JapanesePod101.com Blog

Many of our readers are probably familiar with Valentine’s Day, and even celebrate it in their home country. Valentine’s Day probably conjures up images of hearts, red roses, Valentine candy, and maybe even the cute little Valentine’s Day cards you used to exchange in elementary school.

 But do you know how Valentine’s Day works in Japan? The Japanese Valentine’s Day has its own set of unique customs and rules that set it apart from the holiday celebrated around the world.

 First of all, while in western countries it is common for both men and women to give gifts on Valentine’s Day, in Japan, the gift-giving is left strictly to the women. Girls and women give chocolate (either handmade or store-bought) to a significant other or someone they are interested in. Surprisingly, though, women do not give chocolate only to that special someone they are interested in romantically, which is known as 本命チョコ (honmei choko, “chocolate for someone special”). There is also a tradition of giving chocolate to platonic male friends, co-workers, and bosses. This chocolate is given out of obligation, which is reflected in the name, 義理チョコ (giri choko, “obligation chocolate”).

So, do the girls walk away with nothing, you may wonder? Not quite. Lately on Valentine’s Day, many women decide to give chocolate to their female friends, which is known as 友チョコ(tomo-choko, “friend chocolate”), or even buy chocolate for themselves, known as マイチョコ (mai-choko, “my chocolate”). The main event for women, however, takes place on March 14^th, one month after Valentine’s Day. This marks White Day, a day where men give chocolate back to the women they received chocolate from a month earlier. White Day was created by the Japanese National Confectionary Industry Association in 1980 as a way to sell more sweets such as candies. Surprisingly, gifts of flowers, non-chocolate candies, and dinner dates that are strongly associated with Valentine’s Day in Western countries are uncommon in Japan.

 What do you think about the Japanese way of celebrating Valentine’s Day? What kind of Valentine’s Day traditions do you celebrate in your country?

Hi everyone!
Welcome to Everyday Kanji! In this series, we’re going to present pictures of kanji seen in various places in Japan taken by the team members at JapanesePod101.com. That’s right - kanji seen and used everyday!

The theme for this week is kanji found on envelopes used to put money into for special occassions. Let’s take a look!

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In Japan, November 23rd is a National Holiday called 勤労感謝の日(Kinrou kansha no hi) which means Labor Thanksgiving Day.  This holiday was originally a national festival called “Niinamesai” meaning “Harvest Festival.” At the festival, the emperor dedicated the year’s harvest to the Shinto Gods and ate it to celebrate the harvest of that year. Read the rest of this entry »

Shichi-Go-San (七五三 seven-five-three) is a traditional festival day in Japan when parents celebrate the growth of their children and pray for their future and well-being when their daughters turn three or seven and their sons turn three or five．Originally, this event was held on November 15th.  However, these days people often celebrate it on the nearest weekend because it is not a national holiday. There are some regions where they don’t celebrate sons who turn three years old.

Parents usually dress their daughters in kimono and their sons in hakama, which are formal Japanese skirtlike trousers. They then take them to a shrine or temple to celebrate their growth and pray for their health. They also take family pictures as a keepsake.

Chitose ame（千歳飴）is usually given to children as a gift on Shichi-Go-San. Chitose ame literally means “thousand year candy.” The shape of this candy is long and thin to symbolize the parent’s wish for their children’s health and longevity.  The candy is red and white, since these two colors are considered good luck.  It is wrapped in a paper with a picture of a crane and a turtle on it, both of which represent long life in Japan, and there are also pictures of a pine, bamboo and plum, which are considered auspicious.

In ancient Japan, many children wouldn’t live long into their adult years because of the lack of nutrition or due to poverty.  Therefore, this celebration came to be a common practice among Japanese people.

Baseball fans in Japan and abroad are celebrating the win of the Yankees in the World Series, and the performance of one player in particular - Japanese baseball player Hideki Matsui, who helped lead the Yankees to victory and was named MVP. Matsui, who has been playing with the Yankees for seven years, is the first Japanese player ever to receieve the honor of MVP.

