March 2023

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Otaru Showroom is open on Saturdays and Sundays. The window in front of the bench overlooks the Otaru Canal and Ishikari Bay. With the exception of the Ginza Showroom, all items on display in our showrooms can be purchased and taken home on the spot.

Otaru Showroom
https://www.shokunin.com/en/showroom/otaru.html

151118 2871

151118 2895

[Seiro Steaming]

When I want to cook a quick meal at home on a busy day, I sometimes steam vegetables and other ingredients that are left over in the refrigerator for a side dish. Sometimes I steam the hard-to-cook items first and add the easily cooked ones at different times, but most of the time I steam everything at once.

When you steam food in a seiro, you may be surprised at the unexpected flavors of unexpected ingredients. For example, warm inari sushi tastes juicy and somewhat comforting. Sausages are unexpectedly crispy, steamed eggs are reminiscent of "jigoku-mushi" (steaming in hell) using steam heat from a hot spring, and sweet potatoes seem to have a sweeter taste. When eating them, you can simply use salt alone, or we recommend a dressing based on shio koji or onion koji, mixed with oil (or raayu) and ponzu (Japanese citrus juice).

The following ingredients are just an example, but depending on the combination, you can make it as a side dish for lunch or even a snack for dinner at once, so please try various combinations depending on the size of your seiro and your mood that day.

(Example)
Eggs with shells well washed
Shumai (steamed pork dumplings)
Inari sushi
Sausage
Mini tomatoes
Broccoli
Sweet potato
Eringi mushroom
Chinese cabbage

*Steaming time 10-12 minutes

Adachi Shigehisa Shoten is now Niigata Prefecture's only long-established bento workshop. The company has been making seiro and sieve using techniques handed down from generation to generation. The Wappa Seiro S can be used to reheat shumai or rice for one, while the Wappa Seiro L can be used for authentic steamed dishes. Both sizes can be stacked in two layers by using a stacking seiro. We hope you will enjoy the traditional techniques that live on today at home.

Adachi Shigehisa Shoten's Wappa Seiro
https://www.shokunin.com/en/adachi/seiro.html

References
https://www.orangepage.net/shop/ec/posts/posts/4050
https://www.ienomistyle.com/trend/20210318-4850

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[Nail Care]

It's that time of year when we say "Nice to meet you" more often. Many of you must be excited about meeting new people and starting a new life. And, this season, we are all concerned about our personal appearance. There are many points to check in terms of personal appearance, such as hairstyle and clothing, but this time we looked into "nail care," the grooming of the fingertips.

Nail care has a long history, dating back to ancient Egypt in 3000 BC. At that time, the juice of the flower of the plant "henna" was used to dye nails. Henna has antibacterial properties, so it was used to prevent infections and keep the nails clean. In addition, since the colors that could be used were determined according to rank, the color of the nails also had the role of indicating rank. In China, nail dyeing was practiced by Queen Yang Gui during the Tang Dynasty. In China, there has been an aesthetic awareness of women's long nails and slender fingers since ancient times, and during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), there were ornaments called "指甲套" worn by empresses and queens in the imperial court. Nail dyeing was introduced to Japan in the Heian period (794-1185) and was done using plants such as borax and safflower.

Nail care has evolved as an extension of beauty and also played the role of a class indicator, and in recent years, there has been research into the psychological effects of nail color. According to a study conducted by Menard Cosmetics, a positive psychological effect such as "feeling uplifted" by nail coloring nails in one's favorite color was observed, and the results showed that it reduced fatigue and stress while working on a computer. I also do nail coloring from time to time, and I felt that having well-groomed nails makes me feel brighter and more positive, which leads to increased motivation, so this result made sense to me.

Wataoka's nail files are small and smooth, so you can easily perform nail care at home. Why not try nail care as part of your grooming routine and as a driving force to motivate yourself this spring?

Wataoka's Nail File
https://www.shokunin.com/en/wataoka/tsume.html
Kiya's Nail Clipper
https://www.shokunin.com/en/kiya/tsume.html
Kiya's Tweezers
https://www.shokunin.com/en/kiya/kenuki.html

References
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8D%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88
https://nihonail.com/nail/nailhowto/3285.html
https://www.fujibi.or.jp/assets/files/exhi/chijonotenkyu/chapter01_03.html
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000033.000048666.html