French – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today. Sun, 16 Jun 2019 15:00:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/05/en_rocket_1024.png?w=32 French – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com 32 32 176746664 We got all comfy in a traditional French manor in Japan and drank coffee from a matcha bowl https://soranews24.com/2019/06/17/we-got-all-comfy-in-a-traditional-french-manor-in-japan-and-drank-coffee-from-a-matcha-bowl/ https://soranews24.com/2019/06/17/we-got-all-comfy-in-a-traditional-french-manor-in-japan-and-drank-coffee-from-a-matcha-bowl/#comments Sun, 16 Jun 2019 15:00:51 +0000 http://soranews24.com/?p=455469 
The best of France and Japan in one classy chateau.
Shading eyes from the summer sun, Japanese-language reporter Masanuki Sunakoma took in his surroundings with calm, collected breaths. He was here in Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, to walk down the halls of a traditional French castle steeped in history, or at least experience the likes of it.
Sure, the cozy French Quarter in Tokyo made him feel as if the Eiffel Tower was right around the corner, but no amount of fancy restaurants or cafes could match the awesomeness of what he was about to do.
▼ Arriving at his destination, a 15-minute drive from Kashiwa Station,
Sunakoma squinted at the little sign in front of him.
▼ Looking up, all breath left him in a rush as he goggled
at the lofty manor called Chateau De Comal.
Located right smack in the middle of a residential district, the building radiated extravagance and class, almost like a miniature version of The Palace of Versailles.
▼ “Am I really in Japan?” he wondered aloud.
Sunakoma approached the chateau gingerly, not wanting to sully the glory of this magnificent place with his insignificant presence.
▼ The fountain at the front caught his attention.
▼ Given the name of “Fountain of Salon Culture” by a famous Japanese actress,
the structure represented social and intellectual exchange.
An impressive taxidermy bird-of-paradise mount greeted Sunakoma at the entrance, with a description that claimed it was a gift from Sukarno, the first President of Indonesia.
▼ A castle is never complete without gifts from important people…
▼ …or flights of stairs covered in luxurious carpets.
▼ Photography was forbidden in many areas of the chateau,
but he managed to snap pictures of the opulent interior…
▼ …for some reason, of random magazines and brochures lying about the place.
▼ Everything from the vintage paintings and wall fittings
to the classic furniture spoke of a bygone era.
The owner of Chateau De Comal, who goes by the name of Mr. Takamaru, spent many years recreating 18th-century French architecture in painstaking detail.
▼ Now, Mr. Takamaru holds monthly concerts and tea parties
at the impressive venue he now calls home.
Sunakoma’s throat was beginning to feel dry when he stumbled upon a cafe of sorts, allowing visitors to refresh themselves and simply soak in the atmosphere at a leisurely pace.
Our reporter ordered “Cafe Rikyu” (US$6.50), Chateau De Comal’s signature coffee that pays homage to a historical figure who founded the Japanese tea ceremony of today. Served in a traditional matcha bowl and whipped with a matcha whisk to create froth, the beverage was a unique combination of French and Japanese cultures.
▼ What made it really delicious was the liberal use
of special Japanese sugar called wasanbon.
▼ Its mellow and aromatic flavors suited the luxurious ambiance perfectly.
It was over all too soon for Sunakoma, who made his way out of the cozy manor with much reluctance and back into the sun-baked streets of Japan. Someday he would return with friends or family for twice the fun. But until then, our reporter would be satisfying his craving for French culture with food hacks involving cheese sticks and potato snacks.
Location
Chateau De Comal / コーマル城
Address: Chiba-ken, Kashiwa City, Higashi Kashiwa, 1-21-15
千葉県柏市東柏1-21-15
Cafe hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Website
Images: ©SoraNews24
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]]> https://soranews24.com/2019/06/17/we-got-all-comfy-in-a-traditional-french-manor-in-japan-and-drank-coffee-from-a-matcha-bowl/feed/ 0 455469 Top Japanese ad promoting Miyazaki Prefecture shows how foreign its own dialects can be 【Video】 https://soranews24.com/2015/09/03/japanese-ad-promoting-miyazaki-prefecture-shows-how-foreign-its-own-dialects-can-be-%e3%80%90video%e3%80%91/ https://soranews24.com/2015/09/03/japanese-ad-promoting-miyazaki-prefecture-shows-how-foreign-its-own-dialects-can-be-%e3%80%90video%e3%80%91/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2015 01:00:03 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=262878 
In an attempt to draw more visitors, Kobayashi City in Japan’s Miyazaki Prefecture has released a video to promote the natural beauty and appeal of the town. The ad features a French man, talking about the quirky yet charming nature of the locals and the beautiful environment the city has to offer. As he speaks, Japanese subtitles appear at the bottom of the screen, allowing those who don’t understand French to know what the man is saying.
