Around Mitsukaido Station, Its Not Arigato- Its OBRIGADO !
Takara`s Brazilian Mall next to Mitsukaido Station
The Japanese word ARIGATO and the Portuguese word OBRIGADO, which both mean THANK YOU in their respective languages, can often sound uncannily alike. And since Portugal WAS the first European country to have made contact with Japan ( in 1543), and DID in fact leave several linguistic traces of its presence (not to mention the introduction of Christianity and firearms, among other things!) which continue to live on in Modern Japanese, including the words for bread- PAN, button- BOTAN, cape- KAPPA, alcohol- ARUKORU and even the word TEMPURA, it is not surprising that there are MANY who assume that ARIGATO is also a word of Portuguese origin.
And though I KNOW that the Japanese word for THANK YOU actually derives from the adjective ARIGATAI, which appears in texts as old as the 8th century MANYOSHU, and for this reason CANNOT be related to the Portuguese , whenever I hear a hearty OBRIGADO, I am taken aback by the similarity.
I have met only one or two Portuguese nationals in Japan in all my years of living here, but I have still been fortunate to have often heard the Portuguese language spoken in Japan- in its Brazilian form ( it is often said by language lovers that Brazilian Portuguese is the most beautiful of all tongues!). This is because, since the 1990`s , thousands of Brazilians, mostly with Japanese ancestry of some degree, have come to Japan to take advantage of its (once) booming economy.
They settled primarily in 3 areas. Aichi Prefecture, in the towns with Toyota related factories, in Ota City in Gunma, and- in our very own Ibaraki Prefecture, especially in Mitsukaido and Ishige (which have now merged into Joso City). While most of these immigrants were working at factories (such as Cannon) and had their own special visa status as NIKKEI-JIN, there were of course some entrepreneurs among them who went out and started up businesses of their own, many of these catering mostly to the Brazilian community.
That is why, when you drive to or get out at Mitsukaido Station (on the Joso line, which you can catch in Moriya), not only will you surely be able to catch the melifluous tones of Brazilian speech in your ears, but you will also be able to stock up on , lunch on, or just nosh on your favorite Brazilian foods and snacks. Close by the station`s exit, you will find the little mall called TAKARA, which has a supermarket, fresh bakery, and a kitchen where you can get all sorts of goodies that you cannot normally find in Japan ( or outside of Brazil for that matter).
Leila Kondo serving it up
Maybe its because I always need a little VARIETY, but sometimes I cant contol the urge to head on out to Mitsukaido (by train or car it takes less than an hour) for some Pastel or Conxinhas (these are fried pastries made from flour or casava) which might contain chicken, cheese , ham, or my favorite - palmitas (palm fruit). Leila Kondo, who is behind the counter can also whip up a tasty burger. Whatever she cooks up can be spiced up with the various sauces left out at the tables.At the supermarket, there are several things that are special- the famous Brazilian sausages (perfect for barbecues ) the cashew juice or acai juice, and the baked goods. The breads have a unique CHEWINESS which is brought about by the use of casava flour. I like the bite-sized cheese breads called pao de queijo (47 Yen), especially when eaten just out of the oven.
Cashew Juice
For those who want to try other Brazilian dishes ( including the famous feijao, a hearty and flavorfull bean and meat stew, or sit down for a bigger,more leisurely meal, a short walk around the corner will take you to the restaurant OPCAO. There you can expect your stomach to be more than comfortably weighed down, while your wallet is hardly lightened at all.
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Immigration to Brazil from Japan began back in 1908 when close to 800 Japanese sailed to the port of Santos (half the expense having been paid by the State of Sao Paolo) to work on the coffee plantations. Over the next 70 years, about a quarter of a million Japanese settled in Brazil as contract labourers or more rarely, as independant farmers. The large majority settled in the State of Sao Paolo and the remainder in the States of Parana and Para. Naturally, there was a trend for later genrations to head to the cities and go into other trades and professions. In Japan`s booming late 80`s and through the 90`s , some of the descendants of these immigrants (and sometimes their spouses) came back to their ancestral homeland , though they have tended to stick together, forming an intersting subculture in Japan.
Freshly baked Brazilian breads
If you need a little variety , why not take half a day to spice up your life with a little Brazilian food around Mitsukaido Station.
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Baking Ingredients
This post might be interesting for those of you into baking out there. Many bakeries are willing to sell ingredients for your baking needs. For the most part, all you have to do is ask!
One particular bakery in Tsukuba (and Moriya), Couronne, readily sells ingredients to customers. Upon request you can get a list of materials up for sale. Peanut butter, flour (all types), chocolate chips, baking powder, dry and wet yeast, dried cranberries, whipped cream, block-style cheese, mixed meltable-type cheese, generic and Kiri cream cheese, almonds, walnuts, pecans...and so on!
The organic bread shops in Amakubo and Kasuga sell 100% whole wheat flour on request. It is much cheaper (and perhaps higher quality) than the whole wheat you can find at supermarkets around here.
