The cherry blossom trees are at their peak at the moment but unfortunately, our 2020 Hanami Party has been cancelled due to the coronavirus restrictions. You will just have to make do with these photos taken this afternoon:
It would appear that my winter fertilizing and dead-heading has paid dividends. The flowers are blooming marvellous and the first signs of the cherry blossom are emerging!
 |
| Azalea |
 |
| Rhododendron |
 |
| Cherry blossom |
 |
| Rhododendron |
 |
| Azalea |
 |
| Azalea |
If anyone is able to identify the specific varieties then I would appreciate hearing from you!
Frankston Susono Friendship Association
Bulletin No. 19
September 2020
Dear Members and Friends of
FSFA,
Welcome to our old friends and
new found friends to the FSFA monthly bulletin. It is a snapshot of our
happenings and interesting things about Japan.
Don’t forget you are most
welcome to attend our monthly FSFA Executive Committee meetings.
They are held at 6.30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month. Location is the
Acacia Room in the Frankston Council Offices. Enter off Young Street. Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, our
meetings are being held online for the foreseeable future!
FSFA AGM and September
Executive Committee Meeting
Our AGM and September
Executive Committee Meetings were held on Tuesday 1st via Zoom video
conferencing. The committee discussed a range of important issues, many of
which were related to coping with the current coronavirus restrictions. The
following items were discussed:
1. Our
2020-21 Executive Committee members are Julie D’Arcy (Chairperson), Simon Hast
(Vice-Chairperson), Bev Hannan (Treasurer; Secretary & Public Officer),
Anita Cross, David Cross, Therese Sakamoto, Adrian Thomas, Sam Warrington, Vic
Webster & Helen Wilson.
A copy
of the AGM Minutes is available HERE.
Chairperson
Julie D’Arcy’s Annual Report is available HERE.
Vice-Chairperson
Simon Hast’s Video Presentation is available HERE.
2. FSFA’s
main promotional vehicles are this monthly bulletin and our social media
presence on Facebook and
via the FSFA
website. We invite you our readers to contribute articles of
interest – especially if they involve travel to Japan, delegation visits or
perhaps even hosting Japanese visitors. Please consider contributing items which
can be sent by clicking HERE.
3. No
formal communication has been received from SOFA during the past month, so
Julie will make contact to check how everything is going in Susono.
4. Our
committee again delayed making a decision on a date for our 2022 Japanese
Festival.
5. A Japanese Garden working bee has been scheduled for Sunday 11 October to plant Mondo
grass and add mulch to the garden prior to our planned Hanami Party the next
Sunday.
6. Short-term
exchange student William D’Arcy proposed the idea of including a Japanese
recipes segment in the monthly bulletin, with pictures and perhaps a brief
history of the dish.
7. General
Business – Thanks David for Zoom meetings; Sam reported on new local schools;
Bev mentioned The Age Sister Cities article; Simon flagged Japanese PM’s
resignation.
A friendship spanning 20 years
– by Adele Jones (née Hobson)
I first met Haruka Seki in
2000 when she came to Australia with her school and stayed with us for a week’s
home-stay. I was in Year 8 and I remember going down to Phillip Island with the
rest of the Frankston High host students and our new friends. When I went with
Frankston City Council as a Year 11 Ambassador for Frankston in 2003, we
visited Susono but I did not have time to visit Haruka in Tokyo. Two years
later, she came back to Australia and stayed with us a few nights, meeting my
boyfriend and reminiscing old-times with my family.
 |
| Adele and Haruka in 2000 |
The following year, I
continued my university studies in Kanazawa, Japan for three months then
embarked on a two-week solo holiday visiting my Japanese friends. I met up with
Haruka and finally got to meet her parents, who warmly welcomed me into their
home. They cooked Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki and tried out their English on
me!
Over the next 10 years, we had
not communicated much but when my family and I decided to go for a three-week
holiday to Japan last August, I was able to contact Haruka and arrange to meet
up and stay with her. Since meeting 20 years ago, we have both got married and
had children. Our children could not speak one another’s language, but they
played together as only children know how. She was so excited to re-meet my
then boyfriend who is now my husband. Haruka’s parents came over one afternoon
and it was just like it was, some 14 years earlier!
 |
| Haruka and Adele - August 2019 |
Such a long time between
seeing one another, but what a lovely friendship we have across continents.
