Bentobox Magazine 47

Japanese Culture | Hot Spots | Products

| Food TM

Jan. 2019

No. 47 FREE www.bentoboxmag.ca

Feature

TEPPANYAKI SIZZLE

Food meets fun with this f lashy cooking st yle

7

Teppanyaki restaurants in the GTA

Contents January 2019 J 20 0 19 9 N No. 47

10 This Dundas West hot spot serves up bold, IXQ ÁDYRXUV

04

Feature: Teppanyaki sizzle

10

Restaurant: Fortune favours the bold at Hanmoto

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Ingredient: Eat more nori

17

Travel: An ancient shrine where spirits mingle

24

Movie: Kore-eda’s Shoplifters will steal your heart

26

Only in Japan: The secrets of Hello Kitty

28

Events: Mye Restaurant’s annual Feast for Good

EDITOR’S NOTE Play with your food You’ve heard of dinner and a show, but what if your dinner was the show? That’s the idea with teppanyaki, a Japanese cooking style that takes a slew of delicious PUNYLKPLU[Z HUK [\YUZ [OLT PU[V `V\Y OPNO Å`PUN ÅHTL ZWL^PUN LU[LY[HPUTLU[ for the evening. In this month’s feature, we take you through all the teppanyaki highlights, from tender Wagyu steak grilled right in front of your eyes to a dramatic volcano made entirely from onion rings. We also tell you where in Toronto you can go to have your own teppanyaki experience.

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter facebook.com/bentoboxmag

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Editors Nina Hoeschele, Amanda Plyley, Yumi Nishio Editorial coordinators Nina Hoeschele, Yumi Nishio Writers Amanda Taylor, M Crowson, Nina Lee, Sarah Dickson, Walter Muschenheim Designers Chieko Watanabe, Midori Yamamoto Advertisement & marketing Kazu Maruyama Publisher Kazu Maruyama

Bento Box Communication Inc. | 3003 Danforth Ave. PO Box 93628, Toronto M4C 5R4 Phone: 416-964-0981 | www.bentoboxmag.ca | Email: info@bentoboxmag.ca

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Fe a t ure

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Teppanyaki

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Hot Spot | Hanmoto

By Walter Muschenheim

FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BOLD At Hanmoto, Chef Han serves up Japanese favorites with his trademark flair for big flavours.

Salmon Aburi This torched raw salmon on rice is pure Japanese comfort food— rich and salty with an expansive, smoky note.

C

hef Leemo Han has cultivated a distinct brand. His food sits at an intersection between big American flavours and traditional Korean and Japanese tastes. With a mix of influences from Philly to Seoul, he has developed his own idiom with a local feel. At Hanmoto, this local vibe has perhaps reached its purest expression in a Japanese izakaya that is so low-key you could walk past it a hundred times without suspecting it’s one of the hottest locations on Dundas West.

Inside, neon lights peek out from behind wooden screens and reclaimed windowpanes, casting a glow on the bare cinderblock walls and providing spots of illumination in the dim dining room, making it seem more cavernous than it really is. With its kitchen nestled in the corner, surrounded by beer kegs, piled-up stools and other objects somewhere in between junk and treasure, the restaurant feels like a back-alley food stall that’s seen decades of action. Since

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it opened in 2015, the little izakaya has become the closely guarded secret of an ever-growing crowd of locals and restaurant industry professionals.

At first blush, the menu at Hanmoto is traditionally Japanese, with flame-seared Salmon Aburi and rich Nasu Dengaku (glazed eggplant), but dishes like the trademark Dyno Wings suggest that you’re in for more of Chef Han’s trademark amped-up flavours. Growing up in Philly, Chef Han developed a connection to homey, hearty American food. While he doesn’t apologize for incorporating the bold influences of casual North American cooking, he also embraces the strong flavours of Japanese comfort food and traditional Korean cuisine.

These are tastes that he relates to personally that other chefs might shy away from presenting to a North American palate.

What one person grew up with can seem exotic to another, but by highlighting familiar,

traditional flavours from all of the cuisines he holds dear, Chef Han creates dishes that are comforting and unexpected at the same time, and always satisfying. Eating at Hanmoto captures that magic aspect of discovering a new cuisine where a taste that at first seems completely foreign turns into your comfort food.

