16th May – 皐月 Japanese culture has special cerebration for turning point of years. One of the big cerebration can be 成人式 (Seijinshiki = 20years old) and 還暦祝い (Kanreki Iwai) for 60 years old. For 還暦祝い, traditionally people who turned 60 years old wear red hat and vest. However, nowadays, this custom is vanishing andContinue reading “還暦祝い(Kanreki Iwai) – 60years old cerebration”
Tag Archives: #Traditional
瓦 (Kawara) – Roof tile
10th May – 皐月 Roof tile which are made from clay. The view of Japanese towns is unique – mixture of modern and old buildings everywhere. When you see the rooftop of the houses, you can see the old houses have those fish scale-look roof tiles called 瓦 (Kawara). Kawara is baked very high temperature,Continue reading “瓦 (Kawara) – Roof tile”
漬物 (Tsukemono) – Japanese Pickles
8th May – 皐月 漬物 (Tsukemono)- mainly vegetable soaked in salt, vinegar or rice wine to make the veggies last longer. Making 漬物 is such an easy work so it is believed to have existed already 2000 years ago. At that time, people already knew how to extract salt from sea water. There are variousContinue reading “漬物 (Tsukemono) – Japanese Pickles”
狛犬 (Komainu)
9th April – 卯月 In the shrine, you might realize there are 2 pair of statues of dog alike animals before getting close to the main hall. Those stone or wooden made statues are called 狛犬 (Komainu), and those are believed to guard the shrines from evils just as a watchdogs. Komainu 狛犬 can beContinue reading “狛犬 (Komainu)”
こけし (Kokeshi) – Traditional Japanese wood doll
5th April – 卯月 こけし (Kokehsi), also written as 子芥子, is the traditional wooden doll in Japan. It consists of round part with column and is drew face, hair plus Kimono. In the end of Edo era, Kokeshi were sold in the hot spring hotels in Tohoku area. At that time, people went to theContinue reading “こけし (Kokeshi) – Traditional Japanese wood doll”
着物 Kimono
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”
9th February – 如月
演歌 （Enka） Japanese music genre. Familiar among older generation. this style of music generally gives nostalgic emotion to Japanese. Have you ever seen a Japanese singer with Kimono and sing with particular vibrato? Those people are singing one genre of music called ‘演歌 – Enka’. Contains unique Japanese emotions in the songs and some darkness, sentimentalContinue reading “9th February – 如月”
20th January – 睦月
正月遊び（Shougatsu-Asobi）No. 1 Traditional games that are played often in Oshougatsu time. In Japan, Many kids used to play traditional games in Oshougatsu time. However, because of many reasons including the advance of video games, nowadays people rarely play traditional games. Here are some of the extinguishing games: 羽根突き （Hanetsuki） Badminton-alike game. Can play solo or 2Continue reading “20th January – 睦月”
11th January – 睦月
炬燵（こたつ）‐ Kotatsu Table covered by blanket with heater inside. This table appears in winter time and makes the inside very warm. Traditionally, Japanese house sit on the ground and in the old time, there was a hole under the table and used to put charcoal there to make under the blanket warm. = So the groundContinue reading “11th January – 睦月”
Little Japan Dictionary 