{"id":2527,"date":"2015-02-21T11:44:41","date_gmt":"2015-02-21T02:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2015-02-21\/2527"},"modified":"2015-02-21T11:44:41","modified_gmt":"2015-02-21T02:44:41","slug":"filming-a-tv-segment-about-mochi-and-shiga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2015-02-21\/2527","title":{"rendered":"Filming a TV Segment about Mochi and Shiga"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/9, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMaking Mochi<\/span>\nfor a little TV segment\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

\u50d5\u306f\u30c6\u30ec\u30d9\u51fa\u308b\u304b\u3082\u3057\u308c\u306a\u3044\u3002\u6765\u9031\u306e\u706b\u66dc\u65e5\uff08\uff12\uff14\u65e5\uff09\u3001\u95a2\u897f\u30c6\u30ec\u30d9\u653e\u9001\u306e\u30b9\u30fc\u30d1\u30fc\u30cb\u30e5\u30fc\u30b9 \u30a2\u30f3\u30ab\u30fc<\/a>\u306e\u4e2d\n\u306e\u77ed\u3044\u90e8\u5206\u3001\u6ecb\u8cc0\u770c\u306e\u8a71\u984c\u306b\u3064\u3044\u3066\u3002\u653e\u9001\u4e88\u5b9a\u306f17:20\u301c17:45\u3067\u3059\u3002\u3088\u308d\u3057\u304f\uff01\n<\/p>\n\n

I recently had a fun experience to be part of filming a short<\/span> TV segment\nscheduled to be shown next week... it's scheduled to air on Kansai TV<\/a> on Tuesday the 24th,\nduring a bigger<\/span> news\nprogram<\/a>, sometime between 17:20 and 17:45.<\/p>\n\n

The segment was part of a larger piece on Shiga Prefecture (the “<\/span>state”<\/span> next to Kyoto) and what it has to offer,\nand why it's not as popular among foreign tourists as Kyoto. The TV station<\/span> was working with\nTour du Lac Biwa<\/a>, a tour<\/span> company that provides day excursions into Shiga,\nin English, doing all kinds of really interesting off-the-beaten-path things.<\/p>\n\n

I worked with the tour company prior to their starting business, as a\n“<\/span>test foreigner”<\/span>, to help them get their tours up to speed. I got to<\/span>\nexperience (and photograph) all kinds of fun things, and I was<\/span> in their\nRolodex when they needed someone at short notice for the TV segment.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 180 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPresenter in Action<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The presenter for the segment is radio\/TV personality “<\/span>Sunny”<\/span>, a guy<\/span>\nfrom India fluent in five languages (including English and Japanese). As he explains<\/span> above, my impeccably-dressed friend Aeron<\/a> readies himself to\nwork the mochi<\/i> mallet.<\/p>\n\n

Later it's Chris' turn...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 360 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The guy with the white hat is a farmer<\/span> who's been making mochi<\/i> for 70\nyears, and the lady in the white smock is his wife (and the young child\nseen in some of the photos is their granddaughter). They host the mochi-making\npart of a tour<\/span><\/a> at their home for the aforementioned tour company, and\nwere gracious hosts for the TV segment on making mochi<\/a>,\nwhich involves repeated pounding of cooked rice into a heavy,<\/span> sticky, chewy\npaste.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWith Gusto<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The rice is in an extremely heavy granite bowl. After each mallet blow, either a bit<\/span> of water is added\nto the rice, or the rice is folded over on itself for the next blow.<\/p>\n\n

I took a turn at the non-mallet half of the operation, while the mallet was wielded by a representative<\/span> of the local government\nwho was joining in the segment. Sadly, everyone failed to mention that my hair had the general appearance of the unholy joining\nof a Brillo<\/span> pad and Velcro. \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Each mallet blow was greeted with a great<\/span> spray of watery rice, so black was not the best color to wear for the event. The poor guy<\/span>'s suit became speckled with white, but he took it all in stride, as did I in<\/span> my speckled turtleneck.<\/p>\n\n

Then Sunny stepped in to try again...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 56mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 56mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSplat!<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I then gave it a try with the mallet, though I don't<\/span> have any photos of\nit. The farmer<\/span> himself took the second position, and with each mallet blow\nhe kept saying “<\/span>faster”<\/span>. I asked<\/span> how many broken fingers he'd had over his\n70 years, because I was<\/span> worried about adding to the count with an ill-timed\nmallet blow. I shouldn't<\/span> have doubted that he's a master.<\/span>.. the answer was\nof course zero.<\/p>\n\n

So, we got into a pretty good cadence... maybe two blows every second,\nfor what seemed like much longer than I'm sure it was. It's heavy<\/span> work!\nThat, combined with my visit to the gym later made for a well<\/span>-earned outing that evening<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Once the pounding was done, final preparations were a simple<\/span> matter...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 42mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 720 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAdding Kinako and Natto<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

