Rice Pounding, aka Making Mochi

February 4, 1977, was the date of Elder Galbraith's helicopter crash in Hawaii.  But now, after experiencing a new-to-us but centuries-old Japanese custom of rice pounding, we have a much happier event to remember for February 4.  On that day this year we were scheduled to attend a 2 p.m. District meeting with ten elders in the chapel at Kunitachi.  Luckily, we had also been told that the Kunitachi ward was holding their annual winter activity of Rice Pounding from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.; thus, we were able to kill two birds with one car and drive down to attend both events.  We were a little hesitant about "crashing" a Japanese ward's function--especially fearful of the language barrier--but our desire to learn more about Japanese culture combined with the knowledge that the elders could translate for us 

overcame any hesitation we may have had.

The very first thing to catch our attention was the number of local members who spoke English--and very good English at that!  Many of them had either attended BYU Hawaii or BYU Provo.  It was truly exciting to be able to visit freely with so many of them without the need for a translator.  Still, we did bow, smile, and say "Konnichiwa" to quite a number of others who did not speak English.  The activity was held mostly in the parking lot; however, the Relief Society ladies were equally busy inside preparing the various finished products once the glutinous glob of rice was handed to them through the window.  The beginning of the morning was quite chilly, but we were blessed to have a clear sky, and the day warmed up

to be warmer than the usual Japanese February day.

Mochi, or rice balls, is a traditional Japanese food served primarily at New Years and other special celebrations.  It is made with a special Mochi rice kernel as opposed to regular rice.  I am going to try to describe the process of Rice Pounding with pictures as I go along.  I hope it works out all right as what I see in the draft form is not always what you get in the published form!



Here is the wooden pounding bowl
 & heavy wooden mallets

A wooden container of rice is place over boiling water

Pounding bowl is wiped out & made ready

                                            

                                               Cooked rice is lifted from wooden cooker
                                             and carried over to the pounding bowl

            

The next step is to tamp it down

Two people tamp the rice as they circle the bowl

Water is added alternately with every
pound of the mallet

Elder Fry shows off his strength!  Yay!

I am given a child's mallet!  Boo!

Elder G uses the big boy's mallet.  Hooray!

After 10 minutes of pounding, the rice
resembles glutinous bread dough

Some people liken it to Play Doh

Ladies in the kitchen place the large blob
into water and pull off chunks to form balls

Some balls were tossed in a sweet soy powder.  Not bad!

Others were wrapped around a strawberry encased in
bean paste and rolled in flour.  Actually, quite tasty!

Itadakimasu!

Yummy!

Befuddled by it all!



Where's Fuji?

One missionary who departed January 31st, Elder Merrell from Apple Valley, California, had one last "bucket list" request before leaving Japan.  He wanted to return to the Mt. Fuji area, where he had  been much earlier in his mission.  Since the train ride was more than he and his companion could afford, he asked if we'd mind taking them there on their final P-day.  We said we'd be glad to do so, and drove them there, surprised at having to pay over $60 in toll fees!  (The elders did offer to help pay those, 

but we told them it was our treat.)

Anyway, as luck would have it, the day was cloudy, and Mt. Fuji was not to be seen.  (This was very reminiscent of our family's 11-hour bus ride in Alaska to not see Denali [Mt. McKinley] at all due to an all-day rain storm!)  We had a very informative stop at the Visitor's Center, especially since the elders were able to translate the informative movie for us.  (It was offered in English, but not for quite a while later.)  We got a kick out of two strangely animated cartoons geared for children, 

which depicted ancient legends about the volcano.

Leaving the center, you can proceed up the mountain to five stations before having to stop driving.  From there, during July and August, you are free to hike to the top, which takes about 6-8 hours one way.  At any other time of the year, you do need to "log in" at the center so that they know who is hiking when.  Well, we didn't have to worry much as the road was closed at the end of station one!!!  Dang!  It had snowed that week, and there was 3' to 4' of snow on the ground.  Of course, we hadn't planned on hiking, but we had certainly planned on being able to drive to the fifth station so we could say we had "climbed" Mt. Fuji!

