![OMOIDE a project of the JAPA...]()
OMOIDE a project of the JAPANESE CULTURAL AND COMMUNITY CENTER OF WASHINGTON
OMOIDE writing program stories at the JCCCW are being featured in a program at the SEATTLE REP theater as part of their outreach program.
One of the stories will highlight the history of one of our Seattle community Leaders.
Come and join us and help us continue to celebrate our 30 years of sharing OMOIDE stories at the "J".
![Grandpa Kay stood near the b...]()
Grandpa Kay stood near the bowl and turned the rice in between poundings and was never injured.
“Agatta! Agatta!” (Went up!) Grandpa Kay shouted into the brisk December morning air, the week before Christmas. That meant, the steam had risen to the top of the stack of five wooden boxes holding water soaked “mochi rice” on bamboo mats, above a concrete and metal firebox. Each box was 15 inch squares, 6 inches high.
At least two young men - Uncle Frank, friend George, or cousin Joe, who were in the basement kitchen of our ONTARIO MARKET grocery store having coffee and smoking after a 7am breakfast, ran up the concrete stairs, out to the back yard, lifted the top four boxes while grandpa took out the bottom box with the hot steamed, ready to pound, mochi rice.
Grandpa Kay then dumped the 4 or 5 cups of mochi rice into the water soaked “bowl”, dug out of an almost table-high 20 inch tree stump. The same young men grabbed home-made, hatchet sized, wooden mallets. They began a rhythm of taking turns pounding and smashing the rice as Grandpa reached in between strokes and turned the mass for evenness. Some of the elders, standing around, often broke into song, “Yo, Yo” to keep the pace even. As the mass of rice became a sticky ball, the older ladies prepared a long table covered with dry rice powder, in the room next to the kitchen. Grandpa ran in and dumped the big ball of mochi on to the head of the table.
Grandma Tanaka or Grandma Kobayashi, with nice calloused farmer hands, stood at the head of the table and squeezed off cookie sized pieces of hot-hot-sticky rice. Four or five young women, my mom’s age with aprons, took the balls, flattened each ball, gathering in the edges so there was a nice rounded attractive appearance and set them on trays. There was lots of gossip and talking going on, “Alice, when it comes time, just take deep breaths and push real hard at the end.” “Did you hear that Tom and Betty are getting married?” “Tosh is captain and the Notus High School basketball team is going to state in Boise.”
It was then, us young kid’s turn to take these pieces of mochi and lay them on shelves of long wooden 2 by 4s, on the far side of the room, to dry. Four or five-year-old cousin Don got the most praise, “See how Donald is arranging them so neatly? Donald, you’re going to be successful when you grow up!”
At the end of the day, some of the mochi pieces were wrapped around sweetened, smashed Azuki bean balls and given to us kids as a treat. But the best treat, the next few days, was Mochi heated so it puffed up. Then we dipped these puff balls into sugar and soy sauce, ummmm!
The week before New Years was the busiest time for the ONTARIO MARKET and mochi was one of the most important items. Us kids, growing up in the ‘40s, ‘50s & ‘60s, helped put the dried mochi pieces into bags for sale. My dad was part of the grocery delivery to the outlying farmers, the dozens of Japanese farmers in our Treasure Valley community on the border of Western Idaho and Eastern Oregon. A bag of mochi was part of each order.
“Mochi” means “to hold”; holding on to prosperity is symbolized with ‘OZONI” (boiled), mochi with vegetables soup. It is important to have an odd number of ingredients and never four, which means death. Most of us with Japanese Heritage, who maintain some of the traditions, never miss having mochi on New Years Eve or New Years Day.
![CUISINE WITHOUT BORDERS]()
CUISINE WITHOUT BORDERS
As I blogged yesterday, 1939 was another year that January had a Friday the 13th and my being born on January 14th seemed like another synchronicity for Sam and my being together. Today is my 84th birthday and it is again a year of the rabbit like the year I was born. It is said that I might be associated with luck, longevity, peace and prosperity.
Last week Kelly asked, “Where do you want to go to celebrate your birthday?”
I remembered that our friend, Sam Takahashi, had announced the opening of his new restaurant when we met at garden party, last summer, held by the Japanese Consul General. I emailed him to ask the name of his place and he wrote back: “84 Yesler at 84 Yesler Way.”
I explained to the girls that my Sam and I have known Sam and his wife Kitty (Katsuko) for 50 years. We have a “Kintsugi plate” (gold repaired antique dish) displayed on our living room shelf that we bought from him when he managed the Mariko Tada Japanese Antique store on Fifth Avenue Seattle between Pike and Union. We had gone to their wedding in West Seattle.
This morning started at 6:50am. I drove Kirin, in the darkness and rain, to catch a ride to her high school Drill Team competition in Redmond, WA today. The Mercer Island High School Drill Team planned to go to the Red Robin Restaurant for dinner, but Mom Kelly said, “Grandma’s birthday is special,” and talked Kirin into joining us instead.
By daylight time, it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. So Mom, Kaori and Grandma decided a birthday breakfast and a walk on Alki beach with dog Suki was the best way to begin our celebration of someone born in the lucky year of the rabbit. Then we hurried to get to Redmond, WA to watch the various schools in the greater Seattle area perform their routines. The ceremony and Drill Down lasted longer than we expected so we didn’t have time to go home and dress up for our evening reservation. Kirin was in her drill team outfit and had dramatic make-up. Kaori was in a Christmas decorated gray sweat shirt and I was in pants and a t-shirt. We decided it was more important to get to our reservation on time.