As is common with mochi<\/i>, it's coated in kinako powder (crushed dried soybeans)<\/a> to keep it from sticking to your hands when you hold it.<\/p>\n\n

Mochi<\/i> can be eaten plain or with various fillings, the most common being a sweet<\/span> bean, but in this part of Shiga it's common to eat it with natto<\/a>, fermented soybeans.<\/p>\n\n

Japanese people love to offer natto<\/i> to foreigners just to see\ntheir reaction to the slimy texture and somewhat pungent aroma. I think<\/span> the\nvery presentation often prejudices the recipient against it. Personally I\nlove<\/span> natto<\/i>, and when I offer<\/span> it to someone for the first time I\ndon't<\/span> make any kind of fuss about it, to let them form their own opinion on\nits merits. More often than not they like it.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/3.5, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

We then retired to the farmer's livingroom where we ate for the camera...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 34mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nItadakimasu!<\/i><\/span>\n(“<\/span>Bon app\u00e9tit”<\/span>)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Sunny doesn't care for natto<\/i> but the rest of us enjoyed it. The\nfarmer's wife had made it personally, along with the fantastically-tasty\nveggies we were given. It was all<\/span> superb. The farmer<\/span> himself had grown the\nrice the mochi<\/i> was made from. Everything was fresh and healthful and\nexceedingly “<\/span>local”<\/span>. It was wonderful<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 40mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 35mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nInterview Continues<\/span>\nwhile I dip in for seconds on natto<\/i>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 32mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPost-Filming Refreshment<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 3600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFilled to the Unfortunate Brim<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I was a bit too late to catch the farmer offering a drink<\/span> to Chris, so I\nasked<\/span> them to recreate the moment for my camera, and in doing so Chris' cup\nwas filled to the brim. I thought<\/span> it was just simple saké, which has\nthe mild alcohol content of wine, but it turns out that it was some kind of\n70-proof spirit made with a poisonous<\/span> snake (that you can sort of see in\nthe jar in the lower left of the shot above). Poor Chris was in a bit<\/span> of a\npickle<\/span> with so much of the strong drink. I had driven<\/span> my scooter to the\nevent, so could not offer help in finishing it.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPhoto Op<\/span>\ntour-company folks with the camera and talking to Sunny\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 26mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nPhoto Op<\/span>\nTV crew taking care for a mochi<\/i> shot\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

We spent two hours for the filming, but it'll probably end up being just\na few<\/span> seconds on screen, or perhaps even zero if\nthere's some big news event that day. We'll see next Tuesday. I was interviewed<\/span> in Japanese... if any of that is\nshown, I'm sure I<\/span>'ll cringe at hearing my own\nvoice, but it was a fun<\/span> experience.<\/p>\n\n

I think the experience also highlights a wonderful<\/span> aspect of the Tour du Lac Biwa<\/a> tours, that they bring\nyou into people's actual homes and workshops for personal, intimate\nexperiences not otherwise open to the general public.<\/p>\n\n

Being able to speak Japanese let me get the most out of each experience,\nbut the tours are designed for non-Japanese-speaking (English-speaking)\ntourists, so they have an English-speaking tour conductor.\nBut, as I'm sure is common around the world, a\nwarm<\/span> smile and a welcoming<\/span> spirit need no translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u50d5\u306f\u30c6\u30ec\u30d9\u51fa\u308b\u304b\u3082\u3057\u308c\u306a\u3044\u3002\u6765\u9031\u306e\u706b\u66dc\u65e5\uff08\uff12\uff14\u65e5\uff09\u3001\u95a2\u897f\u30c6\u30ec\u30d9\u653e\u9001\u306e\u30b9\u30fc\u30d1\u30fc\u30cb\u30e5\u30fc\u30b9 \u30a2\u30f3\u30ab\u30fc\u306e\u4e2d \u306e\u77ed\u3044\u90e8\u5206\u3001\u6ecb\u8cc0\u770c\u306e\u8a71\u984c\u306b\u3064\u3044\u3066\u3002\u653e\u9001\u4e88\u5b9a\u306f17:20\u301c17:45\u3067\u3059\u3002\u3088\u308d\u3057\u304f\uff01 <\/p>

I recently had a fun experience to be part of filming a short TV segment scheduled to be shown next week... it's scheduled to air on Kansai TV on Tuesday the 24th, during a bigger news program, sometime between 17:20 and 17:45.<\/p>

The segment was part of a larger piece on Shiga Prefecture (the \"state\" next to Kyoto) and what it has to offer, and why it's not as popular among foreign tourists as Kyoto. The TV station was working with Tour du Lac Biwa, a tour company that provides day excursions into Shiga, in English, [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2527\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}