In the old Japanese calendar, February 1 is the first day of spring. It is actually very cold in February, the most cold month through a year here. We do Setsubun event on the day, and throw beans wishing happiness and health. At a Japanese food restaurant around the day, you may see the dish … [Read more…]
New year holidays is the most important for Japanese people. And it is not “holidays” for Japanese housewives. They have to clean up everywhere in a house including a bathroom or a washstand and a toilet or a kitchen sink. A good husband or children will help them to wipe lampshades and shelves or wash … [Read more…]
Invited to a house in foreign countries, I really hesitate to enter a house with my shoes on.Because we generally take off our shoes at the entrance of a house in Japan. Some inns and hotels, some restaurants and bar, which are often in the Japanese style, requires you to take off your shoes. … [Read more…]
Pampas grass remind us the full moon in September. We have the event called “O-tsuki-mi”, “tsuki” means the moon and “mi” means seeing. At the event, we use Japanese pampas grass(Miscanthus sinensis) for the decoration. And we prepare sweets called “Tsukimi-dango”, and appreciate the beautiful moon. “O-tsuki-mi” is held in around mid-September, 24th this year. … [Read more…]
From July to August, it’s the time of the summer festival in Japan. In my hometown, the firework event for the summer festival was hold in early August. People live around here are looking forward to see this firework event every summer. The other main event of Japanese summer festival is Bon-odori(Bon dance). “Bon” is … [Read more…]
My husband takes a lunch packed in a lunchbox to his office every day. This is called “bento” or “o-bento” and making bento is one of works of many Japanese housewives. We make side dishes can last at least half a day. The simplest bento is “onigiri” or “omusubi.” Onigiri is a rice … [Read more…]
In Japan it has been record-hot days these days. The news says it is the worldwide phenomenon. Ikebana can be a good summer interior makes you feel cool. My teacher of Ikebana introduced me the idea using a bud of Gentiana as a chopstick rest. I like it so much!! … [Read more…]
“Sushi” is one of the best known Japanese foods in the world. The word “sushi” might reminds you of nigiri-zushi, a rice ball with sashimi. Actually Japanese culture has a various kinds of sushi, like chirashi-zushi, inari-zushi, maki-zushi, oshi-zushi, nare-zushi and so on. Chirashi-zushi is a very familiar “sushi” to me as a special … [Read more…]
On 7th July Japanese people celebrate the Tanabata festival. But this year we had a disaster caused by torrential rain in the west of Japan on the day. The floods and the landslides destroyed houses and lifeline systems and killed over two hundred people in Hiroshima, Okayama, Ehime, Kyoto, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Kochi, Hyogo, Kagoshima, … [Read more…]
I couldn’t write about the event on May 5th last month! May 5th is the holiday in Japan called “kodomo no hi(the day for children)”. The day is also called “tango no sekku,” and people who have a little boy celebrate their growth and health. They set a long pole and raise koi-nobori(giant streamers … [Read more…]