Japan was hit by a massive earthquake yesterday measuring 8.9, which is the strongest earthquake ever recorded in Japan, and the seventh biggest in history. The earthquake hit close to the NorthEastern city of Sendai in Japan and unleashed a monster tsunami that slammed into coastal towns and cities. Estimates put the tsunami at 10m high, and it sent shipping containers, cars and debris crashing through the streets and across open farmland destroying everything in its path. The wave set off tsunami alerts across the Pacific, as far away as Chile in South America, New Zealand and the US West Coast.
The quake hit Japan at 2.46pm and lasted about two minutes. It rattled buildings in Tokyo and was felt as far away as Beijing, China. There was major disruption to air travel and bullet train services causing chaos in major cities.
The earthquake has claimed hundreds of lives, and it is feared that more than 1000 people are most likely dead. A nuclear reactor in Fukushima prefecture is malfunctioning causing radiation levels 1000 times above normal. More than 8 million homes lost power, mobile and landline phone systems broke down and gas was cut to more than 300,000 homes.
I am glad to say that I am currently safe in Australia, but the images of destruction and flooding are heartbreaking. I hope all my friends and family in Japan are safe and look forward to talking to you soon.
Here is some video footage of the devestation caused by the tsunami
It is a week late but last Friday was my birthday.
Happy Birthday to Me!!
It seems that there are an aweful lot of birthdays around this time of year (late Feb early March). Must have something to do with the time of year here in Australia.
To celebrate we had a lovely Black Forrest Cake. This has to be my all time favourite cake with several layers of chocolate cake, whipped cream and cherries between each layer. The cake is then decorated with additional whipped cream, cherries and chocolate shavings. It is not only a feast for the eyes, but a taste sensation. Check out the pcitures below.
The cake before being demolished by hungry people
Four candles looks like I am turning four, but I can assure you I am much older
A work of art with all the different layers and chocolate shavings and cherry on top
This month`s Easy to Cook Japanese Recipe is Sukiyaki.
This is a world famous Japanese dish, but in Japan there are quite a few varieties based on regional differences. Cooking is always done at the table for this dish in Japan, and it is a great Party favourite.
Sukiyaki is usually served with steamed rice as an accompaniment.
Serves 4
Sukiyaki Sauce
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 3 tbsp mirin
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 500g dashi
Ingredients
• 600g Scotch filet or sirloin steak, finely sliced
• 1 packet momen (firm tofu), cut into small cubes
• 8 shitake mushrooms
• 4 spring onions
• ¼ Chinese cabbage
• 1 packet udon noodles, cooked and drained
• 4 eggs
• vegetable oil
Method
1. Prepare meat, vegetable and noodles and place on a large plate.
2. Break eggs into individual bowls and lightly beat.
3. Make the Sukiyaki Sauce by combining all the ingredients.
4. Oil the pan and start cooking by sautéing the spring onion, add some of the beef, followed by small portions of the other ingredients and the sukiyaki sauce, a little at a time. Make space for further ingredients by pushing the cooked ones to one side.
5. As the food cooks, guests can serve themselves by dipping the hot food into the beaten raw egg and eating with a bowl of rice.
Note:
• Other ingredients can also be added to the dish such as enoki or shimeji mushrooms.
World Expo 2005 was a specialized international exhibition held in Aichi Prefecture, Japan from March 25 to September 25, 2005.
The theme of the Expo was “Nature’s Wisdom”, with national and corporate pavilions expressing themes of ecological co-existence, renewable technology, and the wonders of nature. The pavilions were built out of recycled or recyclable materials to minimise the environmental impact on the site.
The key attractions for the Expo were “Satsuki and Mei’s House”, a recreation of the house from Hayao Miyasaki’s famous movie My Neighbor Totoro. ASIMO, Honda’s humanoid robot, The Toyota Partner Robots, and the Growing Village Pavillion, which featured a variety of tree shaping art work.
February 2011 was another big month for Japan Australia Blog. We seem to be saying that every month but again we have had a lot of new visitors and welcome people to keep enjoy the posts.
The following were the most popular blog posts for February 2011
In this first of a series of posts about Japanese Snacks, I am going to start with the popular snack Kinoko no Yama which translates literally as “mushroom mountain”. Kinoko no Yama is a Japanese snack from the Japanese company Meiji. It is a biscuit shaped like a mushroom with a chocolate top. It is very cute and trust me very tasty.
