ayamochi

招き猫 (Maneki Neko)

2nd May – 皐月招き猫 (Manekineko) – The cat shaped ornaments with front hand up. Cats catch mice which harms crops and house. Thus, Cats were appreciated by people and 招き猫 has been considered as a lucky item. There are different shaped and various colored 招き猫. If the right hand is up, it is believedContinue reading “招き猫 (Maneki Neko)”

八十八夜 (Hachijuu Hachi Ya) -The Eighty Eight night

1st May – 皐月 88 days after 立春 (Risshun) is the day of starting summer. This year falls 1st of May. From around this day, there are less frost therefore it is considered as the starting day of farming. Now the day is becoming longer and longer, the temperature is getting above 20 degrees inContinue reading “八十八夜 (Hachijuu Hachi Ya) -The Eighty Eight night”

梅干し (Umeboshi) – Salted Plum

30th April – 卯月 One types of dried fruits, preserved food. Pickling plum in salt and then dry it. Umeboshi has very strong salty taste and includes Citric acid and Malic acid. 梅干し (Umeboshi) is definitely not everybody’s taste, some extremely love it but others hate it due to the strong salty taste. Despite thisContinue reading “梅干し (Umeboshi) – Salted Plum”

昭和の日(Shouwa no hi) – Public holiday

29th April – 卯月 The birthday of Showa Emperor. It falls in the first day of the Golden week. Even the Heisei Emperor’s birthday is no more holiday (23rd of December, which was holiday till 2018), the birthday of Showa emperor is still regarded as Holiday. 昭和の日(Showa no hi) was called as 天皇誕生日( Tennou TanjoubiContinue reading “昭和の日(Shouwa no hi) – Public holiday”

ゴールデンウィーク

28th April – 卯月 From the end of April to the start of May, Japan has huge continuous public holiday, called ゴールデンウィーク (Golden Week). This holiday consists of 昭和の日 (Showa no hi, 29th),憲法記念日 (Kenpou Kinenbi, 3rd), みどりの日 (Midori no hi, 4th), こどもの日 (Kodomo no hi, 5th). Japanese society is generally considered to be hard toContinue reading “ゴールデンウィーク”

日本の怪談 (Nihon no Kaidan) – Japanese Scary Story

27th April – 卯月 Every month on 27th, I write Japanese 怪談 (Kaidan) stories. This time is about scary game that mainly Japanese school kids did (does?). Maybe it is better not to do those games, otherwise you might get cursed!? こっくりさん It was boomed in 1970’s at schools, the game is to bring theContinue reading “日本の怪談 (Nihon no Kaidan) – Japanese Scary Story”

箸 (Hashi) – Chopsticks

26th April – 卯月 Japan is the country where have the habit of using only chopsticks in the meal. There are many countries using chopsticks as well but they use spoons, forks as well at the same meal. This is related to the food Japanese eat mainly – now there are more choice of foodContinue reading “箸 (Hashi) – Chopsticks”

日本の変わった飲み物 (Nihon no Kawatta Nomimono) – Japanese unique drinks

25th April – 卯月 There are heaps unique things sold in Japan, one of the typical ones is drinks. Famous drink brand Coca Cola started to sell transparent cola ‘Coca Cola CLEAR’ in 2018, in Japan. The taste is similar to the original black colored cola, however the new looks have attracted Japanese. Also fromContinue reading “日本の変わった飲み物 (Nihon no Kawatta Nomimono) – Japanese unique drinks”

日本の風習 (Nihon no Fuu Shuu) – Japanese customs

24th April – 卯月 Suburbs and regions in Japan have many unique customs. Some of them still exists on the other hand some had already obsoleted. One example that has inherited is なまはげ (Namahage) in Akita prefecture. Namahage is a creature which wears scary 鬼(Oni=Demon) mask and straw clothes. He holds knife and breaks intoContinue reading “日本の風習 (Nihon no Fuu Shuu) – Japanese customs”

お弁当 (Obentou) – Bento

23rd April – 卯月 Bento – as a take away food box, is well known all over the world. This word came from Japanese word 弁当 (Bentou), and its quality is stunning in Japan. Many of Japanese students and workers bring their 弁当 to school and work and eat them at the lunch time. ItContinue reading “お弁当 (Obentou) – Bento”