Snowy road which was closed at Station One.  Where's Fuji?

Nevertheless, the next thing I am to describe is what really made the whole missing-mountain thing just a minor glitch!  Elder Willard from Roosevelt, Elder Merrell's companion, prepared us as we headed up the road from the visitor's center to listen to "The Singing Road."  "The what?" we questioned!!!  He then told us to be quiet and just listen.  Sure enough, within a few seconds, the tires began to hum and played a tune written in honor of Mt. Fuji!  It was amazing!  It was unbelievable!  We all hooted and hollered as we heard the song played by our tires rolling over specially cut grooves in the road.  The Japanese call this "Sound Road," which is a road pavement technology where the melody can be played by driving over the "cross-ditches" that create the musical scales. 

Since we all too quickly came upon the closed gate at Station One, we decided to drive back down in the wrong lane (thus playing the tune backwards) as there was no one else dumb enough to be driving up the Mt. Fuji road on such a cloudy day!  We hooted and hollered again, turned around, and drove back up to hear it a third time!  We then noticed that the big white musical note painted on the road on the way up was also on the other lane going down, so this time we stayed in the correct lane and played the tune one final and fourth time!  It was strictly hilarious and chased away any gloom we may have had about "not finding" Mt. Fuji.  Click here and/or here to experience this for yourself!

We headed from the area where Mt. Fuji was supposed to be and drove into the nearby town to find a place for lunch.  As the elders rambled off names & menu types of restaurants--reading the Japanese signs-- they mentioned one that put an end to our search:  Dohton Bori sold Okonomiyaki, the Japanese dish I've been waiting 40 years for!!!  In a word (or two), it's kind of a vegetable pancake!  You take shredded cabbage, carrots, and onion; add a raw egg and some flour and water and meat of your choice; then stir it all up and dump it out on a hot grill, turning it once.  You drizzle a thickened, sweetened soy-type sauce over it when ready to serve.  What's even more fun is that you are the cook!  Elder Galbraith was very hesitant to try this concoction but also a good sport, so we went on in.

Elder Merrell, stirring up the 5 bowls of Okonomiyaki

Elders Willard and Merrell, stirring and cooking

Four of the five "pancakes" at different stages of being cooked

Since there were so many variations on the items that could go into the dish, the elders suggested we order five and share them all, including the bill.  They pretty much made the selections and cooked four of them; after all, I had to cook at least one of them for the experience!  One was totally vegetarian, another one had mashed potato patties filled with cheese in the mix, and the other three all had various types of meat thrown in with all the veggie stuff.  They were all excellent, and even Elder Galbraith thought they were pretty good!

As we left, we collected our shoes which we had stored upon entering in the "shoe lockers" on either side of the entry.  We had put our shoes in there, taking the wooden lock/blocks (which only fit those lockers)

with us to our table.

Elder Willard from Roosevelt retrieves his shoes

Yep!  Shoes still there for Elder Merrell!

And mine, too!

It was a fun day despite our missing mountain!

Iwakuni or Bust!

Well, last weekend we accompanied the District President and other District leaders to attend and participate in a military Branch Conference at Iwakuni.  We were especially excited to tag along since Iwakuni was the city in which we lived over 40 years ago when Elder G was assigned to Search & Rescue (helicopters) for the Marine base there.  We really had fond memories of our 2.5 years there:  our two boys were 6 months and 2.5 years old when we arrived and almost 3 and 5 when we left; we traveled greatly throughout the Orient while there, and both our parents and one grandmother came to visit; we also had a Japanese maid, which made it possible for me to attend various classes--ikebana (flower arranging), oshie (padded picture making), Nihongo (Japanese), and English, which I taught to a young family.  We were anxious to return to our "old haunts" and check out the Japanese house we first lived in, the American trailer-house we bought for $4,000 and sold for $5,500 two years later, the "Yellow Sign" cafe (so named by the Americans because no one could read the Japanese) off base where everyone went to buy awesome yaki-tori (teriyaki chicken on a stick), and maybe we'd even get in a visit to some of our favorite tourist sites.
We were really stoked up for the trip!

