April – Little Japan Dictionary

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”

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”

和菓子 (Wagashi) – Japanese Sweets

12th April – 卯月 Japanese sweets, 和菓子 (Wagashi) was named in order to make distinction to the Western sweets 洋菓子(Yougashi). Wagashi is less sweet than Yougashi, but it express seasons with the tastes and looks. For instance, in the spring time, many Wagashi uses Cherry blossom flower petals and make it pink color to bringContinue reading “和菓子 (Wagashi) – Japanese Sweets”