Japanese beer giant Asahi buys British London Pride brewery; U.K. writer hopping mad

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J SoraNews24

Would a London Pride beer brewed in the same location under Japanese management still taste as patriotic? Both sides weigh in.

If you say “Japanese beer”, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Probably Asahi – one of the most emblematic beers of the country, known for being super dry and not to be confused with the British fashion line that its catchphrase inspired.

Well, now it’s Asahi’s turn to pay Britain back. In a 250,000,000 pound deal (US$326,725,000) the drink conglomerate swooped in to buy the U.K.’s Fuller, Smith and Turner PLC, and all the brands and distributions of soft drinks, beers and ciders that go along with it. Most notable in the acquisition is Fuller’s London Pride beer, the brewery’s flagship beer since 1958.

Another 365 days of toil, craft and love have gone into making every London Pride beer. Here's to the next 365. https://t.co/ObUXzip19U

—
London Pride (@London_Pride) December 31, 2018

With balanced levels of malt and hops, the London Pride is a pleasant pale ale with a medium strength. Asahi Beer has promised to continue brewing the ale out of the Fuller’s famous Griffin brewery in Chiswick, first established in 1845. Regardless of whether the taste changes or stays the same, there’s something else at risk: the drink’s image of national pride, which is mixed into the drink’s very name and branding.

Alex Brummer, in a distressed article for the Daily Mail, claimed that the buyout was a case of “yet another foreign predator” stripping the assets of home-grown British corporations. Describing Asahi as “acquisitive” and implying it to be one of many “big, characterless, mass-market brewers”, Brummer bemoaned the shrinking number of British breweries and implored Asahi to maintain the quality expected of Fuller’s so that Britain could “remain a land of long shadows on county cricket grounds, invincible green suburbs and warm beer.”

Upon hearing the backlash from homegrown news outlets, commenters in Japan had all manner of reactions.

“I’ve literally never heard of London Pride in my life.”
“They should be thanking them! It’s a good thing a Japanese company bought them up! What, they’d rather it be a German or Chinese company? If a Japanese company didn’t buy them, I can’t imagine they’d end up doing anything but go bankrupt.”
“They’re gonna make it so dry.”
“I kind of understand their shock. If some foreign conglomerate bought up a classic, established Japanese sake brewery we’d all be upset, too. But I feel like we’d forgive a German company for doing it, while we might feel resentful if it were a Chinese company. I wonder how the British feel about a Japanese company…? Is it more like our attitude towards Germany or China…?”
“I kinda wanna try this beer now.”

For what it’s worth, many Japanese people have a genuine interest in authentic British cuisine and culture, so it really is in Asahi’s best interest to preserve the traditional brewing technique for future generations. The greatest change seems to be that they’ll now be selling their own beers via Asahi Europe in places where Fuller’s beers, ciders and soft beverages are currently sold in the U.K. Sadly, it’s still very unlikely we’ll see any of Asahi’s more niche soft drinks make the trip with them.

Source: Yurukuyaru via My Game News Flash, Daily Mail Online
Featured image: Twitter/@London_Pride

Film about Japanese-Russian POW romance gets crowdfunding project for screening in Russia

http://bit.ly/2RuuhWv Kay

In an age fraught with international tensions, a new movie co-produced by Russia and Japan sends a powerful message that love transcends language and borders.

A beautiful yet tragic love story has always been as good a way as any to tug at audiences’ hearts, and it looks like a collaborative creative effort between Russia and Japan has produced just such a movie. The film, titled Sorokin no Mita Sakura (“The Sakura that Sorokin Saw”), is a love story set in the city of Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture on the Japanese island of Shikoku against the historical backdrop of the Russo-Japanese War.

▼ Trialer for The Sakura that Sorokin Saw

The movie is centered around the romance between a Russian soldier and a Japanese nurse who find themselves on opposing sides of the war (yes, the premise may be a bit clichéd, but we’re sure it still works more than well enough as a tear-jerker), and the film has been described as a “Romeo and Juliet story of the Russo-Japanese War”.

The star-crossed lovers are portrayed by Japanese actress Junko Abe, who plays the nurse Yui, and Russian actor Rodion Galyuchenko, who plays the Russian soldier Sorokin who meets Yui as a POW at a camp in Matsuyama City.

▼ Junko Abe looks beautiful as Yui, who works as a nurse at a POW camp for Russian soldiers.

▼ Rodion Galyuchenko is the Russian soldier Sorokin who is placed in the POW camp and finds himself deeply touched by Yui’s compassionate care.

