An Offering of Bananas
Here’s an unusual set of offerings on display in front of a restaurant in Ginza, bananas! It is common to see little altars in homes and shops around Japan during the new year but usually it is native fruit, drinks of rice cakes, the mochi for which we are warned to eat carefully every new year. This is the first time I have seen bananas as royally displayed as this! I like it! Found in Ginza, earlier this week.
Tokyobling's Blog 
Happy New Year!
We were recently surprised to see bushukan (Buddha’s hand) on offer at one of our local grocery stores. Bananas might look more impressive at the start, but they don’t stay pretty for long.
(Beside the possible choking hazard, mochi and other sticky pounded-rice concoctions are capable of pulling crowns or fillings out; G learned that the hard way.)
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Bushukan in Michigan?! Amazing! I have never seen one on sale in Tokyo even! I think the seeds would make great presents for any hot house growers in your circle of friends!
Haha… I know about that! Luckily I have kept all my teeth despite being a big mochi fan!
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Is there really that much risk of choking with Mochi? they are chewy and stuff but they are small enough so that you can bite it into two easily right? 🙂
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Indeed there are Andy! They are tricky things to chew and swallow. If you get to much and get in the wrong end of your throat you’re pretty much done for. I don’t know how many elderly end their days in this manner every year here in Japan… I love mochi but I am very careful when eating it!
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The texture makes it very difficult to successfully perform a Heimlich maneuver when someone is choking on them (and makes it impossible to do the ‘self Heimlich’ variation).
I learned recently that the same was true for eating peanut butter by the spoonful. This has helped me resist temptation, especially when I am alone.
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Haha… that is too funny! I think peanut butter is one of those things humanity had better phase out of existance (^-^;) The H maneuver is not very common in Japan for some reason.
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When I lived in Japan the first time our neighbors always brought us oranges.
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How kind of them! Japan is a great country but fruit are very expensive here… (^-^;)
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i’m thinking of visitng tokyo & kyoto next year andI’ve to eat lots and lots of japanese fruits, espeically since they’re so expensive exported
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You should! Make a list and make sure you try each one of them! Okinawa and Kyushu especially are great for all kinds of fruit!
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