Increasing popularity of long term Japanese delicacy home delivery service

Beluna Gourmet is just one example of a one year-long food delivery contract that allows you to enjoy every month some different Japanese delicacies arranged around a certain topic. In this case it is vegetable or tofu based low-calorie dish cooked according to old traditional recipes. Depending on the month and the season a selection of 10 different delicacies are packed to be easily warmed up in a microwave for about JPY 4179 shipped to a home in Japan.
Two trends are supporting the boom of these kind of services: Increased concerns of the buyer, who wants to know from where exactly the food comes from and a desire to enjoy good healthy food without having to cook everything from scratch by themselves. More and more young housewives are supporting the first trend to allow safe food for their kids, especially since the disaster in Northeast Japan. Then more and more elderly, plus health conscious busy professionals see these delivery services a good option to bring in variety to a quick basic rice and miso soup arrangement.
I confess that I have not tried yet one of those delivery options, although I really like the concept, traveling quite a lot for business will not allow me to be always at home to pick up perishable food. If you ever had tried one of this long-term delivery services, please do let me know about your experience.

Brought to you by a in the meantime very hungry Sibylle Ito (シビル伊藤)

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As a child in what animal did you wish to be transformed?

The Nikkei Shimbun had asked recently in March 191 kids in the range of 6 to 15 years about their preferred animal they were dreaming to become if given a choice. Personally I do remember having this thought, but when stated openly everyone was complaining that I was considering a fictious animal. Actually my dream was to be a dragon as they were not only able to fly, but as well they must feel all the time warm due their fire shooting capabilities. Originally I was thinking about a penguin, but then considering the typical cold environment, I switched to a dragon. As you can see from the top 10 of the Japanese kids, no one came up with a similar idea.

1. Cat
2. Dog
3. Rabbit
4. Monkey
5. Sloth
6. Sheep, squirrel
8. Koala
9. Panda
10. Cow

As a true cats lover I am happy to see cats as number one, but at the same time, I am surprised to find rabbits, sheeps and cows listed. I would have never considered these animals to have an exciting life nor as something special. Maybe it was then already early on in my genes that I wanted to move one day to an exciting different environment and therefore had chosen an animal I could barely relate to. What was your decision as a child? What animal did you want to be?

Brought to you by Sibylle Ito (シビル伊藤)

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Where do Japanese kids want to grow up?

Because of the low temperatures in the winter in Switzerland, the climate had been always been a challenge for me – simply because I was constantly catching a cold, recovering from a cold and getting a cold again – I was dreaming to live in a warm environment or at least to have comfortable warm snow. While growing up both options had not been a choice for me, but at least later on when living in Los Angeles or now in Tokyo the cold winter temperatures are now no more such a hassle. I was wondering whether Japanese kids have the same dreams about which region they would like to live (Nikkei Shimbun survey of 200 kids in the age range from 11 to 15 years old):

1. Okinawa
2. Happy where I am living now, or then Tokyo
4. Hokkaido
5. Kanagawa
6. Kyoto
7. Chiba or Osaka
9. Shizuoka
10. Nara

63 Japanese kids crave for warmer temperatures, but more amazingly I was happy to find that 61 kids are happy where they life now. Although there is a saying that “grass looks greener on the other side” I guess apart from the ocean and warm temperature nothing beats the known present comfortable surrounding.

All the best from happily living in Tokyo,

Sibylle Ito (シビル伊藤)

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When do Japanese kids feel happy at school?

