Mika & Hiro are my hosts here in Wakimachi. They're feeding me washoku (Japanese food) and I'm sleeping on a futon in a tatami room. Mark told me in 10 years of living in Japan he's never visited a Japanese home but here I am staying with a Japanese couple and living Japanese style. I took off my shoes at the door and put on a pair of slippers to wear around the house. If you've never stayed in a Japanese home it can be a culture shock. When using the toilet, I took off my slippers and put on a special pair of "toilet slippers" for use only in the toilet, and going to the balcony I took off my house slippers and put on another pair. It's very important to take off your slippers before stepping on the tatami (bare feet or socks are all that should be worn on tatami).
Last night would be a tasty dinner of niku jaga (beef & potatoes), sunomono, hiyayakko (cold tofu topped with onions), and rice. The Japanese consume an astounding 70 kg of rice a year! This tasty meal is quite a juxtaposition to hash browns from the golden arches.
Everything is tasty, and unsurprisingly, Japan is the perfect place to be adventurous with food. Mika and Hiro are my CouchSurfing hosts. As my first Japanese hosts it's a real honour! Mika is 37 yet looks way younger. She's a dog groomer. Her husband, Hiro is a gardener. She speaks of a smattering of English whilst he speaks no English. Sleeping on a futon in a tatami room is surprisingly very comfortable despite being rather thin. A futon in the west is a fold-out bed whereas a Japanese futon is simply a mattress on the floor.
Tonight, Mika would invite a couple of American friends, Carleigh and Chea, over for some washoku. Okonomiyaki would be the specialty tonight. It's like a cabbage-filled pancake topped with bacon and a special sauce. Some of them would be topped with yaki soba (wheat noodles).
This is okonomiyaki topped with fish flakes. Japanese food at it's finest! Would you believe that just a few years ago I would have never touched Japanese food? You bet now I do! I'm feasting in some of the finest homemade Japanese food and then slumbering peacefully in a tatami room.