Bar chef Inh Huh confirms that the regulars get attached to their favourites. “Some flavours might be challenging at first, but soon people are coming back to order the same dishes again and again.” The same goes for the cocktail menu he created— many Hanmoto originals have been on the menu for years because they get ordered more than traditional cocktails. One of the classics is the super-refreshing Arisaka Sour, like a Pimm’s Cup with a yuzu bite. It also helps that the kitchen is reliably open until 2 am, so you know you can always satisfy that 1:30 am craving for a miso steak.

Hungry for more? Let’s dig in!

Dyno Wings They look like normal chicken wings, but they have been deboned using a secret [LJOUPX\L HUK Z[\ɈLK with ground pork—this is decadent, gourmet fast food.

▲ Steak Tartare Hand Roll

▲ The Green Giant

This beautiful hand roll is loaded with toppings including a shiso leaf and raw quail egg in the shell.

Made with matcha, this decadent Creamsicle-like cocktail gains added complexity thanks to the velvety, almond flavour of orgeat syrup.

Hanmoto 2 Lakeview Ave., Toronto

◀ Nasu Dengaku

647-344-3005

Miso hollandaise and angel-hair-fried beets top this Japanese eggplant dish that will please with its contrast of textures.

instagram.com/hanm0t0 OPEN: Mon–Sat 6 pm–2 am Sun closed

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By Sarah Dickson

Ingredient | Nori

NORI

海苔【のり】 実は栄養満点！ 海外でも巻き寿司でお馴染みの海苔。

Often referred to in English as seaweed, nori is technically a type of algae common to colder coastal waters. Though the nori that we currently know is paper-like, nori originally was consumed as a paste up until the Edo period, when methods of Japanese paper-making were used on seaweed to create the thin paper-like texture we know today. Though seaweed occurs naturally in the ocean, the nori that is used in Japanese cuisine today is actually farmed from seeds that are “planted” on stakes and then placed in the water. Once harvested, the seaweed is shredded and then pressed into sheets, much like wood pulp is pressed into sheets of paper, to become what we see on grocery store shelves today.

Eat more nori 7KLV SDSHU OLNH VQDFN LV IXOO RI QXWULHQWV DQG ƃDYRXU For those who are a bit old school, you may have noticed the millennials in your midst eating something that looks like a greenish-black version of carbon paper, the thin crinkly layer placed between sheets of paper to transfer writing from one to the other. But instead of an oldfashioned way to make copies of things, this crunchy snack is actually quite delicious and healthy.

Sushi lovers are likely already familiar with nori, processed Japanese seaweed wrapped onto sushi rolls, used as the

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routine given the importance of iodine to healthy hair, nails, skin and teeth— what’s more, this mineral also contributes to optimal thyroid function. Nori is also very high in calcium, meaning it is an excellent option for those who don’t eat dairy to get an extra jolt of this essential mineral. And like a number of other foods in Japanese cuisine, nori is also linked to a longer life.

outer wrapping of a rice ball (onigiri), or sometimes julienned and sprinkled on top of a salad. In recent years, it has become trendy to consume the paper-thin version of this common sea vegetable on its own, the same way one might munch on a bag of chips.

Unlike the aforementioned bag of chips however, nori has negligible fat, and is quite rich in a number of vitamins such as A and C, and minerals such as riboflavin, folate, niacin, iron and zinc. It’s also rich in iodine, making it a good addition to your beauty

There are also different types of nori depending on what it is being used for. The type used for sushi rolls is slightly thicker and considered to be of higher quality. The colour of this type appears black, where the snack or onigiri type tends to appear green and sometimes nearly transparent.

So if you’re shopping for nori, pay attention to the colour and make sure you get the thick type for your sushi rolls and the thin type for your snack. And since you probably won’t have much luck making copies with either type, try taking pieces of thin, crispy nori and slicing them into ribbons for topping a salad or finely crushing them into salt for a tasty seasoning.

DISCOVER the FLAVOUR of

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Drink up! | Tedorigawa Yamahai Junmai

By Amanda Taylor

TEDORIGAWA YOSHIDA SAKE 手取川 山廃仕込 純米酒 【てどりがわ】 自然の恵みに感 謝し 頑なに手 作り。伝 統を守り続ける酒。 守り続ける酒。

A century of tradition from a village by the Tedori River.

