Making soba

It was so nice to be invited into this family and see dad hard at work making soba noodles. Soba noodles are native Japanese noodles made of buckwheat flour (soba-ko) and wheat flour (komugi-ko). They are roughly as thick as spaghetti, and prepared in various hot and cold dishes. The most basic soba dish is zaru soba in which boiled, cold soba noodles are eaten with a soya based dipping sauce (tsuyu).

The news from Japan...

A couple of articles that have caught my eye lately...Slipping 11 ranks from a year ago, Japan took 91st place in terms of gender equality among the worlds 128 countries. (New Zealand squeezed into the top five.) The stats reflect the gaps women face in economic participation, educational qualifications, health and political empowerment.

Japans schools flunking at global level....at a symposium it was decided Japan is in need of sweeping revamp to remain competitive on a global scale.
Only three Japanese universities are in the top 100 World University Rankings for 2006.
Concern was voiced about the tendency of Japanese youth becoming less outgoing and losing the spirit of seeking a challenge.

No suprises here...inexpensive bluefin days are gone and tuna's too, now numbered.

And on a more heartening note...Democratic Party supports the Dalai Lama because his activities are considered religious; for greater autonomy for Tibet.