Showing posts with label JAPAN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JAPAN. Show all posts

8/15/16

Nepal festival in Yoyogi Park of Tokyo

ネパールフェスティバル@代々木公園

Nepal Festival
In summer we have a lot of "natsu fes" in Japan recently. It is not traditional festivals but kind of outdoor concerts or music lives. Young people like to join them. In my case.... I have no energy left ... But I like "international festival" held in Yoyogi park of Tokyo. They regularly hold events that you can enjoy eating specific countries' or foreign areas' foods and cultural things.

They had a Nepal Festival event in Tokyo on Aug 6th and 7th. http://www.nepalfestivaljapan.com/ja


It was a pretty hot melting day but a lot of Nepalese and Japanese who is fond of Nepal got together in the park. I think I saw more Nepalese than Japanese. I was impressed Nepalese girls and ladies in pretty dresses.
Foods
yummy!

8/14/16

Summer events in Japan

日本の夏

I am going to introduce very common things of summer in Japan today.
Obon
It is Obon season now. A lot of Japanese are on the Obon vacation and making trips or visiting their parents' houses. Obon is an annual Buddhist tradition for commemorating one's ancestors and we believe that our ancestors' spirits come back to our homes during this term. We also visit ancestors' braves. Obon is generally celebrated around Aug 15th.
Obon has another side. Japanese companies are on vacation at this season. Huge amount of Japanese people rush into sightseeing spots. Most highways are pretty busy. On the other hand, we have less rush hours when we commune.
Summer festival
We have a lot of local festivals everywhere in Japan and we generally call them "Summer festival"(Natsu matsuri). I saw a festival held in my neighborhood last week.
Main event of summer festival is that people carry around Mikoshi in their community. Mikoshi is kind of portable shrine. The spirit of a deity temporarily reposes in it.
神輿 みこし 夏祭り
Mikoshi is portable shriine.
Bon-odori
Odori means to dance and Bon-odori is for celebrating Obon. There are various explanation about the origin but it is performed in summer festival events cross over Japan.

7/10/16

Hydrangea

あじさい

Rainy season is over...?
Lately it is sooooo hot here in Tokyo. Temperature is beyond thirty degrees. Even the humidity is almost 90%.... this may be like in a sauna!

I suppose it is still rainy season here since I haven't heard that the Meteorological Agency hasn't announced the end of rainy season. But it is more likely in the middle of summer.

Last Thursday, July 7th, was Tanabata(star festival). People generally celebrate it hanging on pieces of paper which a wish is written on bamboo stems. The small pieces of paper are called Tanzaku. They are five colored.

Hey... Is it the same as Tarchor?!

hydrangea
A flower of rainy season in Japan
June is blooming season for hydrangea in Japan and we often see hydrangeas on streets. I love this beautiful flower. Their bright and deep color catch our eyes in rain.

I am just wondering hydrangea is popular in other countries as well? Hydrangea is indigenous to Japan indeed.

Shrines and the flower
I suppose Japanese associates hydrangea with shrines.

Since health care was poor in ancient time, more people suffered from illnesses and killed in the rainy season when hydrangeas bloomed.

Some shrines planted this flower to offer people killed. In fact we have many shrines which is famous with its hydrangea ; https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%82%B8%E3%82%B5%E3%82%A4%E5%AF%BA

I missed to visit my favorite place to enjoy seeing hydrangeas this year.....
あじさい
梅雨終わった・・・?
最近、すっごい暑いです東京。気温は30度を超えてます。湿度に至ってはほぼ90%。。。サウナか!

気象庁が梅雨終わったって言ってないし、まだ梅雨だとおもうんだけど。でも、もう真夏みたい。

先週の木曜7月日は、七夕でした。一般的には小さい紙にお願い事を書いて笹の葉にぶら下げます。この紙、短冊と呼ばれます。5つの色が付いています。

あれ、タルチョーと同じ!?

梅雨の花
6月はあじさいの季節で、道を歩いてるとよく見かけます。わたしはこの綺麗なお花が大好きなんですよね~。鮮やかで深い色で、雨の中で目を惹きます。

日本以外でもあじさいはポピュラーなのかな?あじさいは実は日本原産です。

お寺とあじさい
思うに、わたしたち日本人はあじさいに、お寺を持っているのでは。

昔は医療が発達していなかったため、 沢山の人があじさいが咲く梅雨の時期に病気になったりなくなったりしました。

お寺の中には、そうした人たちに手向けるためにあじさいを植えたところがあります。実際、あじさいで有名なお寺が沢山あります。
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%82%B8%E3%82%B5%E3%82%A4%E5%AF%BA

今年は行けなかったなあー。

6/29/16

Old and New

新旧

Konpira Gu in the middle of buildings
As you know, Tokyo is one of the biggest city in the world.