I

f there is one thing Tedorigawa edorigawa Yoshida Sake Brewery understands, it’s the power of tradition. The brewery, headed by the Yoshida family, has stayed true to its roots for over 144 years, and the result is a consistently premium product unlike any other. Founded in 1870, Tedorigawa’s foundations are based in the traditions of Yamashima Village in Ishikawa Prefecture, situated along the Tedori River.

Historically, farmers in the region have worked with brewers to cultivate the highquality rice that has put Yamashima on the map for its mastery of sake.

Tedorigawa brews sake using the Yamahai method, which is not very common today. The Yamahai method of brewing is considered laborious as it requires more effort than it takes to brew sake regularly, but it yields a deep, earthy flavour that is praised by enthusiasts.

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Tedorigawa’s Yamahai Junmai is dry and sharp yet goes down smooth. In addition to the signature Yamahai flavour it contains notes of honey, citrus and cashew. As with most Yamahai sake, it pairs best with rich, fatty foods, sweet foods, and savoury foods and sauces.

While Tedorigawa maintains the tried and tested craftsmanship of the past, the brewery has also evolved, marrying modern technology with traditional methods. Using automatic rotary rise/ immersion equipment the brewery can more accurately manage the water absorption ratio of the rice and wash away starch.

If Tedorigawa Yoshida Sake Brewery sounds familiar, that’s likely because it was the subject of the award-winning documentary The Birth of Sake. The movie details the trials and determination of the

Yoshid Yoshida i a family fam m ily as they fight to maintain the traditions of their sake brewery in an ever-changing world. The brewery faces mounting competition and threats to its bottom line. Still, many of the staff spend a trying six-month period living at the brewery, where they dedicate themselves to the cultivation of the year’s batch of sake. The film won Best Documentary Director at the Tribeca Film Festival and Best Feature Documentary at the 2016 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

The sake from Tedorigawa exhibits excellence and a richness of flavour that can only be produced through over a century of passion and experience. tedorigawa.com/en

Exclusive Agent:

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Authentic Japanese Izakaya experience

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492-5292

Travel | Izumo Taisha

By Nina Lee

IZUMO TAISHA 神話の国、 出雲で歴史と神秘に触れる。

An ancient shrine where Japan’s past and present meet and the immortal mingles with the mortal.

IZUMO TAISHA 【出雲大社】 Located on the southwest coast of Japan facing the Japan Sea, Izumo Taisha is about a threehour drive north of Hiroshima.

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Travel | Izumo Taisha

T

ravel articles are normally written for humans. This one, however, is written for Japan’s sacred Shinto spirits. With eight million kami (deities or sacred spirits) visiting Izumo Taisha every year, this Shinto shrine is easily the most popular tourist attraction in Japan’s active spirit world.

0a\TV ;HPZOH VY 0a\TV Ç°`HZOPYV PZ HU ancient shrine located just a one-hour flight from Osaka, Nagoya or Fukuoka. While there is no definite date of establishment, archaeologists have uncovered artifacts suggesting that the complex was built before 660 BC, making it over 2,600 years old and one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan! Given its age and prominence to the spirit world, Izumo Taisha is one of the most famous and important shrines in the country.

Let’s backtrack a little here for our human guests, to give them a little background on Shinto, Japan’s indigenous religion.

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Shinto has no founder and no sacred scriptures. It is an ancient religion that focuses on rituals, such as sumo wrestling, and allows modern-day Japan to maintain connections with its past. The practice of Shinto involves worshipping kami that represent various purposes such as wars, harvest, families and even organizations. There are over 88,000 shrines in the country, located in every conceivable place: street corners, forests, islands, mountains and even in malls and multi-storey parking lots. The kami are comprised of millions of minor deities, and a few major deities—including Izumo ;HPZOHZ YLZPKLU[ ZHJYLK ZWPYP[ ǰR\UPU\ZOP UV ȏRHTP HSZV JHSSLK +HPRVR\ ZHTH [OL god of nation-building, farming, business, medicine and marriage.

