Puccho

Puccho (ぷっちょ) is a Japanese candy made by the Japanese company UHA Mikakuto. Puccho is one of my favourite Japanese candy due to its unique texture and chewy nature. There are several types of Puccho which include Juushi, Shuwa, and World. There are many different flavours of Puccho including strawberry, cola, grape, orange, lemon, yoghurt, cream soda, blueberry, cherry, peach, mango, melon soda and pineapple. There are also flavours that are unique to certain regions in Japan and these usually make great souvenirs.


Today’s Japanese Snack is about Strawberry Puccho, which is my favourite flavour. Strawberry is one of the Juushi types of Puccho and contains little gummi puccho balls within the candy. This makes the candy more chewy than the rest and gives it its wonderful consistency and texture.

Here is what the Strawberry Puccho packet looks like

Here is what the Strawberry Puccho candy looks like

Reasons to Visit Japan

Japan is a must see destination for the traveler that is rich in unique traditional culture and historical ambience. The following are some of my favourite reasons for visiting Japan.



Natural Beauty

 Japan is made up mostly of mountains and is surrounded by the sea. This spectacular landscape offers a bevy of dramatic views overlooking lush mountains, valleys, seascapes, waterfalls, autumn foliage and white powder snow just to mention a few.

Cherry Blossoms

Cultural Heritage

Japan is a country where the past meets the future. Japan has a traditional culture that stretches back millennia, and is a country of contrasts with beautiful temples and gardens along with ultra modern and high tech cities.

Kinkaku-ji Kyoto

Culinary Excellence

Japanese cuisine is renowned for its emphasis on fresh, seasonal ingredients. Japanese cuisine is a kaleidoscope of diversity ranging from well known sushi, tempura and ramen noodles to the full course dinners called kaiseki. Travelling within Japan will lead you to discover the local specialities of each region.

Kaiseki meal

Cool Japan

Japan is the land of high tech x culture x art, the birth place of exciting unique technologies, street fashion and sub-cultures rich in vitality. Japan is home to anime, manga and video games. Japan has a fascinating harmony between the old and the new.

Facial recognition vending machines

Adventure

Experience some of the finest powder snow and ski resorts in the world in Hokkaido, Nagano and Niigata. Summer is the time for rafting, canoeing and trekking in the Japan Alps, or just dancing with the locals at festivals around Japan.

Skiing in Hokkaido

These are just a few of things that keep me coming back to Japan for more.

There are many more reasons out there for visiting Japan, so why don’t you tell us yours.

This is my Submission for the September 2011 Japan Blog Matsuri

Song of the Week MIN MIN MIN by SDN48

This week’s Song of the Week is MIN MIN MIN by SDN48 which has debuted at number 3 on the Japanese Jpop Oricon chart.

SDN48 which is short for Saturday Night 48 is a Japanese idol girl group created and produced by Yasushi Akimoto. SDN48 was created based on an “adult idol” concept and includes former AKB48 member Koyo Noro as captain. SDN48 made their major label debut in November 2010 and MIN MIN MIN is their 3rd single.




SDN48 Official Website

Watch the music video for the single MIN MIN MIN by SDN48

Rikugien Garden Tokyo

Rikugien Garden (六義園) is one of Tokyo’s most beautiful and a rare place in Tokyo where you can escape one of the loudest cities in the world. By some measurements, Tokyo is the largest urban area on Earth but in the middle of it is a garden modelled on poetic principles – the words and images of 17th century haiku master, Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu. Inside the garden, a Zen calm prevails in the shadow of neon signs and skyscrapers.


Rikugien Garden was built around 1700 with Rikugien literally meaning “six poems garden". It is a very spacious garden with a central pond, islands, forested areas, man-made hills and several teahouses. It will take you about an hour to cover the garden’s walking paths at a leisurely pace.

It is about a 10 minute walk from Sengoku subway station (Mita Line) to the garden.

The garden is opened from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm with admission of 300 yen.

Photo Rikugien Garden by Mrmya

The Highlights of Tokyo

The Secrets Of Speaking Japanese Fluently

Fran Japanese Biscuit Stick

Fran is Meiji’s version of the popular Japanese biscuit stick Pocky by Glico. You can read about Pocky here Most people know about Pocky and it has fans all over the world but few people know about the equally delicious Fran. Fran and Pocky are very similar but in many areas I probably prefer Fran over Pocky as I will explain below.

This is the Original Chocolate flavor Fran. It is a chocolate biscuit stick covered in a smooth chocolate mousse. As you can see from the images the chocolate coating is a lot thicker than the regular Pocky and the biscuit stick is much thicker than the original Pocky. The taste of Fran is a lot smoother and richer. I prefer the original chocolate Fran to the regular Pocky due to this and it is more suited to the adult palate than the regular Pocky.


Fran has a great taste and is a must try for anyone who loves great chocolate.

