Archive for 'Culture'
Valentine’s Day in Japan Posted by keiko on Feb 14, 2014
Happy Valentine’s Day! Valentine’s Day is very popular, it is widely celebrated by many people around the world. In Japan, the way people celebrate the Valentine’s Day is a bit different from the way it is celebrated in the U.S. When we hear the word, “Valentine’s Day”, the first thing that comes to our mind…
Explore Japan – Shirakawa-Go Gifu Japan Posted by keiko on Feb 6, 2014
Have you heard of the historic villages of Shirakawa-go(白川郷, しらかわごう) and Gokayama(五箇山, ごかやま)in Japan? The villages are registered as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1995. The site is located in the central Japan, between the border of Gifu and Toyama prefectures. These villages are known for “Gassho style” houses.The gassho style is characterized…
The Bean-Throwing Festival Posted by keiko on Jan 28, 2014
Have you heard of Setsubun Festival in Japan? People in Japan celebrate what they call, the Bean-Throwing Festival, Setsubun(せつぶん、節分) on February 3rd every year. Setsubun is rather a Spring festival since this is done the day before the first day of Spring. It is not a national holiday; however, people never forget to celebrate this…
How to surround yourself with Japanese Posted by keiko on Jan 22, 2014
You are currently living in a country where Japanese is not the main language. Besides learning Japanese by traditional method such as reading text books, how can you effectively expose yourself to Japanese to learn more? In this article, I would like to share with you how you can surround yourself with Japanese when you…
Let’s cook Zenzai! Japanese Red Bean Soup Posted by keiko on Jan 16, 2014
Have you heard of a Japanese red bean soup called, Zenzai(ぜんざい)? This is one of my favorite dishes to eat during the winter. It is a sweet tasty red bean soup with Mochi(rice cake、もち). It is pretty simple to make this. If you like red beans, you gotta try it! The red beans we use…
Let’s learn how to read Japanese! Part 2 Posted by keiko on Jan 13, 2014
Hi everyone! We covered the basic hiragana(ひらがな) the other day. (You can read about the first lesson on Hiragana from:https://blogs.transparent.com/japanese/lets-learn-how-to-read-japanese/) As you know, there were total 48, well, minus 2 (ゐ & ゑ ) 46 hiragana’s that I introduced. Let’s review them first. Let’s see if you can read the following words: しま いも こころ き…
2013 Five Best Hot Springs in Japan! Posted by keiko on Jan 9, 2014
Due to the volcanic nature of Japan, there are many hot spring (Onsen, おんせん、温泉) resorts throughout Japan. During the cold months, Onsen(おんせん、温泉) attracts many visitors and tourists. Although Onsen(おんせん、温泉) is a perfect place to have a relaxing and peaceful time, that is not the only reason to make a trip to Onsen(おんせん、温泉). Due to the minerals in the natural…