So much for stoking!  Actually, the trip was well worth the time spent, but just not all the expense!  First of all, our combined round-trip tickets on the numerous trains it would take to get us there totaled over $950, but we figured that was worth it all to return to Iwakuni and also to visit the new temple in Fukuoka.  I believe we had at least 5 train changes (all prior to boarding the Shinkansen) throughout the 7-hour one-way trip.  The most exciting of all this was riding the Shinkansen, or Bullet Train, which can go up to 200 mph!  The interior is much like an airplane cabin with rows of two and three seats, tray tables, and "stewardesses"  constantly coming down the aisle selling refreshments.  (Each time the attendants would leave our particular car, they would turn, face the passengers, and bow--very formal.)  It was definitely a top-knotch way of traveling, which cut off hours that would otherwise be spent on trains,
many of which we rode having to stand.

The first "hitch" came when we boarded a second Bullet Train leaving Hiroshima,
which we thought was headed towards Iwakuni.

Shinkansen - Bullet Train

Bullet Train and Fuji-san

The trouble was this train bypassed Iwakuni and went straight to Fukuoka!  This was not like on a bus when you can pull the cord and ask the driver to pull over!  Once we discovered our error, we had no choice but to ride the train all the way to its next stop.  Of course, as we were exiting the depot in Fukuoka, our Iwakuni tickets signaled the officials there that we hadn't paid enough for that long of a ride.  Our District President tried to explain our mistake, but they were unforgiving and said each of the six of us now owed $60 more.  They did, however, tell us that if we would get back on the train in the morning (It was now 11:30 p.m. and trains were no longer running.) and return to Iwakuni, they would "forgive" our debt and let us out of the depot for "free."  Unfortunately, our plans included attending the temple in the morning and riding back to the Iwakuni Branch in the two vans already rented by the Branch.  Needless to say, we told the truth, paid the fees, and went on to find a nearby hotel for a pricey $150 per room.

The visit to the temple was very enjoyable.  We took the subway from the hotel, pulled our suitcases along sidewalks for about a mile, and still made it in time to meet the Iwakuni members who had driven there.  Although the session was in Japanese, there were earphones in English for us "gaijins" (foreigners).  The temple is a very small one, but very attractive and nestled against a pretty forested hillside right in the middle of Fukuoka, a major city on the island of Kyushu.

Fukuoka Temple

More of the temple

By the time we drove back to Iwakuni, our first time of touching the soil there once again, it was after 6 p.m and dark!  We were both soooo disappointed!  Then, to top it off, we learned that we were being picked up at 9 a.m. to attend (and speak at) the Branch Conference.  I really had a hard time dealing with this disappointment, so I devised a plan.

The next morning we were dressed and out front of the base "hotel" by 7:30 waiting for a cab driver. (It was still dark prior to that.)  For another $60 we were able to get a 60-minute drive out to one of the local attractions, Kintai Bridge, a 340-year-old bridge, formed in 5 arches, built entirely of wood.

Kintai Bridge in Iwakuni - Iwakuni Castle on hilltop

Elder Galbraith on the bridge
I got one picture of Elder Galbraith before my camera batteries died.  (Murphy's Law, anyone?)  

The cab driver then took us back to the base where nothing at all was familiar as our old trailer-house area had been leveled to make room for high-rise barracks, and Elder Galbraith's Search & Rescue operations had been relocated.  Sadly, nothing was familiar.

