Thirsty?



How about cold juice box of 'Kurozu' (Black Vinegar)? No joke, Black Vinegar, more than just a clever name, is a real, and supposedly healthy drink made from rice vineagar that is flavored with black sugar and ume. The front of the box says 2% ume juice, does that mean 98% vinegar? The ume (pickled plum) is also intensely sour, but pales in potency to the vinegar. Under the words black vinegar (黒酢) on the box it says 'drink' (ドリンク) just in case you thought you were smart enough to know that straight vineagar is not fit for human consumption. Can this really be good for you? My supervisor, Shima, swears it to be, and is backed up by the Yakult (a healthfoods company) worker that comes to the Board of Education selling an assortment of small boxed healthy drinks (fruit, vegetable, vinegar) every day after lunch. I would like to add that 'Kurozu' is very close to 'korosu', or 'to kill'.

Shima loves it, and bought me a box to see if I might like it too. Strong stuff, but slightly more drinkable than i first imagined. I like the taste of ume, which was a plus, but I no doubt lost a few layers of skin on the inside of my mouth, which counts as a big negative. I have since found that vinegar drinks are quite common in Japan, if you can believe it. I saw apple vinegar for sale in a small drink box at Circle K just the other day.

I was puzzled again yesterday by a large busload of plainclothes police who came to town yesterday and spent most of the afternoon walking around town, taking notes, and observing. It turns out that the prince, the son of Emperor Hirohito will be making a visit to Katsuura tomorrow. Apparently, he will stay at the island hotel that owns my apartment building and enjoy the local hot springs.

Posted: Mon - July 11, 2005 at 09:43 PM        

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