#Matsutake works

[kcirelovsstarz1]

Eiji's Halloween costume!!!! (｡･ω･)ﾉﾞ

[hana-uranai]

Cookie's officially joined Matsutake Works it's my lucky day

[rebeccathenaturalist]

*deep breath* This, folks, is EXACTLY why I am writing The Everyday Naturalist. Because it's not enough to have an app. You HAVE to know how to use multiple identification tools and have keen observational skills if you are going to safely forage or otherwise identify things in nature.

Here's the deal. Apps are a tool. They are not infallible, and they should never, ever, EVER be your only tool for identifying mushrooms and other organisms. This goes even moreso for when you're trying to determine whether something is edible or not. I go into more detail about why apps should never be used by themselves in this article that I wrote a few months back, but let's explore a bit more about how an app works.

Any identification app has access to a particular database of pictures and other information for various species. In the case of my favorite app, iNaturalist, it draws from the over 156 million (and growing) observations of animals, plants, fungi, and other living beings that have been uploaded to it over the years.

When you upload a photo to an app, your phone usually inputs the date, time, and GPS location automatically, though these can be updated manually if need be. Then the app's algorithms sift through the database looking for species that are found in the same location at the same time of year, and which have similar photos.

Notice that I said SIMILAR, not identical. Many organisms, to include many fungi, have varying appearances based on subspecies, life stage, and other factors. And there are a lot of species that have close lookalikes, whether we're talking birds, wildflowers, mushrooms, etc.

So the algorithms then use their search results to give you their suggestion(s) of what most closely resembles the organism you are trying to identify. Some give you one answer; others, like iNaturalist, offer you a list to choose from, and may also qualify their response with "We're not sure, but these were found nearby" or something similar. The first one on the list is NOT always going to be the correct answer. However, the app doesn't have reasoning skills, and all it can do is play match-up and then produce suggestions based on that. (Yes, other iNaturalist users can come along and comment on your observations once you've uploaded and saved them, but you always want to carefully assess their claims, too.)

There are several toxic mushrooms that are implicated in poisonings on a regular basis; among them are what I call the "deadly Amanitas": the death cap (Amanita phalloides) and the destroying angels (A. bisporigera, A. ocreata, and A. verna.) In addition to these species' respective native ranges in Europe and North America, some have managed to make their way to other parts of the world. This includes in Australia, where there is a current investigation underway over a woman who fed several family members deadly Amanitas, three of whom have died.

These poisonous mushrooms have several edible lookalikes. As one example, while matsutakes (Tricholoma matsutake) are often brown, they may sometimes appear white, especially if the brown layer has peeled off. And field mushrooms (Agaricus spp, especially A. bisporus and A. campestris) are also large white mushrooms, though their gills and spores tend to be brown rather than the white of Amanita species.

Still, someone taking a picture of a large white mushroom--especially if they neglect to take another picture of the gills (the more pictures you take, the better)--could easily end up with an app telling them an Amanita is an Agaricus. Or they might read that some people think it's safe to eat Amanita muscaria if you parboil it long enough, and assume that other Amanita species are the same way (one of MANY reasons I do not advocate for treating A. muscaria as an edible.)

So--again--DO NOT USE APPS AS YOUR ONLY ID TOOL. Use them in conjunction with multiple field guides, websites, other foragers, etc. Practice using these tools and developing a critical eye before you go out foraging. Be super cautious, and when in doubt, throw it out.

And my inbox is ALWAYS open, as is my email (rebeccathenaturalist(at)gmail(dot)com.) You can ALWAYS email me with questions about field guides, apps, and other resources, and I am also happy to look at pictures of mushrooms (and other living beings) you're trying to identify, whether edible or not. You might need to give me a few days to reply, but I will get back to you. Don't use ME as your only source, either; I'm just one person. But I can point you to online groups that are also good resources.

[alittlepudge-neverhurtnobody]

kinktober #25

Olympian 🏛️ / Kaiju Attack! 🐙

It's been a little over a month since the restaurant reopened when Mako spies him through the little window between the front and back of house. Blond hair, pale skin, navy sweater — she’s seen his headshot on every review he’s ever done.

“Hey,” she says, grabbing Newt the next time she sees him. “I’ll take out table five’s food when it’s ready. Leave it to me.”

Newt squints at her, then stands on his toes and peers through the little window. “You know him?”

“That’s him,” she says, widening her eyes. “Becket.”

Newt looks at her blankly. “The critic,” she says impatiently. “From the Jaeger.”

“Oh, your guy?” Mako nods. “Huh. Thought he’d look a little edgier. Yeah, I’ll leave his food for you. Want me to give him some complimentary sake or something, warm him up a little?”

“No!” says Mako, and Newt grins. “No, I want his honest opinion. Not his opinion after one of your sake pours.”

“All right, all right,” says Newt, holding up his hands. His vibrant movie-monster tattoos practically glow against his crisp white waitstaff button-down. He’s not supposed to have the sleeves rolled up, but Mako’s already gotten tired of reprimanding him for it when it never works. Sensei might have been more militant about it, but Mako can’t bring herself to care that much. She’s got bigger fish to filet, like the fact that her favorite food writer is sitting just through the door.

She slices and rolls with practiced precision as she waits for Newt to pop back in with Becket’s order. She’s been reading the Jaeger for the better part of five years, studying what factors merit a good review and what factors have tanked restaurants she otherwise respected. She’s spent ages dreaming up her own omakase lineup, how she’d introduce each dish and what flavors she would include, and she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t imagined how she would present it to Becket, specifically. She’s even imagined what he might say to review it, praising her use of seasonal produce to enhance the menu — chirashizushi with salmon and braised pumpkin, carrot, and burdock root— or her take on Edomae-style comfort food —- marinated tuna and conger eel donburi with akazu, shiso bamboo shoots, and shredded egg crepe —- or her unconventional use of traditional ingredients — a totally vegetarian hand roll with miso-marinated grilled Japanese eggplant and matsutake mushrooms that has won over even the staunchest sushi purists.

Newt makes a beeline for Mako the instant he comes through the swinging doors. She raises her eyebrows expectantly, and Newt says, “He ordered karaage and ramen.”

Ten years of omakase menu plans crash down around Mako’s slip-resistant boots. “What?”

Newt shrugs. “I talked up your menu! I even mentioned the wagyu tataki and daikon salad. But no. He was pretty confident that he wanted ramen.”

“Which one?”

“Spicy tan-tan.” Newt shrugs. “He asked for it with everything, as hot as possible. He’s not a coward. You still want to bring it out?”

Mako purses her lips. Their tan-tan ramen is hot, and the menu makes that clear. “I guess so. It might be my only chance to ask what his problem is.”

She stews while the kitchen prepares Becket’s ramen. He’s reviewed every other omakase in the city, but he comes in here and orders ramen? Does he think her place is too offbeat or too new to have perfected an omakase menu worth his time? And who made him the expert, anyway?

She pauses in chopping carrots and takes a deep breath, trying to find Sensei’s voice amid the boiling in her brain and focus on it. He wouldn’t let this get to him. Sensei put in the training; he taught her practically everything he knows. He’d never cared about reviews, just that he was making good food that people enjoyed. He’d be confident enough in his own expertise not to worry what some white guy thought. So too will Mako.

She carries Becket’s food out carefully and sets it in front of him. “Tan-tan ramen,” she says, bowing her head. “For the critic.”

Becket smiles ruefully. “You recognized me, huh.” It’s strange seeing him in person after reading so much of his voice online: he’s a real person, a flush in his cheeks and a few more pounds on him than in his headshot. His jaw isn’t as sharp, his frame broad and soft, folded over the little two-top in the corner.

“Mako Mori,” she says, extending her hand to him. “I own Kaiju now. I’ve been reading your work for a long time.”

He shakes her hand, his own skin warm and a little rough, though his face falls a bit, unexpectedly. “Raleigh Becket, but you know that. Is Stacker Pentecost still here?”

She takes a step back at Sensei’s name. “He passed a little over a year ago. I’m his daughter. I took over after some renovation.”

“Oh,” says Becket. “I’m sorry to hear that. He was an incredible chef.”

“He was,” Mako agrees, and the follow-up question burns on her tongue: Then why have you never reviewed us?

But Becket sounds genuinely saddened by the news of Sensei’s death, and it throws her off her game just enough to feel uncomfortable actually asking. “I’ll leave you to it,” she says. “Please, let me know what you think.”

But Becket leaves without a word, several bills shoved beneath his plate before she or Newt can even duck back out with a check. He overpays, but it doesn’t get the sour taste out of her mouth.

