Have you listened to our Tako episode and entered the contest to win one of three rice cubes yet? You have until Monday to enter!

As a followup to this week’s episode, apparently Akashiyaki dumplings (similar to takoyaki) are believed to relieve fatigue! We think this is an excellent excuse to eat more of them…

Have any of you ever experienced these flying octopuses?

Last Saturday, February 19th, was Rememberance Day – the anniversary of the date FDR signed the order that sent so many Japanese Americans (including some of Allison’s relatives) to internment camps. In honor of this memory, George Takei is trying to raise money for Allegiance – A musical set in a WWII Japanese Internment camp, featuring George Takei, which will run in San Diego, CA.

Hina Matsuri (Girl’s Day) is coming up… we’ll be talking all about it in next week’s episode, but until then here’s a great article that explains what Girl’s Day is all about.

If you’re in the LA area, why not hop on over to Soba-Ya in Torrance and take advantage of this coupon for a free soba?

Common Grains is a program that showcases the importance of grains in everyday life for the Japanese (as well as being the people behind that free soba coupon).

And Japan Rice has a ton of information about the Japanese rice culture. It’s an interesting read for anyone curious about Japanese food.

On March 11th, there’s a Soba Class being offered at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. The class is currently full, but you can join Allison on the waiting list and hope someone drops out…