Morikami

Yamato: More Than Just a Colony

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by Reiko Nishioka, Director of Education Have you ever thought about how towns or roads are named? When you travel across the country from Florida to Maine, you must find many unusual names. Yamato Road is one of them. I was thrilled and very moved to find a Japanese word when I moved to Florida. Because I knew what Yamato meant being Japanese, and living far from own country, I got emotional. Why? Yamato was originally the area around Nara Prefecture, Japan. When I was in elementary school, I lived …

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Japanese Children’s Day = Mother’s Day?

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[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 …

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A Special Thank You to Our Readers…

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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 …

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Sign of Spring: Harutsugegusa

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Sign of Spring: Harutsugegusa The Morikami Museum’s annual spring festival “Hatsume” has become well known in Florida. This year the two day celebration will be March 19th and 20th. There is no Hatsume festival in Japan; however, if you know the meaning of the word, you would certainly appreciate and understand the naming of this celebration. Some readers who studied Japanese will figure out that “Hatsume” is the spring festival. The character of “hatsu” means the first or new, and “me” means a bud. Certainly, Floridians are enjoying soft warm spring …

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Seijin no Hi (Coming of Age Day)

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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 …

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