This is what Fran looks like - very similar to Pocky

You can see the thick chocolate mousse coating and biscuit stick

Song of the Week Everybody Go by Kis-My-Ft2

This week’s number one single on the Japanese Jpop Oricon charts is Everybody Go by Kis-My-Ft2.

Kis-My-Ft2 is a Japanese boy band formally by Johnny & Associates (Johnny's). The group officially announced their CD debut on February 12, 2011, but this was postponed due to the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.

This is Kis-My-Ft2’s debut single and is also the theme song to Ikemen desu ne (You’re Beautiful).


Kis-My-Ft2 Official Website

Here is a performance of the single Everybody Go by Kis-My-Ft2 on Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ

Skiing in Hokkaido Japan

Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido offers some of the country’s best snow and has been unaffected by the recent earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan.

Hokkaido’s winter season is November to early April with some ski resorts still having snow until early May. Sapporo is the cosmopolitan main city on Hokkaido, but does not get a lot of snow until early December. The best places are ski resorts like Niseko, Furano, Rusutsu and Kiroro.


Niseko has three resorts which are Grand Hirafu, Niseko village and Annupuri that offer fantastic powder snow, outdoor hot springs (rotenburo) and great night life. In Niseko you can ski on four mountains with just the one pass.

Furano has tree-lined runs, light dry snow and a friendly atmosphere.

Rusutsu is an all in one resort with various activities for families.

Kiroro is the closet resort to Sapporo and has a family focus.

Whatever it is you are after, you can find it on Hokkaido.

The Secrets Of Speaking Japanese Fluently

Nissan Leaf

Have you heard about the Nissan Leaf? The Nissan Leaf is Nissan’s electric car and was unveiled on August 2, 2009. The Leaf went on sale in Japan and the US in late 2010 and will make its debut across global markets from 2012. The great thing about the Leaf is it does not emit any CO2 when driven and doesn’t even have a tail pipe.

The Leaf also comes in handy in other areas. The electric car can also feed power from its battery back into a family home and run appliances for up to 2 days. Using the “Leaf to Home” system, the lithium-ion batteries of the car’s zero exhaust emission can be used as an emergency power backup. Great for any emergencies that pop up and that sudden loss of power. The system works by linking the car to the house’s electricity distribution panel. Power can also be fed the other way if the house generates its own electricity with rooftop solar. The Leaf batteries have a capacity of 24 kilowatt hours when fully charged, enough for two days for the average household.

Amazing stuff and Only in Japan

Read more about the Nissan Leaf at the Nissan Website

Find Out How To Import Cars From Japan and Save $$$$$$$!

Song of the Week Pareo wa Emerald by SKE48

This week’s number one single on the Japanese Jpop Oricon charts is Pareo wa Emerald by SKE48. SKE48 are an all-female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. They debuted in October 2008 and perform in the newly built studio at Sunshine Sakae in Nagoya every Saturday.


SKE48 Official Website

Watch the video for the single Pareo wa Emerald by SKE48

Easy to Cook Japanese Recipe Gyoza (Japanese Dumplings)

Gyoza or Japanese Dumplings are originally from China but have become very popular in Japan. This is a great easy recipe for Gyoza.

Makes 10

Dipping Sauce
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp chili oil

Ingredients for Dumpling
• 60g minced pork or king prawns
• ¼ tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 Chinese cabbage leaf, chopped
• 5 stems Chinese garlic chives (nira), chopped
• a pinch of salt

• 10 round gyoza wrappers or gow gee wrappers
• vegetable oil for frying
• ¼ cup water

Method

1. Prepare the dipping sauce by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Place all the dumpling ingredients together in a bowl and combine well.
3. Place a wrapper on a plate or board and, using one finger, wet round the edges.
4. Put 1 tablespoon of filling on the center of the wrapper.
5. Fold the wrapper over the filling, seal the edges together by pressing and making small pleats.
6. Repeat with remaining wrappers.
7. Heat a non-stick frying pan and add a little oil, swirling around the pan.
8. Lay a few gyoza side by side in one or two rows in the pan, and cook on one side until golden brown. Then using a spatula turn over one row all at once. Add water and put a lid on to steam.
9. Steam for a couple of minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
10. Serve hot with dipping sauce.

Note:
• You can buy already prepared gyoza dipping sauce at most Asian Supermarkets.

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Strawberry Pocky

Pocky is a Japanese biscuit stick coated in chocolate. There are many different flavours of Pocky in Japan including Strawberry Pocky which made its debut in 1977. This is my favourite Strawberry Pocky and is called tsubu tsubu strawberry. It is strawberry flavoured chocolate with pieces of dried strawberry. It has a light sweet taste and is very addictive. I enjoy the sweat taste of the strawberry sometimes as opposed to some of the more bitter chocolate varieties.

Tsubu Tsubu Strawberry Pocky

This is what it looks like. You can see the pieces of dried stawberry.