My apologies for once again having gone AWOL. When work is in full
force, I seem unable to stem the tide of tasks coming my way, and
blog-writing (and other kinds of writing) is one of the first things I
tend to sacrifice. There must be a way for me not to do that, but I
haven't found it yet.
Well, I just finished a short anecdote about a kaiten sushi (or kaiten-zushi) experience on another blog (Japanese Word of the Day), and I wanted to follow up a bit. I'm on vacation in Hawai'i now, and I found myself missing the sushi in Japan today. Hawai'i has its share of sushi places but, to me, it's not as good as the stuff I can get in Tokyo. In Japan, the freshness of the fish and size of the cut that you get for the same price (or less) is better than what I'm finding back home, my beloved home. Of course, there are upper middle and higher-end sushi places on O'ahu--the last one I went to was Sushi King on King Street--but I'd have to say that dollar for dollar (or yen for yen), Japan is the place to go for this particular thing. Just amazing what you can get for 105 yen in Tokyo.
Ever since 3/11 (March 11, 2011, the day of the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent nuclear power plant leak in Fukushima), I have been concerned about radiation contaminating the sea life and seafood, and most of my friends share this worry. And it isn't resolved; I can't honestly say that I know that none of the fish I'm eating is contaminated. My compromise has been simply to eat the local and domestic fish in Japan less frequently. Every now and then, I look for updates on what scientific folk think about the risks posed by the Fukushima leak; the most recent article I've read is linked below, from sciencedaily.com:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130603183103.htm
In it, some professors say that the radiation doses involved in eating contaminated seafood, "even in large quantities, is comparable to, or less than, the radiological dosages associated with
other commonly consumed foods, many medical treatments, air travel and
other background sources," and generally that the Fukushima leak poses little threat.
No doubt, good news. . .but I'm still reflexively cautious about it. But, well, I want to live if I'm going to live. I go out to sushi less than once a week, and I enjoy it when I do.
I was looking through some kaitenzushi videos on YouTube, and I thought this one was pretty good. She gives some nice explanations.
