Ok not done with Gora Kadan part II yet. Instead, after going through our trip pictures, and after a particularly delightful week at work, I needed a bolus of cuteness.
We all love things that are cute. Babies are cute. Kitties are cute. Puppies are cute. The show ‘Too Cute’ is, well, so damn cute.
But no people in the world kick ass at cuteness more than the Japanese. This is doubtless a fact. It’s known as Kawaii. To borrow from Wikipedia:
The word kawaii originally derives from the phrase 顔映しkao hayushi, which literally means “(one’s) face (is) aglow,” commonly used to refer to flushing or blushing of the face. The second morpheme is cognate with -bayu in mabayui(眩い, 目映い, or 目映ゆい) “dazzling, glaring, blinding, too bright; dazzlingly beautiful” (ma- is from 目 me “eye”) and -hayu in omohayui (面映い or 面映ゆい) “embarrassed/embarrassing, awkward, feeling self-conscious/making one feel self-conscious” (omo- is from 面 omo, an archaic word for “face, looks, features; surface; image, semblance, vestige”). Over time, the meaning changed into the modern meaning of “cute”, and the pronunciation changed to かわゆい kawayuiand then to the modern かわいい kawaii.[8][9][10] It is most commonly written in hiragana, かわいい, but the ateji, 可愛い, has also been appended. The kanji in the ateji literally translates to “able to be loved, can/may love, lovable.”
Ok enough of words. I just feel like posting a bunch of photos from Japan from March 2018. Self-explanatory.
Are you going make prayer offerings or requests? Better make them cute!
Are these key rings? Are they something to pin on your backpack? Who cares??
The Japanese love Snoopy. Because of course they should. There is a shop in Kyoto selling all things Snoopy et al.
These are Dorayaki. Dorayaki are two pancakes patties typically wrapped around a filling of sweet Azuki red bean paste. Some Westerners are not overly fond of red bean paste. Although, it might be because they have not enjoyed ones of high quality.
That is not the case for me. I love those damn things, quality be damned! But part of this is sentimentality because of a film I am rather fond of. It is a Japanese film called ‘Sweet Bean’. If, after watching this film (which I strongly urge you do), if you don’t develop at least a little desire to understand the fuss of cooking beans correctly, well… Screw you!! More dorayaki for me!!
Ok, clearly I don’t know how to review or sell movies. If food is part of the movie’s subject, I consider the film fabulous. It’s like how some folks just have to have explosions, or major recognizable cites imploding, or superheroes or Benedict Cumberbatch. For me, Big Night, Eat Drink Man Woman, Ratatouille are among my favorites. I think it is because I am obsessed with absorbing cultures, although I know it is done at most very superficially. Yet nothing in my humble view is better than going down a culinary path of absorption. What is the worst that can happen?
Actually I have only gotten food poisoning from Western deli type items that they serve at hotels trying to please Westerners. In places like Peru. Actually I did get damn sick in Crete from a breakfast pastry buffet. I hoovered through an amazing pear tart until the last bite when I realized that there was mold on the bottom. We went to Knossos right after. I had dreamed and dreamed for a long time about going to that place, but now it is mainly associated with some things I was not aware my intestines could do.
Ok not cute. Back to cuteness. Look, we landed at Haneda Airport in Tokyo and look what greeted us:
There are cute statues everywhere:
Cute dog and cat cafes. I mean, dog or cat cafes. Both together, maybe, not so cute unless you like fighting and fur flying.
This is Peach:
Even restaurant magnates love the cute:
Ok, actually this is actually about Sakura. I will get to that.
So, I’m pooped. Going to go cuddle with this:
This is my Josie. So Kawaii!!
thisdoesnotsuck 