Getting to the restaurant in the Pioneer District of Seattle, we were surprised to be greeted at the door rather dramatically by Michael, the Maitre D, “Welcome, we were expecting you, I understand it’s your birthday.” We were being treated like VIP?
Mom Kelly was somewhat vocal in expressing our embarrassment in dress, but exchanged comments about how we knew the owner and had gone to his wedding. As we began to look at the impressive menu and ordering, it all of a sudden occurred to us that we were at 84 Yesler and this was my 84th birthday.
Shortly, we were further surprised by Sam and Kitty with an unexpected personal appearance with flowers and a letter with the picture of their wedding with Sam and me in the background - confirming that we had been to their August 4, 1973, wedding in their friend’s West Seattle back yard with a view of Puget Sound.
It’s bedtime now and raining again, but what a memorable and beautiful day it has been. We are commenting, "There is no other restaurant we would be able to duplicate what Chef Christina creates." Our fifteen-yr-old is happy she chose to came to celebrate Grandma’s birthday instead of a Red Robin hamburger with her friends; but those of you who live with teenagers know that turning down friend activities for a family dinner is not a simple choice. The food choiceS were unique and delicious!
![CELEBRATING THIS SPECIAL DAY]()
CELEBRATING THIS SPECIAL DAY
These are the years "Friday the 13th" fall in the month of January: 1905, 1911, 1922, 1928, 1933, 1939, 1950, 1956, 1961, 1967, 1978, 1984, 1989, 1995;
21st-century: 2006, 2012, 2017, 2023, 2034, 2040, 2045, 2051, 2062, 2068, 2073, 2079, 2090, 2096
Is it just a coincidence that Sam Goto was born on a "Friday the 13th" in 1933 and the next time "Friday the 13th" occurring in January was the year Dee Goto was born on January 14th, 1939??
The year Sam and I started dating, the Seattle phone book had calendars dating back several years. This one evening in 1960, I was studying for an exam for a U of WA Public Health Nursing degree. I was with Sam at his dental lab in the Seattle Medical Dental Building. He said, "I was born on a 'Friday the 13th', so I looked up the possible Friday the 13th birthdates.
Of course, that convinced us that we were meant to be together and celebrated in 1961 when "Friday the 13th" fell again in January of that year and my birthday was next to his on January 14th.
Sam left us five years ago, but here we are in 2023 when the January combination has occurred again. This evidently happens every year that starts on a Sunday.
I'm having lunch with friend Elaine. I have chosen to celebrate by meeting her at the Original House of Pancake that moved to the Town Center in Redmond. Sam and I used to go there often for Dutch Baby Pancakes when it was in Kirkland.
Tomorrow is my 84th birthday. Kelly has made reservations at 84 Yesler. Sam Takahashi's newest endeavor is this new place "with no cultural borders" in Seattle's pioneer district. Sam Goto first met Sam Takahashi when he ran the Mariko Tada antique store in the Medical Dental building years ago. We attended Sam and Katsuko's wedding in West Seattle.
A lot of history and a lot of fun memories to celebrate!!
![HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023 - A K...]()
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023 - A KAORI WATERCOLOR
Our household holds a 13-yr-old and a 15-year-old this New Year’s Eve, going into NEW YEAR 2023. The girls are at the mall and ice skating. I’m listening to a Wayne Dyer video and he gave me the idea for the title because the girls were struggling with cleaning their room and daily chores before they left.
Dyer is one of my favorite lecturers and today he is talking again about describing the REAL SELF inside each of us. He says, “I am the same me that I remember as a teenager and now with a bald head, I am the same me.” Funny, because I went to the bathroom, combed my hair, and the comb is full of hair!
I went to fill my thermo cup with some more tea and someone left a note on the fridge: THE BAD NEWS IS TIME FLIES; THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT WE ARE THE PILOT! I’m using people like Dyer to teach me to confirm that I know how to fly, and continue to learn more.
Dyer goes on to suggest the thinking of our life like a clock - Twelve is our real self. As one’s clock moves to six, We move away from self. Some of us stay here and die. The key is to move forward, back to twelve and enlightenment - with loving, accepting, moving toward a no limit life. The clock doesn’t tic backwards. Dyer explains his five secrets of the universe and getting back to twelve:
1.Quality rather than appearances - get to not needing approval - success is “being busy being myself”. Busy following my dreams, to not notice if anyone approves.
2.Ethics rather than rules - seeking the truth - seeing things as they are not as I want them to be.
3. Knowledge rather than Achievement - knowledge rather than awards and goals - trusting my inner sense and living in the present. He says JFK just did, each day, what made the most sense. What a relief to not make any more New Year resolutions.
4. Personal Authority rather than being an Authoritarian - never needing to dominate someone else - listening to what other people have to say. Know myself. When someone treats me badly, that’s their Karma. How I react is my Karma.
5. Serenity instead of Acquisitions - serenity comes from the way I think - living in the light - learning forgiveness and being love.
Suki, our Berniedoodle, “lives in the present”: wants to be be fed, let out to pee, poop, exercise, and cuddled with love! Her mission in life is to let us know when strangers come up our driveway. She doesn’t bark with the garbage truck, the Fed-Ex truck or the UPS trucks. But if the UPS just delivers to our neighbor across the street, she barks to see if he will come over and bring her his usual treat. She just jumped up beside me to cuddle because she is worried about the New Year celebration noises.
THERE IS NO WAY TO HAPPINESS: HAPPINESS IS THE WAY TO HAPPY 2023!
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OMOIDE a project of the JAPANESE CULTURAL AND COMMUNITY CENTER OF WASHINGTON
