Latest news with #Kamakura
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Communal knead: A Turkish baker in Kamakura draws queues
In the sleepy neighborhood of Omachi in southeast Kamakura, a small, unmarked building that sits a fork in the road has drawn a queue of 15 people, hinting at its new tenant. What was once a corner koban police box is now Pide, a tiny Turkish-Nordic bakery. Run by baker Burcu Alkurt, 34, and her husband and business partner, Aziz Firat, 36, Pide specializes in sourdough, which comes in shokupan (milk bread loaf) and the round pain de campagne (French country bread) shapes. Their surfaces are flaky and crispy, and their crumb is soft and airy with no trace of briny bite. The shop is named after the Turkish flatbread that Alkurt's father used to bring home when she was growing up in The Hague. 'My dad was a baker,' she says. 'The name has an emotional connection for me.' However, Alkurt was unsure if she was good enough to bake professionally. Her Turkish upbringing also meant that baking was still seen as a male profession. Ironically, as a child, she had a distaste for Trabzon Vakfıkebir, a traditional Turkish sourdough from the Black Sea region. In 2022, following a life-changing trip to Thailand where the idea of opening a Turkish food business took shape after seeing the country's entrepreneurial spirit firsthand, she left her job as a visual merchandiser to intern at Oslo's renowned bakery, Ille Brod, for two months. As she explored the mellower flavors of Nordic sourdough and noticed how women took the lead as bakers and business owners, something stirred in her. Later that year, she relocated to Kamakura with Firat, who found a product design job in Tokyo. Alkurt connected with fellow Ille Brod alumnus Tsukasa Miyawaki on the day his fabled Tokyo sourdough bakery Vaner served its last loaves. While her dreams of further study under Miyawaki's tutelage were dashed, she did receive, as a parting gift, some of his sourdough starter. This encouraged her to create her own starter. Pide has been attracting customers from near and far since it opened in January this year. | ALEX MICHAEL DWYER A string of serendipitous encounters with friendly neighbors — the jam maker who asked her to bring her bread to outdoor markets in the nearby towns of Zushi and Fujisawa, the contractor who eventually helped reshape what had become a storage building into her current space at Pide — dared her to dream of setting up a bakery of her own. After less than two years of living in Japan, she soft-opened Pide in January 2025. The locals began queuing up to try her lahmacun, a Turkish pizza, before even she and Firat arrived for work. 'That's when I realized, 'Wait, this is not normal,'' Firat says. 'It became something that we didn't imagine.' The harsh realities of running their own business soon set in, though. They've sometimes felt overwhelmed by the daily operations and logistics — the demand for her baked goods has outpaced supply — not to mention linguistic and cultural hurdles. Sourcing the right ingredients was also a particular challenge. She initially had a hard time finding the high-protein flour that was best suited for sourdough. After experimenting with 30 flours from all over Japan, she settled on a blend of six different flours for her recipe, including bread flour, whole wheat and rye from Hokkaido. 'You can make (the sourdough) acidic, sweet or mild; it's up to you,' she says, adding that sourdough is still quite a novelty for Japanese people. Apart from sourdough, Alkurt also makes kardemummabullar and kanelbullar, Scandinavian-inspired buns that have a perfect pillowy texture: Twisted, knotted and just a touch sweet, they come in two flavors — cardamom or cinnamon — and are addictive for all ages. Then there's simit — sometimes known as the Turkish bagel — topped with honey and mascarpone. It vies for your attention with breads like springy rosemary focaccia (a favorite of elderly regulars), Danish rugbro rye and pastries like lemon poppyseed cake. Burcu Alkurt (right) and her husband, Aziz Firat, bring an approachable, relaxed vibe to the bakery. | ALEX MICHAEL DWYER In line with the relaxed spirit of Kamakura, Alkurt and Firat are more than happy to answer any questions customers have about sourdough. In a way, it's also their open invitation to get to know fellow bread lovers from near and far. Their approachability has drawn the attention of an aspiring female baker from Nagoya. The newly married woman was weighing whether she should take a working holiday in Copenhagen to study bread. Alkurt invited her to Kamakura where they had a chance to bake together and chat about opening a bakery in Japan. 'When I talked to her, I really saw how afraid people are to start their own thing,' Alkurt recalls. 'I showed her that you can do your own stuff. You don't need to work 10 years at a bakery (to open your own).' 4-1-1 Omachi, Kamakura 248-0007; ; open on weekends only, from 12 p.m. until sold out
Japan Times
06-07-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Development project at historic Kamakura site raises concerns
A condominium development project near the site of a historic 13th-century shogun's office has sparked controversy in a popular Japanese tourist destination. The location, once central to the Hojo clan's regency during the Kamakura shogunate, is considered an area of significant cultural and archaeological value. Local citizens and history researchers in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, are urging authorities to halt the construction, expressing concerns that valuable relics may be buried beneath the site. The Kamakura city government now faces mounting pressure as it struggles to balance urban development with the preservation of its rich historical heritage. In 1225, the administrative office of the Kamakura shogunate government (1185-1333) was moved from the present-day Yukinoshita area of Kamakura to around the Komachi area of the same city. The relocated office became known as the Utsunomiya Zushi shogunate office and remained in operation for about 11 years. The term "Zushi" refers to a narrow street running east to west. The Utsunomiya Zushi office was the second of the three main government offices established by the Kamakura shogunate. During the Kamakura shogunate, the direct line of Minamoto clan shoguns lasted only three generations. After the end of this lineage, real power shifted to the regent Hojo Yasutoki during the period of