The first time I encountered that dish, while staying in a youth hostel during my first visit to Japan, I have to admit I gagged a bit, but I grew to really love it. I forgot to say that a dash of soy sauce is added to the scrambled raw egg and natto, and the dish is good with that condiment of bits of dried seaweed, egg and other items sprinkled over the bowl of rice, or those thin strips of nori seaweed. Also, the heat of the rice half cooks the egg, so it’s really not like eating a raw egg. When I lived in Vancouver I could easily get any Japanese food I wanted, including natto, at a Japanese supermarket that was walking distance from my home.

Thanks for stopping by, Perry! I hope you can find some natto where you live. That’s pretty hard-core, eating it with raw egg over rice.

Japan has numerous daycare centers for the elderly where they can participate in clubs and activities. For 28 years, I hosted an English club at one such center, which also had clubs for haiku writing, hula dancing, classical Japanese dance, karaoke, choral singing, tai chi, and more. Outside of institutions, retirees meet to play ground gold and gate ball. Many keep vegetable gardens and sell their surplus produce at unmanned roadside stalls. They regularly go to their local hot springs or sento public baths to chat with friends. All in all, the elderly in Japan lead active lives and embrace their ikigai, or profound sense of purpose.

There is indeed no “L” in Romaji. Nevertheless, for learners of Japanese, L is far closer than R when pronouncing the 3rd kana in こもれび. Consider the difference in pronunciation for the name りさ Risa (ree-sah, pronounced in English) and what her name sounds more like in Japanese, which would be “Lisa.”

leh is reh. There is no L in Japanese.