We attended and also spoke at the Branch Conference.  (The Church meetings are held off-base in a chapel that was once a car dealership!)  Afterwards, the Branch treated all of us visitors and themselves to a Subway sandwich lunch and Baskin Robbins ice-cream cake!  It was really enjoyable visiting with young military couples (like we once were) and discussing the gospel as well as their activities in Japan.  For all the people we met there and also those we traveled with, we are very grateful for having made great new friends.  Some of these District leaders will be here in February when our Yokota Branch holds its Branch Conference, and we look forward to renewing these friendships then.

With lunch out of the way, we were then on our way--back home to Fussa/Yokota Air Force Base.  Farewell Iwakuni!  It was nice seeing you for--let's see--an hour or so?  Needless to say, we're still glad we did the whole trip as it will definitely be a never-forgotten memory of
great new friendships made and certain trains to avoid!

Kintai Bridge at night

One For The Bucket List

 Actually, this was the Arnells' Bucket List; and since they were leaving Fussa (to return home) last week and we were in possession of their former car, they asked us if we could take them to Hakone on Saturday, the 7th.  Hakone is a tourist town in the mountains, famous for its hot springs (remind anyone of Midway?).  The canyon floor was filled with many hotels providing tourists the opportunity to soak in the springs--"au naturel" is what we were told, but we can't swear to that.  Being the good missionaries that we are, we avoided said hotel areas and headed straight for the lake with its promised scenic sights.  We were definitely not disappointed!!!  The clear sky was a perfect backdrop to a blue lake surrounded by green pine trees with a bright red torii shrine in the water.  If this weren't scenic enough, it was topped off by an awesome white-covered Mt. Fuji in the background!  The beautiful sight was well worth the 25 mile / 90-minute drive!

Amazing Lake Ashi with a torii in the water and Mt. Fuji in the background
Toriis are Shinto shrines.

We were enjoying the site when, to our amazement, a beautiful "pirate ship" came into view.  It was one of many tourist ships at the lake providing rides around the lake and back again.  We tried to get on the next ride out, but it was booked full.  We would then have had to wait over 90 minutes for the next ride and just figured it was too cold to wait that long for an even colder ride on the water.
So we ditched that plan and settled for a local lunch instead.

Cool-looking "pirate ship" shuttling tourists around the lake

 As the little restaurant had no English nor romaji (Roman letters sounding out Japanese words), we ordered off the pictures on the menu.  We got a good pork cutlet, rice, and pickled surprises.  When we saw another couple being brought fried rice--which we just love!--I went up to the waitress and tried to order that.  Not knowing the word for "fried," I was unsuccessful with my verbal efforts.  However, nothing works like bringing the waitress over to the others' table and pointing!  ha!  (I have since learned the word for fried rice--chahan--so we now have a fail safe when all else eludes us!  In fact, on my walk the other day, I discovered a nearby restaurant, displaying pictures outside mostly of ramen noodles, rice and fried rice, and gyozas {pot stickers}.  We've already tried it out with our two local elders
and have given it our personal stamp of approval!!!)

Us freezing, but enjoying the sights!

Note that Mt. Fuji is now clouded over--a most common occurrence

A torii in the parking lot at Lake Ashi

I couldn't resist shooting a pic of Mickey in the back of an alley

Driving back to Fussa from Hakone, we stopped briefly at Odawara Castle.  We didn't go inside, however, as the entrance fee was somewhat expensive and it didn't include any English.  We hope to return another time with elders on their P-day.  It was a cool place and definitely worth the stop!  The Arnells and others  took advantage of the cheap rental costumes to assume roles of shogun or princess. 

Samurai, prince, and princesses in costume

Samurai Arnell-san and bride

On the 10th we and the Arnells drove 90 minutes to Kunitachi, where we enjoyed a wonderful Mission Conference with half of the mission's 160 elders and sisters.  The other half had already held their conference the week before.  President Albrecht gave an awesome presentation on goal setting and teaching the doctrine of Christ and of our loving Father in Heaven.  The zone leaders also did a presentation on improper and proper ways to "street"--talk to strangers on the street about the Church.  The conference went from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. and was worth every minute of it.  Since the Arnells were riding back to the Mission Home with the President and his wife, we said our goodbyes then and promised 

to look each other up in our stateside travels.

