Happy Yule from Japan!! There was no snow in Karatsu on Christmas, but we did eat a meal of tofu in all of its various and glorious forms at a specialty restaurant run by the famous artisinal chef, Kawashima.
On the 23rd of December we met up with Yuki, a friend we made through The New Yorker. We hung out in Fukuoka, the capital of the southern Japanese island of Kyushu before taking the local train along the northern coast of the island to Karatsu. For dinner we met up with Yuki's parents at a ryokan--a traditional Japanese inn. From the sliding bamboo and rice paper doors to the slippers, private room and beautiful rock garden, it was everything that epitomizes the Japanese aesthetic.
The next day Yuki took us on a fabulous tour of her favorite spots in her hometown. We went out to a local bakery, a museum housing 180-year-old paper laquer floats, a beautiful wooden cafe, a mountain view over the city, and a local potter's studio. For Christmas Eve dinner Yuki's parents invited us to have dinner at their 100-year-old wooden house. We were so honored. We made maki rolls, drank saki and had a macha--green tea--ceremony.
Christmas morning Yuki took us to the tofu restaurant, after which we took the bullet train to Tokyo. For dinner that night Stephen and I braved the cold and headed out to a Yakatori. (In Japan it seems that every restaurant has a specialty with a specific name to characterize that. A Yakatori focuses on grilled chicken--gourmet grilled chicken where you can sample throat, heart, neck and breast.
We even thanked our lucky stars when, on our last day in Japan when we woke up to a dusty white Kyoto. It snowed! We made a side track to the river on our way to the train station, the wet flakes gathering on our eyelashes and gloves.