The main hall of Izumo Taisha is the tallest and largest of its kind in Japan. The complex is comprised of four large torii gates, the Main Hall (Honden, established in 1744), Kagura Hall (first built in 1776),

Discover one of Japan’s most sacred sites

/HPKLU [OL VSK :OȬRVRHU I\PSKPUN HUK about a half dozen other structures dedicated to related deities. Once they have passed through the gates, guests may pay their respects before entering the sacred grounds by cleansing themselves of impurities at the well before bowing twice, clapping four times (twice for yourself and twice for your partner, in homage to the god of marriage), praying and bowing once TVYL +LP[PLZ HYL [OLU LZJVY[LK [V [OLPY quarters at Jukusha, where they stay during their meetings held annually in November. +\YPUN [OLZL TLL[PUNZ KLP[PLZ JHU L_WLJ[ mortals to join them and celebrate at the Kamiari Festival. While floating around the grounds, kami (and mortals) are encouraged to marvel at the colossal 400-year-old cedar trees and seek out the 40 rabbit statues, scattered around the grounds as a tribute to the myth “Inaba no Shiro-usagi,” in ^OPJO ǰR\UPU\ZOP UV ȬRHTP HPKZ H Z\MMLYPUN rabbit, who in exchange helps him to win the hand of his love.

Winter is another popular time to visit the shrine, with a number of festivals taking place over the course of January and February. The Omike Festival is held on January 1 and celebrates the New Year.

The Kitcho-san, or Fukumukae Festival, on 1HU\HY` PZ ÄSSLK ^P[O NYV\WZ PU [YHKP[PVUHS kimono and demon masks waving large, colourful flags and dancing in processions to ask for health and safety over the upcoming year. The Beginning Sermon Festival follows on January 5, and the Fukujin-sai celebration begins in February on the Lunar New Year at 1 am to celebrate the start of the lunar year. In this festival, worshippers fill Kagura Hall, receive fortunes and revel until the party winds down at dawn.

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Travel | Izumo Taisha

The grounds leading to the shrine are lined with shops and restaurants, some as old as 200 years. Here you can find traditional local dishes like Izumo soba, made by grinding buckwheat kernels in stone mortars and served with tempura shrimp, stringy seaweed and fresh scallions, and Izumo zensai, a porridge-like dessert made with cooked red azuki beans and chewy rice cakes (mochi). The shops sell many trinkets and souvenirs, with little auspicious amulets sold in booths on the grounds at Izumo Taisha being the most popular. Blessed by the shrine’s priests, these amulets, or omamori, bring the holder good luck and a loving partner, and they will even ward off evil.

Izumo Taisha is one of the most magnificent, sacred sites in Japan, and everyone who visits, corporeal or not, can experience the transcendental wonder of this National Treasure.

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1-Day Bus Tour

Tokyo’s Best Cherry Blossom Spots

1 Visit Tokyo’s most popular cherry blossom viewing sites on this 1-day bus tour. The tour includes visits to some of Japan’s most famous cherry blossom viewing sites including Showa Kinen Park and Chidori-ga-fuchi (or Shinjuku Gyoen), as well as sightseeing around some of Tokyo’s most iconic landmarks such as Tokyo Tower.

2 Inside Showa Kinen Park, admire a scenic landscape formed by roughly 200 cherry trees and an expansive lawn. When in season, tulips and rapeseed blossoms can also be seen blooming radiantly.

3 Head up 150 metres to the Tokyo Tower observation deck to take in the 360-degree view of Tokyo and the stunning view of cherry blossoms down below.

TOUR BASIC INFORMATION Seasonal Tour: Mar 20–Apr 14, 2019

Departure city: Tokyo Visits: Tokyo Tower, Showa Kinen Park, Shinjuku Gyoen Duration: Approx. 8 hours English-speaking guide, lunch, other admission fees and transportation costs included in the tour.

PRICE

CAD $

135

*Price is valid for the month of January 2019. *Price may fluctuate due to change in exchange rate.

HOW TO PURCHASE Reservations can be made by either telephone or email. Please contact JTB International (Canada) Ltd. at Phone: 416-367-5824 | Toll-free: 1-800-268-5942 | Email: jtbtoronto@jtbi.com | Website: www.jtb.ca

ITINERARY 8:30 Depart

from Shinjuku

Showa Kinen Park

Depart from check-in counter on the 3rd floor of Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo’s Main Tower in Shinjuku.

Shinjuku Gyoen

80

min

Shinjuku Gyoen opened in 1906 as a modern European-style garden for the Imperial Family. When spring comes, 65 varieties of cherry tree bloom proudly throughout a long period. Those who missed the cherry trees’ peak blooming times can still enjoy cherry blossom viewing here.

