Hello Japan! November Challenge

Hello Japan! November: Are you hungry?
November's challenge was to eat some Japanese food and take pictures.

The Hello Japan! monthly meme is hosted by Tanabata at In Spring it is the Dawn.

My husband and I have a standing date on Fridays at Kaori, our local Japanese restaurant, where Gino makes us some of the most heavenly dishes. We usually have sushi, but sometimes we get steaming bowls of udon noodle soup or a salmon bento. The noodle soup is marvelous on a cold night. Here is our meal from November 20th:

Me and Mr. Distortion starting our meal with miso. Apparently I haven't learned how to keep my chest out of my food yet. And yes, that is beer in the background. I think a nice cold glass of Asahi is a good complement to some of the spicy tuna dishes.

Sunomono.

This one is a variety of salad greens with vinegared seaweed on top.

Roll Gino 32.

Spicy tuna and shizo leaf wrapped in seaweed. I don't recall what else is in there besides the rice, but it is delicious!

Yellow Tail Avocado Roll.

One of my favorites.

Olive Snapper.

Lightly cooked and drizzled with olive oil (and Gino's secret spices!).

Summer Hand Roll.

Spicy tuna, shizo leaf and vegetables all wrapped up like an ice cream cone in seaweed.

Hello Japan! - A new mini-challenge

Tanabata of In Spring it is the Dawn is hosting a new monthly mini-challenge called Hello Japan! Hello Japan! sounds like a fantastic way to learn more about Japanese culture and literature. In fact:

"Each month there will be a topic and/or activity relating to some aspect of Japanese literature or culture. Each task shouldn't take more than a couple of hours, unless you opt to do more, and is meant to be a fun way to let you experience a little taste of Japan no matter where you live."

I've never been to Japan, but I do have quite an interest in learning about this country and its culture and history. My father spent several years in Japan during the 1950s and I have his photo album full of the images he captured on film while he was there. This might explain some of my interest, yes?

Since today is the first day of October (I love October!), I can get started right away with this month's challenge:

"The task this month is to read or watch something scary, spooky, or suspenseful, and Japanese of course!"

I think I'm going to multi-task this month and combine my October reading for both the Japanese Literature Challenge and the RIP Challenge with this task. I'll be reading Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Akinari Ueda. I'm looking forward to the supernatural and ghostly with a Japanese focus!