While we see skyscrapers, we can see a plenty of old temples and shrines in Tokyo.

Sometimes they are seen at the same time as blow.
虎ノ門金比羅 琴平
integration of a modern building and an ancient shrine 

This shrine is built in the middle of Tokyo where is near the governmental area, Sakurada-mon, Konpira Gu. The Torii of it is standing out with its unique animal statues on itself.




Zojoji Temple and Tokyo tower
Behind of the temple, we see a tall building. 

a beautiful combination of new and old things
They are Tokyo Tower standing 333 meters high and Zojoji Temple standing next to Tokyo Tower. The temple was built in the year 1393 initially. And it was moved its present location in 1598. The contrast of the modern architecture and the ancient architecture is awesome.

6/14/16

Sushi restaurant

お寿司

luxury food, Sushi
As you may know, Sushi is one of the representative Japanese food.
It is one of the traditional food. Since the Edo period, Japanese people have been enjoying eating it.
Sushi is kind of expensive and fancy food. If I have sushi at a "real" sushi restaurant, I would say "I treated myself for fancy dinner tonight".

But they say that Sushi used to be a fast food like Macdonald's back to the Edo period. They used to be sold in street stall.
Sushi grew cheaper and entertaining 
We have Kaiten Sushi restaurants while we have expensive fancy Sushi restaurants where the plates with the sushi are placed on a rotating conveyor belt.

At fancy Sushi restaurant, we sit at counter seat in front of Sushi chefs and order and a chef serves.
a Sushi chef


But we see chefs over a conveyor belt , even we can't see them at Kaiten Sushi restaurants. And Sushi will be conveyed on the rotating belt. We need to pick up Sushi we want to eat by myself. Sushi at Kaiten Shushi places are made by special machines, not human chef mostly. Kaiten Sushi places are kind of a fast food shop.

The first Kaiten Sushi restaurant was opened around 1960. When I just wanted to eat "Sushi like", I visited Kaiten Sushi places some times. Because they were less tasty than ones at fancy Sushi but much cheaper.

Sushi covered go around in a restaurant
However I realized recent Kaiten Sushi places are very entertaining too! Lately I visited a Kaiten place for the first time in the past 10 year to learn it.

We see no chefs there and can order what we want from the spacial device equipped with each tables, other than Sushis coming up on the rotating conveyor belt.

Desert plates are conveyed around as well.  It is fan to see them sliding forward on the belt.

Your orders are conveyed on another belt in front of you.


5/30/16

Have a blast on Friday nights.

花金!

The life of Salary-man
As you know, most of Japanese "salary man"(office worker) work pretty hard. I may be one of them. The regular work hour is from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM in my company but I usually reach the office before 9 AM and leave the office after 8 pm.


japanese salaryman 日本のサラリーマン 酔っぱらい
after a party....?


Yes overwork is very common among Japanese office workers. Of course we want to stop working anytime to leave the office for home but are not able to do it.

Lately Japanese government is working on raising productivity of Japanese companies to boost growth. That may mean our Japanese office workers' performances at work are not good. That is why we need to work until late night.

Whatever .... working in Tokyo is kind of hard.

We need to get on the crowded trains to the office and packed in the crowded. Sometimes I feel fear to the irritating people. People say that Japanese people are polite and decent but rush-hour is exception. People are so aggressive. I can't walk without being pushed or bumped by commuting people on my way to the office every morning. We have professional pushers in the station. They help passengers to push themselves in the trains. lol

Can't wait Friday night!
Since we have hard time even to commune and long days at work, Friday night is what every Salary-men are waiting for.

What do they do on Friday nights? Mostly they hang out and drink a lot. You will see many bars and Japanese "Izakaya"(Japanese style drinking places) are buzzing with drunken salary-men.
Some will throw away in the trains or stations.... Even sleep on the streets.

Sleeping drunken salary-men in the trains are commonly seen on Friday night called "Hanakin"...
Hana means flower but it may mean blooming here and Kin is abbreviated word of Friday in Japanese, Kin-youbi. Hanakin implies that salary-men will have a huge blast on Friday night.

5/23/16

Japanese Otaku Culture

日本のオタク文化

What is Otaku ?
"Otaku" is a term of people who are obsessed with something.
There are two different recognition about Otaku. One is positive and another is negative.

If I say that someone is Eiga(films) Otaku, I would mean someone knows films a lot. This is a positive way.

