Japan Culture Navi 日本語

Saturday, October 17 (archive)

Today in Japan

Watercolor of a bowl of Okinawa soba, drinking water flowing from a tap, and costumed warriors accompanying a portable shrine on an autumn shrine approach in Nikko

What day is it?

  1. 1887年Japan's first modern water system starts in Yokohama日本初の近代水道が横浜で給水開始

    On this day in 1887, Yokohama started Japan's first modern water supply. It was planned with the help of a British engineer, Henry Spencer Palmer. River water was filtered and sent through iron pipes under pressure, the same basic system we use today. Yokohama's water bureau still marks the day every year.

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  2. 1997年制定Okinawa Soba Day沖縄そばの日

    Okinawa soba is made from wheat flour, not buckwheat. Under Japan's labeling rules, noodles called soba need at least 30 percent buckwheat, so in the 1970s the name itself was in trouble. On October 17th, 1978, the name "Honba Okinawa Soba" was officially approved, and the local noodle makers' cooperative made this day Okinawa Soba Day in 1997.

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  3. Samurai procession at Nikko Toshogu's autumn festival日光東照宮 秋季大祭の武者行列

    Nikko Toshogu, the shrine where Tokugawa Ieyasu is honored as a god, holds its autumn festival on October 17th. The highlight is the Hyakumono-zoroe Sennin Musha Gyoretsu, or "thousand-warrior procession," in which people dressed as samurai walk with the portable shrine. The shrine holds the same parade in spring, on May 18th. Horseback archery is held the day before.

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If someone asks you

Q

If Okinawa soba has no buckwheat in it, why is it called soba?

A

In Okinawa, people have long called these wheat noodles soba, so the name stuck. Under national labeling rules, soba is supposed to have at least 30 percent buckwheat, so the name was almost banned in the 1970s. Local noodle makers pushed back, and in 1978 "Honba Okinawa Soba" was approved as a special regional name. So it's soba by name, not by ingredient.

In season Returning bonito 戻り鰹 Katsuo, or skipjack tuna, swims north along Japan's Pacific coast in spring and comes back south in fall. The spring fish, called hatsugatsuo, is lean and light. The fall fish, modorigatsuo, has more fat and a richer taste. A popular way to eat it is tataki, seared on the outside and raw inside, with garlic, ginger and green onions. Micro-season 50 of 72 菊花開きくのはなひらく Chrysanthemums Bloom Chrysanthemums bloom. The flower is the crest of the imperial family and appears on Japanese passports, but it is also the ordinary flower for graves.

Phrase of the day

You can drink the tap water here.

Sentence of the day

On this day in 1887, Japan's first modern water supply started in Yokohama. It's also Okinawa Soba Day, for a noodle that's called soba even though it's made from wheat.

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Sources

Earlier days