Posted in Daily Life, Modern Culture, People, Traditional Culture, tagged family customs, good daughters, japan on July 16, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Several guys I work with have married their wives in their home countries but have come to Nippon to live indefinitely. They all give the same reason for leaving their jobs and starting a new adventure here in Nippon: their wives have aging parents and they want to help out with the family business or [...]
Posted in Events, Festivals, Traditional Culture, Travel, Trivia, tagged hikoboshi, japan, orihime, star festival, tanabata, tenkou on July 6, 2008 | No Comments »
A few years back, I went on a trip to Sendai for the Tanabata Festival. At that time, I was only interested because of the colorful decorations that I heard were so famous. I badgered a Japanese friend to accompany me, and she was so nice she’d even explained everything I thought there was to [...]
Posted in Events, Festivals, Food, Traditional Culture, tagged girls day, hina doll, hina matsuri, japan, momo no sekku on March 4, 2008 | 12 Comments »
On March 3rd, most families with daughters will be celebrating Hina Matsuri, which is also known as Momo-no-sekku or Girls’ Day in English. Hina Matsuri is my favorite Japanese holiday, or maybe Tanabata is, but I like them both a lot. Hina Matsuri is unlike many foreign holidays. Families celebrate the day by putting Hina [...]
Posted in Events, Festivals, History, Traditional Culture, Travel, tagged hanami, japan, plum blossoms, ume, ume matsuri, 梅祭り on February 26, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Finally! Spring is here! Time to roll out the Hanami mats and sit under the beautiful blossoms…
In the Nara Period (710 - 794), Japanese people viewed Ume (梅, Japanese Plum) Blossoms, as they were the first blossoms that signaled the coming of Spring. Around the Heian Period, however, Sakura viewing parties became more popular among [...]
Posted in Events, Festivals, Traditional Culture, tagged 節分, japan, japanese lunar year, setsubun on February 2, 2008 | No Comments »
“Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi! (鬼は外！ 福は内！)”
This is what Japanese people chant while throwing beans called Irimame (いり豆) out the door of the house or at a family member wearing a monster mask in a ritual called Mamemaki (豆まき、bean-throwing) at Setsubun (節分). Setsubun will be celebrated on February 3, 2008 and it is a very [...]
Posted in Daily Life, History, Modern Culture, Traditional Culture, tagged accupressure, chiropractic, doctors, hokkairo, japan, medical services, medicine, reflexology, shiatsu on January 22, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Who doesn’t have a story about visiting a doctor in Japan and feeling a little bit more worried than when you scheduled an appointment? What with all those blue tablets for the swelling to go down to the pink capsules that counteract the side effects of the orange pill, and the attendant who didn’t wear [...]
Posted in Events, Festivals, Modern Culture, People, Traditional Culture, tagged adulthood, 成人の日, coming of age, japan, seijin no hi, seijin shiki, 成人式 on January 15, 2008 | No Comments »
Yesterday was Seijin Shiki (成人式), the Coming of Age Day Ceremony. All over the city, in the stations and in the streets, kimono(着物)-clad ladies and a few men in hakama(袴) were about. Seijin no Hi (成人の日, Coming of Age Day) is a day many Japanese really look forward to. It is the day they [...]
Posted in Events, People, Traditional Culture, tagged お正月, hatsumode, japan, nengajou, new year, osechi ryouri, oshogatsu, shogatsu on January 8, 2008 | No Comments »
明けましておめでとうございます。今年も宜しくお願いいたします。
I wasn’t in Japan this year to join in the relatively quiet celebrations but I was here a few years ago and I enjoyed the whole deal (well, close to it, anyway).
The New Year is probably the most important holiday in Japan. Preparations begin sometime in mid-December, when people have forget-the-year parties called bonenkai (忘年会), [...]
Posted in Festivals, Modern Culture, People, Traditional Culture, tagged christmas cake, japan, japanese women, life plans, women's role on December 20, 2007 | 9 Comments »
Have you ever heard that Christmas Cake joke: Japanese women are like Christmas cakes, if they surpass the 25th (Christmas day or their birthday), they’ll be difficult to dispose of…
This joke makes me think Japanese women are bred to be wives. Some of the festivals, like the Hina Matsuri (also called Girl’s Day) are [...]
Posted in Modern Culture, People, Traditional Culture, tagged japan, omamori, superstitions, unlucky years on December 11, 2007 | 6 Comments »
It’s been said many times that Japanese people are not religious. Instead, a lot of them or possibly all of them are superstitious. A good number of superstitions are based on culture and customs. Some are from foreign countries, like for example a black cat crossing your path will bring you bad luck.
I got a [...]
Message from the Researcher Dirk:
This website is designed to introduce you to my ongoing researches for my master thesis. I am a fifth year student in psychology and I am currently enquiring about the look that we, as the human beings, bring upon “Japanese animation”, a derived product of the “manga”.
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7:10 to Tokyo Danny Choo Japanalyst Kirainet