The story is told as a piece of history uncovered by one of Yui’s modern-day descendants, a young TV director named Sakurako, who is also played by Junko Abe. What makes the movie particularly interesting is its historical setting. The Russo-Japanese War, which took place from 1904 to 1905, came at a time when Japan was trying to turn itself into a “modern” nation, and during the war, Japan made efforts to treat Russian POWs humanely. Nearly 70,000 Russian POWs were reportedly brought to Japan during this time and placed in close to 30 camps across Japan.

The city of Matsuyama, where Yui and Sorokin’s story takes place, is actually where the first of such Russian POW camps was established in Japan, and while the love story is fiction, it is indeed historically true that the prisoners there were treated relatively well. The Russian prisoners received decent food and were allowed a good amount of freedom including taking baths in hot springs or buying alcohol at local stores. They were also provided at times with entertainment such as sumo wrestling and bicycle racing and, in some cases, educational opportunities as well. As a result, there was significant interaction between the Russian prisoners and the local population of Matsuyama, and the city even experienced a small economic boom during the period.

▼ The movie promises some magnificent views of the sakura trees in bloom.

The movie is slated for release in Japan on March 22 (March 16 in Ehime Prefecture, where Matsuyama is located), just in time for the cherry blossom season. With all the unrest and uncertainty in the world today, now feels as good a time as any for a movie portraying good will and love between people from opposing countries.

What’s even more exciting is that a crowdfunding project has been set up to show the movie in Russia as a gesture of friendship between the two countries. The project is currently near its finishing date and is very close to reaching its goal amount of 2,000,000 yen (US$18,300) but fortunately int this case, it’s already been pledged that the film will be screened in Russia regardless of whether the goal amount is reached.

▼ Here’s a tweet announcing the crowdfunding project:

＼クラウドファンディング終了まであと10日／ クラウドファンディング終了まで残り10日となりました！（2019年1月31日まで）ご支援いただいた方は、映画公式パンフレットへお名前が掲載されます✨ 引き続き、皆さまのご支援、応援をよ… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

—
映画『ソローキンの見た桜』 (@sorokin_movie) January 21, 2019

From what we can tell, the movie seems to be an ambitious piece of work that combines dramatic entertainment with a bit of history to send a powerful message that love and compassion can persevere even under the most trying of circumstances. Hopefully the screening in Russia is a success and the movie is well-received, because if a movie can entertain and also generate international good will at the same time, then it’s definitely a winner in our books!

Source: Sorokin no Mita Sakura official website, Mirai Shopping crowdfunding site
Top image: YouTube/HEISEIPROJECT
Insert images: Sorokin no Mita Sakura official website, Mirai Shopping crowdfunding site

Let’s make some French cuisine using two bucks worth of junk food from the convenience store!

http://bit.ly/2RYP8Gu Master Blaster

This dish made with a cheese stick and Pringles pairs well with a nice Auvergne red.

Jagariko is a beloved Japanese snack food made of reconstituted potatoes formed into delicious little crispy sticks. But cheap and easy snacking is apparently just one part of what makes Jagariko great.

According to a tweet by culinary YouTuber and author Ryuji (@ore825), it can be used to easily create the French dish known as Aligot. Aligot is a cross between mashed potatoes and cheese fondue originating in the south of France. It might sound overwhelming to some, but Ryuji assures all that it couldn’t be easier to create what he has dubbed “Jaga-Aligot.”

恐ろしく簡単に今流行りのフランスの伸びるチーズマッシュポテト「アリゴ」をじゃがりこで錬成することに成功しました 「じゃがアリゴ」 じゃがりこ一個に塩とさけるチーズ一本裂いて入れ熱湯150cc入れ蓋し数分待ち混ぜるだけ じゃが… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

—
リュウジ@料理のおにいさん (@ore825) January 28, 2019

To start all you need is a cup of Jagariko and a mozzarella stick, both of which can be bought from most convenience stores for around 149 yen (US$1.36) and 113 yen ($1) respectively. Ryuji’s pictures used cheese-flavored Jagariko so I did the same, but other kinds might work too.

The first step is to peel the cheese stick and spread it over the potato sticks. To be honest, this was surprisingly a bit of a hassle and got me wondering if making actual mashed potatoes would take the same amount of effort.

Next, I added some hot water. Ryuji doesn’t say it needs to be boiling and told another Twitter user that microwaved water ought to work. As for me, I just used some hot water out of the office water cooler.

Ryuji says to add 150 milliliters (five ounces), but I couldn’t be bothered to find a measuring cup and just eye-balled it. If I may be frank, I’m something of an expert at cooking.

▼ Stand back. Gastronomist at work.

