Hakobera (chickweed), gogyo (cottonseed), suzushiro (daikon radish), s eri (Japanese parsley), suzuna (turnip), nazuna (shepherd's purse), an d hotokenoza(henbit). Some of them sound like weeds, but they are call ed "the seven herbs of spring" in Japan."Nanakusa gayu& quot; is a rice porridge with seven kinds of spiring herbs, and tradit ionally eaten on January 7 to promote good health [続きを読む]
New Year holidays used to last until January 15 before, but now it's u ntil January 7, which means entrance ways and doors of houses are deco rated with "Oshogatsu kazari / okazari," or New Year decorat ion, until tomorrow. Although it has become rarely seen custom recentl y, some people put "okazari" for a car to pray for driving s afety.and for a bike... Oh, no! I didn't want to p [続きを読む]
Finally, I made this. "Nengajo," which are New Year's greeti ng postcards. This is like Christmas cards of Western countries. Peopl e usually prepare the cards at the end of the year. So what? I made th em by myself, actually I carved the Chinese character "兎," which means rabbit, the Chinese zodiac of 2011. Now one thing I have to do is to send them...年賀状、やっと書きましたわ [続きを読む]
I bought "omamori" at Kamakura's Egara Tenjin(sha) Shrine.&q uot;Omamori" is a good luck charm sold at shrines and temples. Pe ople buy "omamori" according to their wishes, such as luck i n exams, general health, safety while driving, safe child birth, and s o on, and keep it to bring good luck and to protect against misfortune .Mine is "to pass the exam!" I usually k [続きを読む]
If I remember correctly, my personal record is 83,000 yen. Oh, I'm tal king about traditional Japanese practice, "otoshidama." &quo t;Otosidama" is a money gift given by parents, relatives, or thos e kids meet during New Year Holidays. Very wonderful practice, isn't i t? When I was a child, I was really looking forward to the treat rath er than "nengajo," or New Year greeting [続きを読む]
Since I'm still in a yakudoshi period this year, I went to "hatum ode" and received "oharai," which is a Shinto purificat ion ceremony to drive away evil spirit and to bring good luck, at my l ocal shrine. Believe it or not, it is very important for me!The price of "oharai" starts from 5,000, 7,000 to 10,000 at the shrine . A Shinto priest recite a Shinto prayer, called & [続きを読む]
I really went through terrible experiences this year. So, I've been wo ndering what to do on 2011 New Year's Eve, which is called "o-mis oka" in Japanese. Especially the last moment of 2010, Just before ushering the new year, I want to do something different. So, I decide d to go to a temple to listen to "jyoya-no-kane" closer than usual.What is "jyoya-no-kane" ? Well, i [続きを読む]
It's customary for the Japanese to clean and tidy up a house around th is time, the end of the year, to say hello to the new year, the deity of the new year, called "toshigami-sama" in Japanese. This i s called "o-soji."Then, what I have to do within this year, in the next 24 hours to be exact, is ...- clean all windows- car wash- arrange flowers- buy ready-made big shrimp tempra [続きを読む]
A serving set of sake consists of "tokkuri" and "o-chok o." "Tokkuri" is a ceramic bottle/flask and "o-cho ko" are small, matching cups.The "tokkuri" is usually p laced in hot water to warm the sake. This way of drinking is called &q uot;atsukan," or hot sake. It should be slightly warmer than body temperature.Sake serving set are available at cer [続きを読む]
I bought these bottles of sake. They are types of "usu-nigori,&qu ot; sparkling, "junmai-shu."Photos from left ; sparkling jun mai ginjo-shu 1,050, sparkling junmai-shu 473, from HASEGAWA-SAKETEN o f Omotesando Hills"Usu-nigori (zake)" means a lightly cloudy sake, and "junmai-shu" literally means "pure rice wine ," since made from rice only, no additional a [続きを読む]
Sake has a centuries-long history down to today in Japan. Sake is serv ed at many social and religious occasions, such as traditional Japanes e Shinto wedding ceremonies, Jichinsai, which is a Shinto ritual perfo rmed when construction work is begun to pacify the guardian spirit of the area, and so on. Sake is even an important everyday offerings for the Shinto deities at Shinto shrines. This is part [続きを読む]
I was also invited to "danshi-kai" held by interpreter tour guide friends, the other day. In Japanese, "danshi" means bo ys. Grown-up adult, not only physically but also mentally, I hope. Any way, at this party, sake was served. Sake, or rice wine, is made from fermented rice. It can be served hot or cold, and goes well with Japan ese dishes. Sake has different levels of quality l [続きを読む]