Tokyo Tower Main Observatory

90

min

The entire park is home to approximately 1,500 cherry trees that bloom in full glory. Inside, there is a vast garden with a beautiful landscape formed by roughly 200 cherry trees amidst sweeping lawns. There is also a bridge from where rows of cherry trees can be seen lining the river. Participants will be guided to the captivating cherry blossom viewing spots in the park.

Enjoy spring in Japan to the fullest as you gaze upon delightful tulips, rapeseed blossoms, bonsai trees, a Japanese garden and other blooms of the season.

60

min

Enjoy a bird’s-eye view of cherry blossoms! See a sweeping panorama of the city from 150 metres above the ground. An additional admission fee is required to access Tokyo Tower’s Special Observatory. Those who plan on entering must pay the required charges at the location.

16:25

Depart from Tokyo Station Drop-off available.

Japanese-style Lunch

60

min

Enjoy an authentic meal of Japanese cuisine at Mumon’an, a restaurant located in a former Japanese-style inn.

16:40

Arrive at Asakusa Station Tour ends at Asakusa Station.

For more information, please contact JTB International at 1-800-268-5942 (toll-free) or email at jtbtoronto@jtbi.com www.bentoboxmag.ca

All photos ©JNTO

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Film focus | Shoplifters

By James Heron

Kore-eda’s Shoplifters will steal your heart A warm-hearted, clear-eyed and often funny study of family dynamics and the plight of Japan’s growing underclass.

MOVIE INFO Š 2018 FUJI TELEVISION NETWORK/GAGA CORPORATION/AOI Pro. Inc.

Shoplifters (2018) Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda Starring: Lily Franky, Sakura Ando, Kirin Kiki, Mairi Jo and Miyu Sasaki Running time: 121 minutes Screenplay: Hirokazu Kore-eda Kore-eda’s latest, about a family who relies on shoplifting to cope with a life of poverty, is a tale of desperation told with generosity and humour. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes and nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

N

early every year brings a new film from Hirokazu Kore-eda, and this reviewer faces his annual challenge not to run out of superlatives to describe it. This year’s entry, Shoplifters, has generated extra excitement as it comes fresh off winning the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, probably the most prestigious film prize in the world. It has most deservedly appeared on countless “Top Ten Films of 2018� lists and is the Japanese film industry’s chosen candidate for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

Believe the hype. With Shoplifters Kore-eda has outdone himself and made the best film of his career.

The Shibatas, Osamu (Lily Franky), Nobuyo (Sakura Ando) and their two children, live in cheerful squalor in a crumbling old house surrounded by modern Tokyo condominiums. They work manual jobs, often on shortened “job-sharing� hours, and supplement their meagre wages with the family grandmother’s (Kirin Kiki) pension and with petty crime, mainly shoplifting.

On the way home after one such expedition with son Shota (Kairi Jyo), Osamu comes across an abused young girl named Yuri shivering on a balcony. They take her home for a hot meal and quickly fall in love with the nearly mute girl. It isn’t kidnapping, they reason, because they have requested no ransom, her parents do not seem to care—and besides,

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One of Japan's ÀQHVW GLUHFWRUV ZRUNLQJ DW WKH KHLJKW RI KLV SRZHUV GHOLYHUV DQRWKHU PDVWHUSLHFH

they can show her the real warmth and caring she needs. This is typical of their carefree, hardscrabble approach to life but we sense, even in the early happy scenes, that this precarious family existence is doomed. The Shibatas harbour many secrets and it is soon apparent that neither Shota or his sister Aki (the luminous Mayu Matsuoka as a peep show performer) are their actual children. Osamu and Nobuyo’s own relationship is founded on an act of deadly impetuosity they seem pained to confront.

Shota begins to resent the attention Yuri receives from Osamu while, fearing that his actions will bankrupt a kindly shop owner, he feels the first pricks of his adolescent conscience. When Shota finally acts out, the authorities pounce and the entire charade unravels.

Shoplifters is warm-hearted, clear-eyed and often very funny. It is also an indictment of Japanese societal shifts and the plight of a growing underclass. The film combines elements of an earlier masterpiece, Nobody Knows, about children that

fall between society’s cracks, with the director’s trademark enquiries into the meaning and dynamics of families.

