Taisoo No Jikan part 2!

This is a program that i am doing now on Fuji TV on week days from 2p.m. We go everywhere in Tokyo to dance with random people who want to participate in the show.
This time, we went to Fuji TV to dance with the kids! It was great because everyone was excited, smiley and happy while dancing.
The dance is a gymnastic at the same time so everyone can enjoy it!It is easy to remember and it is a tool to easily become friends.
Our group name is called PP FACTORY. PP refers to POWER & PEACE!!!
Please look the video below and try to dance with us. I am sure you will be addicted!!!

TAISOU NO JIKAN!

M-1 イザベルとべネ！

SARABA!

Saraba is the first Senegalese restaurant/bar in Japan. It is located in jyugaoka and the owner is Senegalese.
I was very happy to go and discover this new place because I always wanted a Senegalese Restaurant to open.
The place is small but the atmosphere is very relaxed and nice and the food is very Senegalese!
The owner, Amadou Tounkara, is an artist, a painter and a textile designer. He is very cool and cooks great food!
I decided to make my documentary on him because I thought it was interesting to introduce him to you and see how Senegalese culture is intergrating into the Japanese society.
In this bar, there are a lot of foreigners and Japanese people who come and discuss about several aspects and exchange their personal thoughts.
Amadou says that his favourite moment in the bar is when people gather together and communicate. Saraba is a very social community which is very peaceful!!!
If you want to experience Senegalese food and interact with Senegalese people, please step by in jyugaoka and enjoy this new culture!!!

SPAM ONIGIRI!

This Spam Onigiri is a speciality of Nagasaki!!! It was a rice ball with fried spam on it!It was that popular that they brought in Tokyo!!!
These are sold for 200yen and it is delicious!
Apparently, there is a little "boom" in Japan with these onigiris. Japanese people eat them like hamburgers...
I was amazed by the taste and the perfect match!!!You should try it!!!

Roppongi at night!

Roppongi is an interesting side of Tokyo to watch at night because it is a city that never sleeps... People from all over the world gather there and you have the feeling that you are not in Japan! There are Africans, Americans, Russians, Germans talking to each other, partying, drinking, fighting...Anyway, it is a real melting pot!!!
When I was walking around in the middle of the night, it was about 2 a.m, there were police men all over the city and two huge fire engines... Apparently, there was a fight and police men tried to solve te problem.
I usually don't go to Roppongi, especially at night, but I was surprised by the neons and the number of people. It was that bright and agitated that it seemed like it was the afternoon.
Roppongi is the community for foreigners and it is really a place that never sleeps...

TUJ shares a lot of activities with its neighborhood. The other day, I was asked to go to Akabane elementary school to give some cultural lesson about my country, Senegal. When I got into the class, there were sixty children of 6~7 years old that welcomed me with the Senegalese flag that they hand made. It was impressive of how they were interested to learn about a new culture. Being agitated, they asked questions after questions.

First of all, I introduced the country and its location on the map and showed them many pictures about the city, the people, the traditional sport which is similar to the Japanese Sumo, the food and the music. Usually, when Japanese people hear the word Africa, they imagine indigenous people who live naked and still hunt with arrows. However, it is n

ot the case and Dakar is a developed city. I refer it to Shinjuku city that does not have neon.
Anyway, I decided to get the children’ attention by asking them questions about the image they have of Senegal, making them listen to music and let them try to play the Jambe(drum) by using their desks. It was funny and cute to watch them enjoying it and being so serious about it. Then, by wearing the traditional Senegalese clothe which is very big, I asked the kids to come inside to see how many can fit in it. I guess, 13 of them were in the dress, experiencing what it is like to

wear the clothe.
Senegal is very similar to Japan and that is how I approached children to explain them and give them a cultural background. Finally, I taught them how to say Hello in Senegalese “Assalamalekun” and gave them an advice to continue to be that interested in other cultures.

By the way, the Japanese word Naruhodo which means “I see!” has the same meaning as the Senegalese word Naruhodo. Located on the other side of the world and having different languages, I feel that there is a certain historical connection between the two countries.

At the end of the month, I will be going to another school to teach more about Senegal so that Japanese have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and open the door to foreigners and foreign traditions.

Minato-ku Festival!

September and October are two months in Japan that has a lot of festivals (Matsuri). Most of them are usually sponsored by a local shrine or temple.

The Minato-ku festival took place in the Zo-jo-ji temple in Shiba. There were people all over the place, eating, drinking, watching performances and enjoying their sunny day.
What is interesting about Matsuri, is that they have many little shops where a bunch of stuffs are sold but the most attractive stand is food. Yakisoba(fried noodles), yakitori(grilled chicken), donuts and Japanese sweets are extremely cheap and the drinks are less than 200yen. Made by local people, the atmosphere is great, relaxing and it is possible to feel the “sympathy” in the air. That is what I really like about Japanese festivals.

Belonging to the jazz dance club at TUJ, we had the opportunity to participate to the festival by showing our performance on stage. To deepen the friendship between TUJ and the ward, the jazz dance club offered a stage of 15 minutes, accompanied by some drum performance played by Osamu and Nao. While dancing, I saw some people shaking their body with the rhythm of the drum and the music. I felt the strength of music that emphasized the fact that music does not need any words to communicate and understand each other.

It was a nice experience because even though we were not professionals, the spectators were very welcoming and warm which created an excellent atmosphere. I hope that we have contributed for a closer relationship with our neighbors. Thank you MINATO-KU!!!

