I have lived in Fukui for about 2 years. I experienced that people in Fukui don't know what I have taken as natural for 19 years.
When we order a "Katsudon", we usually imagine Katsudon with
egg soup. That is the only thing an ordinary man can imagine. But people
in Fukui say that Katsudon is bowl of rice with bread and fried pork with
sauce put on top. When I heard that, I laughed. One day, a friend asked
me to go eating a "So-su Katsudon" and I thought it was nastycbut
it was tasty.
I listened on the radio that people in Fukui eat a "soft adzuki-bean
jelly (Mizu Youkan)" in winter. I used to think that it was food for
summer. When I went shopping with my friend the other day, we talked about
it. I said that I had not eaten it in winter and he told me that it was
worth trying. So I bought it and ate it while warming myself in kotatsucit
was tasty.
There are only two commercial broadcasting stations. When one is not interesting
for me, the other is usually not interesting either. So I sometimes enjoy
NHK which I didn't watch in my hometown. TV broadcasting usually finishes
past two o'clock in the morning. So I don't watch TV to kill time. This
is different from two things I mentioned, because it was a disappointment.
When I am asked what kind of entertainment is available in Fukui, I think of pachinko first. Motorboat race and bicycle race are also popular among people in Fukui. But they never defeat pachinko. Many of my friends are enthusiastic for it and they often enjoy taking about it. Once TV commercial messages of pachinko were broadcasted in a series of ten. Then I was fed up but I was impressed because I saw that pachinko was taking root in Fukui.
by TESHIMA Kazuki