20th July – 文月 Most Japanese have had at least one in their life – お守り(Omamori = Amulet), is the sacred familiar item sold in shrines. お守り sold at shrines receive worships and wishes from prayer and that ritual gives god power dwell inside. Nowadays, there are various types of お守りspecific for each wishes, suchContinue reading “お守り (Omamori) – Amulet”
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お辞儀 (Ojigi) – Bowing
11th July – 文月 (Fuzuki) お辞儀: bowing action. Japanese generally bow in the situation of greeting, thanking, apologizing, asking favor and worshipping at the temples, shrines. Perhaps, you might have seen some movie scenes that Japanese person bows when calling, or all the kids in the class bowing at the same time when the classContinue reading “お辞儀 (Ojigi) – Bowing”
赤ちゃんのための行事 (Akachan no tame no Gyouji) – Events for babies
18th May – 皐月 Following the yesterday’s blog お食い初め (Okuizome = the very first food that baby eats), today’s blog is also about babies’ events that is held for the first 1 months they are born. お七夜 (Oshichiya) The celebration feast event for the new born baby. It is held 7 days after baby isContinue reading “赤ちゃんのための行事 (Akachan no tame no Gyouji) – Events for babies”
風呂敷 (Furoshiki) – Cloth Wrapping
20th April – 卯月 風呂敷 (Furoshiki) is the cloths to wrap things and carry. In the old time it was used for wrapping precious things, and as the time passed it became a bag for daily usage. Nowadays in Japan, we do not really see people who use 風呂敷 (Furoshiki), this is because bags becameContinue reading “風呂敷 (Furoshiki) – Cloth Wrapping”
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）”
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”
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”
8th February – 如月
日本民謡 （Nihon-Minyou）- Japanese folk song Songs that has been sang in the particular area in Japan. Those songs tend to have a deep relation to the local region. Just like the other countries, Japan has its own folk songs (民謡 =Minyou) which were sang among ordinary people in the area. Nowadays, not many of them areContinue reading “8th February – 如月”
2nd February – 如月
恵方巻 （Ehoumaki）－ Fortune Sushi Roll Thick sushi roll with generally 7 different ingredients inside. Eat in the night of 節分(Setsubun) on February 3rd. Celebrating the new coming season and wishing for business prosperity. Every year in the early February, it falls in the separation period of season from winter to spring. This separation period is called 節分Continue reading “2nd February – 如月”
3rd January – 睦月
初詣 Hatsu-Moude Visiting the shrine or temple for the first time in the year, thanking the gods to protect family for previous year and wising the peace and good health for this year. 初詣 (Hatsu-moude) is generally conducted in the very early morning on 1st of January to 3rd of January, but in some region it couldContinue reading “3rd January – 睦月”
Little Japan Dictionary 