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Charming Family Bakery: David Pain
I saw an article about a bakery called David Pain (pain means bread in French, so it's pronounced like "pan", not "pain") in the latest Tsukuba Style magazine, so I thought I would go and check it out. The bakery is located in the far south of Tsukuba, near the intersection of the Route 6 bypass and Route 408 (Address: Makizono 7-11, Tsukuba).
The bakery is run by David and his wife, with some help from their little baby. David hails from Corsica, and he and his wife met in Paris.
I am not a bread specialist, but I know what I like, and I found the bread at David Pain to be excellent. My favourite was a unique roll made by David called "Campignon" (at least I think that was what it was called). It was a tiny little roll but it packed a powerful taste of cheese, bacon and nuts.
I liked the atmosphere at the bakery and found it easy to talk to David and his wife, but my favourite thing about the bakery was that they did not individually wrap every single item that I bought individually in plastic bags. They gave me a nice paper bag and put all of my purchases inside. I think the Tsukuba community should support bakeries that promote sensible bagging!
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Daily Victuals – Online German Bread Shop
As a resident of Tsukuba for more than four years now, I have always wondered about where I can find various ingredients for making home like recipes. As a Romanian, I was used to usually having Feta-style cheese and bread as staple foods and for a few good years now I have come to like dark or whole wheat bread. So, here are some of the little discoveries I have made during my quest for such bread.
One thing is the difference between the types of bread people eat. In my home country, we do not usually use eggs, milk and sugar for making the bread used to accompany daily meals. The only ingredients used are flour, water, yeast and salt. This in view of Australians (the source of my information, although I am assuming this might apply to others coming from an English speaking background) is called sour-dough type bread. So, when I was looking for a place selling bread, this is what I wanted and not the dessert breads or anything usually sold in bakeries in Japan.
Recently I was recommended a shop that has a variety of German-style breads and delivers to your home door. You can access it here (http://www.kornblume.co.jp/scb/shop/shop.cgi). There are ten varieties of bread and in my experience the bread ordered was really dense and of a fairly big size. What I ordered were the Weizen-Sesambrot, the Fruchtebrot, and the Heildelberger Mischbrot. The Fruchtebrot has some cinnamon and the flavour was a bit too strong for my taste. Yet, the other two were the perfect bread to make sandwiches with ham, cheese, lettuce, olives... and so on.
The delivered package.
Since the delivery costs 600 yen, I preferred to order more and then cut the breads and put them in the freezer. The order needs to be placed for a specific date and time, no earlier than two days from the time of ordering. Since it is a perishable product, I do not know what happens if you miss the delivery time, but I liked the care the shop took in wrapping the bread - adapted obviously to the Japanese market. The website has no English version and shop seems to be a small one that originated in Mie prefecture, although it seems to have a branch in Tokyo. More information on the shop and maps with locations can be found at: http://www.kornblume.co.jp/alia/shopdata.htm.
Recently I did not feel like ordering from "afar", so I have been buying bread from Brotzeit and the shop on the first floor of Seibu in Tsukuba. Each of these has whole-wheat bread or rye bread and the one in Tsukuba centre has a fruit bread that I really like. In the case of deserts-like breads or sandwiches my favourite is Le Pan Gris Gris. Both Brotzeit and Le Pan Gris Gris are family businesses and have been previously discussed about on Tsukublog or Alien Times (for more about them, see the links below).
Perhaps you are not so desperate as me to have a particular kind of bread, but if you are, I hope this helps.
Links to articles related to bread:
http://blog.alientimes.org/2008/02/germany-bakery-in-tsukuba-backerei-brotzeit/
http://www.alientimes.org/Main/BakeryReviewGrisGris
Or here is a link discussing the Brotzeit backery.
http://tsukuba.wikia.com/wiki/Backerei_Brotzeit
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German Bakery in Tsukuba: Backerei Brõtzeit
Backerei Brõtzeit is a German bakery that is located near the University of Tsukuba. I found out about it through an ad on the TAIRA mailing list and thought that I would go and check it out. I was very happy to see that they had yummy, thick rye breads (made from 100% organic rye) with or without walnuts and raisins, various specialty breads covered in a variety of toppings such as cheese, mushrooms, and green soybean paste, and baguettes and other kinds of rolls. All of the breads I bought were tasty. If you are in the area, I recommend dropping by. The owner was happy to tell me about the composition of the breads and was even able to translate "sourdough" into French for the friend who came with me.
Directions
Go north from Tsuchiura Gakuen-sen on Higashi Odori until you reach the intersection with Aji no Mingei on your right and Cocos/El Torito on your left. Turn right at that intersection and follow the road past the first intersection. Backerei Brõtzeit is on your left. If you reach the park, you have gone too far.
Open from 7:00am – 6:00pm, most days. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Address: Amakubo 2-10-20 (close to the University of Tsukuba)
Tel: 029-859-3737
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