14th March – 弥生 The day men give back gifts to the ladies who gave valentines day present. White day – when the boys reply to the girls’ confession of love, was started in Japan and now it has spread to South Korea, China and Taiwan. Now many boys give back presents such as sweets,Continue reading “ホワイトデー White Day”
Category Archives: Culture
日本の迷信 (Nihon no Meishin) – Japanese Superstition No.4
12th March – 弥生 茶柱が立つと、幸運が訪れる If there is a tea leaf stem standing in the tea, happiness will come to you In Japan, having 柱 (Hashira = pillar) has meaning of good luck, so people used to believe making Hashira brings happiness to the house. Also when counting Buddha and god, Japanese count as 1体,Continue reading “日本の迷信 (Nihon no Meishin) – Japanese Superstition No.4”
日本の迷信 (Nihon no Meishin)-Japanese superstition No.3
10th March – 弥生 <<<Scary Japanese superstition related to death>>> In February, I shared some negative / positive superstitions that have been inherited over time. Seems like people like to learn those contents, so I would like to share more of them! Today’s topic is unlucky superstitions: -北枕で寝るのは、縁起が悪い Sleeping with head toward North is unluckyContinue reading “日本の迷信 (Nihon no Meishin)-Japanese superstition No.3”
ブラック企業 – (Bulakku-kigyou) Black company
9th March – 弥生 The companies where do not consider the workers’s health, work life balance, personality etc. Those companies have characteristics of long work hours, too many over time hours, giving the impossible tasks, not paying legally, have variety of harassment and high volume of turnover rate. This has been Japanese society’s huge issue.Continue reading “ブラック企業 – (Bulakku-kigyou) Black company”
巫女 (Miko) Shrine Maiden
7th March ー 弥生 When you go to the shrine, you probably see the ladies working with white and red clothes. Those people are called 巫女 (Miko / Fujo) and help the priests at the shrine. In the past, Miko had very important roles for both society and religiously. In the old time, Miko was theContinue reading “巫女 (Miko) Shrine Maiden”
お坊さん Monk
6th March – 弥生 In Japanese, there are various ways to call monk depending on their Buddhism sect or their hierarchy, but generally we call monk as お坊さん (Obou-san). Why are they called Obou san? IN Nara /Heian era, the metropolitan city was divided into several district, those districts were named as 坊, and eachContinue reading “お坊さん Monk”
オノマトペ onomatopoeia No. 1
4th March – 弥生 Making words from the things which does not have the actual word in order to express how the thing is – from nature sounds, feeling, situation and emotion into words Japanese has a lot onomatopoeia compared to other language. This is because Japanese does not have variation of verbs – ForContinue reading “オノマトペ onomatopoeia No. 1”
ひな祭り Hinamatsuri
3rd March – 弥生 Day to wish for the girls to have a good health and live well. Can be called 桃の節句 (Momo no sekku) On 3rd March, Japanese families put the gorgeous Japanese dolls inside the house to celebrate Hinamatsuri. The theme of this dolls is the marriage day for emperor and empress, withContinue reading “ひな祭り Hinamatsuri”
温泉 – Onsen (Hotsprings)
29th February – 如月 For the cold weather days, it feels just great to take a bath, doesn’t it? In Japan, there are many 温泉 (Onsen= hot springs) and people enjoy bathing into the very hot water and seeing the outstanding view from there all the year. From the old time, Onsen is believed toContinue reading “温泉 – Onsen (Hotsprings)”
畳 – Tatami (Traditional Flooring)
28th February ー 如月 Have you ever visited place where has Japanese flooring called 畳 (Tatami)? Tatami makes the house into Japanese style and having Tatami has many benefit in your house. It is made with a glass called イグサ (Igusa)= rushes, kitting them beautifully. Tatami has the main part with rushes 畳表(Tatami omote), board insideContinue reading “畳 – Tatami (Traditional Flooring)”
Little Japan Dictionary 