I can't remember if I have mentioned this before but the Arnells are now basically" homeless."  They sold their home years earlier so that when called on a mission, they would have nothing to worry about back home.  They have one daughter and a soon-to-be-born baby to assist for a while; then they will be staying with another daughter and children for a year while her husband will be stationed in Korea.  After that, they look forward to serving another mission, and so forth.  They were awesome sponsors in getting us situated here in Fussa--in our apartment (theirs, formerly), on all the electronic hookups, at places to eat, and at navigating for Elder Galbraith as he drove on the left side to the many various locations we will need to access while here.  We will miss them but wish them the very best!

The week finished up with my attending PWOC on Wednesday for another Bible Study lesson on the Book of Esther, visiting two less-active sisters with the Relief Society president on Thursday, and Elder Galbraith and I visiting one less-active family one night and then two less-active sisters another day.  We did pay the Chaplain a visit, but to our disappointment, he was unable to share any members' local addresses with us due to "privacy laws."  We are hoping that our Branch President, as the local lay leader, will be able to get that information as he has received quite a few membership records for people  for whom we don't have any contact info.  Once we get that info, we will be able to assist the Branch President
in locating these members and visiting with them.

Out & About

It was just this Sunday, January 8, that the Branch President gave us some names to work on.  Apparently, he has quite a list of membership records for people he has not yet met.  Elder Galbraith and I now plan to put on our detective hats and do the best we can do to find if these people are even still here on base and, if so, contact them regarding our Church meetings, which are held off base.  Prior to yesterday's assignment we had a busy week dealing mostly with the missionaries.

On Monday, one set of elders asked us to take them to Costco as it was their day off, P-day (Preparation Day), and they hoped to get some items cheaper there than on the economy.  Needless to say, items were at least 1.5 times the cost of USA's Costco.  They had American items, American products with Japanese labels, and totally Japanese products.  It was very interesting, but not something I will patronize that often since we have access to the Commissary and BX at US prices.  It was quite the experience parking on the top floor of the parking tower.  Think about it:  How do hundreds of shoppers get their full carts back to their cars many floors up from the ground floor?  Well, you "board" the flat-stair escalator which is so highly magnetized that once your cart is on it, you can't even budge it an inch until you're ready to get off!  It was quite a clever procedure, and we got a kick out of it.  Of course, with land being a premium in Japan, parking towers are the only way to go for stores as popular as this!

The elders wanted to capitalize on their having a "free ride" on their P-day, so they suggested we drive to a nearby town in the mountains.  We were glad to get out of a city of nothing but cement and buildings and get into something more scenic.  It was a great outing, and we enjoyed participating

 with the elders on this day off.

Okutama

Elders Christensen & Graham beside a huge 700-year-old tree with three trunks

Old fogies on a foot bridge

Wednesday morning found Sister Arnell and I attending PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) at the base.  They meet weekly for Bible Study and also do various service projects and outings.  I joined the group that will be studying the book of Esther.  For the next 9 weeks, we will watch a one-hour video (presented by a very highly animated female evangelist from the South, who also wrote the workbook we are using), and  then we will have 30 minutes for discussion.  Each of the six groups will take turns at furnishing the breakfast treats.  Although the video presenter was a little too dramatic (kind of a Kathy Lee Gifford on steroids), I did think she had some interesting points to make.  We hope that by our attending this meeting and also volunteering in other activities, like Red Cross, that we will make our LDS presence known here in Fussa (Yokota Air Base) in a positive manner.

That night the Arnells and we assisted the local elders in their weekly evening English class at the Church.  Sister Arnell and I taught the seven Japanese attendees how to cook Rice Krispie Squares and No-bake Chocolate Cookies.  The Japanese thought the chocolate cookies were too sweet, but they really liked the Rice Krispie treats!  It was fun having them follow directions and discuss instructions as we cooked.  Afterwards we played a game akin to Duck Duck Goose, called "Do you love your neighbor?"  It was fun as the participants answered "Yes" or "No, but I love those who wear a tie (or wear glasses)," for example, and then the one in the center scrambled to take a seat as all the people with ties (or glasses) changed seats.  Childlike as it was, it was still good English practice for them and fun for all
as we tried to stay out of the center of the circle.

