Diary of a Shopkeeper, 25th September

The Scottish Government is currently considering a report prepared by Scotland’s Rural College, which suggests this country has much to learn from how Japan supports its 7,000 islands and their inhabitants. Thanks to the Orkney Japan Association (OJA), we’ve been learning more about that fascinating nation and its culture for several years. In March, for instance, there was a memorable series of cooking demonstrations by Japanese chef Yoshinobu Kono, as well as an introduction to furoshiki, the art of fabric wrapping.

Starting on Thursday 29th, and running till October 13th, the OJA is presenting a Mini Festival of events, most of which are free, at various locations across the county. There are several taiko drumming workshops as the Kristin Linklater Voice Centre in Quoyloo, as well as calligraphy and boroboro textile-upcycling workshops. Elsewhere there are lectures, musical theatre performances, and an exhibition.

Two films caught my shopkeeper’s eye. On Friday 30th, the Robert Rendall Building hosts Every Day a Good Day, which is built around the famous Japanese tea ceremony. While the ceremony follows strict rules and can appear off-puttingly formal to the outsider, it’s really a convivial gathering of friends, where the host exerts great effort to create a memorable experience. It starts at the gate leading down the path to the teahouse. Such is the attention to detail, that some hosts sprinkle water on the leaves of the plants on each side, to simulate morning dew.

It’s not all about tea – which, by the way, can be either ‘thick’ or ‘thin’. The host also has to devise a seasonally appropriate menu, choose beautiful plates that the food will be presented on, and make a special display in the tokonoma alcove. The tokonoma is strangely reminiscent of the ‘dressers’ of Skara Brae. It’s not a practical storage area; rather, it’s the central focus of the room, where precious objects, scrolls, or seasonal flower arrangements are placed for maximum effect. How much of this will feature on the film I don’t know. It’s not a documentary, but takes a young woman’s 24-year (yes!) apprenticeship in tea-making as a metaphor for a long journey to contentment. With the most delicious cakes ever committed to celluloid.

Also intriguing is Dad’s Lunch Box, showing at KGS on Friday 7th October at 6.00pm. This story has at its heart another Japanese culinary tradition, the bento box, a lacquer or, for children, plastic box divided into separate compartments, into which go the separate elements of a meal. Most often they’re used at lunch times. Every day millions of Japanese mothers try to pack nutrition into tempting forms for their kids, often by shaping rice, vegetables, meat and pickles into attractive patterns, or even making them look like cartoon characters, animals or people. (These food sculptures are known as charaben, short for character bento.)

As the name suggests, the traditional gender role is reversed in Dad’s Lunch Box, with the father having to learn how to make bentos for his teenage daughter. In a country that tends towards conservative views of what roles are appropriate for men and women, this is no doubt part of the film’s hook. For us, we’re likely to be at least as interested in the dad’s growing proficiency in turning rice and seaweed into realistic pandas, and ham and carrots into Hello Kitty. It's a long way from the noble, elegant tea ceremony! But it’s another demonstration of the typical Japanese thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and precision in even the most mundane of activities, that make their culture so appealing.

The three films in the mini-series are co-presented with the Japan Foundation. All are free with no booking required. The full programme is on the OJA’s Facebook page, or available by email from info@orkneyjapan.com.

Dōmo arigatōgozaimasu!

This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 27th September 2022. A new one appears weekly. I post them in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance, with added illustrations., and occasional small corrections or additions.