—

Mako keeps an eye on the Jaeger page for her review. When it doesn’t appear after a week, she sets a Google alert and tries to forget about it. But no alerts come in, and she starts dreading that it ever will. Surely so much time between his dining experience and his review can’t be a good thing? Or maybe he’s got a long backlog of stories queued up and hers won’t be published for months still. Or maybe he doesn’t review places where he actually talks to the chef. Or maybe —

“He’s here again,” says Newt one night, maybe a month later. “Your man from the Jaeger.”

Mako’s heart tries to sink and leap at the same time and instead skips a few beats altogether. “He’s back?”

Newt nods. “Guess what he ordered.”

She frowns. “Ramen again?”

“Yup. Kara miso this time. And takoyaki. That’s progress, eh?”

“I’ll take it out to him,” she says, setting down her knife and taking a long sip of water from the plastic quart container that she’s marked as her own with a little cat doodle on the bottom, its ears forming an M. “Give him the extra sauce for the takoyaki. If he ordered the tan-tan last time, he can handle it.”

“You got it.” Newt salutes and hurries off, and she takes another sip of water, brushing her bangs back from her forehead with her wrist.

Becket is wearing another sweater when she goes out with his order, though this one is oatmeal-colored and intricately cable-knit. It’s been so long since Mako has knit anything; the last thing she wants to do when she gets home is another fiddly thing with her hands, but his sweater’s cable has a pattern like a fishtail and it makes her fingers itch to figure out how to recreate it.

He half-smiles when he sees her, his round cheeks pink. “Chef,” he says, nodding, and she returns the nod with the barest trace of a smile.

“Your ramen,” she says. “What did you think of the takoyaki sauce?”

His eyes light up. “The citrus one? Amazing. Was that — blood orange? And togarashi?”

“Yes,” she says, surprised. “And some pickled ginger.”

“Yes!” he says, grinning, and for a moment her guard drops and she grins back. “You don’t bottle that, do you?”

“No,” she says. “It’s a Kaiju exclusive. And you have to ask for it. I only trust certain people to appreciate it.”

“Well, I’m honored to be one of them,” he says, and when she goes back into the kitchen, she dices vegetables like a madwoman as she tries to process the interaction. What is his deal? He can’t just come in here and appreciate her flavors and light up about her food and then not review her. That’s counterintuitive to the whole process. He’s supposed to leave the restaurant already bursting with adjectives and metaphors to tell the Jaeger’s readership how much they need to taste her food. He’s supposed to order the omakase!

She sends Newt out with the check and a complimentary dish of salted plum sorbet and she’s not even happy about it. It’s not a gesture of goodwill, it’s a challenge. If he can eat that and still not feel compelled to evangelize Kaiju’s menu, then she’ll forget all about him. Sensei used to warn her against putting her heroes on a pedestal, and apparently this is what he meant.

She waits and waits. There’s no review.

—

It’s a while before he comes back, and Mako mostly succeeds in wiping him from her mind. As autumn deepens, she develops a new donburi around taro root, soy-braised tofu, and kombu, a eel and sweet potato tempura roll with umeboshi sauce, and a roasted kabocha nigiri. She’s still making up her mind about which one she’ll add to the omakase when Becket shows up again.

It’s fate, or something like that, that he walks in the moment after Mako has clocked out for her break, planning to go sit on one of the parking barriers in the tiny, leaf-strewn parking lot and enjoy the crisp fall air. But as she watches the host lead him to table five through the little window in the swinging door, she hears Sensei’s voice in her head, telling her to go after what she wants. The whole world is hers, or at least the whole world between the four walls he left her. He’d even chosen the name Kaiju for her, after the old monster movies they’d spent evenings and snow days watching together.

Raleigh Becket is not Godzilla. He’s just a guy who writes a column, and he owes Mako some answers.

She lets Newt swoop out and pour him water, but motions him back into the kitchen before he can take his order. He comes when he’s called, one eyebrow raised over his glasses, and she shakes her head.

“I’m taking care of him,” she whispers, and Newt shrugs, nods.

“Fortune favors the brave, chef.”

She waits until Becket has opened the menu to pounce. He looks up and smiles when he sees her, and she does not like the feeling that bubbles up in her chest, like sparkling sake shaken too hard.

“Hey,” he says, and she pulls out the chair opposite his and sits down.

“Hi,” she says. “Can we talk?”

His sweater today is a deep spruce green; she likes it on him better than the oatmeal. The knit is equally complex, and she stops herself from trying to puzzle it out in front of him. “Sure,” he says. “What about?”

Mako girds herself the way Sensei would. She is the expert here. She knows what she’s doing; she knows what she’s made of. This person’s opinion doesn’t mean she’s any less of a chef.

“You’ve reviewed every omakase in the city,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “Except for mine.” Then, when he opens his mouth, “Except for ours. I know you didn’t review my father’s, either. Like I said, I’ve been reading your work for a long time. You’ve never reviewed us at all. Why?”

To his credit, Becket looks sheepish. “Believe me,” he says. “It’s nothing against the food. Actually, it’s because of the food.” He clears his throat. “My brother and I used to come here all the time for ramen. We grew up near Pan-Pacific, and when I heard that your father was opening his own place, we defected here instead.” He smiles a little. “I didn’t know your father beyond meeting him a couple times at local events, but I knew I wanted to follow his cooking wherever he went.”

It’s so strange to hear him say the name of the restaurant where she grew up, where she learned almost everything she knows, stranger still to hear him claim such devotion to her father’s cooking. Why has he never written about them, if Stacker’s food meant so much to him? Becket’s not shy about injecting his reviews with personal experience; he’s written extensively about Trespasser, the Chinese-Peruvian fusion restaurant uptown, and his long friendship with the head chef, Tendo Choi, and the travel diary he kept during his trip across Eastern Europe and Asia a few years ago was almost as much about the people he met as the food he tasted.

She squints at him, trying to make sense of it. He’s not meeting her eyes, and she doesn’t love that. “So?” she prompts, trying to keep the steel from her voice. “Why not write about that?”

He exhales. “My brother died two years ago, and it completely took me apart. I even missed the news about Kaiju closing and reopening. When he was alive, I never reviewed it because it was our place, you know? I didn’t want it to get overrun. And after he died, I wanted to keep it somewhere I could come for comfort and always get a seat.”

“Oh,” says Mako softly. “I’m sorry about your brother.”

He nods, staring into his lap. “I’m sorry, too,” he says finally, raising his head. “For not doing this place justice, and for wanting to keep it for myself.”

Mako sits silently for a moment. “I can understand,” she says. “It was the opposite for me. After my father died, I needed to make sure everyone remembered him through his food. We hadn’t even really talked about my taking over after him; I think part of me thought that it would never happen. That it could never happen. But I couldn’t just let it go. I had to make sure he was still alive somehow, even if the menu has a lot more of my fingerprints on it now.”

“Well, let me be the first to thank you for that,” he says, smiling wryly. “It’s been a huge comfort to me since my brother passed.” He rests his hand on his stomach, its round swell visible even through the thick knit of his sweater. “Probably more than I need. The omakase really does look good, I swear. I just get in my head about deviating from the pattern we always kept, you know?”

Mako nods. Even though the kitchen has been updated since Sensei’s death, she keeps everything exactly where he would have, even if it doesn’t entirely make sense. She’s honed her own knife skills through plenty of YouTube videos and high-level culinary classes, but at the end of the day, she always returns to what she learned from watching Sensei’s large, brown hands when she was barely tall enough to see over the counter.

“Come back tomorrow night if you want to try it,” she says. “A little before closing. I’ll do something special for you, so it can feel different.”

He smiles, a little sadly. “I’d like that.”

“Me too,” she says, standing up. “Ramen tonight? I’m impressed by your spice tolerance.”

His smile broadens. “Thank you. It’s taken a lot of time to hone. I really liked the kara miso last time. Anything else you’d recommend?”

“The kabocha nigiri,” she says without hesitation. “I’ll bring it out first.”

—

“Mr. Becket,” she says the next night, stepping out from the swinging doors. “I’m glad you could make it.”

He gives her a little wave from where he’s standing by table five. “You can call me Raleigh,” he says. “Mind if I sit at the counter?”

“No, please do.”

She’s been prepping all day, letting her kitchen staff take the lead on the usual daily activities. She’ll close up at the usual time and do a private event for Raleigh, just the two of them and the menu.

