In my life, I have lived in two societies that had set vacation times. In France, everyone would hightail it from the cities to the coasts for nearly the entire month of August. And in Japan, the week of April 29-May 5 is practically labeled “national vacation week”. Golden Week is made up of four individual … Continue reading »
Hina Matsuri, also known as Girls’ Day, is coming up this weekend (March 3). Tiers of hina dolls have been popping up in the past few weeks, making for beautiful and eye-catching displays everywhere from shrines to department stores. As the mother of a young daughter, this holiday has taken on even more meaning for me as … Continue reading »
Alright, so I’m a tad late with today’s post. Setsubun is celebrated on February 3rd but as I had intended to share with you some pictures of our local Setsubun celebration, I delayed the entry until today. Unfortunately, the Setsubun festival at Kumamoto Castle was ridiculously crowded so my pictures may not be very informative.
In the past, when an infant lived beyond the first three months, it was cause for celebration in many cultures. In Japan, families celebrated with a ceremony called okuizome, a symbolic weaning of the infant. The mother or mother-in-law of the family typically prepared a feast for the family and a piece of food or small … Continue reading »
Calling all 20 year olds! Anyone, anyone? If you’re a young Japanese entering his or her third decade of life, then today – the second Monday of the year – is your day. Coming of Age Day (or Seijin no Hi, in Japanese) is the time to celebrate your passing into adulthood – you can … Continue reading »
One more sleep until 2013!
If you’re in Japan tomorrow, my advice to you is to hightail it to a shrine. November 15th is Shichi-go-san (literally 7-5-3), a celebration of children aged 3, 5 and 7 and you haven’t lived until you’ve seen adorable toddlers kitted out in full kiddie kimonos.* This colorful holiday was once reserved for samurai … Continue reading »
I’ll right, I’m reaching. Repsect for the Aged Day (known in Japanese as Keiro no Hi) is not exactly a holiday that most travelers will notice. Like Labor Day or Presidents’ Day in the United States, the only indication of this national holiday may be more crowded roads or trains for the three-day weekend. But … Continue reading »
Mid-August is a hard time to travel around Japan. It’s hot, it’s muggy, everything’s crowded because the kids are out of school and then – BAM – all of a sudden, it seems that everyone and their brother (which is very nearly the truth) is crowding onto your train to Kyoto! Where on earth did … Continue reading »
Whew, it’s been a busy past few weeks! First a trip to Tokyo in late June and this week, a trip to Kumamoto in southern Japan. My family is prepping for a move within Japan and we hopped a plane the other day for a quick househunting trip. It was only as I was walking … Continue reading »
