🏛️ Museum of Memories Exhibit No.018 Exhibit Name: 'The Taste of a Salt Rice Ball'
Exhibit Category
🍙 Family Memories
🎣 Food Memories
🌿 Nature Memories
✨ Reflections on Memory
Hello, I am the museum director.
What has arrived at our museum today is a warm memory of a family, wrapped in the deep green of 'Zato-ishi' in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture.
The contributor of this memory is a woman named Nimokichi-san.
It was not a wealthy family, but that is precisely why it remains a story of a certain day, overflowing with a mother's love, that continues to shine brilliantly in the depths of the heart even now. Please, take your time and enjoy.
🎣 The Sound of a Clear Stream and Bamboo Fishing Rods
There was a fishing pond in Zato-ishi, located in the mountains of Hirosaki City.
Beautiful char were swimming comfortably in a pond made by drawing clear water directly from a nearby mountain stream.
We would roll up homemade dough bait, attach it to the hook, and gently lower the simple rented bamboo fishing rod into the pond.
Every time the float twitched, the children's little hearts would pound with excitement.
The price of the char caught was determined by weight.
On that day, when we had come clutching our last few coins, each and every fish was a truly special and precious 'feast' for Nimokichi-san's family.
The Best 'Perfect Seasoning' That Beats Any Feast
The fishing pond's snack bar had a sign for 'Tsugaru Soba' that smelled delicious with its dashi broth.
While the families around us ordered it, what Nimokichi-san's mother took out of her bag were rice balls she had carefully packed from home.
'We have these, so it's fine.'
Nimokichi-san looks back on those days as a poor family.
However, through leisure activities in nature, her mother was desperately trying to find ways to make sure her children could have their fill and enjoy themselves.
Instead of buying soba at the snack bar, she put all the saved money into the ultimate entertainment of 'fishing.' And, we filled our stomachs with handmade rice balls. It was a clumsy, yet infinitely warm, money-saving technique spun by her mother's love.
Among those rice balls, the one that remains deepest in Nimokichi-san's heart is the simple 'salt rice ball' with no filling.
It was a white rice ball with nothing special in it, always there.
But the amount of salt her mother used was always exquisite, the perfect 'good seasoning.' The taste of eating it in the air of the great outdoors was more delicious than any high-class cuisine.
The Memory of Something Crunchy I Should Have Disliked
In fact, Nimokichi-san was originally very bad with freshwater fish.
However, when the deep-fried char we had caught ourselves and had cooked on the spot was brought before us, our eyes went wide at the savory aroma.
When I took a big bite, the meat was fluffy, and even the bones were crunchy.
There wasn't a trace of that distinct river fish odor.
"Delicious!"
"That one's mine!"
Before I knew it, I was devouring it as if competing with my older brothers and sister. Hands reached out from everywhere, and laughter echoed around the table. I wonder what kind of expression Mother had as she watched that lively scene.
After our bellies were full, we would head into the nearby mountains to gather wild vegetables and mushrooms.
That mountain, where we chased after nature's bounty while getting covered in mud, felt like an infinitely vast amusement park to us children.
🏛️ From the Curator
Perhaps because of concerns about bears, fewer people visit that mountain now compared to back then. The bustle of the fishing pond at Zatoishi has also transformed into quiet memories as time has passed.
However, even without money, Mother's 'ingenuity' and 'kindness' filled our stomachs and hearts more than anything else could. They remain unfaded in Nimokichi-san's heart, keeping a warmth that could melt even the frozen bones of a char.
The exquisite saltiness of those salt rice balls.
The crisp sound of the fried char we ate as if competing with our siblings.
I believe these are all 'treasures of the heart' that Mother left for Nimokichi-san and the others, which will never disappear throughout their lives.
Nimokichi-san, thank you so much for entrusting us with such precious, treasure-like memories.
To all our readers.
Is there a 'taste that isn't gourmet, but for some reason, you can't forget' that remains in your heart?
Who made it for you, and what kind of day was it?
Until next time.
Afterword
After publishing this article, I received these words from Nimokichi-san.
"Thank you. My mother passed away this spring, but if she were alive, I think she would have been happy."
When I read that, it struck a deep chord in my heart as the curator.
The rice balls Mother made, which I took for granted as a child.
The days of fishing where she made sure we had fun despite our limited means.
The love I didn't notice at the time is now, decades later, being revived as these precious memories.
Memories are mysterious things.
Sometimes, they reveal to us, over time, feelings we didn't notice in the moment.
We can no longer taste the salt rice balls Nimokichi-san's mother made.
However, the kindness and love for her family infused in that taste have now become words, remaining for the future.
If her mother could see this exhibit, I'm sure she would smile a little shyly.
"It wasn't anything that special," she might say.
But I believe that casual kindness is exactly what becomes a precious work of art that remains in someone's life.
Nimokichi-san, thank you so much for entrusting us with the memories of your precious mother.🏛️🍙
#MuseumOfMemories
#ExhibitNo018
#TheTasteOfASaltRiceBall
#FamilyMemories
#MothersCooking
#UnforgettableTaste
#MemoriesThatStayInTheHeart
#LifeStories
#PreservingMemories
#MemoriesToTheFuture
#ParentChildMemories
#ShowaEraMemories
#ShowaEraLife
#NostalgicScenery
#ChildhoodMemories
#MemoriesOfThatDay
#FoodMemories
#NatureMemories
#FamilyTime
#MothersLove
#CharFishing
#HirosakiCity
#AomoriMemories
#LocalStories
#LittleHappiness
#TreasuresOfTheHeart
#PreserveYourStory
#kazuhide_journey
#279day