But the last line of the ad is throwing many Japanese viewers for a loop, as it dawns on them that the man is not actually speaking French at all, but a local Miyazaki dialect.
The video begins with our French traveler mulling over some of the oddities he’s noticed since he began living in Kobayashi. How, for example, despite the lush and expansive forests surrounding the town, the town’s name literally means “small forest”. And how even though fresh spring water flows from the tap in every home, people still buy bottled water.
But it’s not all strangeness in Kobayashi, as our French guide has grown fond of the kindness and good hearts of the locals.
After all the years he has lived there, he notes, there is one thing he’s come to notice: that he has picked up on the local Nishimoro-ben, or Nishimoro dialect. It is only then that Japanese viewers come to realize that our narrator has in fact been speaking in Nishimoro-ben, and not French, throughout the entire video.
Yes, he was speaking Japanese! His French accent is certainly detectable, but if you are a speaker of French yourself, you would have noticed from the beginning that he is not speaking it at all. However, Nishomoro-ben is so different from hyoujungo (the “standard” Japanese spoken in Tokyo and surrounding areas, and the Japanese that is taught to foreigners learning the language) that it is almost like a completely different language.
Turning on the closed captions on the video will give you a dictation of the Nishimoro-ben he is speaking, so you can compare it to the standard Japanese.
For example, the line “この小林市は不思議なことだらけだ/Kono Kobayashi-shi wa fushigi na koto darake da”, which translates to “This Kobayashi City is full of little mysteries,” in Nishimoro-ben becomes: “小林ちゅうとはじょじょなとこじゃっちおや思たっどん/Kobayashi-chuu towa jojo na toko jacchi oya omotaddon“. It’s no wonder most Japanese viewers mistook it for another language completely!
If you do plan to take a trip to Miyazaki, however, there is no need to worry. Standard Japanese is spoken and understood throughout the whole country, so you don’t need to study a whole new dialect to get around!
Source: YouTube/小林市公式チャンネル, Japaaan Magazine
Images: YouTube/小林市公式チャンネル
]]> https://soranews24.com/2015/09/03/japanese-ad-promoting-miyazaki-prefecture-shows-how-foreign-its-own-dialects-can-be-%e3%80%90video%e3%80%91/feed/ 0 262878 1 1 3 2 These rad, super-rare cutting knives are (presumably) for cooking https://soranews24.com/2015/05/19/these-rad-super-rare-cutting-knives-are-presumably-for-cooking/ https://soranews24.com/2015/05/19/these-rad-super-rare-cutting-knives-are-presumably-for-cooking/#comments Tue, 19 May 2015 02:00:46 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=239534 
If you’re gonna slay a dragon, you might as well do it in style. May we suggest these crazily cool-looking cutting knives that only need to be sharpened every 25 years?
You read that right: These knives will keep their edge for an astonishing 25 years – a quarter of your entire life, if you’re lucky, and five times as long as your passing interest in cooking that you took up to impress that one girl in college who was really into kale and organic, grass-fed wagyu beef.
These one-of-a-kind knives are made from titanium carbide – probably the same thing rad street racing cars that shoot flames out of their mufflers are made from (also they are painted with flames and have amateurish paintings of naked ladies, who are also on fire, on the hood). In Japanese, this material is called “tanka chitin.”
CHITIN! These are made out of that ubiquitous RPG material you make the best armor in the game with! But the manufacturers have apparently done the dirty work of farming mud crabs for you to deliver these shiny, all-black, super radical-looking knives that look like they came straight out of a 1985 infomercial starring a stoic Japanese sushi chef.
You might assume these knives are of Japanese origin – what with their ninja-inspired designs – but they’re actually a product of French manufacturer Furtif.
