26th March – 弥生 Guess most of the people already have heard the word “舞妓 – Maiko”. But do you know much about this? Maiko is the girls who work for the 宴会 (Enkai)=party in Kyoto, 五花街(Gokagai). They dance and sing in the party, talk with the customers, pour liquor and so on. Those girlsContinue reading “舞妓 - Maiko”
Tag Archives: ＃Japan
日本のアイドル （Japanese Idols）No.1
25th February – 如月 Idols – sing and dance as a job and they are relatively famous than ordinary people as they work on the stage. Japanese idol has contributed huge economic growth in Japan and those people give dreams to fans. From 1970s, Japan has created the style of idols now. At that timeContinue reading “日本のアイドル （Japanese Idols）No.1”
メイド喫茶（Meido Kissa）Maid Cafe
19th February – 如月 A type of Cafe where staff girls imitate servant (maid) and treat customers as their master and provide service. Many Maid Cafes exist in Akihabara, Tokyo. Usually under 18 years old cannot visit there. Probably many people who have searched about Japan encounter this types of shop, Maid cafe has varietyContinue reading “メイド喫茶（Meido Kissa）Maid Cafe”
13th February – 如月
血液型 （Ketsuekigata）- Blood type Do you know what blood type you are? Most Japanese knows their own blood type and moreover they believe that the characteristic of each person can depend on blood type. There are many fortune-telling based on blood type in Japan and even in the end of TV news, some shows include today’s luckyContinue reading “13th February – 如月”
24th January – 睦月
お金 （Okane）‐ Money Japanese Money, currently we have 10000Yen / 5000Yen / 2000Yen* 1000Yen paper money and 500Yen / 100Yen / 50Yen / 5Yen / 1Yen coins. *Very rare as it is no more produced There used to be the paper money for those all coins, and if you have one of those, it can be worthContinue reading “24th January – 睦月”
22nd January – 睦月
正月遊び （Shougatsu-Asobi）No.3 かるた （Karuta） Karuta was originally came from Portugal, in Azuchimomoyama Era, one ship came to Japan and introduce the game called ‘ウンスンかるた(Unsun Karuta)’. Carta means ‘card’ in Portuguese. This game was popular among the nobility in Heian Era – was called 貝合わせ (Kai-awase) using the shells. Each shells were painted and written poetry, finding theContinue reading “22nd January – 睦月”
21st January – 睦月
正月遊び （Shougatsu-Asobi）No. 2 福笑い (Fukuwarai) Since Meiji period, it has been played, Fuku means happy, Warai stands for laugh in Japanese. Blindfolding one person and placing the face parts without looking. Eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth… As people guess the position but it hardly be placed where it should. Because the face looks funny, it makeContinue reading “21st January – 睦月”
17th January – 睦月
松竹梅 （Shou-Chiku-Bai) Pine tree, bamboo and plum – the lucky symbols in Japan Have you ever seen those symbols in Japan? Probably you have! Not only for celebration, many shops such as Soba shops, Sushi shops use shou-chiku-bai to categorise memu. All 3 symbols are equally fortunate but in order to make difference in menu, shopsContinue reading “17th January – 睦月”
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”
Little Japan Dictionary 