New Years Eve in Japan

Here in the UK, you don't really so much for New Years Eve apart for staying up until midnight. However in Japan, New Years Day is a very important time.

New Years Eve

• The japanese word for New Years Eve is 大晦日 (ōmisoka)
• Running up to this day, people will be cleaning their houses. This is to purify the house and welcome the God of the Coming New Year who is called 年神様 (toshigami-sama)
• Some people decorate their houses for New Years Day. I made an origami wreath and some origami decorations

New Year's day wreath

Kadomatsu 門松

Not many people in Japan set up a kadomatsu because of the lack of space outside of the house. It is seen as just a decoration. However, I have found some information on how and when you should set up a kadomatsu if at all possible. 

• This is a decoration made out of bamboo sticks and pine branches.
• The kadomatsu is placed in front of the house to welcome spirits and Toshigami-sama into the house
• You must set the kadomatsu up or the god Toshigami-sama will not enter the house and bring happiness
• The word literally means pine gate (門-gate 松-pine)
• You should not set it up on the 31st December because it is impolite and implies that you have rushed through the process and finished it at the last minute
• Also you should not set it up on the 29th December because it is considered an unlucky day
• You can take the decorations down from the 7th January. However, you should'nt take the decorations down before then because Toshigami-sama stays until the 7th so it would be considered impolite

Kadomatsu
By Nesnad (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Kagamimochi 鏡餅

• Kagamimochi is a decoration made out of two rice cake balls and an orange. The largest rice cake ball goes on the bottom, then the smaller rice cake ball goes on top and then finally, the orange goes on the top.
• The name literally translates as Mirror rice ball because it looks like an old round hand mirror.
• They are supposed to be placed around the house, each area of the house has a corresponding Shinto God.
• You can easily buy kagamimochi covered in plastic from the supermarket. It needs to be protected with plastic otherwise it spoils easily.
• On the 11th January, you can eat it. This day is called the Kagami biraki which literally means openening the mirror
• The mochi is then broken and eaten in a soup.

Kagamimochi
By Juni from Kyoto, Japan (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Toshikoshisoba 年越し蕎麦

• This is the food that is eaten on the day before New Years day
• Buckwheat noodles are usually eaten hot on this day but the toppings can vary.
• What my family has is vegetables and prawns fried in tempura.

The toshikoshi soba that we had

I hope that you have a brilliant New Year! Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!

Christmas in Japan-Food

The food is one of the things that people look forward to at Christmas. And Japan is no exception.

Food

• As most Japanese kitchens do not have ovens, Japanese people do not have turkeys at Christmas. The largest oven that people would have would be an oven toaster. Instead, they have a chicken dinner from KFC

KFC store in Ikebukuro
By kici (-) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

• This is because, in the 1970's, a customer in KFC's Aoyama store supposedly mentioned how there was no turkey available in Japan so fried chicken was the next closest thing at Christmas. 
• Which led to an advertising campaign called 'Kentucky for Christmas. This was a huge success in Japan which also started the tradition of having Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas
• Every Christmas, there are huge queues outside shops and some people also reserve food so they do not miss out.
• Also Japanese people have Christmas cake as well.
• It is usually a sponge cake covered in cream and strawberries. Occasionally it can be a Yule log.
• The Christmas cake is a symbol of commercialism and prosperity. 
• In World War 2, American soldiers helped to rebuild Japan. The economy was is a desolate state and food shortages were common.
• To help the people, sweets were handed out by the American soldiers. Sweets were considered a  luxury to the people
• Japan then embraced an American Christmas.
• Sponge cakes could have been made since the 17th century but the sugar, butter and milk were considered a luxury
• After the war, the economy improved and these ingredients became widely available for people to make sponge cakes
• The colours are symbolic, red and white reflect the colours of the Japanese flag.
• This is a picture of the yule log that I made for Christmas this year.

Fun fact: There is even a Christmas sponge cake emoji!

Christmas sponge cake emoji

The next big event for Japanese people in New years eve and day. I will be uploading posts about them soon! メリークリスマス！

Christmas in Japan- Christmas trees!

Merry Christmas or Happy Hannukah everyone! I'm going to be writing about Christmas in Japan.
This post is just going to mention some facts about Christmas trees.
Here we go!