However, just after pouring, tragedy struck. In my excitement I forgot to get a fork, spoon, or chopstick for mixing it all together. It took me about a minute to find one and rinse it off before going onto the next step.

This might have proved fatal, because by the time I returned, the cheese seemed to have congealed into a big ball.

Nevertheless I moved on, but it wasn’t long before I noticed that the whole mixture was way too wet. It was more like a soup than creamy mashed potatoes and cheese.

At this point I was panicking, worried that I screwed the whole thing up. However, I kept my cool and immediately began bailing out water.

▼ No prob. Got this all under control.

I went back to the mix which now seemed to have a better consistency, but that solid wad of cheese remained. It was going to take some hard stirring to blend that in so I lifted my elbow and really went to town on it.

When the dust had settled, it actually looked okay!

The cheese was a little hard, but the Jagariko had broken down into a convincing copy of mashed potatoes.

Even better, the closer I got to the bottom the more like real mashed potatoes it tasted. It had a surprising buttery flavor that mixed with the cheese in a delectable way. Ryuji, you magnificent bastard, you’ve done it!

So, Jaga-Aligot was a success, if not without a few crises along the way. If you try this as well, I recommend measuring out the water more carefully and breaking the mozzarella stick into smaller bits before adding water (using a knife would probably help speed that up).

This is all well and good for those living in Japan, but Jagariko might be hard to come by in other countries, so is there another way?

To find out, I also purchased a small can of Pringles. This was to be a dangerous mission because Pring-Aligot has never been attempted before, and because eating too many Pringles has been known to give me a wicked tummy-ache.

They didn’t have cheese flavored so I got Sour Cream, and also went with a smoky flavored cheese stick this time around too. The amount of potato in the Pringles seemed roughly the same, so I pretty much went with the same quantity of cheese and water again.

▼ That can size is quite misleading, but luckily this was just the right amount of chips for this particular experiment

▼ It also gave me plenty of room to add the cheese comfortably

Now, you’d think I’d have learned my lesson and gotten a measuring cup, but no…and I have no excuses for this behavior.

▼ I told you all to stand back.

A powerful waft of sour cream aroma emerged and I began stirring vigorously right away to avoid having the cheese reassimilate like last time. It seemed to work and the cheese was much smoother and more evenly spread throughout.

The Pringles, on the other hand, appeared to be slightly more resilient to breaking down and little chunks remained no matter how much I stirred.

After about three minutes I said to hell with it, and started eating. Luckily, the lumps were more visual than textural, and the Pringles tasted very creamy. Actually, it was as if the chips had disappeared, almost completely merging with the cheese.

I think this was closer to the consistency of real aligot, whether that had to do with the Pringles or my improved timing isn’t clear though. At any rate, it seems as if this dish can be concocted with either Jagariko or Pringles, but Jagariko seemed to result in a more fluffy and potatoey aligot, whereas Pringles led to a cheesier creation.

Regardless of the way you make it, Jaga-Aligot is a rousing success and sure to be a perfect addition to that next romantic dinner you have planned.

Source: Twitter/@ore825
Photos ©SoraNews24

How women can shoot down dessert dates before they’re even invited, according to Japanese Twitter

http://bit.ly/2MHJByi Casey Baseel

It’s all in how you answer “What kind of sweets do you like?”

Japan is a country that loves sweets and loves to eat out, and so it’s also a country that’s absolutely packed with dessert cafes. These eateries are particularly popular with young women, and while that’s great for satisfying a sweet tooth, it can also lead to some awkward social interactions.

As Japanese Twitter user @epneur recently mentioned, it’s not unusual for guys to ask women they’re attracted to out on a date if they happen to know a good cafe that specializes in whatever kind of dessert she’s especially fond of, whether it’s cake, parfaits, pancakes, or matcha sweets. Of course, if the woman isn’t attracted to the guy, she’s then stuck having to shoot him down, so it’d be simpler if there was a way to prevent the guy from making the invitation in the first place, which is where @epneur’s tweet comes in.

女性は好きなスイーツなりお菓子を男性に聞かれた時に「グミ」と答えると「じゃあ◯◯行こうよ」って誘われずに済む。なぜならグミ屋さんは存在しないからだ。 これがマカロンとかケーキとかタピオカとかだとそのまま誘われて、断るのが面倒とい… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

—
Teruaki Aso (@epneur) January 27, 2019

“If a guy asks a girl what kind of sweets she likes, and she says ‘gummies,’ she can end the conversation without him saying, ‘Oh, then we should go get some at this place I know,’ because there aren’t any gummy cafes.

