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”
Tag Archives: #Japan
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”
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”
梅干し (Umeboshi) – Salted Plum
30th April – 卯月 One types of dried fruits, preserved food. Pickling plum in salt and then dry it. Umeboshi has very strong salty taste and includes Citric acid and Malic acid. 梅干し (Umeboshi) is definitely not everybody’s taste, some extremely love it but others hate it due to the strong salty taste. Despite thisContinue reading “梅干し (Umeboshi) – Salted Plum”
昭和の日(Shouwa no hi) – Public holiday
29th April – 卯月 The birthday of Showa Emperor. It falls in the first day of the Golden week. Even the Heisei Emperor’s birthday is no more holiday (23rd of December, which was holiday till 2018), the birthday of Showa emperor is still regarded as Holiday. 昭和の日(Showa no hi) was called as 天皇誕生日( Tennou TanjoubiContinue reading “昭和の日(Shouwa no hi) – Public holiday”
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”
日本の怪談 (Nihon no Kaidan) – Japanese Scary Story
27th April – 卯月 Every month on 27th, I write Japanese 怪談 (Kaidan) stories. This time is about scary game that mainly Japanese school kids did (does?). Maybe it is better not to do those games, otherwise you might get cursed!? こっくりさん It was boomed in 1970’s at schools, the game is to bring theContinue reading “日本の怪談 (Nihon no Kaidan) – Japanese Scary Story”
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”
Little Japan Dictionary 