japanese man who is not as widely recognized in the art world as his contemporaries, yet his portrayal of a buxom beauty is without a doubt some of the finest expositions of nudes in his genre. There are others who too have drawn similar depictions of naked beauty on canvas, but to see it from the perspective of a Japanese man is extremely rare. Japanese have always, since antiquity, extolled the virtues of asian beauty as being the epitome of feminine belle: petite, cute, small, and elegant.

But not all of Asia, the Chinese during the Tang Dynasty extolled the beauty of corpulence in its art, and sculptors. Images of fat Buddhas all flourished during this era. You can see distended ear lobes, puffy cheeks, and corpulent bodies which were all regarded as holy and venerated, and even beautiful. History shows us that what we regard as beauty changes over time and that maybe defining beauty or categorizing it is wrong. I for one have attempted to define a type of Japanese beauty through my blog by showing women with a particular set of physical qualities: fair skin, black hair, big legs, and so on.... I have achieved a type of subjectivity only but am not sure that I have conveyed the full meaning of what I want to be understood by my readership, so I am using the painter of this photo to highlight that not all of what I adhere so much about corpulent beauty, and Jukujo beauty is me only. I think a lot of men love the busty love handles on a big beautiful woman from time to time.

The artist who drew the above painting, Mr. Tanaka, was a Seattle resident with humble beginnings. Born in Japan, then moved to the states where he received formal education in the arts, and eventually receiving recognition much later on, posthumously. His work is best known for its nudes. I love how he portrays the model in this painting. I like how he captures the leg and hamstring, and torso so well and with simple strokes, he even captures the underarm hair, which I find to be exquisitely beautiful in and of itself, and then the pubic hair which only adds to the natural allure of this painting evoking in me a sense of appreciation for how truly well a woman is made when she loves herself.

In the 19th Century it was the French who saved free expression in Art. The French taught the world that it was OK to show underarm hair on a female belle, and that nudity was totally natural on canvas. Had it not been for France art would not have been able to progressed like it has. The Pagans along with Nero, the last Roman Emperor, were the masters of concupiscence, sowed the seeds of human body love and art that can still be felt today.

This is partly what I had referred to a long time ago in another post about how we all owe a debt to beauty. There were those before us who had to show the world that naked beauty is beauty, and that images of pain and suffering, and unspeakable horrors perpetrated over the last quarter of a century portrayed by the subconscious on canvas painters before us all and then hailed as art! These painters only show us the obvious bitterness of life's vicissitudes. If I can derive inspiration from a painting that shows a normal landscape, something I can see every single waking day of my life, then I sure as hell better be able to also derive the same quality and essence of beauty from a nude painting.

The Japanese are slowly coming around to this realization that beauty is more than anorexic. In Japan 20% of the women are below a healthy weight, but I don't feel that this is a trend. Just from my own observations, no stats, I see waist lines increasing in size women are becoming more proportional and fuller. There's a healthy balance of dry starches that Japanese consume a lot of on a daily basis. Who knows, like the Tang Dynasty, maybe Japan come around to changing its anorexic standard of beauty.

Lunch

Great Lunches Sushizanmai


sashimi lunch set plus Shimizu no Mae sake There's a term called morbidly obese. I guess it's what I'm becoming. Why? Because I love food.....?


Tempura fried squid legs The longest held misconception about Japanese cuisine is that's healthy and good for you no matter how much you eat. If I binge on rice and tempura everyday I will get fat if I don't control how much of it I eat. I am not a glowing example of health and fitness at all and I don't want to steal the moment away from this gorgeous lunch set either, but I feel I need to clarify a point here. Firstly, I unhealthily consume unhealthy portions of healthy food on a daily basis, at unhealthy hours of the day. Does that mean that Japanese food isn't healthy? No. In America, I consumed unhealthy portions of unhealthy food at unhealthy times of the day and as a result I became unhealthy. However, I am unhealthier now than at any other time in my life, yet at the same time I am happier than at any other time in my life!!! I enjoy a well rounded life. My point is that fat people make themselves fat. Food can be whatever. It's a personal choice. I am a professional glutton with no serious plan to slim down. I have an obligation to consume as much delicious Japanese food I can stuff down my throat. Why? Because it's Japan and I have access to all the sake and delicious food in the world, so there.

