Japan

Japanese Children’s Day = Mother’s Day?

by

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNeLgJePx2w] by Reiko Nishioka, Director of Education When you are young, you don’t pay attention to the meaning of holidays; you are just happy to have the day off from school. On May 5th, the Japanese celebrate a national holiday called Children’s Day.  I do not remember what we did for the celebration because May 5th is Tango no settku translated as Boy’s Day.  If you are in Japan, you will see colorful koinobori (carp kites) hoisted outdoors of the homes of families who have male children. I have …

Read more

A Special Thank You to Our Readers…

by

Dear Reader, Thank you very much for your kind words and concerns after the recent major earthquake and tsunami devastation and in particularly for Japanese staff who works at the Morikami. There are five of us who have families in Japan. In such a devastating situation, it is a great relief that all of our hometowns and families were not directly involved in the horrific events. Soon after news of the disasters was on the U.S. television, we received many phone calls and e-mails from friends in the U.S. The Morikami …

Read more

Seijin no Hi (Coming of Age Day)

by

by: Reiko Nishioka, Director of Education あけましておめでとうございます。Happy New Year! 成人の日、Seijin no hi is the first national holiday after the New Year celebration in Japan, landing on January 10 this year. With the word seijin meaning adult or a grownup and hi meaning day, it translates as Coming of Age Day.  You must be wondering what kind of day this is and why it is a national holiday. In Japan, when you turn 20, you are legally recognized as an adult. You legally can drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and most importantly …

Read more

Ōmisoka

by

by: Reiko Nishioka, Director of Education  Ōmisoka is the last day of the year. It is a significant and also very busy day when families make final preparations for the New Year, Oshogatsu.  The preparation starts in the middle of December. Temples, shrines and many homes do a thorough house cleaning. Its purpose is to cleanse one’s mind and home of the past year’s accumulation of dust, dirt and soot. Toward the end of the year, businesses and organizations have a party called Bōnen-kai, which means a forget-the-year party. It …

Read more