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Sakura Sakura Posted by Ginny on Apr 13, 2011
The sakura (桜) or cherry blossoms in Japan are in full bloom. I guess you can say that cherry blossoms are one of the iconic symbols that people associate with Japan and Japanese culture. There’s also a Japanese folk song about the sakura. You might have heard of it before because it’s often chosen as…
April Festivals Posted by Ginny on Apr 11, 2011
Part of the reason why Japanese locals try to organize local festivals is because they attract visitors to the area. There’s a lot of teamwork and cooperation that goes into putting a festival together, but in the end it may help stimulate the local economy. If you want to help Japan out by going to…
Japanese Rice Cakes Posted by Ginny on Apr 7, 2011
The generic term for a Japanese rice cake is mochi (餅). Mochi is made from rice, so although it is a sweet snack, it isn’t high in cholesterol or saturated fats. In the past, mochi was typically consumed for special occasions. Today, people consume mochi both on special occasions and in everyday life. Kiri mochi…
Japan’s Daibutsu Posted by Ginny on Apr 4, 2011
One of the most awe inspiring sights in Japan is the daibutsu (大仏) or the “Large Buddha”. Basically a daibutsu is a large statue of a Buddha. Seeing these daibutsu in Japan never gets tiring and you can read more about it here as well: https://blogs.transparent.com/japanese/daibutsu/ The Daibutsu of Tōkyō (東京の大仏) is a real treasure…
Japanese Map Posted by Ginny on Apr 1, 2011
In this day and age with widely available maps, I find it perplexing that some people still don’t know where Japan is. Hopefully the following information is all old news to you, but if not, get ready for a geography lesson on Japan. As you can see on the map at the left, eastern Japan…
Paintings Posted by Ginny on Mar 29, 2011
All over the world museums are competing with other museums for copies of Japanese paintings. Let’s see what all the fuss is all about: Kanō Tanyū (狩野探幽) was and is a very famous painter. He lived in the 1600s and was known for painting nature and animal scenes. In fact, the painting on the left…
Japanese Lullaby Posted by Ginny on Mar 27, 2011
There is a Japanese lullaby called ‘komoriuta’ (子守歌). Komoriuta means ‘lullaby’ in Japanese. Sometimes the lyrics of children’s songs can be disturbing, but this isn’t the case with komoriuta. It’s a nice and soothing little song that children can sleep to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmd7ibJESHM ねんねんころりよおころりよ (Nennen kororiyo okororiyo) Calming words to make a baby sleep 坊やはよい子だねんねしな (Boyawa…