炬燵（こたつ）‐ Kotatsu Table covered by blanket with heater inside. This table appears in winter time and makes the inside very warm. Traditionally, Japanese house sit on the ground and in the old time, there was a hole under the table and used to put charcoal there to make under the blanket warm. = So the groundContinue reading “11th January – 睦月”
Monthly Archives: Jan 2020
10th January – 睦月
鏡開き Kagami-biraki Breaking the Oshougatsu decoration rice cake (Kagami-mochi) and eating it on 11th January. Do you still remember the Kagami-mochi from the first blog? As it is already explained, Kagami-mochi is believed to have the soul of god inside and eating it will bring the god into the body. When Oshougatsu comes close to theContinue reading “10th January – 睦月”
9th January – 睦月
お参り - Omairi When you go to the shrines and temples, there are specific ways to worship the gods or Buddha. Even many of Japanese do not know how to worship (お参り Omairi), so maybe you can be the role model for them at the temples or shrines! Shrine Bow one time before going into theContinue reading “9th January – 睦月”
8th January – 睦月
お年玉 Otoshidama Giving money the relative kids in the New Years time. Long time ago, it was completely different event; the leader of the house gives rice cake which was offered for the god to the family. The concept of this custom was to get a rice cake from Toshigami-Sama (house god) in the early NewContinue reading “8th January – 睦月”
7th January – 睦月
七草がゆ Nanakusa-Gayu Japanese eat porridge with 7 different types of grasses in the morning on 7th January. Those 7 grasses bloom first in the spring and are believed to protect people from evils. It’s good to eat this porridge around this time because people had eaten a lot oshougatsu food. People’s stomach must had been very tiredContinue reading “7th January – 睦月”
6th January – 睦月
書初め （Kakizome） Japanese Calligraphy (習字 shuji) which has traditionally conducted on 2nd January, writing new year resolution on shodou Paper. In the old time, it was only done by nobility. Nowadays most people do not do this in the traditional way, making the ink with the water which was taken for the first time in the veryContinue reading “6th January – 睦月”
5th January – 睦月
年賀状 (Nenga-jou) New Years Greeting Card- thanking for the previous years kindness and relationship and cerebrating for the new year. Nowadays people send 年賀状(Nengajou) to people who are friends, relatives and wants to keep the relationships. However, in the older time it was sent for people who they cannot see them on New Years time (thereContinue reading “5th January – 睦月”
4th January – 睦月
おせち料理 (Osechi-Ryouri) Osechi (おせち) is the special fancy food for new year time, for thanking the great harvest to the god. It is made with the harvest for the season. Each ingredient used in this dish have unique meanings; 黒豆 Black beans Bean (まめ) has the same pronunciation as active(マメな人-Mame na Hito), so wishing toContinue reading “4th January – 睦月”
3rd January – 睦月
初詣 Hatsu-Moude Visiting the shrine or temple for the first time in the year, thanking the gods to protect family for previous year and wising the peace and good health for this year. 初詣 (Hatsu-moude) is generally conducted in the very early morning on 1st of January to 3rd of January, but in some region it couldContinue reading “3rd January – 睦月”
2nd January – 睦月
初夢 (Hatu－yume) What did you dream last night? Japanese people have believed the dream fortune-telling since old times. Especially the dream people had for the first time in the year is considered as the most important one as it will forecast the rest of the year. Generally speaking, people consider the first dream (Hatsu-yume) as theContinue reading “2nd January – 睦月”
Little Japan Dictionary 