Otaku no Podcast » the japan xperience

The TJX Crew Invade J-Town

Donald Burr — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:49:32 +0000

If you live in or near a city of reasonable size, odds are that it has a fairly sizable Japanese-American population, and that it would have some form of Japantown. Perhaps it’s nothing more than a collection of several Japanese or Asian markets or restaurants along a particular city block, or perhaps it’s a huge section of town completely devoted to Japanese-American businesses. Some of the more famous are San Francisco’s and San Jose’s Japantowns (San Francisco’s being one of my favorites), and Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo (which I still haven’t made it to, despite the frequent protestation of one of my co-hosts). Whatever your town has, though, it should be your sworn duty as otaku to visit such a place. Because you will find all manner of things that will interest you there — anime and related goods (Japan Video and Media remains one of my favorite stores to find this kind of thing, and I make it a point to stop in whenever I’m in the area); Jpop, Jrock, and other Japanese music; Japanese household goods; cultural items (decoration, bonsai, etc.); clothing (get your cosplay on!); and, most importantly, FOOD!!! It’s the next best thing to visiting Japan, and is a hell of a lot cheaper (maybe…)

The TJX crew recently visited Markham, Ontario‘s J-Town (map) and shot this nifty little video in which they sample such delicacies as yakitori (one of my favorites), Mitsuya Cider “ALL ZERO,” onigiri (I have fond memories of these – during our Japan trip in 2004, most nights we’d pick up a pair of these at a konbini and they’d serve as our breakfast the next morning); and “korokke,” or croquettes.

Be warned tho – watching this is gonna make you hungry! (A trip to your local Japantown should take care of that though!)

J-List is a peaceful island of Japanese pop culture for you

How to make Okonomiyaki, TJX style!

Donald Burr — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:23:27 +0000

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese food best described as a sort of Japanese pancake (or perhaps omelette), with various other ingredients (meats, seafood, vegetables, cheese, etc.) mixed in. It may be difficult to type, but it’s pretty darn tasty. Like many other Japanese dishes, it is enjoyed throughout the country, and each region has its own variation on the dish. It’s sometimes cooked in front of you Benihana-style, and sometimes the restaurant leaves the cooking to you – each table has a grill on it, and you basically get a bowl full of mixed ingredients that you can grill to your liking. The most well known ones comes from Osaka (where it is said that okonomiyaki was invented) and Hiroshima. In our 2004 Tokyo trip, we had the pleasure of enjoying some Hiroshima okonomiyaki during a break in our tour schedule. It was indeed mighty tasty.

In their latest episode (and their first video episode), the TJX crew demonstrate how to make this delicious food. Be warned tho, you might want to at least have some snacks nearby, you’ll get hungry watching it! Watch it here.

EDIT: If you want to “kick it up a notch,” (ha!) and you have some decent cooking skills and have access to a decent Asian foods market or specialty store, I found this recipe for completely made-from-scratch okonomiyaki. And if you’re a wimp and/or rather use the pre-made stuff, but can’t find it anywhere locally… well, you can order anything on the Internets these days… Amazon has both the mix and the sauce!

Okonomiyaki kit / Japanese pizza – 4.3 oz x 3

ImportFood, Misc., $14.90

Japanese Okonomi Sauce – 12 oz x 2 bottles

Otafuku Foods, Inc., Misc., $11.89

EDIT 01/05/2010: Locally-mirrored copy of the video removed at the request of TJX, because it was causing confusion. This video is theirs, and I ask that you please direct any inquiries, comments, etc. to them directly. You should be able to play the video directly from their website, but if you can’t get the video to play in their embedded player (like I did), there IS a link to directly download it (look for “Podcast: play in new window / download” below the black video box). Or you can subscribe to their podcast – I’m sure they wouldn’t mind having a few more subscribers Sorry for the confusion guys. Gomen nasai.

EDIT 09/27/2010: The embedded version is back!

The Japan Xperience: The Okonmiyaki Experiment from Ron M on Vimeo.

The TJX crew talk about one of my favorite subjects – FOOD!

Donald Burr — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:49:34 +0000

The good news is that my two work projects went very well, and I’ve been having a great time at BlogWorld and New Media Expo, learning a lot of good blog/podcasting stuff and meeting and networking with a lot of cool people. I even took the opportunity to upgrade my podcasting setup – I got a new, much less crappy microphone, so the next podcast should sound pretty good.

Speaking of the next show, I’m actually working on it. We’re still in Vegas for another few days, and unfortunately the Internet access is pretty lousy, so I doubt I’ll be able to post the show before I return this weekend. But you should definitely have a new show by next week.

In the meantime, I’ve got something to tide you over. Your friends and mine, DJ City and DJ Gladiator of TJX – The Japan Xperience – have released a new episode in which they talk about one of my favorite subjects in the world – FOOD! More specifically, they take a gastronomical tour through Japan, and focus in on the most well-known/famous foods for various regions/cities of Japan. Give it a listen, you’ll like it. But beware – better have some snacks handy, as listening to these guys talk is gonna make you hungry!

Gothic & Lolita Products, magazine subscriptions from Japan

The TJX crew talk about Onsen Etiquette (among other things)

Donald Burr — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:19:10 +0000

The fine folks over at TJX – The Japan Xperience bring us yet another episode of their fine show. This time around, they talk a very important subject — well, important if you ever want to visit one of Japan’s famous hot springs – Onsen Etiquette. (I wish I had this information back when I visited an onsen – it would have helped smooth over some, er, rather awkward moments.) They also talk on several other travel-related topics, as well as the latest music releases to look forward to. Give it a listen today!

PC dating-sim games @ J-List