Katayama - Urawaza: secret everyday tips and tricks from Japan

This book is dedicated to my two grandmas, Amy Sung and Itsu Katayama.

Amy was one of the few great female journalists in pre-Communist China. I like to think that I inherited her love of great stories and the written word.

Itsu was the original urawaza master. She once gave me a bamboo pole with a golf ball stuck to the end for knocking the stiffness out of my shoulders, and superstrong sake for my sore throat.

Text copyright 2008 by Lisa Katayama.
Illustrations copyright 2008 by Joel Holland.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN: 978-0-8118-6215-8 (pb)
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4104-6 (epub2, mobi)
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4105-3 (epub3)

Designed by Eloise Leigh and Jacob T. Gardner

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

This book is intended as an educational and informational guide. It is important that all the instructions are followed carefully, as failure to do so could result in injury. Every effort has been made to present the information in this book in a clear, complete, and accurate manner; however, not every situation can be anticipated and there can be no substitute for common sense. The accuracy and completeness of the information provided herein and the opinions stated herein are not guaranteed or warranted to produce any particular results, and the advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every individual. The authors and Chronicle Books disclaim any and all liability resulting from injuries or damage caused during the production or use of the information discussed in this book.

CHAPTER ONE:
HEALTHY HINTS FOR SICK DAYS 22

CHAPTER TWO:
AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS 40

CHAPTER THREE:
BEAUTY SCHOOL 54

CHAPTER FOUR:
HOUSEHOLD HACKS 66

CHAPTER FIVE:
BEHIND THE CUPBOARD DOOR 90

CHAPTER SIX:
LAUNDRY SHORTCUTS 106

CHAPTER SEVEN:
STREET SMARTS FOR THE GREAT OUTDOORS 120

U.ra.wa.za \ oo rah wah zah (noun): 1. a secret trick; 2. an unmapped shortcut

I was born in a small hospital less than five minutes from Roppongi, Tokyos bustling nightlife district. My parents werent rich, but they had the means to buy what they needed to raise two kids in a big city. The Japanese economy was booming. Growing up, my younger brother and I had fresh salmon from the fish guy, organic beef from the meat shop up the street, piping-hot sweet potatoes from the sweet-potato mans truck, toy cars and Barbie dolls from the toy shop nearby, and pretty much everything else we needed from the general store on Roppongi Road. Being a child of Tokyo in the 1980s was not, by any means, a struggle for survival, and in the years following, the citys obsession with consumer culture only grew bigger. But todays urban landscape of neon signs, soaring skyscrapers, and the manga -reading, blinged-out-cell-phone-carrying, karaoke roomdwelling Tokyoites didnt just sprout out of nowhere. Todays Japan is a product of the generations before it, who literally built the country back up from the ashes of war on not much more than a solid work ethic and a penchant for innovation.

The concept of homespun tips and tricks in Japan predates World War II, but it was in the immediate postwar period that such innovation came in especially handy. By the design of the occupation government, directed by the United States, the new Japan was to be peace-loving, nonaggressive, and focused on economic growth. But the country was nearly starting from scratch. By the end of the war, many of Japans major cities had been destroyed, and the countrys resources had been exhausted. Basic provisions like food and cleaning supplies were hard to come by.

All over the country, in many ways, people were trying to discover how to do more with less. Fictional characters such as Astro Boy used their superpowers to inspire progress toward a bright yet challenging future. Engineers and researchers in newly formed companies like Sony and Sanyo experimented with electronics, emphasizing efficiency and miniaturization. Japanese housewives also tried to figure out how to wring the most uses out of the limited supplies available, saving money in the process.

Imagine a young woman in a suburb of Tokyo standing at her kitchen counter, pondering a single bundle of spinach. She bought it to feed the family for dinner, but shes trying to figure out what else she can do with it. She boils the spinach, and the water turns green. Can this be turned into soup broth? She tastes it. Its bitter. But why waste good water just because its green or tastes bad? So she washes her face with it. After all, that bar of soap has been making her skin scaly and drymaybe the spinach has nutrients that would be good for the skin. A week of doing this and her face is smoother than it had been using facial cream, a luxury expense that can now be crossed off the shopping list. She has saved the family a bunch of money and extended the usefulness of the spinach water.

Even today, Japanese families often live in relatively small quarters with little room for an overabundance of devices and supplies, even if they are able to afford them. And, unlike as in the cheap-and-quick service culture in the United States, manicures and professional dry-cleaning in Japan come at pretty hefty prices. These factors, combined with an enterprising spirit that spans generations, have yielded a treasure trove of useful tips and tricks that make everyday life just a little bit easier.

In the consumer culture of today, its easy to not have to think up innovative uses for ordinary things. Aisles and aisles of cleaning supplies and convenience items have rendered creative economizing almost completely unnecessary. If you want to clean the kitchen tile, or the bathtub, or the windows, you can simply buy specialized products for each of those purposes. But urawaza have appeal beyond strict necessity. Nonchemical solutions to cleaning messes or stains, for example, avoid environmental and health consequences, and sometimes a simple home remedy is simply more effective than using a store-bought product for a common ailment. Plus, theres something oddly satisfying and fun about being resourceful and discovering new adaptabilities to everyday challenges. Theres a certain Wow! factor to knowing that you have an organic, quirky cure for just about any ailment or household accident, that you can walk around in high heels in pouring rain without slipping, or that you know how to make your sled the fastest on the slope on a snowy day. Urawaza can save you money, earn you style points, impress your family, and amaze your friends.

When I was in third grade, I thought it would be funny to write I HATE MS. NICHOL! all over my homeroom teachers whiteboard. But Ms. Nichol didnt think so, especially when she discovered that I had mistakenly used a permanent pen instead of a whiteboard marker. As a punishment, I was forced to stay after class and figure out how to erase the board while everyone else was outside playing Capture the Flag. I tried rubbing the words with chalk, dry fingers, greasy fingers, a wet whiteboard eraser, a plastic umbrella, soap from the girls bathroom, and even my homework notebook, but nothing worked. Desperate and scanning the classrooms contents once again, I saw a rubber eraser sitting at the corner of the in-house math geniuss desk. I picked it up and rubbed it against the word