I was invited to "joshi-kai." In Japanese, "joshi" means girl and "kai" means, in this case, party, a kind of casual, usually drinking party, held exclusively by girls. In other wo rds, girls' only party. Nowadays, ”joshi-kai" is very popular a mong Japanese girls. Why? Probably guys in Japan have become less attr active!? :-p 最近流行りの女子会にご招待♪ ガァーコ [続きを読む]
I Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!How do Japanese cele brate Christmas?See also ;"Christmas season" by Roninhome ( 浪人ホーム♪).Photos : Omotesando Hills and Omotesando of Tokyo. メリークリスマス and ハッピーニューイヤー!! [続きを読む]
These are photos I took while waiting for all-you-can-eat "chanko " in a line at Yokozuna Hakuho's celebration party the other day. Umm, why are sick people in a medical mask serving "chanko" dish? Does an infectious disease spread?The waiters are fine, just wea ring masks to prevent infecting colds or other things. No infectious d iseases spread. This is a part of Japanese high st [続きを読む]
Imado Shrine of Asakusa, Tokyo, is also known as one of the birthplace s of "maneki neko." So, the shrine has a huge collection of "maneki neko" items.What is maneki neko?"Neko" mea ns cat in Japanese. Maneki neko is a dall with one paw rise. Basically , it's a kind of good luck charm.Maneki neko is supposed to bring good luck and success to businesses, and meant to attr [続きを読む]
To ladies who've been seeking for Mr. Right,who have a crush on someon e,or who already have a steady relationshipThis is a must visit Sinto Shrine in Tokyo. Imado Shrine, located in the Imado area, north of Asakusa, seems to gain its popularity as a kind of mecca for Japanese single women who are looking for the one, just like Kiyomasa-i of the Meiji Jingu Gyoen, or Hakone Shrine of Hakone. Th [続きを読む]
I went to Hagoita market of Asakusa's Senso-ji temple. This market is held from Dec. 17 to 19 every year on the ground of the temple. Tradi tional hagoita have portraits of famous kabuki actors and characters. While, there are also portraits of television stars and manga characte rs. The price ranges from a few thousand yen to hundreds of thousand y en.There are some disappointments, to be honest. F [続きを読む]
The world of sumo wrestlers is very hyeralchical hierarchical. Most su mo wrestlers live in a sumo stable. Younger or lower rank wrestlers ha ve to do a lot of chores. For example, at the Wednesday party, two s umo wrestlers always followed after Yokozuna Hakuho. Does Yokozuna nee d bodyguards? No. He is the strongest wrestler. The followers were tak ing care of him, like fanning.お相撲さんの世界は縦 [続きを読む]
Q. What is hanetsuki?Hanetsuki is a kind of game like badminton. It's traditionally played by girls in kimono during the New Year holidays a s a pastime.I've played hanetsuki for only several times when I was a child, but not in an authentic way, just like badminton. In an authent ic way of playing hanetsuki, the player who missed gets a black ink ma rk on her face. The game lasts until one player's [続きを読む]
In a mock interview of the Guide Exam, I was asked this question by an American teacher. Q. Are those fat guys really athletes???In sumo, th ere are no weight restrictions. Although sumo wrestlers have a lot of body fat, they are actually very muscular! They eat a lot and practice a lot. So, they move quickly and with agility!By the way, the stronge st "fat" guy (I know I should stop using [続きを読む]
Where you can see sumo...There are six major sumo tournaments, or &quo t;basho," throughout the year. They are held bimonthly, in odd mo nths, in four different places.January, May, and September ... Ryogoku Kokugi-kan of TokyoMarch ... Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium of OsakaJuly ... Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium of NagoyaNovember ... Fukuoka Kokusa i Center of FukuokaEach tournament lasts 15 days a [続きを読む]
Q. Why do sumo wrestlers throw salt before the match?The origins of su mo is thought to date back to about one thousand and five hundred year s ago. At that time, sumo was a means of religious fortune telling. ( In the Edo period (1603-1867), sumo developed into a professional spec tator sport.)Throwing salt is a very important purification ritual in Shinto. According to the official site of Japan Su [続きを読む]
What is sumo?Sumo is Japan's national sport. It's a type of wrestling. The basic rules of sumo is quite simple. Two contestants matches again st in a ring called "dohyo," which is a square clay platform edged circle with rice straw ropes. It's about 4 m 54 cm, or about 15 ft, in diameter. The contestant who pushes his opponent out of the ri ng or knocks him down is the winner. Sumo wrestl [続きを読む]
