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      • Spring in a Bowl
        04/30/08
        I made negitoro don for dinner the other night. Negitoro don is a donburi, meaning a rice bowl. It's made by topping the rice with julienned omelet, chopped raw tuna, sliced green onions, and strips of nori.



        It's not a spring specialty per se, but the colors are ve

      • Sakura on the Temple Grounds
        04/29/08
        Sakura trees blooming amidst a grove of evergreen trees on the Chusonji temple grounds in Hiraizumi.

      • Blossoms in the City
        04/23/08
        Sakura blossoms at the entrance to the Kitakami Poem Park, located in the middle of Kitakami City.

      • Tunnel Vision
        04/21/08
        Looking down the sakura road in Tenshochi.

      • Nothing but Love
        04/20/08
        In 1974, Kitakami and Concord, California became sister cities. Here in Kitakami, the relationship is commemorated in a small section of the Kitakami Poem Park.



      • Pink on Pink
        04/19/08
        Contrasting colors on neighboring sakura trees in Tenshochi.

      • Cherry Blossom Time
        04/18/08
        The sakura trees are blooming everywhere in Kitakami. These trees are in Tenshochi, the park that runs alongside the Kitakami River.

      • When Good Pickle Beds Go Bad
        04/17/08
        Oh, the horror. We've discovered the worst-tasting thing in Japan: pickles from a nuka-zuke bed that's gone off.

        As we mentioned in the April Fool's Day post, life around Let's Sharing HQ has gotten quite hectic. I haven't had as much time to attend to the hous

      • Kogane
        04/17/08
        Back in early March, I was out walking the dogs when I spotted a train I'd never seen before.



        It's Joyful Train Kogane, a special-service train that doesn't usually run on the Tohoku mainline through Kitakami.

      • Sendai Utility Panel
        04/16/08
        It's not really a manhole cover, but Sendai also has decorative access panels for their underground utilities.


      • If the Shoe Fits, Make Sure It's Easy to Get Out Of, Too
        04/16/08
        Even though I've lived here for almost a year, I'm still dealing with my stash of completely impractical shoes on a daily basis.

        You see, while my Doc Martens combat boots, open-toed strappy sandals with three-inch heels, and knee-high zip-up boots are perfectly fine for an Amer

      • Car Wash
        04/15/08
        Why shouldn't a car wash be tiny and pink?


      • View from the DMV
        04/14/08
        Lately, we've been spending a lot of time at the driver licensing center, which means we're getting pretty familiar with this view from the parking lot.



        That's Mt. Iwate, the "Fuji of Northern Tohoku". It last erupted in 1919, and from 1998 to 2003 it

      • Mountain Food
        04/14/08
        Living in Kitakami places us smack in the middle of sansai ryouri country. As its name translates, sansai ryouri is cooking based on mountain herbs and vegetables. Yesterday, the local model shop owner's wife gave us a bunch of gyojaninniku, a type of mountain garlic or chive, along with instr

      • Grand Opening
        04/13/08
        In Japan, nothing says "Now Open for Business" like a big colorful target-on-a-stick:



        These signs were announcing the opening of a new hair salon. Seeing them always makes me want to play Katamari Damacy so I can roll them up.

      • Neighborly Gifts
        04/09/08
        Shortly before I left Washington, I had dinner with a couple of friends. One of them had lived in Japan as a child, and she spoke of the strong sense of community that pervaded Japanese society at the time. It still exists today, as evidenced by things like the yakudoshi ceremony, the call for vol

      • Ready? Here We Go!
        04/08/08
        There comes a time in many expatriates' lives when they have to trade a significant privilege in their home country for the same privilege in another. It's a privilege borne of study, practice, near-misses, frayed nerves, and hours upon hours spent standing in line in a soul-sucking fortr

      • Sakura Season
        04/02/08
        In case you're wondering why there's a new entry after we announced the end of the blog, well, it is April 2. Gotcha!

        Cherry blossoms aren't due to open in northern Tohoku for at least two more weeks, but that hasn't stopped the drink companies from putting out specia

      • The End of the Blog as We Know It
        04/01/08
        Some of you have surely noticed we've been posting less and less often over time. Matthew's been here just over a year, and Stefanie's been here almost a year. We've seen (and commented on) Kitakami in all seasons, and we're running out of things to say.

        And, it

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