There are simply too many layers and too much to enjoy here for a single viewing. Shoplifters is full of perfectly realized moments, knowing details and superb performances, particularly by Ando.

Her final speech will break your heart. The scenes between Matsuoka and Kiki too are lent additional poignancy by the fact that this is one of Kiki’s final performances. She died in September, shortly after the film’s release. Smaller roles are populated by a who’s who of top Japanese stars, perhaps looking for an opportunity to step onto the international stage afforded by a Kore-eda film. Among these, Sosuke Ikematsu, as one of Aki’s lonely peep show customers, wordlessly projects a heartbreaking vulnerability. It is a tiny, perfect gem of a scene; a teardrop left glistening on a naked thigh is a masterful touch.

With Shoplifters VUL VM 1HWHUÂťZ Ă„ULZ[ JVU[LTWVYHY` directors, working at the height of his powers, delivers another masterpiece.

Shoplifters will be screened at the JCCC on January 31 at 7 pm. jccc.on.ca

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Only in Japan | The secrets of Hello Kitty

By M Crowson

SAY HELLO, KITTY!

Think you know Hello Kitty? Think again! Discover some surprising new details about Sanrio’s globetrotting cartoon cutie. 今年で生誕45年！年数がたっても色あせないキティちゃんの魅力。

Illustration by Chieko Watanabe

Just this summer, Japan rolled out a shiny new Hello Kitty-themed bullet train to serve Western Japan, seemingly combining the two most famously Japanese products.

Kitty is as familiar to many of us as our own faces. But did you know that Hello Kitty’s real name is actually Kitty White? It’s true. It turns out that Hello Kitty’s a bit of a dark horse: not only is she a global product that rakes in billions every year, she’s also a character with a surprisingly detailed backstory, a host of family and friends, and even some controversial identity issues.

Hello Kitty was first created in 1974, when

her adorable figure appeared on a little coin purse in Japan. Two years later, she made her way to the US, and though she didn’t really rocket to global fame until the ’80s, her charms were always infused with some international flavour. That’s because, according to her biography, Kitty is not Japanese—she’s British. But that’s not the real bombshell. You might want to sit down for this next one. Are you ready? Hello Kitty is not, in fact, a cat.

Her inventors are very firm about this. She’s a never-aging third-grade human girl who lives outside London with her parents, George

and Mary, and her twin sister, Mimmy. And while it’s true that all the Whites share that same family look—those ears, the whiskers and the cute little button nose—none of them are cats. Hello Kitty even owns a pet cat, Charmmy. The pet cat “looks like her owner but acts more like a cat than a person.” Charmmy has a tail as well and walks on four legs, rather than two, unlike her ageless owner. But don’t let this put you off, because there are so many other fun, less world-rocking things you can learn about Kitty. She’s a Scorpio, for example, and you can join her in celebrating her November 1 birthday. If you’re thinking of buying her clothes, better get your sizing right: she weighs about “3 apples” and is about “5 apples” tall. Her blood type is A, she loves baking cookies and her motto is: “You can never have too many friends.”

News of Kitty’s species misidentification hit the media in 2014, causing a lot of controversy, but no one knows how Kitty feels about all the pushback because, of course, she has no mouth. It turns out there’s a reason for that, too. Designer Yuko Yamaguchi explains that she’s designed that way so “people who look at her can project their own feelings onto her face,” so she seems sad when they are sad, happy when they are happy. So if you’re struggling with this bombshell, just get face-to-face with the girl herself to find a little comfort in a brave new world.

Always land on your feet The first rule of Hello Kitty Club: Don’t talk about Hello Kitty as a cat! Got it? Here are a few other tips to keep your club membership in tip-top shape.

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DO

DO NOT

DO

introduce yourself.

take creative license.

go treasure hunting.

Meet Hello Kitty and her friends in person at Sanrio Puroland in Tokyo!

It’s like Disneyland for Kitty fans.

:HUYPV»Z VѝJPHS HY[ \ZHNL N\PKL PUZPZ[Z “She is a girl. Please do not make/use animal references.”

Take an online peek at the likeness Swarovski made for her 35th birthday.

The gem-studded doll costs $150,000.