Sure, the prep has taken up a significant amount of her time, but the distraction of the menu has taken up the rest. She intentionally designed it with eleven courses, an homage to Sensei’s own menu. He’d originally designed his own with ten courses to represent having survived his first bout of cancer — the number nine traditionally being associated with suffering in Japanese superstition — but when Mako had gotten interested in cooking, he’d added one course that he’d let her choose, and he’d had the omakase offerings printed on little menu inserts each day, always with one of the ones in 11 stylized smaller than the other to represent himself and her.

Raleigh chooses the stool closest to the swinging door and sets his bag on the seat next to his. Today he’s wearing a navy cardigan over a blue button-down that looks endearingly like it fit better a few pounds ago.

“Do you drink?” she asks, and Raleigh nods.

“I trust your judgment. Whatever you think pairs best.”

She chooses a junmai that’s a little fruity and just a little spicy, almost like sake’s answer to mulled wine. He nods approvingly after a small sip, and she smiles.

“There are eleven courses,” she says, bracing her hands on the counter and leaning forward. “Are you ready?”

“I’m ready,” says Raleigh. “Hit me.”

She starts him off easy with salmon belly nigiri with scallions and yuzu ponzu, then starts rolling the next course — uni with bird’s eye chili mayo, sweet white shrimp, and cucumber — as he eats.

“This sauce is fantastic,” he remarks after the first bite of salmon and ponzu, and Mako grins slyly.

“Wait until you try the next one.”

The bird’s eye chili mayo makes him set down his chopsticks and just stare at her for a moment. Mako beams.

“You see what you’re missing?” she teases, assembling the next course’s wagyu nigiri and snuggling it in between bunches of pickled ginger and daikon.

Raleigh shakes his head. “I can’t believe I told you I came here for comfort ramen and then you made it impossible for me to be satisfied by your ramen ever again.”

She pauses, unsure of how to respond, but he clears and throat and adds, “That was a joke. Mostly.”

“You’re always welcome to order the ramen,” she tells him, sliding him the wagyu nigiri and starting in on the eel and sweet potato tempura maki. “From now on, at least. And you have my permission to ask for the bird’s eye mayo on anything you want.”

“Thank god,” sighs Raleigh, dabbing his mouth with his napkin. “I’m already thinking of how good it would be with your karaage.”

“Or I could build a ramen around it,” she muses, drizzling umeboshi sauce over the maki rolls. “I couldn’t name it after you, though. People might think you were biased.”

Raleigh laughs. “Maybe I am. I definitely would be if you designed a ramen for me.”

“I guess you’ll just have to keep coming,” she says, pushing next plate in his direction.

“Oh, good luck getting rid of me now. I’m thinking about asking if you’ll lease me table five.”

“Maybe a seating plaque wouldn’t seem quite so biased.”

They grin at each other, and Mako blushes and looks back down at the bowl of chirashizushi she’s preparing. She layers in salmon, braised pumpkin, carrot, and burdock root over a bed of rice, then drizzles tamari and a sprinkle of chili flakes over it all. Normally people order omakase as a group: this is her first time preparing the whole thing for one person, and she’s becoming aware that it’s a lot of food for just one. But Raleigh accepts it all gamely, making satisfied sounds and enchanted faces.

Next is a torched tuna roll with black salt and togarashi-strawberry chutney to cut through the warm umami of the chirashizushi. Raleigh actually moans when the chutney hits his tongue, and Mako thrills as she rolls marinated crab with avocado, oshinko, and seared salmon.

“How did you even come up with this?” he asks, popping the last roll into his mouth. “I’ve had a lot of unusual hot pepper flavors, but not that one.”

“Strawberry is my favorite,” says Mako. “And it’s a surprise with the togarashi. It tempers the heat and the pepper brings out the sweetness of the fruit, but also some of the acid.”

“I want to put it on ice cream,” says Raleigh. “Have you tried it that way?”

“No, but now I want to. Is Kaidenovskys' still open?”

Raleigh checks his phone. “Nah, I think they close at eight.” Then, at her raised eyebrow, “I live right over there, I don’t just have an encyclopedic knowledge of every restaurant’s hours in the city.”

She laughs. “Well, maybe we can go sometime. I’ll bring the chutney. Do you want more sake?”

He hesitates. “Maybe half a glass. I want to focus on the food.”

He starts on the marinated crab as she pours, sighing happily at the contrast of sweet seafood and sour pickle. Mako smiles to herself and shapes the miso-eggplant and matsutake hand roll between her palms.

“Oof,” says Raleigh, shifting on his barstool, and she glances up at him.

“Getting full?”

“Starting to flag a little,” he admits. “But I’m in this for the long run.” He pats the swell of his belly. “I can handle a lot, don’t worry.”

Her heart jumps like water in a hot pan. “I believe in you,” she says solemnly, and they both laugh.

“You know,” he muses around his first bite of his next course, “I’m not even really an eggplant guy. Or, I wasn’t. But this may have converted me.”

“It has that effect. One of my staff is a real meat guy, very into beef, and it’s one of his favorite rolls on the menu. Even more than the wagyu.”

“Wow. You’re a magician,” he says approvingly. “This has all been incredible.”

“Thank you. We’re not done. I saved some of the best for last.”

“Oh, man,” says Raleigh, pretending to rest his head on the table. “What’s next?”

“Pan-seared Hokkaido scallops with soy sauce aguachile.” She arranges the scallops on the plate so that they overlap. “This is the final crest of the ride.” She mimes a roller coaster with one hand. “We’re going to go savory-sour, then savory-savory, and then finish on sour-spicy-clean. Ready?”

“Oh yeah,” he says, and she slides the plate in front of him. Then, after his first bite, “Oh, that is sour. But perfect. Those scallops are like butter.”

“They’re my favorite,” she says. “In the summer I do them with a grapefruit aguachile and they’re even better.”

He sips his sake. “That sounds incredible. I’ll come back for those. I mean, I’ll probably be back tomorrow, if I’m not too full to move. But I’ll also come back for those.”

She laughs as she plates the amberjack nigiri. “Are you familiar with Edomae? I’m working on putting more on the menu, but I like what I’ve experimented with so far.”

“Fermenting, right? And aging?”

“Yes. This is jukusei aged amberjack, dried and pickled in salt.”

“I haven’t tasted much of it, but I’d love to learn more about it.” He takes a small, experimental first bite, and his eyes go wide. “Oh, fuck, that’s so good. Sorry for the language, but oh my god.”

She laughs aloud. “I’m so glad I got to witness this.”

“Can I sponsor you to get more into Edomae?” he asks, covering his mouth as he chews. “Is that weird?”

“Yes, you can,” she says, smiling. “Through a process called ‘eating at my restaurant’ that will benefit both of us.”

Raleigh laughs. “Okay, fair.”

“All right, last one,” she says as he clears his plate. “How are you feeling?”

“Definitely full,” says Raleigh, palming his stomach. “But also having a religious experience, I think.”

“Well, don’t have it all just yet,” she says, presenting the last plate. “This is kombu-cured sea bass with wasabi oil and lemon.”

Raleigh exhales hard, chopsticks poised in his hand. “All right,“ he says. “I’m ready.”

She watches the sea bass melt in his mouth, watches his eyes close as the kick of wasabi hits, then the zing of lemon. He chews slowly, silently, and then he lays his chopsticks down across his plate.

“Damn,” he says finally. “That’s one hell of a closer, Mori.”

“Thank you,” she says, bowing slightly. “And please. It’s Mako. I don’t do private omakase for anyone I don’t consider a friend.”

“So we are friends,” says Raleigh, leaning back as much as he can, a playful smile crossing his face. “I wasn’t sure before tonight.”

“No, we are,” she says with a sheepish smile of her own. “I’m sorry I misjudged you.”

He shakes his head. “Nah, no apology necessary. I should have reviewed you years ago. You have my word, I will this time. And not just because of the private omakase.”

He muffles a burp in his fist and his cheeks go pink. “Oof, sorry,” he says. “That was … so much food. But so worth it.”

Mako nods. “It’s the first time I’ve seen anyone finish all eleven courses on their own.”

“No!” he says, laughing. “Oh, god, really? I swear I’m not this much of a glutton all the time.”

“Oh, I don’t care,” says Mako, pouring herself a glass of sake and opening the salted plum sorbet to scoop some out for him. “I’m flattered. It’s the best compliment you could give me.”

—

A week later, there’s a new post on the Jaeger’s site: Kaiju’s Homage to Old and New: An Omakase’s Journey through Family, Tradition, and the Best Damn Spicy Mayo You’ll Ever Taste.