Christmas

• As only 1% of Japan is Christian, very few people understand the Christian meaning of Christmas
• Christmas is viewed as a time to spread joy rather than a religious celebration

Christmas trees

• Many people do not have enough space in their house to have a real tree, however if you are looking for one, you can go to IKEA in Japan to purchase a 100-120cm tree
• You can find fake trees in many shops. Some come with decorations and lights but they tend to be expensive. Loft and Tokyu Hands are just some examples of places where you can get one
• You can also make your own decorations, when trees were first introduced to Japan by Christian Missionaries, they were decorated with origami figures, paper lanterns and paper fans for example
• In the 1920s, Japan became the main manufacturer of Christmas decorations made in the Western style.
• The artificial tree with the most illuminations in the world was in Osaka 2014. It was in Universal Studios Japan
• It has 364200 illuminations 
• However, the record was broken by Australian David Richards with 518838 lights in November 2015
• Some other strange Christmas trees include; trees made out of oranges, soft toys, rocks, gold and scrubbing brushes

Christmas tree made out of soft toys
By Tokumeigakarinoaoshima (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

Golden Christmas tree in Ginza Takana jewelry store in Ginza, Tokyo. It is about 2.4m high and it is made out of 12 kg of gold. It is worth 150 million yen but it is not for sale
By NJo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Even Narita airport has a Christmas tree
By Nanashinodensyaku (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Click here to see some images of some Japanese Christmas trees

I hope that you enjoyed this post, I will next be writing about other aspects of Christmas. If you would like me to write about something in particular, please say so in the comments. メリークリスマス！

Tokyo Tower

After doing research about famous landmarks in Tokyo, here are my findings. Lets go!

Tokyo Tower

The Tokyo Tower
By English: redlegsfan21 (Flickr) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

• The Tokyo Tower was Japan's tallest self supporting steel tower until.
• It is in the Minato ward and took 18 years to build.

Location of the Minato Ward
By by User:Fg2 [Copyrighted free use], via Wikimedia Commons

• The design of the Tokyo Tower was based on the Eiffel Tower.
• However, the Tokyo Tower is 333m and the Eiffel Tower is 320m.
• It has 2 purposes, it is a communication tower and an observation tower.
• It transmits some radio signals and some digital signals throughout the Tokyo region.
• It is a back up communication tower for the Tokyo Skytree which is the main communication tower
• The main observatory is 150m above the ground
• The special observatory is 250m above the ground, on days with good visibility, you can see the Skytree and Mt Fuji.
• The Tokyo has 2 types of illuminations. They are called Landmark lights and Diamond veil lights
• The Landmark lights consist of 180 lights which illuminates the tower. They are the standard lighting of the tower.
• In the summer, the lights are a cool white color.
• And in the winter, they are a warm orange color.

The Tokyo Tower with its warm orange illuminations
By Eckhard Pecher = User:Arcimboldo (Self-photographed) [CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Cool white lights in winter
By Ian Muttoo [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

• The Diamond veil lights consist of 276 lights which illuminate the tower on Saturdays. There are 17 layers of lights which can change into 7 different colours.
• Each colour represents something.
• Red-represents love and gratitude
• Pink-dreams and happiness
• White-eternity and succesion
• Gold-hope and celebration
• Earth green-earth and peace
• Blue-water and life
• Gem like green-nature and environment
• There is a schedule for which lights go on

This months schedule

• Click here to see the illumination schedule

If you enjoyed this post about the Tokyo Tower, please subscribe and comment to see more content about landmarks. 

Halloween!!!

After the Japan finished in the Rugby World Cup with a win against USA, I ran out of things to write about. Since it's nearly Halloween and I had no idea what to write about, I looked on the internet to see if and how Japan enjoyed Halloween. Here we go!

Halloween is not a national holiday but many people do celebrate it. When you hear the word 'Halloween', what is the first thing that comes into mind? Trick or treating? Sweets? Dressing up as scary things like ghosts and skeletons? For Japan, it's the dressing up. Otherwise known as cosplay (コスプレ)

Cosplay

Cosplay is an abbreviated term for costume play where people dress up and act like a fictional character. The term came from Japan but the concept of costume play actually started in the USA. Just because the term came from Japan, it does not necasserily mean that it is a Japanese or Asian hobby.

