Archive for 'Culture'
Prime Minister Posted by Ginny on Feb 13, 2010
This year in the U.S., Presidents Day will be the fifteenth of February. I thought I’d take this opportunity to introduce Japan’s equivalent of a president. In Japan, instead of a president, the head of government is the prime minister. In Japanese, the prime minister is called そうりだいじん. In order to qualify as a prime…
Japanese Mythology Posted by Ginny on Dec 31, 2009
Today’s post is abou Japanese mythology. Japanese mythology is rich and vast. We’ll only go through a couple of myths, and the versions of these myths will be condensed. The first myth has to do with the formation of Japan. Once upon a time a male god named いざなぎ and a female goddess named いざなみ…
20th Anniversary of the Emperor’s Ascension to the Throne Posted by Ginny on Nov 12, 2009
Today is the Kokumin Saiten (国民さいてん) or the day of the Emperor’s Ascension. The official ceremony for Emperor Akihito’s ascension to the throne was held in 1990 on the twelfth of November. Today is the twentieth anniversary of Emperor Akihito’s ascension. In celebration of this event, there was a concert held at the Koukyo (皇居) or…
Scary Japanese Films Posted by Ginny on Oct 31, 2009
This Halloween, why not take the time to watch some scary Japanese movies? Here are some movie titles to help you get started: リング – Ring. Is about a cursed tape that kills the person who views it. Will there be a way to stop the curse, or will it be doomed to continue forever?…
Japanese Ghosts Posted by Ginny on Oct 28, 2009
Generally speaking ゆうれい means ‘ghost’ in Japanese. However, there is a slightly negative connotation with the word ゆうれい. The word ゆうれい could imply a number of things such as: the ghost had died violently or suddenly, the ghost has some kind of grudge or unfullfilled desires of revenge, or the ghost had not received proper burial…
Shintoo Shrines Posted by Ginny on Sep 24, 2009
So now that you a little about the Shintoo belief system (from the previous post) let’s talk about Shintoo shrines. The best way to experience or see Shintoo practices is to visit a Shintoo shrine, especially on festival days. There are several famous Shintoo shrines. Each shrine may be different in the sense that it…
Shintooism Posted by Ginny on Sep 21, 2009
The word Shintoo (神道) means “way of the gods”. Some people refer to Shintooism as a religion, but others prefer to call it a “belief system”. The problem with calling Shintoo a religion is that in some ways many Japanese people follow Shintoo practices, however, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are active “members” of the Shintoo…