the Utsunomiya Zushi shogunate office. At the Utsunomiya Zushi office, Yasutoki established the Goseibai Shikimoku, Japan's first legal code specifically for samurai warriors. This groundbreaking code had a profound and lasting influence on the structure and values of samurai society for generations to come. The proposed development site spans approximately 2,000 square meters in the Komachi area. A Tokyo-based real estate company has submitted a land-use plan to the Kamakura city government, seeking approval to construct a condominium building with two above-ground floors and one basement level, including 10 residential units. The project also includes an underground parking facility, which will require excavating the site to a depth of about 5 meters. Recent excavations at a nearby Shinto shrine uncovered the remains of a building and a well some 2 meters below the surface. While it is uncertain whether these structures are directly linked to the shogunate, their discovery suggests that any potential remains at the condominium development site are likely to be found at a similar depth. "If remains are unearthed, it could mark an unprecedented historical discovery," said Fumihiko Gomi, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and a member of a group of historians and local citizens working to preserve the site of the Utsunomiya Zushi shogunate office. He emphasized that the site has the potential to be designated as a special historic site under the law for the protection of cultural properties, which would be the first such designation in Kanagawa Prefecture. Utsunomiya Inari Shrine, which was built near the site of the Utsunomiya Zushi shogunate office, in the Komachi area of Kamakura | JIJI The citizens' group is also raising concerns about the Kamakura city government's approach to preserving the ancient samurai city. In the past, the city government, in collaboration with the prefectural authorities and other organizations, sought UNESCO World Heritage status for "Kamakura, Home of the Samurai" — a collection of historic sites located in and around the city. In 2012, the Japanese government submitted a nomination dossier to UNESCO. The following year, however, an advisory panel to the World Heritage Committee recommended against the inscription, noting that Kamakura's outstanding universal value as a World Heritage site had not been sufficiently demonstrated. The citizens' group argued that the proposed condominium development "contradicts the philosophy the city advocated when campaigning for World Heritage site status." The group suggested that if the remains of the shogunate office are discovered, the site should be preserved as a historical park. To raise awareness and support, it organized a symposium in December last year and launched a signature drive. Before any preservation efforts can proceed, a drilling survey must be conducted to determine whether any historical remains are present at the site. Regulating the proposed condominium development poses legal challenges, while converting the area into a park will likely be hindered by financial limitations. "We will communicate local opinions to the developer as needed," said an official from the city government's urban coordination section. "If valuable historic remains are discovered, the city government will request cooperation from the developer." Meanwhile, the city government has decided to relocate Kamakura's city hall rather than reconstruct the aging building, citing the need to preserve the medieval ruins recently discovered beneath the site. Members of the local citizens' group have expressed distrust toward the government, accusing it of employing double standards. One member said the city is "inconsistent in its attitude toward preserving history."
Evening Standard
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
The Maccabees at The Dome: 'so much heart and humanity'
Weaving across their four records, from the dappled beauty of Kamakura to the youthful fizz of Precious Time to the full-body catharsis of Spit It Out, a few years away has done nothing to diminish the quality of the band's canon. If only a few of their early peers managed to make it past the inaugural hurdles, then The Maccabees audibly progressed over their tenure; the doe-eyed whistles of early track Toothpaste Kisses wear their naivety with pride, while Grew Up At Midnight, from third album Given To The Wild, is epic and grandly ambitious. The big hitters - a rocket-powered Marks To Prove It and a final encore of Pelican - will easily fill the massive fields they've got coming over the summer.
NHK
13-06-2025
- NHK
Japanese coastal cities Fujisawa, Kamakura saw rise in tourists in 2024
An increasing number of tourists visited two cities near Tokyo that are famous for their sightseeing spots and beaches last year. Officials from Fujisawa City say it welcomed an estimated 20.4 million travelers in 2024. That is up about 4 percent from the previous year and the highest since comparable data became available in 1989. The officials point to good weather during the summer when many people visit the beaches for bathing. They also say foreigners flocked to Enoshima Island, which offers views of the Pacific Ocean and Mount Fuji. Visitors spent a total of 113.8 billion yen, or nearly 800 million dollars, including accommodation fees and spending on food and drink. That is also a record. Officials from neighboring Kamakura City, known for its temples and shrines, say that the number of travelers surged about 30 percent year-on-year to 15.9 million. They attribute this to a rise in foreign tourists. Officials from the two cities say that they will promote tourism while protecting the quality of locals' daily lives. Both Fujisawa and Kamakura are about an hour's train ride from Tokyo.
Washington Post
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Lamb chops with lemongrass and cumin are a feast for the senses
This column comes from the Eat Voraciously newsletter. Sign up here to get one weeknight dinner recipe, tips for substitutions, techniques and more in your inbox Monday through Thursday. 'During the summers in Kamakura, the part of Japan where I grew up in, my grandmother would bring out a round cast-iron griddle to cook Genghis Khan Mongolian barbecue and invite the neighbors,' Sonoko Sakai writes in her cookbook 'Wafu Cooking,' a collection of recipes from around the world adapted to use Japanese ingredients or techniques. It's a style of cooking known as wafu.