[natsumesakasaki666]

Tsumugi FS2 Sharing the happiness

Characters: Tsumugi, Ritsu, Anzu

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Tsumugi: (….phew. I managed to finish all the work I wanted to this morning)

(I’m sure everyone in the office can handle the rest. It looks like I can take the afternoon off as planned)

Excuse me everyone. I have finished my work for today, so I’m heading out

Ritsu: …huh? Aoba oniisan, are you leaving? It’s rare to see you leave early.

Tsumugi: Good morning Ritsu-kun! Isn’t it also rare for you to be in the office at this time of day?

Ritsu: Not so much these days, right? I woke up a bit earlier this morning to go pick up a script I need for work later.

I’ve been taking work much more serious lately. So in return I want Aoba oniisan to praise me~

Tsumugi: ahaha, I guess I should. Thanks for taking work seriously, it’s been a huge help. I really appreciate it, Ritsu-kun!

Ritsu: just like that, it feels nice to receive praise♪

Putting that aside, Aoba oniisan do you have something important this afternoon? Otherwise you wouldn’t be heading out so early, right?

Tsumugi: I’m not heading out for anything important, I’m just taking the afternoon off! I was thinking of baking some sweets today.

Ritsu: Sweets? I don’t recall Aoba oniisan ever having a hobby of baking sweets.

Tsumugi: it’s because I don’t. Today’s lucky activity is baking sweets♪

Ritsu: So that’s why… Taking an afternoon off of work just to increase your luck is an oddly extravagant way to spend time.

Well, you always overwork yourself, so I’ll let it go this time.

Ritsu: …. Huh, is that-? Anzu-chan. What are you doing at entrance with your eyes looking all over the place? Is there someone you’re looking for?

Tsumugi: You were looking for me? Sorry, I didn’t notice. So, what did you need from me?

…… it’s been decided that I’m up next for a “feature live”. So if there’s time, you’d like to have a meeting about it right away?

You came at just the right time! I took the entire afternoon off so I have plenty of time!

Ritsu: oh no you don’t. Rather than right timing, it’s actually bad. It’s your day off, why do you want to attend a meeting on such short notice!?

I’m sorry Anzu but isn’t this too sudden? He already made plans to bake sweets this afternoon.

Tsumugi: Fufu. How kind of you to get angry for me. Thank you Ritsu-kun.

Actually, I originally took the afternoon off to be available for any urgent requests, so it’s alright.

Eh? What is it, Anzu-chan? “It’s that’s the case, it’s ok to have the meeting at a later date” ?

“ instead, I’d like to take photos of you baking sweets” you say?

If I remember, there was talk of taking off shots for the pamphlet.

Ritsu: that’s smart. Anzu-chan is very calculating. In that case, this can be considered “good timing”.

Tsumugi: fufu. These will truly be off shots of me. Of course I’ll let you take photos

If that’s decided, shall we go to the shopping mall now?

First I need to go buy ingredients to bake the sweets.

——scene change to shopping mall——

Tsumugi: umm… cake flour, cake flour…. Ah. Found it!

I’m pretty sure we have eggs and milk in the Starmony Dorms, so the only thing left is heavy whipping cream.

“What kind of sweets are you planning to make” you say? Now that I think of it, I guess I didn’t tell Anzu-chan what I plan on making.

I’m planning on baking cupcakes! I had trouble deciding on something while looking through a recipe book. I felt like I would fail if I chose something too difficult…

Also when baking cupcakes, you can make lots of them and have different toppings on each one!

Ritsu: Toppings~? Wouldn’t these matsutake mushrooms be good? They smell great too, like autumn

Tsumugi: I know it’s a bit late but, why is Ritsu-kun following us?

Ritsu: because Anzu and Aoba oniichan got all excited and left, leaving me all alone. Both of you need to pay more attention to me~

Tsumugi: but Ritsu-kun, you must be busy too… Ah, you only have work later in the evening, right?

Ritsu: yup. And since we’re recording at night, I have a lot of free time until then.

I have experience in baking sweets. So that’s why I thought It’d be great to bake sweets together with Aoba oniisan♪

Tsumugi: I’d certainly be more at ease if I were alongside someone who is familiar with baking.

Ritsu: fufu. If im with you, these sweets will turn out a success. If you’re going to make cupcakes, you have to play around with the ingredients.

Let’s throw in some matsutake mushrooms. And a couple octopus legs might be good too.

Tsumugi: Ah, wait Ritsu-kun! I’m the one who’s baking so please don’t add in any ingredients without my permission!

The color of the ingredients is especially important! I’m taking account of today’s lucky color!

Ritsu: eh~? Did the fortune reading specify that too? Isn’t it good enough as long as it tastes good?

Tsumugi: Of course not! I’m baking these sweets to bring good luck, so that’s the one thing I won’t negotiate on! *camera flashes*

Ah…. Anzu-chan, could it be that you took a photo of me just now?

Ahaha, it’s a bit embarrassing to be photographed because I was getting slightly irritated by Ritsu-kun just now.

Ritsu: but you got a nice rare photo, didn’t you? It’s not everyday you see Aoba oniichan get mad.

Tsumugi: Anzu-chan, please don’t just smile and nod~. It’s really embarrassing, ok?

Well if Anzu-chan thinks it’s good, there’s nothing I can do about it. I should be positive and think about how it’s a good photo that can be used in the pamphlet.

Anyways, Anzu-chan, Is there any toppings that you prefer?

Although I am concerned about today’s lucky color, please let me know.

I want to treat Anzu-chan to some delicious cupcakes too!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

[dasher85]

cooking

featuring our Inexpressible duo

Kamisato Ayato x reader | y/n | you

A  short story

just cooking with Ayato...

[ He could effortlessly understand instructions but is hopelessly disastrous at the kitchen ]

-------------------------

It was just a normal weekend for you but apparently it's a special moment for someone and he's particularly happy about it. It's the beginning of late afternoon and you've already started to prepare the ingredients for today's dinner.

You're not supposed to be the one who's cooking at the Estate's kitchen but after saying one time, just a mere mumble to Ayato yesterday that you'd want to cook something tomorrow, he sends half of the servants a day off. Just like that.

So breakfast, lunch and now including dinner was all fully under your responsibility for today. You only need to prepare food for the two siblings, Thoma and the few workers that were on duty at the estate today. It's not difficult at all, in fact you find it rather enjoyable because you haven't cooked anything major in a while.

However it seems preparing dinner doesn't seem how you planned it would be unlike breakfast and lunch because Ayaka and Thoma were the ones who helped you.

"Aya- no… .no-" You somehow managed to stop him from adding too much sugar into the mixture of flour. It was so shocking that you're not able to say proper words. Fortunately, your hands were quick to caught the heap of sugar on your hands.

"Sorry…" 

"Are you sure you're not busy? Perhaps it's better if you do the unfinished reports?" You've been questioning him ever so often whenever he's making mistakes especially when he’s adding a completely bizarre amount of ingredients into literally everything that you've been meticulously trying to cook. It's the third time now.

"Come on now…" he smiled, seeking compassion from you.

"Just chop these then. That at least I know you're good at" you lead him to the chopping board and show him where the basket of vegetables and other ingredients were kept. 

"Use a kitchen knife, alright? Here… and don't cut the matsutake too thin" you frowned worriedly before handing him the kitchen knife.

"Understood."

He smiled reassuringly while you could only sigh. Initially you didn't want him to step any further in the kitchen at all but after seeing how happy he was just to inform you that he finally had the time to help you out, you didn't have the heart to stop him.

"I'm leaving you with that, while I cook the other dishes"

So you went on cooking just fine on your own, adding ingredients and progressing through each dish as planned.

"Ayato have you finished chopping the matsutake?" You finally turn to his side of the kitchen.

"Mmm… Not quite there yet"

You helplessly stared at his work progress. There's nothing wrong about his knife skills but he was being overly cautious about the thickness of each cut before actually chopping the matsutake. As if he's measuring every cut with a ruler, his eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly. 

"You don't have to be that accurate with the thickness"

"Should we make haste? The sun hasn't even begun to set." He calmly questions, seeking more time from you. 

"Yes we do. The matsutake needs to be washed again and soaked for thirty minutes before it can be boiled along with the vegetables."

His frown deepens, "I'm on it, not to worry"

Well, he tried to cut it a little faster as required but the faster he gets the thinner the piece becomes. A perfect paper thin cut and you couldn't believe how he even did that? 

At some point, he returns to a slower phase because he knew it wasn't a good idea for him to chop too fast and you quietly start helping him with cutting the other ingredients because he's beyond your help. 