Some cosplayers in the USA
By The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek from Los Angeles, CA, USA (Professor McGonagall, Harry Potter, Severus Snape) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Many young people find cosplaying enjoyable and some even start planning and making their costume months in advance

This year, there will be a MAG festa (a manga, anime and game festival) in Nakano, Tokyo on Halloween. It was first held last year and it attracted 50000 participants so this year, it is predicted that many cosplayers will come this year too! They can prepare in the changing rooms provided and join the parade and cosplay related events

The REAL Super Mario Cart
By MIKI Yoshihito (MARIO CART.) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Sweets

As Halloween gets more popular, there are more Halloween themed sweets around. For example, Krispy Kreme Japan has 4 different monster themed doughnuts. Also Kit Kat has released pumpkin flavoured kit kats which is very exciting. The snack that I really want to try is the pumpkin pudding flavoured Caramel corn. Caramel corns have a similar consistency to cheese puffs or Wotsits and they are extremely delicious and slightly addictive. Yum! ＼(^o^)／

Mister Doughnut doughnuts
By Karl Baron (Mister Donut halloween donuts) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Kawasaki Halloween parade

The most famous Halloween parade is in Kawasaki, Kanagawa prefecture. Parade participants walk along the 1.5km course near the JR Kawasaki station and the La Citadella shopping center and show off their hand made costumes. I hope you enjoy Halloween. Please write in the comments about how your country celebrates Halloween.

Kawasaki Parade
By Danny Choo from Tokyo, Japan (Kawasaki Halloween) [CC BY-SA 2.0 v(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Sports day

In October, Japanese schools have Sports day! This was to commemorate the first Olympic Games in 1964, Tokyo which was held on October from the 10th to the 24th.

Usually, the Olympics are held in the summer but that year, the weather conditions were not suitable for atheletes from hot and cold countries. The summer months are too hot and humid to compete, spring was unstable weather wise and early autumn is the height of the typhoon and rainy season. Mid autumn was the best time because, the typhoon season is over and there is more sunshine. Thanks to this, the Opening Ceremony was staged underneath a cloudless sky.

Fun fact: Tokyo has hosted the Olympic Games two times and will next host it in 2020!

The teams

Here in England, you may be in a house with a team colour and name. In Japan however, there are only two houses, the Red house and the White house. Very creatively named. The colours of those houses should be fairly obvious. 

The events

The events vary from school to school but here is a list of some events

• Team dancing
• Track events
• Relays
• Throwing small balls into a tall basket
• Pushing a large ball
• Tug of war

If you are Japanese, please write in the comments what events you did when you were at school
もしあなたは日本人だったら、学校の運動会でどのイベントをやったかをコメントに書いてください。

Wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets)

One thing that is very beautiful, delicious and Japanese is wagashi. Now, you're probably wondering what on earth wagashi is. Well, as written in the title, wagashi is a traditional Japanese sweet. It is often eaten with a cup of green tea and often reflects the season that it was made it. So, for example, wagashi made in autumn may have autumnal colours or shaped like a leaf.

Making wagashi is considered an art. Wagashi evokes the seasons and landscapes of Japan and appeal to all of the senses. The appearance will appeal to sight, the scent to smell, handling of the sweet to touch, the musical name which sometimes is associated with the seasons and of course, the taste of it.

There are many types of wagashi. Here is a list of some of my favorites;

• Anmitsu (Chilled jelly-like cubes with fruit and sometimes a sweet syrup)

Anmitsu with azuki paste, black syrup and green tea

• Amanatto (Sugar coated beans)
• Dango (Mochi balls skewered on a stick)

Coloured dango
By gochie* (花より・・・) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

• Dorayaki (Two small pancakes containing azuki bean paste)



Dorayaki
By Ocdp (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

• Kuri kinton (Sweet chestnut paste)
• Taiyaki (A fried waffle containing azuki bean paste)

Taiyaki
By ProjectManhattan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

• Yokan (A solid block of azuki bean paste, solidified with agar and sugar)

Recently I have been trying some different wagashi. One of them is called 甘納豆 (amanatto) or sugar coated azuki beans.

It came in this really pretty box

The contents

Daifuku bean

Azuki beans with a cup of green tea

Uguisu beans

Opinion: They were sweet but not too sweet and were absolutely delicious with some green tea. Unfortunately, you cannot buy amanatto in the UK so if you are in Japan, definitely try and find some because they are delicious.

Also, I tried some yokan too.