Location:Tsukiji

Ecstasy Lines: Jukujo Eyes

Theme music for this post:
The Double Life of Veronique by The City of Prauge Philharmonic & Crouch End Festival Chorus

Ecstasy lines are what you see when a person is at an intense emotional threshold, typically right when they're about to release an incredible orgasm. I love watching as the eyebrows slowly begin to squeeze the thin area of skin in between them, forming deep wrinkles around the eyelids. Sitting up one night me and one Jukujo were flipping through a Jukujo porn mag. We were counting the number of lines in between the eyebrows. The most we counted from one debutante were four deeply wrinkled creases from a forty year old. I love these lines because they are a true indicator of a heightened emotional state of mind, especially for Japanese women. Western women show pleasure with their eyes slightly shut, and jaws distended. They vocalize more whereas Japanese women hold their emotion in their eyebrows while making little baby noises. I can't stand the baby noises because most often times they come from younger J-women. Jukujo sound far more pleasant to the ears when they are exhibiting pleasure. Kumiko Nobuko( in the top pic) has some of the most well defined facial and ecstasy lines in her genre, and she is also a favorite type of mine; Well-aged, thick, full figured, fair skinned, black hair, big legs and tits.

Earlier today as I was going through my tumblr, I saw all kinds of erotic pictures of women of every age and persuasion showcasing themselves. After scrolling through several dozen pictures of them I became a little despondent at the sheer and total lack of emotion in the pictures I saw. The models were just showy, gaudy and unoriginal and lacked....soul. Where has the soul gone?

("Smile for the camera, talk to the camera, make love to the camera, but at the same time really love the camera, don't just fake it....").

Modern porn lacks a lot the basic fundamentals nowadays. Not enough is conveyed through the picture. Something about their facial expressions, no element of teasing and allurement, just slutty attire that's all too obvious, dead eyes. What happened to the Southern Bell gowns, and contemporary wear? I love how the silk dress flows down Kumiko Nobuko's heavy voluptuous momma body. I also love the choice of dress she's wearing. It's modest yet sexy, not some come-fuck-me stockings, Garter belt, and pumps, or some cheap whore attire. Though the Garter belt was traditionally worn as part of the wedding gown in the past, has now become synonymous with slutty and Euro-trashy and I feel that it takes away from a woman's true form.

Kumiko's attire makes you want to slowly peel away at her piece by piece, section by section. But before that, I like to take a whiff. my favorite place to sniff first is right underneath her chin and neck area, especially on a humid sticky day, the truest scent of a delicious Japanese momma emanates from there, and then slowly removing one large heavy breast from either side and then stepping back just to look at how beautiful her gown accentuates her curves as it struggles to keep form while holding up one of her large heavy breast. I refer to the dress as "it" because it's an entirely different entity so to speak. Sort of a living organism if it's silk. The dress is beautiful if it's draped down a beautiful curvaceous body, and meaningless if it's draped down a formless and flat body.

Licking and kissing is one type of foreplay that Jukujo respond to very well. While fore-pleasure in general is enjoyed by most women, regardless of nationality, I think older Japanese women in general respond much better since often times they are not touched so tenderly as their Western counterparts. Young Japanese girls do not respond so intensely to fore-pleasure because they are too sensitive, and then they giggle an ruin the mood too often with their air-headedness . If I peck at the neck they consider it ticklish, not pleasurable whereas the Jukujo never giggles at a peck, instead she lets out a pleasurable groan of intense longing.

When you are young and beautiful there's no longing for the penis, because every penis wants you and stands up for you. Young Japanese girls can choose a penis like they choose a pair of earrings or shoes, wear it a couple of times then put them aside and forget she even had them. The orgasm isn't special and she doesn't take in the moment like her mother would. Her mother would, after an intense orgasm, lie there quivering and breathing heavily and looking back at you with eyes of appreciation, and even desperation at times. Japanese men aren't keen on fully figured older women. For them it's the young and underdeveloped cute thin types. I just can't imagine life without a Japanese momma with her white flawlessly smooth mammoth tree trunk thighs and heavy breast, and bust line. It's almost sick how the media can promote anorexic flat bodies on the television and not a real woman. I have no television. I'm on strike until the media changes their image of what should be consider beautiful. I know this will never happen, so no television for me.