If you tell him you like cake, macaroons, boba tapioca tea, or something like that, he’ll say he knows a place, and then you’ll have to turn him down, and those kinds of conversations can be a pain.

I just learned about this technique today.”

@epneur doesn’t specify exactly how he learned about this method of indirect rejection (possibly someone used it on him), but in any case, the theory made sense to many online commenters, who reacted with:

“So if she says ‘gummies,’ then I’ve got no chance.”
“You know, recently I’ve noticed that a lot of the girls I meet say they’re really into gummies. Now I know why.”
“I always tell guys I’m really into pickled plums.”
“When it’s a guy I don’t want to ask me out, I tell him I used to like some kind of candy that’s been discontinued.”

However, more than a few commenters pointed out that while gummies are hard to find in Japanese cafes, they’re readily available as pre-packaged snacks, and that a guy might still respond with “OK, let’s go get some gummies together at the convenience store!” In that case, if she’s really not interested in the invitation, she’ll probably just have to bite the bullet and give a rejection that’s firmer than the chewy candies.

Source: Twitter/@epneur via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso

Mr Sato steps inside the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tokyo【Photos】

http://bit.ly/2Uu1KCc Oona McGee

A number of embassies in Japan are opening their doors to the public for a limited time. 

Tokyo’s Minato Ward is home to a large number of foreign embassies, and while many of them are heavily guarded and off-limits to the general public, there’s now a special offer that lets you step inside their gates for a limited time.

Called the Minato City World Festival, the new promotion is being run as a stamp rally, allowing people to gain entry to several foreign centres and institutes, and a total of 33 embassies from countries like Bolivia, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Lesotho, Uzbekistan, and El Salvador.

▼ Holders of this special stamp rally “passport” will be able to step foot on foreign soil without leaving Tokyo.

As soon as our Japanese-language reporter Mr Sato heard about the campaign, he took a look at the list of embassies on the list and decided he’d like to take a trip to Afghanistan. So after picking up one of the stamp rally passports, which are available at various institutions around Minato, including stores in the Azabu Juban shopping district, he hopped on a train and arrived at the doors of the embassy.

One of the requirements for all visitors taking part in the campaign is to show a form of photo ID upon entry, so after whipping out his driver’s license, Mr Sato was ushered inside and onto Afghan soil. While he was tempted to let his fun and playful side run loose on the grounds of the embassy, Mr Sato decided to compose himself and stay on the right side of the law, given that he was now outside of Japan’s jurisdiction.

Some of the embassies taking part in the World Festival require visitors to call a designated call centre to make a booking ahead of their visit, and attend on certain dates and times. Mr Sato went through this procedure before visiting the Embassy of Afghanistan, which meant staff were ready to give an introductory presentation in Japanese to attendees.

▼ Mr Sato was surprised to learn that New Year’s Day falls on March 20 this year, according to the Afghan calendar.

After learning about Afghanistan and their work at the embassy in Japan, Mr Sato was able to stroll through the halls and a luxurious looking room which had been set up with various display pieces.

▼ Mr Sato was particularly drawn to this interesting page of script attached to an animal pelt.

Everything he saw, including furnishings, decor and national costume displays, really made Mr. Sato feel as if he’d left Japan and gone to Afghanistan.

When he went up to the rooftop area of the embassy, though, he was once again reminded of the country he was really in, as the gorgeous outdoor terrace came with a stunning view of Tokyo Tower.

▼ The other side of the terrace had a beautiful view of the city.

Visitors were also offered cups of tea, which helped to warm our reporter up on the cold winter’s day. Even that was a memorable experience in itself, as it was a tasty brew that Mr Sato wasn’t familiar with.

After enjoying his cup of tea, Mr Sato left no stone unturned in his exploration of the visitors’ access areas, taking a trip to the bathroom, which had an air of foreign charm about it.

With that, he left the embassy feeling like he’d learned a lot about Afghanistan and its culture and people, which is one of the aims of the Minato City World Festival. And as he made his way back to the station, he made another discovery, coming across the Geodetic Datum Origin of Japan, which is the point used to locate Japan on Earth.

The Minato City World Festival is a great way to get out and about and learn more about Tokyo, and the foreign people and embassies that reside within it. While the official website has all the necessary information regarding open times and pre-visit reservation requirements, it is all in Japanese, so you might want to ask a Japanese speaker to help you out with the details. It’s also important to note that the organisers request that people refrain from calling individual embassies in relation to the campaign.

If you do decide to visit the Embassy of Afghanistan, you might want to ask them about the work that the Japanese Embassy is doing in their homeland, and keep an eye out to see if they still have their copy of the Saint Onisan manga somewhere on the premises.

Photos © SoraNews24