"You're so terrible at cooking. I can't even complain"

"I know…"

"Remember, you're not allowed to cook in the kitchen without me around."

"Understood"

Despite it all, the both of you were just smiling while working side by side to cut away the dinner's ingredients.

The Commissioner wasn't supposed to be at the kitchen either but he really did went on focus mode just to finish off his office work today. Surely he has the most time spent with you right after he finishes his work on a daily basis but it seems he wouldn't want to miss having a cooking session along with you either. So he's here, making an appearance in hopes that it'll ease up your cooking progress. Although in truth, he couldn't do much.

Your other two reliable helpers have offered to help you for dinner as well but they purposefully didn’t come by the kitchen after seeing that the estate’s owner had already beaten them to it. 

"I'm done with the vegetables"

You informed and started helping him with the other half basket of the unprepared matsutake.

"Has it been alright with your work recently?"

"Mmm… Nothing concerning. You, on the other hand, have you had enough rest today?"

"I did and-" you quiet down due to the sudden sharp pain you felt. Your face twisted in a frown before you carefully placed the knife inside the sink and washed the trace of blood from its sharp edge.

'Should’ve focused!' you angrily thought, instantly blaming yourself for being careless and unskillful. Red crimson blood dripped through the small cut on the tip of your ring finger.

"What's wrong-" he looked over towards you, "...let me get some bandages" He was quick to notice the situation right after seeing you running cold water through your fingers. 

"I'm used to getting cuts during combat practice but it's been years. It hurts now" you casually admitted.

"I'm sure it hurts even then… it's just that you didn't have the thought of feeling the pain" he returns after getting the small wooden box filled with medical items just by the shelves nearby.

"You could say that… All I thought about was winning against my opponent. Although it's not a competition" you smiled at the thought of past memory.

Ayato took hold of your hand as he inspected the cut on your ring finger.

"Who was your opponent? Your brother?" He curiously questions as he glanced away from your hand to meet your gaze.

You smiled, "It was my mother."

He let out a chuckle upon receiving the answer, it wasn't really what he expected but considering your background, he wasn't surprised at all. He has already personally met the person a few times before and fortunately he was considered an acceptable suitor upon first glance otherwise things would be difficult.

"Did you win?" he took a bottle of antiseptics solution from the wooden box and gently applied it on the cut with a cotton. 

"Obviously I didn't...oww! That actually stings." You replied to his question but was soon feeling the slight pain.

He quickly brought your hand closer to his lips before he started blowing the small cut as if it was going to instantly remove the pain away. His left hand held your wrist while the other was holding on to your fingers.

"Does it still hurt?" He questions and you only shook your head.

"I didn't know she's also better than you when it comes to combat" he then casually continues the conversation while taking a strip of clean linen using his other hand.

You laughed at the thought, "Oh please… you should be glad that she didn't complain the first time she saw you"

"Perhaps I was well prepared" he smiled confidently before covering the cut on your finger with a linen.

"Mmm… I guess I'll give you that…" You eventually agreed at the thought of it. After all, he literally ventured all the way from Inazuma to your homeland without being given any information from you. It was all his own effort.

"...now I'm curious, if your parents were still around, wouldn't you be married into an actual arranged marriage?"

Ayato ponders at the question as he ties a neat knot to secure the strip of linen in place but was careful to keep it at a comfortable position. 

"Most likely… but I'm married to you now. It's too late, I can't imagine that outcome" After casually replying, he pulled your hand once more before gently kissing the tip of your fingertips. His eyes admiringly locked into yours with overflowing confidence. 

"I know…" you eventually smiled at his affectionate gesture, "...but I don't think they would agree to your choice either considering I wouldn't be beneficial"

"I think, the only reason why I couldn't be with you is, if I were never given the chance to meet you."

Upon receiving his answer, you could only let out a laughter in literal denial over his exaggerating interest towards you.

"Surely, I'm not that interesting at first glance..." you jokingly replied.

"Not interesting? In what terms, beauty, intelligence or status?" He asked with genuine curiosity in his eyes. 

"Personality." In which you replied that wasn't included in his list of options. 

"Listen, if you want to get to know someone your eyes see what's visible first"

"Ohh… so if I'm physically unattractive-"

"and that's the point, you're not." He cuts through your words. 

"...if that's the case, then you only decided to approach me just because of the way I look?"

"Hmm… do you think so?" He suddenly smiled, seemingly amused about the question itself.

"Well, considering it's you, your eyes probably see something else"

He simply nods and keeps your hand within his secure hold. 

"Then what did you actually see the first time you met me?" you add, somewhat getting a little more curious although you knew you're probably falling into one of his sly traps. 

"The ripples of your beating heart" he unhesitatingly replied in a whisper. 

You scoffed and shook your head in complete disbelief. 

"Alright… let's get back to cooking now."

"You don't believe me?" He laughed. 

On most days you spend your time writing or reading and sometimes painting on a canvas, so you barely even talk. The household is often quiet but occasionally you would hear footsteps and distant whispers. The servants never once disturbed your current study room at the estate but it still gets to you sometimes.

If you didn't venture out into nature, you would be at your own residence. Simply because of this, you would be returning to your own residence especially during the day because your residence would provide the atmosphere you need.

"I believe you. How could I not?" You smiled but was keeping in a laughter. For once, you didn't. 

But just like any other day, you wouldn't miss a chance to have a nice conversation with him. In most conversations it would be something totally random and sometimes it's about politics. Obviously all the political issues or internal affairs are all coming from him but you're there to give him an idea or two. You're basically his unofficial advisor and nobody would know even if that entire idea about capturing someone for interrogation was all your suggestion.

"I could clearly tell that you're not" he suddenly brings his face closer towards you, as if deliberately trying to check the flickers in your eyes. 

You courageously stared back at him as you brought your face even closer than he did by only leaving a few inches apart.

By a mere second he was surprised but slowly copied the same smile displayed on your lips. Just a heartbeat before he could even react, you had already retreated away. A little too fast for his liking.

"Did I finally get your attention? Now we need to really get back on schedule. Dinner won't be ready on its own" You finally revealed the reason behind your actions and yet had not even the faintest idea how emotionally devastating it was to the person opposite you.

He could only sigh to temporarily dispel his unrequited desire that was only a grasp away just to abide with your instructions. 

"Indeed my attention is all yours now"

-------------------------

Check out the [ Story List ] for other sequence in the Inexpressible Series

A/N: I actually have too many Ayato shorts in drafts but I’m not sure if it’s interesting to read because its all about Inexpressible duo. 

[prfm-multiverse]

New work for Perfume! Please enjoy this trick as often as you like. We are looking forward to working with you from January onwards!

Moon MV Crew

Director : TAKCOM（CONNECTION） Assistant Director：倉光哲司 Tetsushi Kuramitsu Cinematographer：田嶌誠 Makoto Tajima (館岡事務所) 1st Assistant Cameraman：尾崎圭市 Keiichi Ozaki 2nd Assistant Cameraman：森田曜 Akira Morita 3rd Assistant Cameraman：宮崎新大 Arata Miyazaki

Key Grip：大江史也 Fumiya Oe,石井努 Tsutomu Ishii,岡田雅成 Masanari Okada,室山聖 Kiyoshi Muroyama

DIT：タキユウスケ Yusuke Taki(Kotetsu Inc.)

Lighting Director：前川賀世子 Kayoko Maekawa Lighting Chief Assistant：井上真宏 Masahiro Inoue Lighting Assistant：大谷力 Chikara Otani,工藤こずえ Kozue Kudo,樋口学 Satoru Higuchi,福田和宏 Kazuhiro Fukuda,藤井裕介 Yusuke Fujii,新田泰之 Yasuyuki Nitta,山崎達也 Tatsuya Yamazaki Production Designer：三ツ泉貴幸 Takayuki Mitsuizumi（STARBOY）

Transportaion：牧尾智史 Satoshi Makio Studio：角川大映スタジオ Studio Coordinator：山田隆久 Takashisa Yamada

Choreographer : MIKIKO (ELEVENPLAY) Choreography Assistant : SAYA, SHOKO, MAI (ELEVENPLAY)

Stylist：タケダトシオ Toshio Takeda（MILD inc.） Stylist Assistant：岡崎くるみ Kurumi Okazaki,藤田和哉 Kazuya Fujita Dressmaker：内藤智恵 Chie Naito,斎藤利保 Riho Saito Make-up : 大須賀昌子 Masako Osuga Hair : 福間友香 Tomoka Fukuma (VANITES)

Offline Editor : 前田径成 Michinari Maeda（CONNECTION） Colorist：芳賀修 Osamu Haga（Artone Film）

CG Production：Citro CG Director：竹山寛史 Hiroshi Takeyama,平川侑樹 Yuki Hirakawa

Post-Production：Khaki Compositor：水野 正毅 Masaki Mizuzo,川崎琴美 Kotomi Kawasaki,藤田智子 Tomoko Fujita Roto & paint : Taupe / Roudiez / Elephants Gate

Producer：松竹奈央 Nao Matsutake Production Manager：南水朋子 Tomko Nansui Production Assistant：橋本和佳奈 Wakana Hashimoto,足立芳洋 Yoshihiro Adachi,川久保開 Kai Kawakubo,日尾野穂乃香 Honoka Hibino,伊堂寺夏鈴 Karin Idouji,加賀美椋 Ryo Kagami Production : P.I.C.S.