Despite having been with the Yankees for seven years, Matsui still does his interviews all in Japanese. Here is one of his interviews conducted right after the Yankees amazing win with the original Japanese and an English translation.

 Hideki Matsui interview

―今の気持ちは？
松井秀喜外野手「最高ですね。この日のために１年間頑張ってきたわけですから。何年もここ（ヤンキース）にいましたけど、初めてここ（ＷＳ優勝）までこれて最高です」

 ― Well, how do you feel now?
Matsui: It’s an awesome feeling – I worked so hard over the course of a year for this day. I’ve been here with the Yankees for several years, but this is the first time we were able to win the World Series Championship. It’s amazing.

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The second Monday in October is a national holiday called “Health and Sports Day”, which is known as “Taiiku no hi” (体育の日) in Japanese. It falls on October 12th this year.

The first Health and Sports Day was held on October 10, 1966, two years after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, to commemorate the Olympics which started on October 10 of that year. This holiday was held on October 10 until 1999, and in 2000, it was moved to the second Monday in October as part of the Happy Monday system. (Because of this sytem, some National holidays were moved to Monday to make three-day weekends.)

This holiday is a day to promote sports and physical and mental health. Some sports facilities discount or drop their fees, and many schools hold their sports festivals on this day.  These sports festivals are called “undōkai” (運動会) in Japanese.  This is a big annual event for school kids and their families. They usually do track events such as a relay or a sprint race, or fun events such as three-legged races, ball games, and so on.  Parents and/or grandparents of the children partcipating come to see them at the event, bringing lunch from home and eating it together as a family on the field. Some parents line up early in the morning in order to secure a good spot to see their kids.

Here are some lessons we have that are about Health and Sports Day or Sports day.  Please check them out!

Japanese Culture Class #28 - Health and Sports Day
Audio Blog #57 - Sports Day Memories
Lower Intermediate Lesson #33 - Sports Day
Upper Intermediate Lesson S2 #14 - Battle of the Classes 1
Upper Intermediate Lesson S2 #15: Battle of the Classes 2
Upper Intermediate Lesson S2 #16 - Battle of the Classes 3

When we started our ‘Everyday Kanji‘ photo series via Twitter and Facebook, the response was HUGE!  If you liked our Japan photos, meet Shibuya246, popular Japan Blogger.

With post topics such as Shibuya, food, goods, travel and technology, we’re sure you’ll feel closer to Japan no matter where you are.

A string of consecutive holidays in autumn is called Silver Week in Japan, as opposed to Golden Week, which is a period that includes several Japanese holidays from the end of April to the beginning of May. Read the rest of this entry »

八月、日本各地では花火大会が行なわれます。やはり花火は浴衣（ゆかた）を着て見たいもの。あなたは「浴衣」を見たり着たりしたことがありますか？ Read the rest of this entry »

O-bon is a religious event where people hold a memorial service to the spirits of their ancestors.  It is held around July 15 or August 15 depending on the area.

O-bon was originally held around July 15 of the lunar calendar. But, since the solar calendar was adopted in Japan, it has been held around August 15 in many areas, because the period around July 15 is the busiest period for farmers. They started to hold the o-bon ceremony one month later. So, during the period around August 15, many companies are closed so that people can return to their hometown.

During O-bon, which is from the 13th to the 16th, the spirits of the deceased are said to return to their families.  What people do for this religious ceremony is different depending on the area. But basically, on the 13th, people visit their ancestors’ graves and light lanterns in order to lead the deceased to their home. During the o-bon period, they stay with the spirits of their ancestors, until they see them off on the 16th.

Have you ever seen a miniature of a cow made of egg plant and a horse made of cucumber displayed on a tray at the entrance of a house?  This is for the spirits of ancestors to have their luggages loaded onto the cow and take a ride on the horse when they return to their home.

Also, Bon Dance Festival is held during the o-bon period in many cities and towns. During the festival, people dance around a tower, on top of which a person beats a Japanese drum and plays the dancing song.  The Bon Dance was originally a religious ceremony to hold a memorial service to the spirits of ancestors. But, now it doesn’t have so much of a religious meaning anymore.  People just enjoy this bon festival as a summer festival.