G O

Let's

llearn earn

N I H O N G O

easy JJapanese apanese OSHOGATSU

OshȬgatsu (お正月) means New Year. The celebration starts at midnight on December 31st, with temple bells ringing 108 times, and ends around January 4th. It is a cultural event that includes festivals, sending postcards, writing haikus, eating traditional food and giving money to children.

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

When we great each other at the beginning of the new year, we say, ‘Happy New Year!’

People eat traditional food (osechi-ryȬri) to bring wealth, happiness, health and good fortune.

We decorate Kadomatsu because Toshitoku-jin visits houses and brings prosperity.

お正月は「あけまして

人々は富、幸福、健康、幸運を

子孫の繁栄を見守る歳徳神が来て

おめでとう！」 とあいさつします。

もたらすためにお節料理を食べます。

くれるように、門松を飾ります。

6ZOȬNH[Z\ ^H º(RLTHZOP[L 6TLKL[Ȭ» [V HPZH[Z\ ZOPTHZ\

/P[VIP[V ^H [VTP RͻM\R\ RLURͻ Rͻ\U ^V TV[HYHZ\ [HTL UP VZLJOPY`ͻYP ^V [HILTHZ\

:OPZVU UV OHU LP ^V TPTHTVY\ ;VZOP[VR\ ZOPU NH RP[LR\YLY\ `ͻUP RHKVTH[Z\ ^V RHaHYPTHZ\

Akemashite (あけまして) means to end the old year and to begin the new one, omedetȬ (おめでとう) means “congrats” and aisatsu (あいさつ) is a greeting.

Tameni (ために) means as a result of or because of. Motarasu (もたらす) means to bring. Some osechi-ryĊri (お節料理) dishes are datemaki (伊達巻), special egg rolls, kurikinton (栗きんとん), chestnut confections, namasu (なます), Japanese pickles, and kazunoko (数の子), herring roe.

Hanei (繁栄) means prosperity. Kadomatsu (門松) are decorations made of three cut pieces of bamboo. Toshitoku-shin/jin (歳徳神) is the God of the New Year who appears with the first sunrise to bring prosperity.

Compiled by Celina Rumayor and Mitsugu Nobumasa. Brought to you by the Toronto Japanese Language School | www.tjls.ca | @tjlsca | info@tjls.ca

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Event | Mye Restaurant’s Feast for Good fundraiser

By Sarah Dickson

SUSHI FOR A COMMUNITY An evening 31 years in the making.

Once upon a time in Japan, a fateful meeting between a young chef and a mayor from Canada marked the beginning of a 31-year journey that has changed the face of a community.

On November 22, Mye Restaurant held its annual Feast for Good fundraiser, raising $13,200 for the Oakville Hospital Foundation. The evening saw a packed house filled with lively conversation and merriment so loud that it nearly drowned out the talented jazz trio plucking away in the background. Staff happily buzzed around the restaurant making sure delectable plates of sashimi, tempura, sushi rolls and Japanese steak—just to name a few—made their way to each guest.

Since 2012, the Feast for Good has been a symbol of the Aoki family’s dedication to giving back to the community that has

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given them so much. When owner Mo Aoki first moved to Oakville in the mid-1980s, the Japanese food scene in the town was virtually non-existent. The idea of moving to Canada was first put into Mr. Aoki’s head sometime around 1983 by a friend, at a time when he was seeking some direction in his culinary career. Mr. Aoki grew up in the restaurant business, starting work as a chef when he was still in high school. An introduction to the mayor of Oakville while in Tokyo finally presented the opportunity Mr. Aoki needed to make the leap to Canada.

And as the town’s first Japanese restaurant, Mye has truly changed the face of the food scene in Oakville.

Ask members of the Aoki family what has contributed to the decades-long success of Mye, and they will tell you how fortunate they are—not just with the business side of things like good location or hard-working staff, but for the way they have been

welcomed into the community with open arms. Judging by the crowd that night and the number of people who approached Mr. Aoki for a selfie or a congratulatory handshake, it is easy to see the profound impact that Mye and the Aoki family have had on their community.

When you find yourself in Oakville, be sure to visit Mr. Aoki and his family at Mye Restaurant. You’ll be supporting more than a single restaurant. You’ll be supporting an entire community.

Mye Restaurant 143 Church St., Oakville | 905-849-8989 www.mye1restaurant.com Mye2 Restaurant 360 Dundas St. E., Oakville | 905-257-7747 www.mye2restaurant.com

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