[flipchild]

Was working at McDonald's and was deployed in the field. Did a hecking gang violence, wherein we pried the wedding ring off of a Biden-esque man's finger. Wandered off into a weird tundra-ish matsutake-hinting space. Accidentally stepped into shit by the campground outside the McDonald's where I worked?? Ran into my manager and eventually snitched that we ran off and did something. Also an Asian supermarket was on our property for some reason, otherwise unaffiliated. I was playing hide & go seek in there but it seemed to be an expected part of the store? I want white peach soda

[noanunoparty]

18/01/23 ~ NTS Radio ~ Ryuichi Sakamoto Special

For the past 2 months I've listened to every album, soundtrack, composition, live recording that Ryuichi Sakamoto has made. There have been a lot of tears. A lot of reflection on life, on mortality, on social harmony and the environment. A loooot of emotions have been felt.

All of this research has solidified my respect for Sakamoto as an artist. A true pioneer. A maestro. Condensing his career into 2 hours has been difficult, but I hope you enjoy the show and my notes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryuichi Sakamoto has released over 20 solo studio albums, 10+ live albums, several compilation albums, over 40 EPs and singles, and about 48 soundtracks.

1978 - Thousand Knives - Plastic Bamboo

Sakamoto’s first solo album, created with the help of Hideki Matsutake who was known as the 4th member of YMO. The album fused electronic music with traditional Japanese sounds whilst incorporating elements of modern classical and reggae. 

On the album cover, from Taeko Onuki “I was told that the jacket he’s wearing was an Armani and chosen by Yukihiro. I had only known Sakamoto in jeans and rubber sandals and he said to me, “What do you think?!

2. 1980 - B-2 Unit - Riot in Lagos 

Sakamoto’s “edgiest” album. B-2 Unit birthed Riot In Lagos which is said to be an early example of electro. Several electro and hip hop artists were influenced by the album, especially Riot In Lagos. 

“Differencia" has, according to Fact, "relentless tumbling beats and a stabbing bass synth that foreshadows jungle by nearly a decade". Some tracks on the album also foreshadow genres such as IDM, broken beat, and industrial techno. For several tracks on the album, Sakamoto worked with Dennis Bovell, incorporating elements of afrobeat and dub. 

Another recommended track: E-3A

3. 1981 - Left-Handed Dream / Hidari Ude No Yume - Kacha Kucha Nee

Sakamoto wanted to record an album rooted in pop and created Left-Handed Dream (or Hidari Ude No Yume), which displays a variety of global influences through the instruments used - marimba, didgeridu, traditional Japanese instruments such as the sho and hichiriki flutes. The album showcased Sakamoto’s ability to seamlessly combine Eastern and Western sounds, strengthened through collaborating with Talking Heads guitarist Adrian Belew & co-producing with Robin Scott. 

Venezia would then become the Left Bank! 

4. 1982 - Bamboo Houses 

Sakamoto continues his long-standing collaboration with David Sylvian of Japan, Sylvian’s first solo project outside of the band. Featuring Steve Jansen on drums. 

5. 1983 - Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence Soundtrack - Forbidden Colours

Sakamoto’s first film score, for Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence which he also starred in alongside David Bowie. David Sylvian contributed lyrics and vocals on Forbidden Colours, which became a hit and a vocal version of the main theme, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. The soundtrack won a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music in 1984. 

Another recommended track: Germination

6. 1984 - Ongaku Zukan - Etude

Ongaku Zukan was an experimental album with no deadline - created around Sakamoto’s incredibly busy schedule in 1983, which saw Yellow Magic Orchestra pause their group activities after an intense 8 years of recording and touring. Features from Hosono, Takahashi, Minako Yoshida and Tatsuro Yamashita. 

Sakamoto recalls he got started on the album without having a clear direction for its content: "Making an album without a blueprint...... it's an adventure to see what happens like when you embark on a sea voyage without a compass or chart. If you follow a blueprint, you will be able to record efficiently and in a short period, but I removed all of that and made it that way."

Sakamoto likens this production method to "automatic writing", which is known as one of the methods of surrealism:

"I went into the studio and recorded what came out without any prejudice...... I made it as if in a kind of trance. It could be something classical, it could be pop. Regardless of style and unity, the major premise was to accept everything that was made, so we created a lot of songs."

7. 1985 - Esperanto - A Rain Song 

Sakamoto’s 6th solo album, orginally composed for a performance by New York choreographer Molissa Fenley. An experiment with new sampler technology - apparently Sakamoto needed a huge computer to make this score. 

Another recommended track: A Wongga Dance Song

8. 1986 - Futurista - GT

Futurista (未来派野郎, translates literally as "Futurist Bastard") was created as a response to the Futurist Movement - an artistic and social movement originated in Italy. Mid 80-s avant-garde synthpop perfection! 

Sakamoto samples a lot throughout this album - G.T. samples “Legs” by Art of Noise. 

9. 1986 - Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia - Field Work (ft. Thomas Dolby)

The reissued English titled version of Ongaku Zukan, intended for the international market. It combines about half of the tracks from the 1984 album with newer singles "Steppin' Into Asia" and "Field Work” ft. Thomas Dolby.

10. 1987 - Neo Geo - Risky ft. Iggy Pop

The term "neo geo", or "new world", is derived from Sakamoto himself as a way to describe worldwide musical diversity in regard to genre (similar to world music and world beat). Again, showcasing Sakamoto’s ability to combine Eastern and Western musical styles. 

Bootsy Collins on bass! 

11. 1987 - The Last Emperor Soundtrack - First Coronation 

The soundtrack features 9 pieces composed by Sakamoto, 5 by David Byrne & 1 from Cong Su. The album won Best Original Score at the 1988 Academy Awards.

12. 1989 - Beauty - You Do Me

8th solo studio album, which sees his solo career begin to extend outside of Japan. Beauty is notable for its "collage of styles" that range from rock, techno, and classical to flamenco, African, and Japanese traditional, featuring a long list of collaborators.  

In discussing whether music is narrative and illustrative or an abstract medium, Sakamoto said, "I have visions sometimes when I'm writing contemporary music, even when it's very logical. For example, for one of my songs on the album Beauty, I was always having visions of Amazonian rainforests, a little plane flying very low over the trees. Trees, trees, trees, and some birds. But the title of the song is 'Calling from Tokyo'".

13. 1991 - Heartbeat - Rap to the World

Sequel from Beauty, still collaging sounds from all over the world, this time in an eclectic upbeat fashion. You can hear the dance music influences throughout this album, which is enforced through the credits - notably Towa Tei and Satoshi Tomiie. 

14. 1994 - Sweet Revenge - Same Dream, Same Destination

One of my least favourite Sakamoto albums - the strings are beautiful but a lot of the vocals miss for me. But this song + the cover is iconic! Maybe he was just gearing up for his next album, Smoochy. 

The album title refers to Sakamoto’s wish to bring a sense of melody back to the “rhythm-obsessed pop-world”.

15. 1995 - Smoochy - A Day In The Park

An exploration of the old world meeting the future - Sakamoto combines Latin tinged sounds, jazz and the possibilities of the internet through electronic experimentation with an “listening” approach running throughout Smoochy. 

16. 1996 - 1996 - Bibo no Aozora (Trio World Tour Live recording) 

1996 contains a selection of Sakamoto's most popular compositions plus two new compositions, all arranged for a standard piano trio. The arrangement of "Bibo no Aozora" that appears on this album has appeared in several film and television projects.