But if I say that someone is Otaku, I would mean someone is nerd(introvert, un-socialized and obsessed with something much.).
Perhaps That person I am talking is supposed to be passionate about anime or games, Japanese idols.
(you can learn about Nard here)
shops for Otaku
I don't know why the Otaku culture grew in Japan but we see Otaku things so often.

This is a "maid cafe" where waitresses are wearing maid cloths. (I haven't visited there)

maid cafe メイドカフェ
waitresses are wearing the costumes

 This is a shop where you can get cosplay costumes. There are many people to enjoy wearing costumes that characters in anime wear in Japan. They rush in this kind of shops.
cosply コスプレ
you can find costumes

おたくとは?
「おたく」は何かにハマりまくってる人を指す言葉です。

日本では、「おたく」といったら2種類の解釈があります。ポジティブなのとネガティブなのと。

もし誰かを「映画おたく」と言ったら、その人は映画をよく知ってるというい意味です。

これはポジティブな方。でも、もし誰かを「おたく」と言ったら、それはその人が「ナード」(内向的で、社交性がなく、何かに取り付かてる) その人はおそらく、アニメやゲーム、日本のアイドルにご執心でしょう。

おたくのお店
おたく文化が日本で大きくなった理由はわかりませんが、オタクのものはよく見かけます。
これは「メイドカフェ」で、ウェイトレスはメイドの衣装を着てます。

このお店はコスプレ衣装を手に入れることができるとこ。日本ではアニメのキャラクターの衣装を好んで着る人たちがいます。こういうお店に殺到するわけです。
prices are surprising!! the left one is 10,000yen(100$)

5/16/16

Golden Temple in Nepal(Patan) and Japan(Kyoto)

"Golden temple" Kwa Bahal 
Kwa Bahal which is so called "Golden Temple". We also have "Golden Temple". Both are beautiful in Japan. Japanese one is called "Kinkaku-ji". It is situated in Kyoto which is one of the most popular places to visit among travelers.

Golden temple in Patan


Kinkaku Temple in Japan
Guarding inner shrine 
 I liked a pairs of these statues in both sides at the entrance They are like Komainu in Japanese shrines maybe. But another statues are sitting on their heads. Japanese Komainu doesn't have anyone on their heads, sitting on elephants. My picture doesn't cover entire elephants....
I didnt notice someone working inside when I took this picutre....

"ゴールデンテンプル"
クワ・バハール寺院はゴールデンテンプルと俗に呼ばれてます。日本にもゴールデンテンプルあります、そう、金閣寺。金閣寺は、観光客に人気のスポットの一つ京都にあります。
狛犬?
この像たちが気に入りました。日本の狛犬みたいなのかな。でも頭の上に別の像がいて、蔵の上に座ってますね。写真切れちゃってるけど、、。

5/8/16

How to celebrate Mother's Day

それぞれの母の日

in Japan
Today is Baisakh 26th in 2073 in Nepali calendar.

In most countries Mother's day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May, including Japan.

People celebrate motherhood giving red carnations commonly in Japan.

This tradition is like the United State according to some articles. This is based on the beginning of Mother's day in the United State.

And in Japan it is also common that kids 's drawings of moms are tacked on the walls in kindergartens or primary schools. The pictures they made show their loves to moms.
It is kind of ritual in Nepal
In Nepal Mother's day falls on the Nepali month of Baisakh. This year, it was celebrated on May 6.
It is also known as Mata Tirtha Ausi which is a tradition rather than a festival. People visit Mata Tirtha in Kathmandu, to perform Sraddha or Pind Daan generally. Although they are Hindu rituals performed to pay homage to their ancestors, specially parents post death, there are more than 60 ethnic groups in Nepal and they have their own ways to celebrate Mother's day. My friend,

San, told me he called his mother giving his love and respect to her.

It is always the best way to express my love for mothers in any nations.



日本では
今日はネパールのカレンダーで言うと2073年の Baisakh月です。

日本を含み、多くの国では5月第2日曜日が母の日です。赤いカーネーションをプレゼントするのが一般的。

この慣習はいくつかの記事で読んだところ、アメリカでも同じみたいです。これはアメリカで始まった母の日に基づいてます。

日本では幼稚園や小学校で子どもがお母さんの絵を書いて、壁に飾るのが一般的でもあります。
ネパールでは儀式のような
ネパールというと、Baisakhに母の日はあります。今年は5月6日でした。Mata Tirtha Ausi といってお祭りというより儀式です。

カトマンズのMata Tirtha という場所に行って、 Sraddha または Pind Daan を行います。これらはヒンズー儀式で、祖先、とくに両親がな亡くなっている場合は、そのあとに敬意を表すために行われるものですが、
とはいえ、ネパールには60以上の民族がいるので、それぞれの方法で母の日はお祝いされるそうです。

私の友人のサンは、お母さんに電話して感謝の気持ちを伝えたとか。

自分がどこの国であったとしても、お母さんに直接気持ちを伝えるのが、最良ですよね。

5/5/16

Boy's festival in Japan

子供の日

“Carp Streamers” (koinobori) 
koinobori boy's festival in Japan
a plenty of Koinobori in an event held in Tokyo tower

Today is "Children's day". It is also called "Boy's festival" comparing to Girl's festival on March 3.