They’re called “Evercut” knives, further cementing their connection in your mind to online RPGs, and they can be yours for the low, low price of just about 8,000 yen (approx. US$75).
Here’s a promotional video that sadly doesn’t involve any cybernetic ninja future assassins wielding the knives:
EVERCUT Japan from EVERCUT Japan on Vimeo.
]]> https://soranews24.com/2015/05/19/these-rad-super-rare-cutting-knives-are-presumably-for-cooking/feed/ 0 239534 evercut2 evercut4 evercut5 evercut1 Bon appétit! We try conveyor-belt French food in Paris https://soranews24.com/2014/02/11/bon-appetit-we-try-conveyor-belt-french-food-in-paris/ https://soranews24.com/2014/02/11/bon-appetit-we-try-conveyor-belt-french-food-in-paris/#comments Tue, 11 Feb 2014 05:30:01 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=123092 
Kaiten-zushi, or conveyor-belt sushi, has got to be one of the most fun styles of restaurant anywhere in the world. Who doesn’t love watching delectable, bite-size portions of sushi that are all yours for the taking spin around right in front of their eyes? Many tourists make it a point to stop by a kaiten-zushi place when they visit Japan. The fact that you can fill up on delicious sushi without breaking your wallet makes the experience even better.
While these kinds of restaurants can be found outside of their original home, the quality of Japan’s kaiten-zushi is so good that, whether right or wrong, many foreigners claim that any place outside of Japan is a fake. However, what if you took the concept of the conveyor-belt serving style and applied it to a different national cuisine? Well, that’s just what one restaurant in France decided to do. Now you can enjoy quality conveyor-belt French cuisine at a restaurant in Paris!
We were so intrigued that we recently send one of our Japanese reporters to check it out.
Conveyor-belt French food, you say?! Did you even know that such a thing even exists? Well, it does at the MEDI TERRA NEA restaurant in Paris. Even though rotating French food may seem a bit out-there, the chef of this particular restaurant was trained under the famous Joël Robuchon, a powerhouse in the world of French gourmet. That alone should make it worth a try.
Before reading the review of our reporter’s visit, see for yourself what rotating French cuisine looks like in the following video:
The interior of the restaurant is at once both extremely stylish and casual. The ample amount of blue ensures a soothing dining atmosphere. It is all in all very cozy, except for the fact that the chairs were a bit high for our reporter. There’s no dress code, so there’s no need to worry about your appearance, just like at a kaiten-zushi restaurant in Japan.
It turns out that hors d’oeuvre and dessert are the only food items that rotate; you have to order main dishes and any hot menu items directly from the staff. Cards displaying the name of the dish and its price are attached to each rotating plate of food, which customers place inside a little pail on the counter after they take a plate. When you’re ready to check out, a staff member will calculate the total bill by adding up the cards in your pail.
After sampling several dishes, our reporter couldn’t believe that you could have such exemplary French cuisine for such a low price! The risotto in particular was spot-on, with each grain bursting with flavor and creaminess. The crispy foods were also very good. His only complaint was that one of the stir-fries seemed a bit tasteless. He recommends the tangy lemon custard for all you ladies out there.
He ordered the steak for his main dish, which happens to be one of the most popular choices among customers. While the meat appeared to be dry at first, its flavor was superbly drawn out when paired with red wine. According to French people, the flavor of French food can be subtly altered with an accompanying drink more so than with any other country’s cuisine. Those words finally make sense now!
So what’s the bottom line? Our reporter went to this restaurant with two different people on two occasions, and it cost about 40-50 euros (US$54-68) for a highly satisfying meal. Japanese tourists going to a French restaurant in Paris that was recommended in a guidebook might easily spend over 100 euros ($136) for a nice meal. So if you think of it that way, doesn’t getting exemplary French cuisine prepared by a top-notch chef served in a fun, rotating manner sound like a great deal?
Restaurant Information
Name: MEDI TERA NEA
Address: 13 rue de Faubourg Montmartre Paris France
Hours: Monday 11:30 AM-3:30 PM / Tuesday & Wednesday 11:30 AM-1 PM / Thursday-Saturday 11:3o AM-2 PM
Closed: Sunday
URL: MEDI TERRA NEA
Original article by Kuzo
Images: RocketNews24
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