Jukujo Eyes are all I need to look at....

Natsu Sencha

It's summer time again, this time post 3-11, and it's time to get back into reading real books. I'm not ready to give up the smooth feel of a good leather bound softback in my hands, at least not for a handheld metallic electronic reader. A book is a book and is best enjoyed the traditional way, over a nice cup of ice chilled summer tea and a comfortable chair with your favorite music:
Warmed By the Drift by Biosphere.

So in order to kick the hot humid season off right this time I stopped over at my favorite tea shop called Mikuniya Zengoro at the Konandai bus terminal building and hoarded up my favorite teas. I picked up a summer time sencha with it's light wintery minty coolness and fresh herbal balance. Natsu Sencha or Summer Tea is among some of the most popular decocted beverages you can drink in Japan.

Since the 9th Century, the Japanese have really acclimated to the seasons very well. Every season can be enjoyed along with its own unique foodstuffs and beverages to go along with them. Modern Japanese understand this, and they also understand that good tea comes from Shizuoka and Kyoto. But, do they always acknowledge that really good tea can come from not so famous areas, like in Fukui Prefecture, a part of Japan not talked much about in mainstream media and a place less frequented by many city dwellers and Tokyoites from the Kanto Area...? No. In fact Fukui Prefecture produces a lot of excellent products, and yes, tea is one of them. When it comes to Sencha type teas Fukui is one of those great, yet unspoken of tea producing regions in Japan.

One great tea I posted about here is also from a not so famous prefecture in mainstream conversation, yet some of the finest sencha teas hail from there. Sencha, in case you are wondering is widely enjoyed all over Japan and is regarded as the finest tea according to many tea-literate people. Here is an excellent write up on how "sencha" is made.

In order to commemorate the recognition of not-so-greats I decided to read about a great French painter, a true genius of his time, a man who once inspired the great Picasso himself. I introduce Eugène Anatole Carrière whose mastery of brown monochrome palette gave way to a beautiful exposition of the boundlessness of the human soul and the naked plain beauty of his wife's curvaceous body. Any admirer of the female leg is a man's man in my book. A man who loves the big healthy bustiness of a woman is a man's man in my book. Not a prude who eschews the love of the sinew that holds the natural form of the legs in place, and that which gives them its natural beauty and form. Noo.....

I was first introduced to this forgotten great mammoth painter of an artist at an art gallery in Ito City. I was actually there because I was invited to an all expenses paid trip to review some pieces of art by an up-and-coming artist trying to make a name for herself. Upon entering the main annex I was caught away by several painters whose works of art were on display. Three to be exact: Eugene Carriere, Jean-Jacques Henner, and Yasushi Tanaka who I will write about separately a bit later on.

Mr. Carriere is a very deep and profound painter whose focus is bounding the soul into three dimensional form and then giving human characteristics to them. His beautiful better half is one of his subjects along with his family. I love how he uses dark colors. I love how he captures the mood and the energy at the time of painting. His work is beautiful and alluring.

All of this brain stimulation heightened my tea drinking experience at the same time. It's the soul that Mr. Carriere captured, and well. I love the soul of something.

Summer Namazake

Name:Masumi Namazake
Type: Junmai Ginjo
Availability: April to November
Rice: Miyagi Nishiki
Milling: 55%
Alc: 15%
SMV: +0
Amino acidity:1.2
Serve Chilled

I was treated to some very cold summer plums that had been soaked in sake for almost a year. These chilled sour sweet plumes went so very well with the cold summer namazake I had. A nice alternative to the usual rice crackers and salty bits most people usually get if there at home drinking a rice brew.