Traditionally families having boys celebrate their boy's  healthy growth and happiness flying carp-shaped streamers(Koinobori) the exterior of the house or display dolls of warriors inside. I remember Koinobori flutter in the wind when I was a kid.

Koinobori imply a family consisted of father and mother, a boy.
鯉のぼり こどもの日
the traditional style
History
Back to Edo-era, when a boy was born, warrior(samurai) families celebrate it putting a flag out at their home exteriors. This custom became common among the regular people.
And people connected this custom with a Chinese ancient story of  carp and started to display Koinobory.

The myth is like this.
There was a violent waterfall called the Dragon gate. Only a carp swam upstream strongly  to become a dragon while other fishes didn't make it.
People changed the custom and started to display Koinobori instead of flags. Koinobori symbolizes strength and success.
Less common
In the recent years more people live in apartments rather than houses.  They don't  have enough space to display Koinobori in the balconies. Even they do, Koinobori are flown by the strong wind and got stuck in the balcony of .nextdoor.

5/2/16

English ability and Sightseeing in Japan ~ Visiting Yugawara

日本の観光と英語 湯河原編

Visit Yugawara
Today I visited Yugawara where one hour and thirty mins away from Tokyo. Yugawada is famous with its Onsens(Hot-springs).
湯河原 万葉公園 manyou park
manyou park(万葉公園)

4/30/16

"Golden Week" in Japan. Avoid to visit or not?

ゴールデンウィークはお勧めか?お勧めじゃないか?

Golden week
Days from the end of April to the first week of May is called "Golden Week" in Japanese.The reason we call it "golden" is because it is the longest vacation period of the year for most Japanese employees. Many Japanese companies get about a week off because there are four national holidays within these weeks.

Green Day みどりの日 ゴールデンウィーク GoldenWeek Japan
fresh green leaves are fasinating in this season.
During this week, numerous Japanese make trips. So.... if you are thinking of visiting Japan, I suggest you to avoid this season to come over.Travel expenses like hotel room charge and flight ticket price get so high during this season. Before that, you may find so hard to book hotels and transportation. Additionally you will see the huge crowd everywhere.


4/22/16

Cats and Dogs

犬と猫

Cats in Japan
I don't know whether taking this word to express the phenomenon is right or not but I will say...

Now keeping cats is a record-breaking hit ever in Japan. As you know, cats are living creatures so I don't like to treat them as objects and say "booming".

But the surveys show number of pet cats has been increasing in the past years.
That was not our reason but we owns two cats.
Dogs in Nepal
On the other hand, Nepal is a country of dogs.
dogs in temples Nepal
sleeping dogs in a temple

4/20/16

Japanese regional mascot characters

ご当地キャラ

mascot characters
As you already know, Japan is a country of 'anime' and 'manga(cartoon)' . I don't know whether it affects this phenomenon or not, but recently Japanese regional mascot characters, called "Gotochi Kyara" are growing so popular.

くまもん kumamon ご当地キャラ mascot characters japan
Kumamoto 's character, Kumamon

They are commonly playing an important roll to attract customers in the regional communities and even out of them. I am live in Tokyo and often see these characters, who are not Tokyo's one, appear live at special events. "live" means someone wearing full-size character costumes to animate them.
They are created to vitalize their own regions and they are going above and beyond. There are various products to sale, decorated by them and contests to decide which character is the most popular.
http://kumamon-official.jp/blog
Kumamon refrains
The reason I am writing about "Gotochi Kyara"(regional mascot character) today is that I saw a news article about Kumamon. Kumamon is the Kumamoto prefecture's mascot character. It says that Kumamon is refraining from twittering because his priority currently should be supporting evacuated Kumamoto residences because of the quake.