Here is the box

Once you remove the paper packaging, this is what it looks like

Once you open the box, this is what the yokan packaging looks like

I only tried the honey flavored yokan

And this is what yokan looks like

Opinion: I found it very tasty, it was sweet but not unbearably sweet. I would compare it to a really hard jelly baby. Green tea really goes well with it.

So if you are around in Japan, go and try some wagashi. I recommend the Toraya shop in Ginza and the number of shops in Asakusa.

What!?

This is about the Rugby World Cup match with Japan going against South Africa. If you do not want spoilers, watch the match first and then come back, ok?


Are you back? Ok, lets begin!
Just to say, this is just a post that is expressing my confusion
On Saturday 19th September, the Brave Blossoms played against the Springboks in the Rugby World Cup. Japan is not a Rugby team that is considered strong at all, they have never won a match in the World Cup.


They won 34-32! What!?

I was camping with school when I found out. A teacher came over to tell us the suprising results of the match and there was a massive whatsplosion at the campsite. No one expected it. No one could have predicted it. As I am Japanese, you would think that I would be really happy that Japan won but I spent five minutes just thinking "What!?" and trying to take in what had happened.

Japan is not generally amazing at sports that involve strength apart from gymnastics. The average body size is just not adapted for sports that mainly use strength. But after watching the match, they did do more than their best against the two time world champion, South Africa.

I am looking forward to their next match against Scotland, this Wednesday. Perhaps this was the start of many wins against other teams? Go Brave Blossoms!!!🏉🌸🌸🌸

Autumn in Japan

So, it's that time of year again. People go back to school, work and trees put on a spectacular show before it's winter. Japan is no exception. So I thought that I could start writing an overview about autumn in Japan

Because of Japan's north-south extension, you can see the leaves changing colour and falling over three months. Hokkaido is the first to feel the effect of the autumn. The leaves here start changing from mid September to late October. The warmest areas of Japan like, Okinawa feel the effect of autumn last as it is one of the warmest places in Japan.

Hachioji (Tokyo)
By Kakidai (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

After the long, hot humid summer, autumn is a welcome sign that the temperature will cool down considerably. Temperatures become more comfortable, which is probably one reason that the most popular season in Japan is autumn. A really good place to see the leaves change colour in Tokyo is Meiji-jingu temple in Shinjuku. I will put details on how to find it at the bottom.

Nature, being an integral part of the Japanese culture can be enjoyed everywhere. You can go to places of historical importance to walk through while taking in the colours of the ginko and maple trees.

Food is also an important part of the Japanese autumn. Matsutake mushrooms are being used very often in cooking as they are in season. Most foods are in season so there is a variety of food that you can eat. Delicious fruit such as Japanese pears, persimmons and chestnuts are also in season. You can find them in asian supermarkets and occasionally normal supermarkets. If you find some, I highly recommend that you try it. You will definitely find them in Japanese supermarkets. I might put a few autumn recipies in my next posts.

So if you are around in Japan in the autumn, enjoy the most popular season! Leave a comment about your experiences of a Japanese autumn!

Where to find places;
Meiji jingu temple: Just behind the JR Harajuku station.

Have a break, read about the Kit Kat!

The Kit Kat was invented in York, England in 1988 and popularised around the world. Some countries enjoyed them so much, so they developed flavours that would appeal to the people in that country. One country that did that was Japan!

Fun fact: When you say Kit Kat in Japanese, it sounds like kitto katsu, which means 'you will probably win'. Kit Kats are very popular gifts for students taking important exams.

Japan is particularly famous for their more unusual flavours of Kit Kat. Here is my list of some on the flavours. I would name them all but there are more than 200 flavours but I will name a few.

Mango
Strawberry
Passion fruit
Pineapple

Here are some more unusual ones;

Sweetcorn
Salt and caramel
Potato
Green tea
Pumpkin
Espresso
Ramune
Wasabi

And here are some REALLY unusual flavours;

Chestnut
Red bean soup
Black sugar
Ginger ale
Blueberry cheesecake
Soy sauce

And in England, they have;

Orange
Dark chocolate
Mint
White chocolate
Cookies and cream
Original

When it comes to flavours, Japanese manufacturers really do not limit themselves at all!
Leave a comment about your favorite flavour of Kit Kat (Japanese or not).

In 2014, Japan released a bakeable type of Kit Kat! Japanese Kit Kats have reached a new level!

Here is a video on the baking process!

Note: If you do not have an oven toaster, you can use a grill.

As I had some in the house, I decided to bake them!

