Bento Momento - Day 4 - Adventures by Disney Japan - Taiko, bento box, Hozugawa river, Dotonbori

Day 4 of our Adventures by Disney Japan was called Bento Momento.

0:33 Taiko drumming.
03:06 Japanese Bento Box lunch.
11:20 Hozugawa river boat ride
20:37 Dotonbori District

Our venue the morning of Taiko drumming was the beautiful Chomyoji Temple. If you have ever been to Epcot you may have seen a Matsuriza - Traditional Japanese Taiko Drums performance. In Japanese, Matsuriza means Festival and Taiko means drums. Taiko drums have been used for centuries in Japan, in religious ceremonies, in festivals, for rain and crops, even on the battlefields as soldiers prayed for elusive victory.

In Japan, Taiko can refers to any type of drum. But outside of Japan, Taiko generally means Wadaiko or “Japanese drums”, or Taiko for short. Wadaiko drums come in many sizes. The best-known Japanese taiko drum is the nagado-daiko (long-body drum), made from hollowed-out log with both ends capped with cowhide. The largest taiko drums are called o-daiko, some of which are greater than one meter in diameter. Wadaiko are played using wooden sticks known as bachi. When hit hard with bachi, taiko can produce sounds topping 130 decibels, a sound level that is on a par with the noise produced by jet airplanes. Outside, such sounds can be heard over a distance of several kilometers. In fact, in ancient Japan, such taiko drumming was even used to signal soldiers on the battlefield.
Here we are with a medium sized drum called chu-daiko.

After working up and appetite from over an hour of vigorous drumming, it was time for our next adventure… making traditional Japanese bento boxes. Let’s watch our instructor teach us how to make the first part, the eggs. Next we learn how to make teriyaki chicken. Next we learn how to add decorative elements to our bento box. Here was my finished Bento Box. And it tasted delicious!

After lunch, we take a bus ride to Kameoka to take a boat ride down the Hozugawa river. Once on the boat, we would enjoy the 10 mile two hour boat ride form Kameoka to Arashiyama. The boat ride utilize traditional style, flat bottomed boats piloted by boatmen who guide the craft with oars and bamboo poles. The Hozugawa River was originally used to transport logs that were used to build many of Kyoto and Osaka's famous temples and castles. During the Edo Period the river was cleared of obstructions so that boats could bring grain and firewood to a growing Kyoto. Trains and trucks eventually made river transport obsolete, and operations ceased after several hundred years of use. Today, the boats are back and are a popular sightseeing attraction. On that journey, we would experience rapids, deep pools, and travel through ravines through beautiful scenery.

After a rest at the hotel, we decided to do the optional food tour of Osaka’s famous Dotonbori District.

The history of this area goes back to 1612 when a merchant by the name of Yasui Doton invested all of his personal wealth in an ambitious local development project. Doton’s plan was to divert and expand the Umezu River into a new waterway that would link the local canal network with the Kizugawa River. Unfortunately, Doton’s project was interrupted by war and he himself was killed during the Siege of Osaka in 1615. Later that same year, Doton’s cousins completed his work and in his memory the new canal was named Dotonbori or “Doton Canal”. The new canal brought with it a flood of trade and from 1626 the area began to flourish as an entertainment district too after theater companies and playhouses began to move into the area on the canal’s southern bank. At the same time the north bank of the canal began to prosper with restaurants and teahouses that supplied food, drink and entertainment to theater goers after they left the theaters. Today Dotonbori’s theater culture is very much in decline. However, there are still a number of small comedy clubs and theaters in the area. These days however, Dotonbori is better known as a gastronomic wonderland crowded with restaurants, street food stalls, and bars. Osaka’s obsession with food is often summed up with the expression “kuidaore” which is often interpreted to mean “eat till you drop” but actually means to spend so much on food that you fall into financial ruin! Dotonbori is said to be the best place in Osaka to experience this kuidaore style extreme love of food!

After a great evening of tasting Takoyaki, sushi, melon bread, ramen, and and buying tons of different flavored kito kato kit kat, we made it back in time for our bus back to Kyoto.

Ishikari Lore by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100192
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

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