1 peanut, 4 bites of cucumber and 1 bite of chicken…

Thin, the documentary about anorexia made by Lauren Greenfield was quite hard for me to watch because the pictures were that real and shocking that I could not compassionate with the subject. However, I think that Diet, becoming Thin is an issue that every girl has confronted at least once in life. The desire to have a nice proportion and the envy to not get fat has always been a problem. Before watching the movie, I knew about anorexia but did not know too much. Though, I realized that it is a real psychological disease that leads people to serious crisis and sometimes to death.

The documentary was shot in an interesting way, focusing on several cases at the same time. It was like watching “24” but in a slower tempo. I was impressed of how the director was able to shoot the girls in the hospital, their activities and behaviors, emotions, conversations and thoughts. I can imagine that it took a long time to build the intimacy between the interviewees and the interviewer. Then, to get all the incidents that occurred on tape should have taken months.

Lauren does not appear on the documentary and even there is no possibility to hear her voice. She steps out and just follows her subjects. The patients, doctors and staffs seem to be used being filmed or even do not care anymore about the camera. Trust is elaborated so between the subject and the director so the story is very natural and the viewers are closer to the situation. The technique used, the close-ups involve the viewers and make them feel like they were present in the scene to have a better idea of the disease and what these people feel like.

After watching the movie, I came up with a lot of questions toward anorexia. Personally, I care about my weight and always try a new diet but I love eating. When I eat too much I try to do some exercises so I do not understand why people are so obsessed by calories and loosing weight… I do not want to be fat but do not want to spend a day eating 1 peanut, 4 bites of cucumber and 1 bite of chicken. I would die…

However, what make these people deal with anorexia? Is it a problem of itself? Or is it coming from the society? Who is responsible for this? Who decided that women have to be thin?

I am still questioning myself but I know one thing: I was hungry after the movie!!!

Soft like a Baby!!!

Have you ever seen the white block made of soybean floating in the water? It’s called TOFU. It’s a healthy food and very popular especially to women because of the chemical included in the soybean called isoflavon Resembling to estrogen, it increases women hormones, prevent from breast cancer, and whitens the skin.
When I came in Japan at the age of seven, I went to the supermarket with my mother and we saw the package and bought it, thinking that it was a sort of mozzarella cheese. So, we went home and put it on the bread but it was not possible to swallow it…then a Japanese neighbor told us that it was Tofu and it was a traditional Japanese food that everybody eats and go to buy every morning.
Existing since the early Edo period, tofu was only eaten on special occasions such as ceremonies, festivals or on New Year’s Day.
Nowadays, seeing a Tofu shop is not as common as it was before. Because of the industrialization, machines make tofu and it has become easier to buy it anywhere at anytime but still, people say that buying tofu at the tofu shop is better and has a better taste.
A Tofu Shokunin(artisan) should get up around 4:00 in the morning to boil the beans, make it hard in blocks and put in a cold water. While making it, a lot of concentration is demanded and the tofu should be treated like a baby. So it needs a lot of patience, softness and attention. There are two most important ingredients for the cooking: WATER, which has a big influence on the taste. It should be soft water and not minerals nor solid water. Then, the soul of the shokunin influences very much the taste and the softness.
I went once in a Tofu shop during winter and asked a question to the owner about the coldness of the water and if he was already used to it….and he laughed at me saying that it has been 30 years he was doing this operation every morning.
However, I do like tofu and I prefer buying it at a tofu shop because it’s fresher and I can feel the soul in it.

Beauty of the Japanes Nature!

In his writing, Donald Richie refers the Japanese garden to Disneyland because of its shape that seems to be unreal and unnatural. “Almost 1000 years ago Japanese vision and technique had made the first Space Mountain!” “No other country has brought the principle of the microcosm to such profuse perfection”.

Japan is a country where nature has a great role in reflecting the spirit and the mentality of the Japanese society. Looking at a picture of a typical garden, the idea of harmony is strengthened with the organized, structured and balanced shape. The trees are trimmed everyday to keep the length of the leafs equal. The regularity shapes the Japanese heart and state of mind that is not only artistic but the fragility and sensitivity is represented through nature. I could not understand that when I just came to Japan because compared to Slovakia or Senegal, the nature was very “raw”. I thought that the Japanese nature was too much touched by humans’ hands and the image that everything was surreal and fake was input in my head until I started to understand the Japanese society and its functioning.

The concept of the Japanese garden has a deep meaning while knowing that every element has an important role to accomplish. The placement and the shape of the green that give a relaxing perfume; the collaboration and the gradation of the colors that create a warm atmosphere that emphasize the familiarity between themselves; the combination of the different plants; the presence of the water that refers purity; the stones that show the strength, patience and perseverance…Coming from the idea of animism, every natural or material object possesses souls, so the representation of the nature is very important to produce harmony.
Observing Japan’s nature from an outsider may look strange but once inside, I think it is easier to understand the spirit it infers.
Walking on the street in Japan is interesting because it is possible to see several types of people focusing on the nature but with different approaches. Some will take care of their garden cutting bad leafs from the plants or others will cut trees in a nice and artistic shape that is called Bonsai or do some ikebana… Japan is a country that love spending time being surrounded by the nature and the green. The nation’s character can be seen through this nature that seems like Disneyland: they are perfectionist, sensitive and worker.
Compared to the western garden or nature, the nature does not appear raw but is representative in the sense that, by looking at a Japanese garden, it is possible to characterize Japanese mentality and spirit.