It sounds like a high profile celebrityIt sounds like a high profile celebrity....

mascot characters
よく知られているように、日本はアニメや漫画大国です。この現象にそれが影響してるのかどうかわかりませんが、最近日本の地方のマスコットキャラクター(ご当地キャラ)がすごい人気になっています。
ご当地キャラは地域内または地域の外からの集客に重要な役割を担っています。東京在住のわたしも、他県のキャラクターの着ぐるみをよく見かけます。その地域の活性化のために創られるのですが、それ以上の働きをしてます。キャラクターのついた さまざまなグッツもあり、全国のキャラクターのうち、日本一を決める大会もあります。
http://kumamon-official.jp/blog
Kumamon refrains
今日、ご当地キャラクターについて書こうと思ったのは、くまモンについての記事を見かけたからです。くまモンは熊本県のマスコットです。記事によれば、くまモンは、地震で避難している方たちなどのサポートを最優先とし、ツイットを控えているそうです。

まるで芸能人みたいな・・。

4/19/16

The quake in Kumamoto

熊本の地震で

Fore-shock
The strong earthquake hit Kumamoto prefecture on April 14. When I learned it, it was just after 20 mins of the first quake. We thought it was the first quake but it turned be a fore-shock. Next morning the main shock whose magnitude was 7.3 occurred.
The aftershocks have been occurring more than 550 times. Nearly 100,000 residents have been evacuated.
Stolen
People say that Japanese are very well-disciplined but cruel thief stealings have been happening in vacant destroyed houses. It is quite a sad thing.
Food supply
Food and water, toilet paper shortage at shelters grew worse. Even the government carried to Kumamoto, landslides cut off traffic routes and Emergency supplies haven't reached people. I don't know this kind problem always happens in such situations...

4/17/16

KathmanduTown in Tokyo

リトルカトマンズ

From Korea to Nepal
A few months ago I watched a TV program about Nepal in Tokyo. The show is Tamori Club. Tamori who is a toastmaster of this show visits Okubo area. Okubo area is a famous with its Korean town is located.

Almost ten years ago, Korean drama shows made a blockbuster hit in Japan and triggered the Korean entertainment industry to takeover Japanese one and Okubo area transformed an old unsafe area in Tokyo to a entertaining Korean town where Japanese girls and ladies flooded out of shops selling Korean stars items.

And now " KathmanduTown" has joined there. Tamori mentioned that there are more than 2,000 Nepali people are living in Okubo. Totally more than 36,000 Nepali live in Japan according to a survey last year.

I visited Okubo to check it. When I went out of Shin-Okubo station, I didn't see anything more likely Nepal. After I walk a few minutes, I found a drugstore that was supposed to be located near so called "Islam Street" .

FOOD and SPICE CENTER BARAHI
When I watched the TV show, I got so excited and decided to visit there immediately. I expected quite a lot of Nepali things.

4/14/16

Strong earthquake hit Kumamoto in Kyushu of Japan

Just 40 mins ago, the strong quake hit Kumamoto prefecture. The magnitude was 6.5. Now again an alert of another strong shake has been just given.

More than ten houses were allegedly collapsed so far and rockfalls occurred. Fires are breaking out too.
A TV breaking news has been reporting about many times aftershocks afterward.

The focal depth is 10 km and it is sallow which is almost same as Hanshin-Awaji-earthquake in 1995.One of my friend who used to be there told me a piano in her room almost flew to the corner of her room at that time. It is horrible...

4/13/16

After Sakura parties in Japan

桜宴のあとの日本

Cherry blossom please eyes even after full bloom
As I mentioned it yesterday, the Sakura season is over now.Even after the full bloom season, cherry blossom trees pleases our eyes with their falling petals and their another appearance.
Falling petals are like falling snow, maybe more beautiful. Because the color is not white but slight pink. After they fall down, we can enjoy them laying down on the ground. It is "petal sea".
I don't know why but cherry blossoms don't die and they fall down as they are in full bloom.

petals

3/27/16

Torii of Japanese Shrine

日本の神社 鳥居

Yasukuni Shrine
Today I walked back to my place for 40 mins, from meeting a friend of mine over dinner. On my way I walked through Yasukuni shrine which may be the most famous temple in Japan.
It is located in Kudanshita of Tokyo and there is a huge Torii at the entrance. The height is 25 meters. This temple is also famous with its cherry blossom trees. There are a plenty of Sakura trees pleasing our eyes if you visit there when it is the peak bloom of cherry blossoms.

3/24/16

Japanese wearing surgical masks

医療用マスク着けてます

Spring is good and bad
I love Spring but at the same time I hate it, no I am afraid of it. Because Spring is when the cypress pollen levels are their highest.
Many people are suffering from allergy to cedar pollen in Japan.
You will see a lot of people wearing surgical masks if you visit Japan in Spring, specially during February and March.
surgical masks japan hey fever pollen