May – Page 3 – Little Japan Dictionary

5月病 (Gogatsu Byou) – Post Vacation Blues

6th May – 皐月 Today is the last day of Golden week. After this long holiday, some people feel melancholy – this is called 五月病 (Gogatsu Byou). Those people who get 五月病 can have those symptoms: -feeling depressed -feeling sick -do not want to go to work / school -no appetite -feeling tired all theContinue reading “5月病 (Gogatsu Byou) – Post Vacation Blues”

こどもの日 (Kodomo no Hi)

5th May – 皐月 Part of Golden week holiday, the day for children – Respecting the children’s individual characters, wishing for happiness for them and appreciating their mothers for bringing up the children. Some people might have heard that 5th of May is also called as 端午の節句 (Tango no Sekku). However, this is a differentContinue reading “こどもの日 (Kodomo no Hi)”

苗字 (Myouji) – Surname

4th May – 皐月 It is said that Japanese surname exists around 300,000 and there are very common ones to the rare one only 1 household owns. There are 3ways to say surname in Japanese: 苗字 (Myouji), 名字 (Myouji) and 姓(Sei). 苗字 was often used in Edo period, 苗 means seedlings so it has theContinue reading “苗字 (Myouji) – Surname”

憲法記念日 (kenpou Kinenbi)

3rd May – 皐月 Today is a part of the Golden week, 3rd May is a public holiday called 憲法記念日 (Kenpou Kinenbi) – Constitution day. Cerebrate the establishment of the Japanese constitution and wish for the growth of country. The current constitution was announced on 3rd November 1946, and enforced from 3rd May 1947. TheContinue reading “憲法記念日 (kenpou Kinenbi)”

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”