The unpasteurized liquid goodness when drunk washes away all of the fatigue associated with summer time heat and humidity. Brewed in Nagano where some of the best koji is molded to produces some of the finest complexity in sake in Japan. You don't want to miss this one. Grab a bottle if you get a chance.

The plumes were from my other mother's mother in Fukushima, and no they are not radioactive. Good sake and sake marinated summer plumes may or may not appeal to every palate. The sour sweetness and natural freshness from a namazake may pass off as a bit too much. I liked it and thought it went well together, in moderation.

Culinary Mastery Through Simplicity

Theme music: Aether by Terra Ambient

Slow Food has come a very long ways I believe, and so has the acquisition of taste according to the modern palate. As people, we recognize order and how things flow on an aesthetic level, regardless of race, socio-economic background, and even education, but do we need to be educated in order to understand common sense...? I feel it's a natural component to our humanity, and so is taste. We do not need to attend the finest culinary colleges in the world to understand good taste, and at how to create and reproduce that taste. Simple is best. I was treated to a very delicious red beans & rice the other night, along with some fried chicken, greens, and corn bread.

I remember Chuck over at the Taproom last night telling me something about how good food comes from simple ingredients and from the heart, and that you didn't need fancy name brand rice and vegetables to produce exceptional dishes. Chuck's amazing ribs and chicken are the best in Japan. If you are ever in the Yokohama area then I highly recommend stopping by the Bashamichi Taproom. Chuck's approach to food is taking simple ingredients and adding magic to it. Sort of his own special touch which gives his food an amazing down home American taste, something you will find nowhere else in Japan. Sure, Japanese food is Japanese food and it is great in itself, but when it comes to authentic American style soul food, Chuck's red beans & rice, fried chicken, and corn bread cannot be matched. His greens were excellent, too!

After leaving the Taproom a distant memory came back to me of a famous TV talent in Japan who's name is Bobby Olugon, a Nigerian born Japan TV talent, who made a household name for himself here in Japan not only as a popular entertainer and a mixed martial artist, but also as a cook.

I remember watching this variety show one night and Bobby and this gay Japanese talent were guests. They were supposed to cook a fried rice dish to see which tasted better. The gay Japanese guy used all organic ingredients; the finest quality meat and natural products he could think of. It got a bit ridiculous actually, I mean, the guy used imported organic butter, salt, imported pork. Even the frypan had to be the most expensive thing out there. Bobby Olugon used all homegrown ingredients. In fact he made sure to use a cheap frypan, something you could easily pick up at a discount shop somewhere. It was amazing watching both of these guys go at it. Bobby with his simple dish consisting of just rice and pork, and a little seasoning. Some green onions. The gay Japanese guest used all of these exotic ingredients. I'm almost sure he himself couldn't even read nor understand what was on the label. The French could sell deer piss to guys like him, and they would drink it up just because it came from France and then claim to be a culinary genius from the same mouth. It's like that sometimes out here especially with the wine crowd.

When the timer finally finished both of these guys had to allow their dishes to be sampled by the audience. Many Japanese were taken aback at how unnatural the Japanese contestant's fried rice was, which had ingredients that shouldn't have even been added to this type of simple cuisine. Even the taste was unnatural. His dish was ruined and many were turned off from the very beginning when they were watching him put it all together. Bobby Olugon won hands down. His dish was exceptional, simple, and very natural. I relished in the humiliation of the Japanese contestant. I saw a tear well up in his eyes, the one with the mascara running down his cheeks, and said to myself, that's what you get for trying to outdo the concept of "simple is best." Mr. Olugon received a standing ovation from an all Japanese audience that night. I was moved. I think Bobby was moved.

In the end, there's nothing wrong with organic food since all food was grown that way before industrialization, which in turned created the need for mass production. "Organic" is just a fancy label that makes food appear exclusive when all it really means is food that's grown chemical free, and with a hefty price tag attached to it. I am not attaching the Japanese contestant for using organic food either, but more for trying to overdo a very simple dish with unnecessary ingredients. Like Chuck Morrow, Bobby Olugon created a beautiful mix of deliciousness out of simplicity, ordinary ingredients, and soul which is consistent with my blogs theme.