Tokyo Farmer's Markets: Sunday, June 16th

Mushroom logs at a farmer's market in Matsumoto.

Today's simply rocking with markets all over the city. I'm always a bit hard-pressed on this middle weekend to decide which one to visit. The Earth Day Market is my reliable source for everything from rice to vegetables to tea to fruit for jam and marmalade. The Ebisu Market is where I find new things to try and visit with growers from Okutama in Tokyo's western regions. Nippori is where I find killer manju, awesome farmers from Aizu Wakamatsu, and always something new to try. The UNU Market and Yurakacho are regular markets where I always meet fun new people with good stories to tell. How to choose?

Ebisu Market

Sunday, June 16th

11am to 5pm

A nice sized market held on the terrace just in front of Ebisu Garden Place that will always be special to me for introducing me to dried natto and tea seedpods.

Map

Earth Day Market

Sunday, June 16th

I could go wax on forever about how great this market is and how important it is for the future of Japanese farming. Instead, I'll just insist that folks go and see for themselves what great things the market and these innovative growers are doing.

10am to 4pm, Rain or shine!

Map

Nippori Farmer's Market

Saturday, June 15th and Sunday, June 16th

10am to 5pm

Another great market in the city found with a little help from friends, this one is sure to not disappoint. My first visit was wonderful despite cold temperatures and a smattering of rain. Plus, Tohoku growers are on hand sharing their best-of-the-best, so come on out to be part of the recovery and get something good to eat.

No map, but just head out the east exit and look for the green awnings!

UN University Market

Every Saturday and Sunday

A massive weekend affair that is great fun and features a variety of fruits and vegetables and prepared products from all over Japan. Plus, there's a most excellent selection of food trucks offering everything from salad to zingy curry to roast chicken to falafel!

10am to 4pm

Map

Yurakucho Farmer's Market

Every Saturday and Sunday

Smaller than the UNU Market, Yurakacho features a particular region of Japan each week along with an excellent selection of seasonal fruit and vegetables. Growers from nearby Chiba, Kamakura, and Saitama are also on hand to help fill the larder.

11am to 5pm

Directions: Turn left out of Yurakacho station and cross the courtyard toward Tokyo Kouku Keitan. Look for the fun under the overhang!

Know of a market? Give me a shout and we'll add it to the list!

Tokyo Farmer's Markets: Saturday, June 15th

Seedlings galore at a Matsumoto farmer's market.

Wet, wet, wet. Gray and gray. My umbrella is my new best friend, but I can't say I'm really complaining. It is amazing to see how happy everything is at the farm. The vegetables suddenly seem stronger, taller, greener. As is usual for this time of year they look as though they have something to say. And I might not like it, especially as I approach to harvest. (My imagination is going a bit wild this morning.) I digress. That does mean that tables at markets will begin to groan with the weight of the season. Don't be shy about getting a little damp and heading off to the market!

Nippori Farmer's Market

Saturday, June 15th and Sunday, June 16th

10am to 5pm

Another great market in the city found with a little help from friends, this one is sure to not disappoint. My first visit was wonderful despite cold temperatures and a smattering of rain. Plus, Tohoku growers are on hand sharing their best-of-the-best, so come on out to be part of the recovery and get something good to eat.

No map, but just head out the east exit and look for the green awnings!

Koenji Farmer's Market

Saturday, June 15th

A new market I spotted while riding the train on a Saturday morning into the city center. That circle of red awnings in front of the Za-Koenji Public Theatre could only mean one thing! Sure enough, I found a small group of area growers and producers, and the bounty surely continues!

11am - 5pm

Map

UN University Night Market

Saturday, June 15th

A unique event in the heart of the city that a vegetable loving geek like me wouldn't miss for the world. What better way to get the healthy vitamins and minerals you need to sustain an evening of karaoke and izakaya hopping?

5pm - 8pm

UN University Market

Every Saturday and Sunday

A massive weekend affair that is great fun and features a variety of fruits and vegetables and prepared products from all over Japan. Plus, there's a most excellent selection of food trucks offering everything from salad to zingy curry to roast chicken to falafel!

10am to 4pm

Map

Roppongi Market

Every Saturday

A first visit to this market was well worth the trek for the number of organic growers and getting to meet a Tokyo farmer from just down the tracks in Kokobunji!

10am to 2pm

Map

Yurakucho Farmer's Market

Every Saturday and Sunday

Smaller than the UNU Market, Yurakacho features a particular region of Japan each week along with an excellent selection of seasonal fruit and vegetables. Growers from nearby Chiba, Kamakura, and Saitama are also on hand to help fill the larder.

11am to 5pm

Directions: Turn left out of Yurakacho station and cross the courtyard toward Tokyo Kouku Keitan. Look for the fun under the overhang!

