21st March – 弥生 The real meaning of 着物 (Kimono) in Japanese is clothes itself. Nowadays, the Japanese traditional wear is known and called as Kimono. This style was born in Heian era and generally considered as typical Japanese clothing style. In the old time back in thousands years ago, Japanese used to wear simpleContinue reading “着物 Kimono”
Category Archives: Tradition
七福神 (Shichifukujin) – Seven Lucky Gods
16th March – 弥生 Seven gods who brings luck for people. Worshiping them will avoid seven calamities and brings seven happiness. It has been believed among common people. 七福神 (Shichifukujin) has been well known in Japan and been worshiped from very long time ago. Those seven gods ride on the ship called 宝船 (Takara-bune), shippingContinue reading “七福神 (Shichifukujin) – Seven Lucky Gods”
八百万の神様 (Yaoyorozu-no-Kamisama)
15th March – 弥生 八百万(Yaoyorozu) = heaps, a lot and different. The actual meaning is the number of 8,000,000. Here implies not the actual number but so many. There are a lot of various different gods exist in Japan. From the old time in Japan, Japanese have lived with nature, mountain, ocean, river, forest andContinue reading “八百万の神様 (Yaoyorozu-no-Kamisama)”
ホワイトデー White Day
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”
六曜 （Rokuyou）
13th March – 弥生 Did you know that Japan has different counting system other than normal 7 days per week? It is called 六曜 (Rokuyou) and has 6 days. Each days have fortune telling meanings and even every hours have lucky, unlucky times. Many Japanese cares about this when deciding wedding, funeral and other eventContinue reading “六曜 （Rokuyou）”
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”
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”
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”
Little Japan Dictionary 