To Love, To Live Japan
Erich Makarov (Staten Island Technical High School)
I had never been enchanted with a culture before. That is, until I stumbled upon a simple, yet
absolutely beautiful, piece of music. The piece was Koto Funk by Minoru Muraoka. Utilizing almost every
traditional Japanese instrument, the Shakuhachi master created more than a euphonic beat: he captured my
heart. I listened to the vast array of sounds, the combinations of low and high, new and old, soft and
booming, surrounded by an aura of complete tranquility, enveloped in emotions and desires I could not yet
comprehend. This was my first touch of Japan.

With every new piece of Japanese music I listened to, no consumed, my desire to uncover the full
culture that lay behind these masterpieces became ever keener. Beginning with Japan’s history, I learned of
the great wars which engulfed the three islands, and the intermittent peace which fathered the beauty I was
falling in love with. I studied in great detail the wars of the Taira and Minamoto clans, the cunning and
brilliance of Oda Nobunaga, and the betrayal and insatiable desire of Ieyasu Tokugawa. I delved in delicate
poetry and yamato-e drawings of the peaceful Fujiwara period, the ukiyo (floating worlds) of the Edo
period, the westernization of Japan after the Meiji Restoration, and the revival of the 1960s that only a
people as industrious and dedicated as the Japanese could ever bring about. Nothing was quite as dramatic,
suspenseful, and motivational as the history of such a small group of islands off the coast of Asia. I was
intrigued, I wanted to know everything.

I gazed at a paper filled with hundreds of characters. By now I had learned the hiragana and katakana
systems of writing, but before me lay the greatest obstacle: kanji. I knew very well that this was not an easy
journey, but language was my bridge to the unobstructed beauty of Japan. I needed to cross it as quickly as
I could to enjoy the treasures that waited me on the other side. Many nights, I ploughed through the rows
and columns of characters, connecting images with words, sharpening my pronunciation, and practicing the
subtle strokes which produced these miniscule symbols – symbols which alone radiated with history and
aestheticism. To continue with such a difficult endeavor, I needed motivation, and what better motivation is
there than food.

“Kyō wa niwatori no kara age o junbi shimasu” (today we will be preparing chicken karaage) said
the grinning lady on my computer screen. My hands were washed, the chicken lay in front of me, and the
other ingredients were neatly positioned around the table. I was ready.

One hour later.

Flour was everywhere, speckles of oil covered the stove, all the plates were smothered in soy sauce,
but my prize was radiating in the pan. There they were, golden brown, sizzling in the heat, twenty pieces of
delicious chicken karaage. I stood smiling at my creation, until my mother came down and saw the
condition I left the kitchen in. True, it looked like a tornado had just passed, but I couldn’t care less. I had
done it: I made my first Japanese meal. That was only the beginning. In the next months I created a vast
array of Japanese dishes. I did not cook simply for the enjoyment of the meal. No, cooking was something
else: it was a way to discover Japan that no other medium could provide. Aromas, precise hand motions, the
calming music of the shakuhachi playing in the background – united, these factors brought a culture to life.

I was no longer studying the history, or observing the customs, I was living them.

As I sit today, writing this essay on a cold, rainy December morning, I cannot help but picture the
people of Tokyo gathered in the night, celebrating the Chichibu festival. How I would love to see those
magnificent fireworks, and the splendid Chichibu floats, decorated in shining lanterns. How I would love to
transport to Sekigahara, and witness one of the greatest battles in the history of the world. What I would do
to see the hills dotted with the rosy blossoms of the sakura. What I would give to meet the hundreds of
valorous men who built the nation of Japan, who created this unique world. People tell me I cannot do it,
but they are wrong. I can do it. I do it every day. Even as I am telling you of my dreams, I am living them.

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The Training of a Professional
Anju Okamura (Elwood John Glenn High School)
In America, there are variety of types of restaurants you can go to for food. There is Italian, Chinese,
Mexican, Korean, American, and Japanese restaurants spread all over. Now, you can have food from a
different country right in your own town without traveling on a airplane to go to the country but sometimes
at the restaurant you are eating at, the chef cooking for you may not originate from the country of the
restaurant. For example many Japanese restaurants on Long Island have a Korean or Chinese chef. The
training they have experienced in America is very different from how a Japanese chef in Japan would train.

My father owns a Japanese restaurant here on Long Island and the way he trained is very distant from the
training of someone outside of Japan.

My father was born in Japan and his bloodline is all Japanese. He started studying to be a sushi chef
when he was only 15 years old and did not attend school during his training because in Japan, when you
enter high school, you are not made to go. He was very determined to be a chef. During the first three years
of training, he was only permitted to make deliveries and clean around the restaurant. He was not allowed
to be in contact with any ingredients including fish. In the morning, around five A.M., he would visit the
fish market with his mentor and examine the fish that was taken out of the ocean that morning. My father
would study the fish and determine which of the fish would have the best taste and freshness. After these
three years of just cleaning and studying without touching, he was finally allowed to make the rice and
prepare small fish and clams. In Japanese the meaning of sushi is vinegary rice. This is the correct type of
rice made for sushi. The mentors of sushi in Japan would not teach their apprentices how to make sushi.

The apprentices would have to steal the mentor’s techniques by watching them carefully. My father was
able to steal his mentor’s way of making sushi rice and made it. After another two years of this, his mentor
finally allowed him to make sushi rolls. Many people may think making sushi rolls is easy but really it is
not because you need to know the correct amount of rice and how to cut the ingredients that goes into the
rolls. My father was able to quickly move on the make “nigiri” sushi which is the sushi with the fish on top
of the rice. In the beginning of his overall trainings, there were six others going in to training. Throughout
the training, many left because of the hard, long training that continued for over 7 years. In the end, my
father was the only chef that stayed for his full training.

In contrast to the Japanese training, in America, many of the people who learn to become sushi chefs,
come in contact with fish on their first week. Their training is only about 2 years at the most and they are
allowed to stand in the sushi bar on their first week of training. Chefs in Japan are able to tell the difference
between fresh fish and old fish and are able to estimate the price of a fish just by looking at it. In America,
the apprentices are taught how to make sushi by their mentors instead of them stealing the techniques by
watching their mentors carefully. Learning how to cut fish is very difficult because with a wrong way of
cutting, the flavor of the fish is not able to come out at its fullest and the taste will be affected. The way of
cutting also affects the texture of the fish which is very important when eating sushi. Many Japanese
restaurants in America adjust to American customers by making rolls such as crunchy spicy tuna rolls or a
Philadelphia roll which do not exist in Japan. Many of the rolls at Japanese restaurants in America were
invented here because they do not include fish so people who do not like fish are able to have sushi too.

There are many differences in the Japanese and American sushi restaurants and their chefs. This is the
reason why restaurants in places outside of their original country have different dishes than they would
have in the original country. Professional chefs of Japan are able to do a variety of things.

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