Know of a market? Give me a shout and we'll add it to the list!

Tokyo Farmers Markets: Saturday, June 15th and Sunday, June 16th

Just one of the wonderful booths at the UNU Farmers Market!

Oh, indeed the rainy season seems to finally be living up to the wetter part of its name. And in due time, too. Later spring and summer crops surely are soaking up every blessed drop of water. I'll not complain about wet shoes and dripping umbrellas on the train to ensure a sweet bite of corn or watermelon later on. Not too mention it might just get me another beet or two, too! So don a raincoat, grab an umbrella or just pack a waterproof bag and head on out to one of this weekend's fine, fine selection of farmer's markets!

Ebisu Market

Sunday, June 16th

11am to 5pm

A nice sized market held on the terrace just in front of Ebisu Garden Place that will always be special to me for introducing me to dried natto and tea seedpods.

Map

Earth Day Market

Sunday, June 16th

I could go wax on forever about how great this market is and how important it is for the future of Japanese farming. Instead, I'll just insist that folks go and see for themselves what great things the market and these innovative growers are doing.

10am to 4pm, Rain or shine!

Map

Nippori Farmer's Market
Saturday, June 15th and Sunday, June 16th
10am to 5pm
Another great market in the city found with a little help from friends, this one is sure to not disappoint. My first visit was wonderful despite cold temperatures and a smattering of rain. Plus, Tohoku growers are on hand sharing their best-of-the-best, so come on out to be part of the recovery and get something good to eat.
No map, but just head out the east exit and look for the green awnings!

Koenji Farmer's Market
Saturday, June 15th
A new market I spotted while riding the train on a Saturday morning into the city center. That circle of red awnings in front of the Za-Koenji Public Theatre could only mean one thing! Sure enough, I found a small group of area growers and producers, and the bounty surely continues!
11am - 5pm
Map

UN University Night Market

Saturday, June 15th

A unique event in the heart of the city that a vegetable loving geek like me wouldn't miss for the world. What better way to get the healthy vitamins and minerals you need to sustain an evening of karaoke and izakaya hopping?

5pm - 8pm

UN University Market

Every Saturday and Sunday

A massive weekend affair that is great fun and features a variety of fruits and vegetables and prepared products from all over Japan. Plus, there's a most excellent selection of food trucks offering everything from salad to zingy curry to roast chicken to falafel!

10am to 4pm

Map

Roppongi Market

Every Saturday

A first visit to this market was well worth the trek for the number of organic growers and getting to meet a Tokyo farmer from just down the tracks in Kokobunji!

10am to 2pm

Map

Yurakucho Farmer's Market
Every Saturday and Sunday
Smaller than the UNU Market, Yurakacho features a particular region of Japan each week along with an excellent selection of seasonal fruit and vegetables. Growers from nearby Chiba, Kamakura, and Saitama are also on hand to help fill the larder.
11am to 5pm
Directions: Turn left out of Yurakacho station and cross the courtyard toward Tokyo Kouku Keitan. Look for the fun under the overhang!

Know of a market? Give me a shout and we'll add it to the list!

Thursday Snapshot: Fish-shaped Soy Sauce Container

Bento soy sauce container.
Nara Prefecture, Japan

We spent part of a recent vacation visiting and helping out on a natural farm in Nara Prefecture. Kazuto and Erina Hamma of Hamma Farm were glorious hosts and teachers who we now think of as friends. I learned a great deal while weeding with them both, which left plenty of time for talking. They graciously and patiently answered the questions I incessantly peppered them with, including why fish-shaped bento soy sauce containers kept appearing under the tea bushes. It turns out that the organic farmer who worked the fields before them used the namagomi (raw garbage or compost)  to fertilize the fields. A few of these little guys made it through the sorting process.

Tsukiji Outer Market Tour with Yukari Sakamoto Article at JapanTourist

One of the many shops visited during the tour of Tsukiji's Outer Market.

Way back in the wilds of March, I took a much-longed for tour of Tsukiji. Yukari Sakamoto, chef and author of the book and website Food, Sake, Tokyo, guided a small group of us around the bustling outer market of one of Tokyo's most famous institutions. Words like delightful, engaging, fascinating, fun, delicious, surprising, and eye-opening all spring to mind as I recall this tour. I'd go again in a heartbeat, especially with Yukari as my guide.

Read my full review of it at JapanTourist, then go sign up for one.

Umeya: From the office to the field

Satoshi Umezawa and my beloved beets at the UNU Farmer's Market.

Most weekends I go to a farmers market. Whether I'm in Tokyo, Madison, Hida Takayama, or Hamamatsu, I venture out in search of local food grown by local farmers. So far, I've been lucky enough to find one everywhere I go. It's been simply amazing.