This is what the packet looks like! These Kit Kats are Creme Brûlée flavoured.

And this the Kit Kat in its packet

Kit Kat before.

Slighlty burnt out Kit Kat after.

My opinion: They are very very tasty and really taste of creme brûlée. I would recommend this to anyone! If you are in Japan now or are going to in the future, this is one souvenir that you want to bring back with you.

If you are around in Japan, go to Ikebukuro. Visit the world's first Kit Kat Store where they only sell a small number of flavours of Kit Kat that cannot be purchased anywhere else. They also have new flavours every season so there is always something new there if you go again. I will leave details at the bottom.

Here is a video on the Kit Kat Chocolatory by YouTuber Sharla. She is a Canadian YouTuber who currently lives in Japan. Her videos are always really good so, subscribe to her videos if you are looking for videos about Japan. She speaks in English but there are Japanese subtitles.

Tip: Go early! As demand for the chocolate is large, some flavours will sell out very very quickly.

I hope that this post about Kit Kats hasn't made you too hungry. Please subscribe and follow this blog if you want to read more posts about Japanese food. 

Address: Seibu Department Store, 1-28-1 Minami-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku

Click this link to go to Google maps.

How to get there: Go to JR Ikebukuro Station (JR stands for Japan Railway) by train or underground/metro/tube (whichever word that you use). Follow the signs for Seibu Exit in the station. You will notice the Kit Kat Chocolatory signs at the Seibu entrance or the vibrant advertising on the pillars. Its in the basement of the department store.

Japan festival ♪───Ｏ（≧∇≦）Ｏ────♪

Hi guys! I thought that I would tell you about the Japan Matsuri. If you go to Trafalgar Square in London, on the 19th September, you can eat Japanese food, see taiko players and take part in many Japanese activities. Here is a poster about the details:

I hope that you are able to go and get a snapshot of Japanese culture.

Emoji

This is not a 'Summer in Japan' post as you might have noticed. I am currently writing this after I realised that the violin emoji looked like a cello.
Is this emoji a violin or a cello?

Please leave your comments down below?

I did some research on the internet and it says that it is a violin. Where is the chin rest? The bow is too short.

Anyway, emojis also happen to be from Japan so here is my lists of fun facts about emojis?

About the word emoji

The word emoji comes from the Japanese word for picture, 絵 (e), and the word for word, 文字 (moji). So it literally means picture word.

The sun picture is used for
making weather forecasts clear.

Why were emojis invented?

• In 1999, the letter count for texting was very small, only 48 letters. Shigetaka Kurita (the creator of emojis) tried to come up with a way to send concise messages without going over the letter count. 
• He thought that as we are so used to seeing pictures to convey a message like this sun, for sunny weather, we could use it for sending messages to each other.
• They were popular because one emoji could go a long way.
• They were also popular because, you could express ideas better through pictures than through words.

The difference between emojis and emoticons

Let me make one thing clear. Emojis and emoticons are not the same thing!

Definition of an emoji: A small digital image or icon used to express an idea or emotion in electronic communication

Definition of an emoticon: A representation of a facial expression such as a smile or frown, formed by various combinations of keyboard characters and used in electroniccommunications to convey writer's feelings or intended tone.

So the purpose is different

←Emojis look like this
             Emoticons look like this→

National emoji day!

So they look completely different as well.

National emoji day 

• There is a national emoji day, it is on July 17. 
• This is because the calendar emoji has July 17 on it!
• You are probably wondering why it is July 17 and not any other date. It is because, the app iCal was premiered at the MacWorld conference in 2002 on that date.
• Here is a link to see how you can celebrate national emoji day! 

Which emoji is the most popular?

I found a website that shows you the live usage of each emoji on twitter. Here is the link to that website. At the time of writing, top ten most popular emojis were:

Which country uses a certain emoji the most?

Researchers from Swiftkey looked at 1 billion pieces of data across 16 different languages for trends in the use of emojis. This is what they found:

The heart emoji is most used by France

The poo emoji is most used by Canada

50% of emojis sent in Britain are smiley
emojis

The winking emoji is the most popular
emoji in Britain

One of the emojis used most by Americans is
the pizza emoji

Arabic users use the rose emoji tens times
more than everyone

If there are any more emoji statistics that you would like me to include, please tell me in the comments. I hope that you enjoy reading this as much I had fun writing this post.