MAY 2024

May 4:  It was great to have such good weather during Golden Week. Special Exhibition: Japanese Art and Design with the Irises Screes at the Nezu Museum is being held at the Nezu Museum in Minami Aoyama.  This exhibition is an opportunity to experience the National Treasure Irises screens. The irises embody the design sense or decorative nature, inherent in Japanese art.

Irises is a symbolic representation of a scene from the "Yatsuhashi"(Eight Plank Bridge) of the Tales of Ise. In this episode, the protagonist wandering by the bridge sees the irises and is inspired to compose a romantic poem.

Nezu Museum
6-5-1 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo

This is an annual event at the museum where we can appreciate the Irises Screens and Irises in the garden.  "Cherry Blossoms and Puppies" on Screen" by Tawaraya Sotatsu was also on display. It was the first time for me to see the real one.  I've seen a replica of the same title at Ryushi Memorial Museum. It was good scrolling around the garden looking at irises on the pond. 

Soba noodle

My friend, Yoko and I had a soba noodle lunch to catch up at “Matsugen”,  famous for soba cuisine in Ebisu. I had “Sudachi soba” and Yoko had “Natto soba”.  

My sucachi soba was covered with slices of sudachi (citrus sudachi). 

It was a hot day and we did not have a big appetite. In hot summer, soba may be the perfect dish to cool down.

Soba noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, in a hot dashi broth as a noodle soup year round. 

At the end of the year, It is a custom for the Japanese to eat hot soba noodles, called Toshikoshi soba, to usher in the coming year.  

The thin, long soba represents good fortune and symbolizes strength and resilience like the buckwheat crop.

In Japan, soba has long been considered a healthy food that provides nutrition to the body. It is said that eating soba can give you a long life. 

Buckwheat flour, the key ingredient in making soba noodles, is high in many essential minerals, vitamins, iron, fiber, and amino acides. 

For those who prefer a low-carb diet, soba makes an excellent choice as it is low in fat and calories.

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MATSUGEN EBISU

Address: 1-3-1 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Hagiwasa Bldg. 1F

Telephone: 03-3444-8666

JR Ebisu Station West Exit.