But that amazingness doesn't always translate into motivation. Sometimes, like yesterday, I just want to stay home and make jam and read. However, I was on my way. No whining. At least, not out loud. I adjusted my hat and trudged up the hill from Shibuya Station to the UNU Farmers Market.

Of course, it was amazing.

On my first traverse around the market stalls I spotted beets. In Japan, beets are remarkable. I rarely see them except in my own garden or dreams that result in my pillow being covered in drool. (A little gross, but I do love those little purple earthy gems.) I stopped on my second tour, the buying leg, to talk to the vendor and buy the last Detroit Dark Red and a Chioggia.

Satoshi Umezawa was nearly as enthusiastic about those beets as I was, and that's really saying something. He readily answered questions about where they were from (Kanagawa Prefecture) and when they were planted (March). We commiserated over the challenges of growing them here in Japan (early springs and super hot summers) but extolled the virtues of their greens (delicious and healthy).

Umezawa also immediately started giving me advice on preparing them. "Roasted is best," he said, but quickly offered a simple stove-top recipe when he found I didn't have an oven. "Saute them in a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt," he said. "It's wonderful." In turn, I offered my beet caviar recipe and he sounded intrigued. "Ehhhh," he said leaning back a little as he gave the standard Japanese sound for something new and interesting. We agreed the color would be excellent. (It is.)

It turns out that Umezawa is not a grower but instead represents about 15 growers from Kanagawa. When his job ended in November of last year he turned his mind to something new. Seeing all the farmers in his prefecture growing so much good food but struggling to find an outlet, he discussed the idea of bringing their produce to the Tokyo market for them. The farmers, ranging from young to old, agreed to try it.

Umeya opened at the UNU Farmers Market shortly thereafter and he's been coming every weekend ever since. Yesterday his booth was full of lovely vegetables - bright green cucumbers in a tub of cold water, Swiss Chard's jeweled stems and fat leaves, my beloved beets, lovely lettuces, carrots, ume, zucchini, two kinds of potatoes, negi (long onions), and even a few pale blue iris. Just like traditional yaoya (vegetable sellers) he offered a nice selection of everything one might need to make dinner.

I loaded up on beets, asparagus, and zucchini before leaving. It's not unusual to find a representative selling for farmers, especially at this market, but what I really liked about Umezawa was that he really knew his stuff. He spoke like a farmer because he spends time talking with the growers, working with them in the fields, visiting their farms. The produce is local, reasonably priced, seasonal, and delicious. I wasn't tired any more.

Fallen

Taken during a hike last year near Komatsu. 

Following is a complete departure from what I usually write here. I never, ever write fiction. I dream about it, but it's not something I think is really for me. I'm not the kind of person who walks around with stories in her head that need to be told. I'm the kind of person that walks around looking at people and thinking their story needs to be told, which is slightly different.

And this is different again. I heard about this FlashMob thing, read the posting, and then didn't think about it again. I have lots of friends who do this, but not me. (See above.) Then on my run this morning this story popped into my head. I muttered it to myself while I sprinted (a relative terms) most of the way home so I could write it down. My new mantra is always carry a notebook and pen. You just never know.

Tomorrow, back to the usual stuff.
-Joan

Fallen
This was probably bad. How long had she been lying here? She could feel the grass under her. Usually she only spread her toes on it, but never had she been supine. She'd imagined it, of course, but never had the chance. "Lucky me," she thought.

She didn't need to open her eyes to know the last storm clouds scudded away chased by sun and a now friendly breeze. She could feel it on her skin, hear the softer wind in the nearby trees.

She remembered a crack, a gust of wind unlike any she'd felt before. The driving, driving rain. The tire swing a pendulum gone mad. She hated storms. Always had. As a child she'd dreaded the gray that turned to slate, tumbled and roiled. Sometimes it went green, nothing like the shimmery leaves of a nearby poplar. She watched big trees bend and toss with bravado. She tried thinking of wind and rain as friends, character builders that watered the earth, pollinated flowers, blah, blah. Fifty-eight years later she still hated them.

Tentatively, she felt along her limbs. Some pain, a twist. The greater pain seemed to be in her middle. "It's internal," she thought.

She could hear sounds from the house. She recalled seeing all the lights go out at once. Flash. Crack. Black.

"OK, open your eyes," she said. "You've got to know." Lids crusty with dried rain, dirt and a few bugs lifted. There, above her, against the blue sky, stood her other half. A long rip down the center matching her pain. The white and gold wood catching the light. "Beautiful," she thought as she heard the slam of the back door, a squirrel leaping among her branches up there.