| More interesting facts on Japan in
the coming months! |
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 クリスマス
Christmas
Most people in Japan, not only Christians, enjoy
Christmas by exchanging presents with family
and sweethearts and having meals together. The
strategy of department stores and businesses,
which is to stimulate consumers’ desire,
has created this sort of Christmas culture.
By the end of November, decorated large trees
beautify shopping districts and advertisements
for Christmas sales are in full swing.
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 おでん
Japanese Hotchpotch
It is a typical wintertime dish in which various
kinds of minced fish are processed and cooked
in a pot, together with some other ingredients
like Japanese radishes, kelp, eggs and konnyaku.
It is often prepared at home, but in cities,
people are fond of eating oden at
street stalls. In winter, white-collar workers
drinking warm sake, while eating
oden at street stalls are conspicuous.
In recent years, oden is available
even at convenience stores.
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 岸和田だんじり
Kishiwada Danjiri
This festival, thought to have begun in 1703
with prayers for bumper crops, occurs in Kishiwada
City, Osaka yearly on 14th and 15th September.
Danjiri are large wooden floats that weigh four
tons, measure four meters high, and have a colourful
exterior carved with famous scenes from tales
of war. Five hundred to one thousand men forcefully
pull the carts with ropes and bustle with great
vigour around town. They are well- known for
their brave yet dangerous acts which result
in some injuries every year. |
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 金魚（きんぎょ）
Goldfish
Japanese people like goldfish and usually keep
them in a glass bowl. A pure breed of goldfish
was imported from China at the beginning of
the 16th century. Different types developed
in the Edo period (1603 – 1867), and rearing
goldfish for enjoyment became widespread. Until
the 1960’s, goldfish sellers flourished in Tokyo,
carrying around goldfish-filled buckets suspended
from a pole on their shoulders. A game called
“Kingyo sukui” (Scooping goldfish) is played
at street stalls during summer festivals and
fairs and even today it is still a poetic feature
of summer. |
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 道祖神
（どうそじん）
Dosojin (Travellers’
guardian deities)
Dosojinn are deities that protect travellers,
defending them against evil spirits and maintaining
their safety on trips. Dosojinn are
placed at roadsides and crossroads.
They are made out of stone, usually with
the characters for “dosojin” carved
into the stone and the figures of both male
and female carved in relief. Originally, they
were used to mark village boundaries and were
apparently taken to be deities that protected
villagers from the invasion of evil spirits.
Now they are regarded as deities of marriage
or as gentle deities with an affinity for
children. |
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 義務教育（ぎむきょういく）
Compulsory Education
The compulsory education time period in
Japan is nine years, consisting of six years
in elementary school and three years in secondary
school. The school year begins in April. A
three-term system is used, each term marked
respectively by the summer, winter and spring
vacations.
Every class has its own fixed classroom where
students take all their courses, except for
the ones which require practical training
and laboratory experiments. In public elementary
and secondary schools, lunch is provided on
a standardized menu and eaten in the classroom.
All secondary schools require their students
to wear school uniforms.
The Ministry of Education closely scrutinizes
curriculum and textbook standards, such that
classes that teach approximately the same
contents are taught at the same level throughout
the country. Through uniformity and homogeneity,
a high standard of education becomes possible.
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 畳
（たたみ）
Rush Mat Flooring
Tatami mats have been used since the
Heian Period (794 – 1185) when they were
laid out only for sitting. From the time of
the Muromachi Period (1333 – 1573), they
were used to cover the whole floor. A tatami
mat is made of straw bundled in layers and stitched
together, and the surface is covered with tightly
woven rushes. One tatami mat measures
about 90cm x 180 cm, and the size of a Japanese
room is expressed by its number of tatami
mats. It is worthy of note that Japanese customarily
avoid stepping on the edge of a tatami
mat because that will hasten its wear and tear. |
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 針供養（はりくよう）
Needle Memorial Services
In Buddhist memorial services, offerings are
made unto the spirits of the dead and prayers
said for the repose of their souls, but since
ancient times memorial services also have
been held for creatures other than human beings.
For example, when a beloved animal has died
or items used for a long time have broken
or have become useless, memorial services
are held for them because of the peculiar
Japanese way of thinking that, filled with
feelings of grief and thanks, one should do
so.
Nowadays, familiarity with this practice appears
to have faded, but the Needle Memorial Services
carried out on February 8 and December 8 are
typical of such. To hold memorial services
for broken or bent needles that have been
used for a year, sewing stops on that day,
while tofu (Japanese bean curd) or konnyaku
(a paste made from devil’s tongue) is
pierced with the bent needles, offered to
a Shinto shrine and buried in the soil.
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 しめ飾り（しめかざり）
Sacred Straw Festoons
Sacred straw festoons (shimekazari)
decorate doors during the New Year and serve
as charms against evil spirits. The sacred Shinto
rope is hung to indicate a purified place for
receiving divinities. The shimekazari
is made by attaching good luck charms such as
bitter oranges, ferns and lobsters to the sacred
Shinto rope. The good luck charms each have
significance; the bitter oranges, for example,
indicate prosperity of one’s descendants.
When the New Year period ends, the decorations
are brought to Shinto shrines and burned.
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竿燈祭り（かんとうまつり）
蛍（ほたる）