A concert, called Ryuichi Sakamoto Trio World Tour, was organised in 1996. This concert was played at 6 venues in Japan, and the Bunkamura Orchard Hall concert was live streamed on August 28, 1996 on the Internet, and was one of the first concerts to be streamed.

17. 1997 - Discord - Salvation 

Sakamoto’s first full length orchestral work, which sees him contrasting modern musical tools with traditional instruments. Amongst procrastination and self-imposed deadlines, Sakamoto wrote the four movements in Discord ("Grief," "Anger," "Prayer," "Salvation") in a month. He finished writing the last notes on the morning of the first rehearsal with the orchestra. 

Salvation features spoken word contributions from Laurie Anderson, DAvid Byrne, Patti Smith and Banana Yoshimoto. 

18. 1998 - BTTB (Back To the Basics) - Energy Flow

Sakamoto was stuck in a traffic jam and melody popped into his head. That melody would then become Opus - the opening track of his solo piano album, BTTB - Back To The Basics. BTTB & Discord see Sakamoto’s departure from his pop-tinged outputs as he returns to the piano. 

19. 2002 - Elephantism - Great Africa 

Elephantism stands out from the rest of Sakamoto’s discography as it’s his first venture into new-age, ambient sounds with elements of African musical styles, featuring field recordings. 

Elephantism is a reflection of Sakamoto’s life ethos, where he strives for world peace. In his search for harmony, he turns to nature - specifically the elephant. “Elephantism is the state of being compassionate, loyal and loving towards family and friends, and being understanding and generous in attitude toward other clans; it means being big and expansive in your outlook on life, not small and mean; it means showing thoughtful consideration, wisdom and dignity when necessary, but in equal measure showing powerful expression and emotion, and being, yes, a little wild and passionate now and then!”

20. 2002 - Works I - CM - Old I (Suntory 1983) 

Compilation of music written for various commercials (called CM in Japan), all works are from 1983 to 1984. Monopoly is a favourite (didn’t have enough time to include it in the show!) 

21. 2004 - Chasm - Ngo/Bitmix

Sakamoto’s 15th solo studio album. Chasm is experimental, combining the paion with ambient and glitch programming. Features contributions from Hosno and Takahasi, under their Sketch Show alias. 

22. 2005 - Insen - Avaol 

Sakamoto and Alva Noto’s second studio album - their collaboration began in 2002. “Both explore the potential for interaction and tension between electronic and acoustic instrumentation”.

23. 2009 - Out of Noise - composition 0919 

Sakamoto was one of a handful of concerned artists who took part in The Cape Farewell Project, where scientists joined with the creative community for a conference in Greenland to address and investigate global warming. During his stay in Greenland, Sakamoto made a number of field recordings that he incorporated into his album Out of Noise; the album is dominated by graceful, minimalist keyboard pieces punctuated by electronic noise, ambient sounds and bits of found voices.

24. 2017 - async - Zure

Sakamoto’s 19th studio album - his first one in 8 years since Out of Noise. It’s also his first full length solo record since recovering from throat cancer in 2015. During this 8 year “break” he felt uninspired with the composition process and focused on scoring films. Despite his recovery, Sakamoto thought that async would be his last album. "That’s why I tried to forget all the rules and forms, anything. I just wanted to put down just what I wanted to hear, just a sound or music, it doesn’t matter. This could be the last time."

He began making async in 2016 and completed it in 8 months. 

Async is unusually textural, featuring both acoustic and electronic elements plus samples recordings readings and field recordings of city streets. Sakamoto’s worries of death seep into the album, which were influenced by his experience with cancer and the many earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan in 2011. “We were warned about how our civilisation is fragile and how the force of nature is great."

25. 2023 - 12 - 20220123

Maybe one of Sakamoto’s most moving albums. 

His breath can heard throughout 12 like a metronome - keeping time, evoking the feeling of a warm embrace and making us are of how fleeting life is. It has a palpable level of intimacy to it, as if you’re in the room with him as he plays the piano. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ending on a few of my favourite Sakamoto quotes:

"I hate to divide the world -- East and West. Where is the edge? My music is much more melting."

"I want to be a citizen of the world. It sounds very hippie, but I like that."

[thefiresontheheight]

Hey so I'm getting close to the bottom of my to read pile so as an author whose work I deeply love and respect I'm wondering if I could trouble you for some book reccomendations? :)

I mean I got recs but I don't know much about what you read! Here are some general books I really like but feel free to comment or let me know what you like/ have read so I can tune it a bit. Non-fiction: The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Tsing. A biography of the matsutake mushroom, an ethnography of the people who forage, sell, and buy it, genuinely felt like my brain was expanded. Plus it has the subtitle: "On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins" Sci-Fi: Autonomous by Annalee Newitz. This is a story about a robot cop and his/her partner and the pharma pirate they are hunting on behalf of a future megacorp. This one is gross and heavy but I love it (admittedly because I anthropomorphize the robot as a trans woman, much like her partner) Urban Fantasy: Kraken, by China Mieville. I've ranted enough about China Mieville tbh lol. It's gnarly and weird and written like THAT. It's god undead squid gods and friendly apocalyptic cults and a mage who makes his spells look like star trek stuff cause he's a nerd and familiar's union on strike. It's great.

[beasiannow]

London Calling.

Opening a restaurant is not an easy thing to do, not easy at all, and expensive.

However, Akiko Pakahashi, née Amelia Pembroke, was sure that once she got her Taisetsu Ni Taberu Restaurant up and running, everything else would run like clockwork.

First, however, there was the financing, which led to a meeting with someone from the bank to review things.

The person sent over was a woman named Emma Abernathy, a small cog in the vast machine that was the bank where she worked in almost complete anonymity. The anonymity it seemed had given the ambiguous woman a bit of a mean streak, and that could mean trouble for the loan.

While not open yet, Akiko made sure that the kitchen was fully functioning. While she was reluctant to do so, Akiko talked Ms. Abernathy into trying a dish of Matsutake Gohan with plumb wine.

All on the house, of course.

All cooked by Pakahshi herself.

And, of course, all with an extra-strong helping of Taisetsu Ni Taberu’s special ingredient.

After that, it was not long before Emma Abernathy, or later with the help of the home office's clandestine division, Emi Akamura. Indeed it was easy for her to stay in the bank with not one of the higher-ups noticing. She and Akiko even became friends eventually.

The next hurdle where the food critics, most of which were quite taken with the cuisine of the new establishment.

But that was the old school ones; a problem came up with influential food blogger Victoria Kingston whose blog Vicky’s Fork It Over London was immensely popular with young diners. Even one of her posts could make or break a new eatery.

No one knew the actual name or face of “Vicky,” but Akiko had her resources and knew when she had “secretly” arrived.

From how the young critic was eyeing her gyoza, tororo soba, and even her ramen appetizer, Akiko could tell that it was all proving too exotic for her.

Fortunately, all of them were as highly augmented as  Abernathy’s had been. So the dishes, which were frankly an acquired taste, were quickly acquired by the soon-to-be newly minted Yoko Ōton.

And indeed, Vicky’s praise did make a name for London's first  Taisetsu Ni Taberu Restaurant.

After that, Akiko hardly used any of the Taisetsu nanobot flavorings.

Her hope was to become as popular with a particular crowd as quickly as possible.

She aimed to attract some of the younger, lesser royals and save it for them; she thought that might be fun.

[kcirelovsstarz1]

Matsuoka Eiji!

Not mine

[hana-uranai]

マツタケワークス -- おくることば

[iminthetunnels]

i make my sons multivitamin. i dnt like multivitamins as a whole. i wouldn’t take a multivitamin, but rather just a huge concoction of mushrooms turkey tail, lions mane reishi, matsutake, cordyceps, maitake, chaga, agaricus, shiitake (fermented), and large amounts of vitamin C like acerola, raspberries, mango, açaí, mangosteen, noni. pineapple, and bee pollen. also moringa.

ummm we do a lot of other stuff of course like lots of walking, sunlight, grass fed meats &clean foods. it’s very expensive. i will gladly sell my left kidney for it all tho. bc it rly does work. i’ve even asked doctors if there is an over the counter vitamin, supplement, like the one i’m making, if i could get it covered by insurance. i’ve contacted our insurance company, government services, and his doctors LMFAOOOO I sound crazy but also like 🤷🏻‍♀️ they want me to put him on a medication that could potentially hurt him further. lions mane has been studied to aid in keeping epilepsy in remission……. idk…….. some times i can have deep conversations with medical professionals and other specialist, but man. some times they look at me like i’m crazy. trust me it DOES sound crazy. i’m right there w u. but it’s really real.

