Hanami 花見 in Osaka and Beef

The weekend has passes, Hanami season in Japan has officially begun and my vacation is grinding to s slow halt. Sunday involved me heading into Osaka and taking part in my first Hanami party. In a nutshell, Hanami is Japanese for "flower viewing." The cherry trees are beginning to blossom and to ring in this seasonal change, people all across Japan throw blue tarps on the ground under the cherry blossoms, fire up their bbq's and get pissed!

On Sunday afternoon, some local Kansai-based video bloggers (including myself) got together at Osaka Castle Park and had a little party.


People doing the "Hanami" thing in Osaka-jo Koen.


More Hanami in Osaka Castle Park.


Here's my Osaka Hanami contribution to You Tube!

Hanami in Osaka 花見





Last night I joined some coworkers for some Yakiniku 焼き肉. Yakiniku is basically Korean-style bbq! It was all you can eat and it was spectacular. I'm pretty sure that this as only the second time I've eaten this type of food in Japan.

Some great beef about to be grilled!



This yakiniku restaurant is located in Amagasaki, close to the JR Amagasaki station.


Yakiniku (焼き肉 or 焼肉), meaning "grilled meat", is a Japanese term which, in its broadest sense, refers to grilled meat dishes.

Today, it commonly refers to a Japanese style of cooking bite-sized meat (usually beef and offal) and vegetables on gridirons or griddles over flame of wood charcoals carbonized by dry distillation (sumibi, 炭火) or gas/electric grill. In North America, China and Taiwan, Yakiniku is also referred to as either "Japanese barbecue" or "Korean barbecue" [1][2] due to its Korean origins.

It is thought to have originated from horumonyaki, a dish of grilled offal, invented by Korean immigrants in the Kansai area after the Second World War.
Wikipedia....read more.