Tag Archives: Japan

Valentines Day in Japan

February 2015, ,

In America, men give flowers or a present to women on Valentines Day. In Japan, women give chocolate or a present to men, family, or friends. Then on March 14th, men give a present as a return gift to women: we call this White day! This is quite an interesting cultural difference, right?

america calentine
http://efk.blog113.fc2.com

I would like to introduce you to Japanese Valentines day.
As you know, February 14th is Valentines Day. In Japan, February is the most important month for snack companies, especially in the chocolate section. They sell one third of their chocolate during the Valentines Day season!

valentine
http://navistation01.com/4207.html

Why does everyone give chocolate on Valentines Day?
There are several theories on why you give chocolate on Valentines Day. Most people think that it was because many companies started advertising women giving chocolates to men for Valentines Day.  According to the website …, this happened in 1975, and the practice of women giving chocolate to men was established.

February is an important month for girls to brag about their cooking skills. When I was in high school, I received more than 100 Tomo-choco (see below) in three years from my friends. They all are really skillful in cooking. Every year, I learned recipes from my mother and made them until midnight. They were unforgettable memories for me!

Glossary for Valentines Day

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Honmei-choco
本命チョコ

Girls give this Honmei-choco to their boyfriend, or to a boy they want to tell that she likes him.

 

 

ホワイトデー　お返し　義理チョコ2

Giri-choco
義理チョコ

Girls give a Giri-choco to a boy they are friends with.

 

 

友チョコ

Tomo-choco
友チョコ

Girls give chocolates or cookies to friends.
It does not matter if the friend is a boy or a girl. You can give this to whomever you want.

 

 

“Choco” Photos from the following sites, in order of appearance

  • plaza.rakuten.co.jp/annnemarie/diary/201302140000/
  • whitedayokaeshi.web.fc2.com/
  • matome.naver.jp/odai/2142277600187319901/2142283316043839903

New Year’s Traditional Food in Japan

January 2015, ,

I went back to Japan this winter vacation to eat osechi! How many people tried osechi (=お節) before? In Japan, we eat osechi as a New Year's day special meal. A few decades ago, usually each family made this by themselves. It took about three days to make it all; however, in recent years we just buy an osechi pack from a famous hotel or restaurant. (Example picture is below)

お節
blog.new-agriculture.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/umeamazon

Most osechi include fish cake, egg roll, sweet chestnut, herring roe...etc.. Each dish has a particular meaning. For example:

Fish cake, kamaboko (=かまぼこ), this dish symbolizes the sun rise.

kouhakukamaboko
www.kibun.co.jp/knowledge/shogatsu/osechi/iware.html

Sweet chestnut symbolizes praise and treasure, to hope for a rich year.

kurikinton
www.kibun.co.jp/knowledge/shogatsu/osechi/iware.html

Herring roe symbolizes prosperity of descendants.

kazunoko
www.kibun.co.jp/knowledge/shogatsu/osechi/iware.html

What kind of traditional food do you eat in your home country?

Coming of Age Ceremony in Japan

January 2015

The second Monday of January is a holiday in Japan. We call it seijin-no-hi (成人の日).
We celebrate seijin-shiki (成人式) for people who become 20 years old. In Japan, when we become 20 years old, we are considered to be an adult. We get the right to vote, and legally drink. It is the important period for all of them.
hp002DSC_3270-thumbwww.hodaka-kenich.com/Journalist/2012/01/09164045.php

前撮り２
This is me! I wore this furisode at the coming of age ceremony.
I really loved the color and design of this furisode because it is very classical.

At the ceremony, most women wear traditional cloth, furisode (振り袖) at this ceremony. I attended my coming of age ceremony last year. I have never worn Japanese traditional cloth, so it was a great opportunity. Many people, even passengers on the train, told me that I was beautiful. I felt that I became a model.

www.ondine.jp/collection/item/oe-1130.htm

Unique Culture: Christmas in Japan

December 2014, ,

Japanese Merry ChristmasBy Rina Hirate

Cake
https://retrip.jp/articles/2421/
Xmas Lights
http://cisco.flop.jp/bunkyouku_.html

In Japan, Christmas is not as important of a holiday because we have few Christians. Therefore, Christmas day is not a holiday in Japan. Students have to go to school; other people also have to go to work. However, we do have Christmas customs such as sending cards or receiving gifts from Santa!

After Halloween, suddenly the decorations change to Christmas ones, and also many stores start Christmas sales. These sales continue until Christmas day, but they are not as big as Black Friday in the U.S. In Japan, we usually celebrate Christmas with our significant others, and celebrate New Years day with family at home. Thus, Christmas is considered a romantic day. Many couples visit romantic places decorated by Christmas lights.

There is also a very unique Christmas custom in Japan. We eat KFC on Christmas day! During December 21st to 25th, KFC Japan sells over 6.6 billion yen. KFC Japan makes most of the profits during Christmas season. I know many people ask “WHY KFC?” In Japan, we don’t have the custom of eating Turkey, so in the past KFC Japan started to advertise Christmas Chicken! This advertising success continues and many people buy KFC Chicken on Christmas day. When you visit Japan, Christmas season, you can see long lines in front of KFC.

KFC ChristmasKFC Christmas line

http://www.kfc.co.jp/campaign/xmas2014/ http://blog.livedoor.jp/zzcj/archives/51844501.html