Archive for August, 2011
Hokkaidō Posted by Ginny on Aug 31, 2011
Hokkaidō (北海道) is the second largest island in Japan and is the northern most part of Japan. Hokkaidō is a place that has some of the most scenic places in all of Japan. For example, the Okhotsk (流氷) refers to the ice floes on Hokkaidō. Tourists come all the time to listen to the crackling…
Giant Japanese Statues Posted by Ginny on Aug 30, 2011
Kannon (観音) is the Buddhist goddess associated with compassion. There are large statues of the Kannon that can be found all over Japan. One of the more famous statues of Kannon is the Ōfuna Kannon (大船観観音) in Kamakura (鎌倉) of Kanagawa Prefecture (神奈川県). It is 82 feet tall was built to commemorate those who died…
Japanese Lakes Posted by Ginny on Aug 28, 2011
There is definitely no shortage of lakes in Japan. One of the most beautiful lakes that I’ve ever encountered is Lake Towada (十和田湖). Lake Towada is in Honshū (本州) Island between the border of Aomori Prefecture (青森県) and Akita Prefecture (秋田県). Lake Towada is a crater lake created by volcanic eruptions. Today tourists go to…
Japanese Pitch Accent Posted by Ginny on Aug 27, 2011
Japanese pitch accent can be tricky, especially when it comes to words that are spelled with the same hiragana but have different pitch accents. Rain (あめ) (雨) (ame) a[high] me[low] Sentence : 雨が降ると思う (ame ga furu to omou) I think it’ll rain Candy (あめ) (飴) (ame) a[low] me[high] Ex: 飴がほしい = (ame ga hoshii) I…
Sports Arenas of Japan Posted by Ginny on Aug 22, 2011
Spectator sports are a huge pastime in Japan and its only natural that there will be some spectacular sports arenas to accommodate all the fans. The Tokyo Dome (東京ドーム) is a famous baseball stadium that also hosts an entertainment complex that includes an amusement park, restaurants, souvenir shops, game centers and a horse race betting…
Japanese Dried Confectionary Posted by Ginny on Aug 17, 2011
Higashi (干菓子) is a broad term for Japanese confectionary that is dry and sweet tasting. One of the confectionary items that fall under Higashi is Hanakazura (花かずら) is a type of confectionary that is usually cut into rectangular blocks with sweet bean paste on the inside. The sweet bean paste is not very gooey and…
Historic Monuments and Sites of Hiraizumi Posted by Ginny on Aug 15, 2011
This year several historic monuments and sites of Hiraizumi were declared World Heritage Sites in Japan. One of the sites chosen as a World Heritage site was Chūsonji (中尊寺) of Chūson Temple. One of the best rooms of the the Chūson Temple is the Konjikidō (金色堂), which means ‘Golden Hall’ in English. The Golden Hall…