Taking a bite out of Japan

Essay Writing Competition 2024
Category: 8 - 11 years
- Runner-up -

"Taking a bite out of Japan" by Haru Shimazu from Japan was chosen as runner-up in the Junior category 8 - 11 years.

This article was submitted in the Kids World Travel Guide Essay Competition 2024.

Taking a bite out of Japan

"Roar!" "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" "What is that, a monster?” I shouted.

I had no idea what was going on…

Hi I’m Haru. While I'm Japanese and my parents are both from Japan, I lived in the United States for three years and now I’m back in Japan. Those three years were long enough for me to feel like an American.

Everything in Japan felt new. I couldn’t speak Japanese which made things really complicated. Many things were different from the US, for example, small kids like me were walking on their own to their activities. When I blew my nose with a tissue I couldn’t find a single trash can to throw it away even though the streets are much cleaner than in New York. That was very shocking after all, where would people put all their trash?

I was wondering, what was that roaring noise at the start of the story? Oh, now I get it.

February 3rd is a Japnanese traditional day called "Setsubun". On this day, people celebrate to mark the start of spring, just like "Groundhog day" in the US. On Setsubun, monsters called "Oni" chase you around and you have to throw beans at them. They're coming! Throw your beans! Phew, they ran away.

In my international school, three of my teachers played the Oni. At first I thought it was a bit scary. Afterwards I had lot’s of fun since the Oni didn't attack us, we won! Oni looks like a troll. They have horns on their heads and are mostly blue or red. They wear striped yellow and black pants to represent the tiger.

Do you remember the beginning of the story where someone shouts "Oni wa soto fuku wa uchi"? Well, those two sentences mean, "Oni get out, happiness in". The Oni in this sentence means bad things or bad spirits.

Speaking of beans, Japan and beans go way back when. Let me tell you about "natto". Natto is a food that was first eaten 2300 years ago! Natto is fermented soybeans. The stickiness is actually made of polyglutamic acid. That's why natto is good for your health. At first, people were accidently keeping steamed beans in a straw. Then not knowing that it was long expired, some very brave people tried the beans. Wow! it was an acquired taste. Not bad! Can you imagine what it tastes like? I love it with some scallion, soy sauce and Japanese mustard. You have to mix it more than 20 times with chopsticks to make it more sticky. I bet that you will think that it is stinky and won’t taste good but, in the end you’ll love it.

I hope that you know a bit about Japanese culture from reading my story. Now I’m pretty sure that you can’t wait to visit Japan to explore more! Even though I’m proud of being Japanese, in the future I will definitely experience other cultures and be a global citizen.

Congratulations on your essay "Taking a bite out of Japan", Haru! We enjoyed your fun essay teaching us about some of your unique Japanese traditions!

Thank you for sharing your fascinating story with us! Exploring new cultures is exciting for all of us, too! Well done!

Haru attends Tokyo International School Japan. English as First Language. Haru is bilingual English and Japanese.