[summersfirstsnow]

Some other books that I like and aren't also... alt right pipeline-y

Gardening

The Layered Food Garden by Christina Chung: I'm reading this right now! She also has an internet presence where she provides pretty down-to-earth gardening tips without the... kind of conspiracy-y tone than some permaculture-adjacent books do (I like a lot of the values of permaculture and I feel much of the work in the subfield comes from a good place but it does have some flaws and oversights (including of Indigenous land rights and agricultural histories) and the risk of it slipping toward conspiracy when "wanting to provide some of your own food" slips into "society is collapsing and you'll be all alone")

The Year-round Vegetable Gardener by Nikki Jabbour: a good little guide to using some pretty affordable materials to extend your growing season if you live in a cooler place- since salad greens are so expensive to get fresh and they're frost-tolerant, it's a good toolkit to have on hand

Start a Community Food Garden by Lamanda Joy: another one that I'm working my way through right now- kind of what it says on the package, with an emphasis on building a working community centred around gardening, which is critical to building a more sustainable, decentralized food system

Perennial Vegetables: From Artichokes to Zuiki Taro by Eric Toensmeier: this one's pretty cool, it touches on a lot of lesser-known plants eaten as vegetables around the world (make sure to check if they're invasive in the place where you live)

The Home-scale Forest Garden by Dani Baker: another good reference book for planning and building up a perennial food garden

The Edible Front Yard by Ivette Soler: this one provides some good suggestions for if you're wanting to grow your own food in a place where aesthetics are a concern

Sustainability/Land Stewardship/Nature/Human-Environment Relationships

Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask: Anishinaabe Botanical Teachings by Mary Siisip Geniusz: as always be careful with any medical application of plants- the book does go into this, but it bears repeating

Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution's Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction by David George Haskell

The Nature of Our Cities by Nadina Galle: environmental stewardship stuff with an eye to urban environments and urban nature, as well as the use of technology in the field... I don't agree with everything but the urban nature part is valuable to keep in mind

Fen, Bog and Swamp by Annie Proulx: some stories and info about wetlands, this one is quite well-written if a bit limited in scope

The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees by Douglas W. Tallamy

An Immense World by Ed Yong: this is about sensory science and animal senses, which might be a bit outside the stewardship zone and area but it does really encourage the reader to stretch their mind and cultivates a respect for the natural world

Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet by Ben Goldfarb: another good human impact on the environment one

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer: this one is a bit less on-topic than her other book but she has a beautiful writing style (and her reading of the audiobooks is beautiful too)

The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing: this is one of the few cultural anthropology leaning books that I've ever enjoyed- it explores some cool corners of the world through the lens of a the matsutake mushroom

Homemaking, gardening, and self-sufficiency resources that won't radicalize you into a hate group

It seems like self-sufficiency and homemaking skills are blowing up right now. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the current economic crisis, a lot of folks, especially young people, are looking to develop skills that will help them be a little bit less dependent on our consumerist economy. And I think that's generally a good thing. I think more of us should know how to cook a meal from scratch, grow our own vegetables, and mend our own clothes. Those are good skills to have.

Unfortunately, these "self-sufficiency" skills are often used as a recruiting tactic by white supremacists, TERFs, and other hate groups. They become a way to reconnect to or relive the "good old days," a romanticized (false) past before modern society and civil rights. And for a lot of people, these skills are inseparably connected to their politics and may even be used as a tool to indoctrinate new people.

In the spirit of building safe communities, here's a complete list of the safe resources I've found for learning homemaking, gardening, and related skills. Safe for me means queer- and trans-friendly, inclusive of different races and cultures, does not contain Christian preaching, and does not contain white supremacist or TERF dog whistles.

Homemaking/Housekeeping/Caring for your home:

Making It by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen [book] (The big crunchy household DIY book; includes every level of self-sufficiency from making your own toothpaste and laundry soap to setting up raised beds to butchering a chicken. Authors are explicitly left-leaning.)

Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair by Mercury Stardust [book] (A guide to simple home repair tasks, written with rentals in mind; very compassionate and accessible language.)

How To Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis [book] (The book about cleaning and housework for people who get overwhelmed by cleaning and housework, based on the premise that messiness is not a moral failing; disability and neurodivergence friendly; genuinely changed how I approach cleaning tasks.)

Gardening

Rebel Gardening by Alessandro Vitale [book] (Really great introduction to urban gardening; explicitly discusses renter-friendly garden designs in small spaces; lots of DIY solutions using recycled materials; note that the author lives in England, so check if plants are invasive in your area before putting them in the ground.)

Country/Rural Living:

Woodsqueer by Gretchen Legler [book] (Memoir of a lesbian who lives and works on a rural farm in Maine with her wife; does a good job of showing what it's like to be queer in a rural space; CW for mentions of domestic violence, infidelity/cheating, and internalized homophobia)

"Debunking the Off-Grid Fantasy" by Maggie Mae Fish [video essay] (Deconstructs the off-grid lifestyle and the myth of self-reliance)

Sewing/Mending:

Annika Victoria [YouTube channel] (No longer active, but their videos are still a great resource for anyone learning to sew; check out the beginner project playlist to start. This is where I learned a lot of what I know about sewing.)

Make, Sew, and Mend by Bernadette Banner [book] (A very thorough written introduction to hand-sewing, written by a clothing historian; lots of fun garment history facts; explicitly inclusive of BIPOC, queer, and trans sewists.)

Sustainability/Land Stewardship

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer [book] (Most of you have probably already read this one or had it recommended to you, but it really is that good; excellent example of how traditional animist beliefs -- in this case, indigenous American beliefs -- can exist in healthy symbiosis with science; more philosophy than how-to, but a great foundational resource.)

Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer [book] (This one is for my fellow witches; one of my favorite witchcraft books, and an excellent example of a place-based practice deeply rooted in the land.)

Avoiding the "Crunchy to Alt Right Pipeline"

Note: the "crunchy to alt-right pipeline" is a term used to describe how white supremacists and other far right groups use "crunchy" spaces (i.e., spaces dedicated to farming, homemaking, alternative medicine, simple living/slow living, etc.) to recruit and indoctrinate people into their movements. Knowing how this recruitment works can help you recognize it when you do encounter it and avoid being influenced by it.

"The Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline" by Kathleen Belew [magazine article] (Good, short introduction to this issue and its history.)

Sisters in Hate by Seyward Darby (I feel like I need to give a content warning: this book contains explicit descriptions of racism, white supremacy, and Neo Nazis, and it's a very difficult read, but it really is a great, in-depth breakdown of the role women play in the alt-right; also explicitly addresses the crunchy to alt-right pipeline.)

These are just the resources I've personally found helpful, so if anyone else has any they want to add, please, please do!

[carrionsong]

Ximechoro The beach 🏖️ and 🐠 Fishies !

THANK YEW EVAN😊💖 forgot to mention on the other ask but ximena uses they/he/she interchangeably!

The beach 🏖️ - When was the last adventure/vacation/mission you went on with your f/o? - oogh adventure... yknow, i never think about possible skits and episodes with xime in them :0 but for vacation, xime took choromatsu out for a day of hiking! choromatsu comes to the train station bright and early with a huge backpack filled with emergency food and survival kits and backup compasses and xime is carrying a light pack with a knife, hatchet, packed lunches, and two canteens...

choromatsu sees this as a chance to impress ximena with his presumptuous outdoor prowess and tries to lead the way, but he freaks out when she veers slightly off the trail to appreciate bugs trailing on a thick tree trunk. xime points out some edible shoots and mushrooms, and choromatsu scrambles to dig out his oversized foraging booklet before they do something rash but he screams when they pull out her knife and just. pop it into their mouth. (xime knows how to forage somewhat responsibly and has decent experience with edible plants but choro doesnt know that yet bc theyre not done chewing </3) hes just chasing after them the entire time bc she starts doing a thing he thinks is dangerous without explaining that they Usually know what theyre doing😔 so caught up in the euphoria of free tasty foods as long as theyre not caught by park officials that they forget to let choromatsu know Whats going on lmao. but in the end, they end up finding matsutake mushrooms of all things!! they sell them for a nice chunk of change to spend on lots of beer and snacks yay <3

Fishies 🐠 - What is something your f/o has done for you that nobody else has? - not to be corny but.... choromatsu helped xime feel Seen, and understood ;;; theyre Really similar in a lot of ways, more than others realize! and xime struggles with his depression/anxiety a lot even with the help of meds, but after going through so much with choromatsu, it can feel a bit easier to work through 😊💖