200 Japanese kids in the range of 11-15 years old were asked when they feel happy at school. The focus of the question asked by Nikkei Shimbun is not on what Japanse kids like to do at school, but goes much deeper with when they truly feel happy. Personally I remember two activities: While being about 11 years old, I loved those Saturday mornings for 30 minutes at school start (switched now in Switzerland to only 5 days per week), when our teacher was reading some Swiss history related children books. Or then later on when I was about 12, I loved the time in summer after all important exams were done, and the late afternoon classes were done outside, just beside a canal. For sure I was curious to hear what nowadays Japanese kids from the age range from 11 to 15 years old truly enjoy:

1. Playing with many friends
2. Meeting very close friends
3. Being able to chat a lot
4. Attending a school club
4. Traveling on a class trip
6. Eating school lunch
7. Having time to relax
8. Attending a small excursion
8. Participating in sports event or school play
10. Attending an interesting class

From the response above, I can only assume that classes must be truly boring, when only 17 kids expressed that they are happy to attend interesting classes (point 10). It seems to me that most enjoyable activities are not related to much learning. Although I am jealous of all the Japanese kids having learned and do remember a high level of Japanese characters, I am saddened to see that only being with friends reflects joyous time, but not necessarily time at school.

Brought to you by Sibylle Ito (シビル伊藤)

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What Japanese kids love to do with their partents

No matter where on this planet, as children grow up the range of activities they enjoy doing with their parents decreases. When children are entering adolescence the relationship within the family changes. For sure I was curious to know more about the situation in Japan. Let’s have a look what kind of activities Japanese kids from the age range of 11-15 truly like to do with their parents. According to a recent issue of the Nikkei Shimbun they had asked 200 kids in the age range from 11 to 15 years old. Their response was as following:

1. Eating out
2. Traveling together
3. Watching TV together
4. Eating together at home
4. Doing shopping together
6. Talking and having good laughs together
7. Going out to watch a movie
8. Going out to a park to play
9. Shopping together at convenient store or supermarket
9. Enjoying TV games together

Honestly I am impressed about the down to earth responses from the kids. Due to adolescence while growing up there comes the time, when a teenager tries to avoid being seen together with parents. Therefore I expected with the decrease of the starting age of adolescence to see preferred activities that can be done at home instead of being seen outside. Either the family relationship in Japan is much stronger than I expected, or then the Japanese kids do not show early on the same adolescence behavior. For sure I wish every family many happy hours spent together.

Brought to you by Sibylle Ito (シビル伊藤)

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Reasons for being jealous: Japanese kids

When you were a kid, what were your top characteristics that you were feeling envious about your friends? Was it pocket-money, clothes, popularity with friends… do you remember? In a most recent survey according to the questioned 200 Japanese kids in the age range of 10-16 the top points of concerns were much humbler than I expected (based on data from weekend Nikkei Shimbun). See the overview below:

1. Study strength
2. Ability in sports
3. Can tell interesting stories
4. Lots of friends
5. Has a lot of pocket-money
6. Cute, cool looking
7. Parents are rich
8. Tall in size
9. Posses a mobile phone
10. Can speak English

Honestly only the aspects of the financial status of the parents and the ability to speak English surprised me. While parents cannot be selected, at least I know more intensive study can help to increase the language abilities. Looking at the list above Japanese kids do not give me any worries for the future.

Brought to you by Sibylle Ito (シビル伊藤)

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When I grow up I want to …

Do you remember what your dreams and goals were when you were around 11-15 years old? I strongly believe these ideas for the future are very much influenced by the upbringing by the parents, experienced culture and educational environment. How does the situation look like in Japan? According to the Nikkei Shimbun Kids News the top desired activities for the youngsters when they have grown up are:

1. Working
2. Being married
3. Driving a car
4. Being able to buy desired products as many as desired
5. Having enough time to play games
6. Raising kids
7. Supporting parents / Doing a part-time job
9. Living on their own
10. Having enough time to watch TV

The answers above reflect the response for 200 Japanese boys and girls. Some of the responses like playing games and watching TV put a smile on my face, because it truly reflects the young age of the people asked. On the other hand, I have to say, I am surprised that 61.5% of the kids asked clearly connect being an adult with working and only 20.0% perceived a relationship between growing up and raising kids. As half of the questioned kids were Japanese girls, I had expected a higher response related to the traditional “women’s tasks”, but it seems that girls are truly changing their future outlook. These responses show less gender based dreams for the future, allowing hopefully more women in the long run more choices on what kind of future they would like to have.

Brought to you by Sibylle Ito (シビル伊藤)

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