Spooning out the No-bake Cookies

I got to eat the last one!

After Thursday's Zone meeting, we and the Arnells were able to get all 18 missionaries (16 elders and 2 sisters) onto the base for lunch at Chili's.  It  took about 35 minutes to get each one registered for entry on the base!  It was just great seeing them have such a good time together visiting over AMERICAN food.  Unfortunately, the deep fat fryer was broken, so no french fries were to be had; however, we did see plenty of nachos, hamburgers, ice cream sundaes, etc.  They really had a wonderful time, and so did we watching them all!  Afterwards, a couple of them wanted to go to the BX where they bought Japanese souvenirs to send home.  One elder said it was his best P-day ever!!!

Some of the eighteen missionaries

"Real tacos!  I'm in heaven!"

"And a real brownie sundae, too!"

A super great time was had by all!!!

Friday we and the Arnells drove to the Tokyo temple where we met two other senior missionary couples (the Bridges serve at the temple, and the Johnsens serve as military relations down at Yokosuka).  Our day included touring Tokyo's Imperial Palace grounds and attending our military district's temple night (English session!).  Since the Bridges are called as temple missionaries, they do not have a car and are very proficient at getting around on trains and the subway.  (It doesn't hurt, either, that both 
served their missions in Japan over 40 years ago!!!)  

Note the moat below and the fortress walls above

One of five Keeps (guard houses) along the fortress wall

Another Keep (dismantled in Kyoto and rebuilt here)

Us on the palace bridge

Modern Imperial Palace - 23,000 square feet

View of Tokyo skyline from palace bridge

We had lunch at a nearby soba restaurant recommended by the District President.  The welsh onion &  pork soba and tray of gyozas we all ordered were fantastic!  

Us placing our soba order electronically with Elder Bridge translating

Senior couples enjoying the soba lunch

We then took the subway - having to make one transfer - and got off at the Imperial Palace.  I was initially disappointed since I was remembering the centuries' old Imperial Palace in Kyoto, Japan's former capital until the mid 1800s.  This new palace in Tokyo was built in the1960's as the ancient one was burned during WWII bombings.  Once I got over that disappointment, however, I really enjoyed walking through the beautiful grounds where a once magnificent castle stood.  It was still impressive to view the castle moat, the fortress walls made of huge stones, the various Keeps (guard houses built at each bend of the fortress wall), and the new buildings built on the grounds.  We were all amazed that we could walk right on the grounds in front of the Palace as that is not something that could be done with our White House!

After the tour we walked to the New Sanno Hotel, a US-owned hotel for military people.  It is new and luxurious and right in the middle of Tokyo.  While there, we couldn't make up our minds as to where to go for dinner, so the Bridges invited us back to their small (maybe 700 sq ft) apartment right next to the temple.  Both Sister and Elder Bridge were able to cook up a wonderful impromptu dinner of Japanese sauce-flavored thin pieces of beef and onion served over rice along with the typically Japanese julienne-shredded carrot and cabbage salad.  All the US ladies love this particular sesame salad dressing (which tastes a lot like Beni Hana's dressing), so we were glad to see she had some on hand.  It's jokingly called "Okinawa Crack" as it must be made there and is definitely addictive!  They pulled out some Japanese cookies and US Jello puddings, and all eight of us agreed that the meal and company couldn't have been better!  After dinner we walked 100 feet to the temple and did a session.  It was fun seeing quite a large number of the military branch there.  The drive from the base takes between 1-2 hours each way and over $25 in tolls round trip.  It costs about the same to take the train, so it is actually cheaper when two couples carpool.