Susono YouTube Video –
I was recently sent a link to
a 2013 All-Japan Gyōza Festival YouTube video which was held in the Fuji-san/Susono
region. The video can be viewed HERE.
Japandemonium –
Are you a fan of Japanese game
shows? Do images of The Simpsons “30 Minutes Over Tokyo” iconic episode spring
to mind? To view the best of brilliantly bonkers Japanese TV with clips of the
maddest and funniest moments ever broadcast click HERE.
懇親会: Sake Social Online
Konshinkai –
Date: Thursday 10 September 2020
Time: 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Where: Please visit HERE to register.
This is a free online event open to anyone who wants to learn more about sake. The two featured sake for the evening are from Fukushima Brewery Niida Honke. We look forward to sharing a great sake social night!
Sumo’s September Tournament in
Tokyo
The Japanese Sumo Association will
again hold its September Basho in Tokyo, the usual venue for each year’s fifth
tournament. The Association will allow 2,500 spectators into Tokyo’s Ryogoku
Kokugikan who will again be socially distanced, wearing facemasks and only
permitted to applaud the wrestlers – no cheering or shouting permitted! The
tournament will commence on Sunday 13th and conclude on Sunday 27th.
Yokozuna Hakuho and Kakuryu
are again the highest ranked rikishi followed by Ozeki Asanoyama and
Takakeisho. Former ozeki Terunofuji, who won the July tournament from the lowly
maegashira #17 ranking, has been promoted to maegashira #1. This position in the
banzuke (rankings) is considered to be one of the toughest as 10 of your 15
opponents during the tournament will be ranked higher which makes a make-koshi
(more losses than wins) a real possibility with demotion to follow.
However, I’m prepared to stick
my neck out and boldly select Terunofuji to stay healthy and win consecutive
tournaments to confirm what has been a remarkable comeback from ill health and
injury. NHK
World TV broadcasts live each of the three Sundays and airs a daily
highlights package.
FSFAves – favourite
Japanese recipes
A great idea suggested by
short-term exchange student William D’Arcy, who’s first cab off the rank:
Truly my favourite dish to
come out of Japan is the fabled Katsudon! An amazing combination of the
crunch of tonkatsu (the Japanese equivalent of a chicken schnitzel) and a
delicious sweet eggy soy sauce mixture all up on a bed of rice. What's not to
love!
It wasn't ‘til I went to
Japan on exchange that I truly came to terms with my love for this dish. Even
now back home, it’s often my go-to dish and I'm always on the prowl for it when
out and about for a meal. And it’s super easy to make!
You'll need katsu
(panko-crumbed deep-fried meat) of any kind – the norm is either chicken or
pork, but go wild! I know from first hand experience that this is a go-to meal
for mothers in Japan, with leftover katsu, a few eggs and the ever-present rice
you've got a meal in 10 minutes flat!
So, without further ado here's the recipe I follow:
1/4 cup dashi stock*
1/4 onion
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1/2 tbsp mirin
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 egg
1 piece of tonkatsu
1/2 tbsp spring onion
* Dashi stock can be hard to locate, but I found it with the miso soup in
the supermarket.
 |
| William and Ryoto outside Fushimi Inari-Taisha in Kyoto |
 |
| Ruka and William visiting Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto |
Our website http://www.frankston-susono.com/ and
Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/frankstonsusono/ will
help you stay connected to what FSFA is up to.
Upcoming Events
|
Event/Activity |
Venue |
Scheduled Date |
|
FSFA
Executive Committee Meetings |
Frankston
Council Chambers |
First
Tuesday each month @ 6.30 p.m. |
|
Japanese
Garden Working Bee |
Japanese
Garden Frankston High School |
11th
October 2020 @ 9.00 a.m. |
|
2020
Japanese Garden Hanami Party |
Japanese
Garden Frankston High School |
18th
October 2020 – 12 to 3 p.m. |
|
Australian
Fair and Susono City’s 50th Anniversary |
Susono,
Shizuoka, Japan |
Sunday
10th October 2021 |
Feedback
We welcome your thoughts on
the bulletin and things we could include, etc. We all share a passion for Japan
and its culture and traditions. This is one way we are using to share and
spread the love.
Thank You and we look forward
to keeping in touch!
Simon
Hast
On
behalf of the Frankston Susono Friendship Association
