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.

Summer in Japan- Obon

This post is about one of the most important Buddhist festivals in Japan. Obon (or Bon) is the time of year when your ancestors spirits come to this world in order to visit relatives. Obon is not an official public holiday but most people can absent from work at this time. Most people usually go home to their parents' house to celebrate Obon.

Who celebrates when?

Obon is celebrated for three days between 1st July and 15 August. Why is it organized on different dates? Well, in the Meiji era, the Gregorian calendar replaced the Lunar calendar but not all regions in Japan accepted it at the same time. My grandfather and father celebrate in July.

• Shichigatsu Bon is celebrated around the 15th July. People who live in the Tokyo, Yokohama and Tohoku region celebrate then.
• Kyu Bon is celebrated on the 15th of the seventh lunar month. People who live in the north of the Kanto region, Chugoku, Shikoku and the south western islands celebrate according to the moon.
• Hachigatsu Bon is celebrated around the 15th August. The rest of Japan celebrate then.

What happens during Obon

NB: There are many variations on how Obon is celebrated. This is a rough overview of the festival

• Japanese people get together with their family and spend time together.

• The house and their graves must be tidy for the spirits.

• Before the spirits arrive, most Japanese families set up an decorative altar.  My father and grandfather decorated my grandmother's altar with fllowers, fruit and lanterns.

• How Japanese families celebrate Obon depends on the region that they live in. Some Japanese families help their ancestors arrive by making vehicles for them. As they do not have cars to get here, they make a horse for them. The horse symbolises how they can arrive at the house as quickly as possible. It is made out of a cucumber and some chopsticks.  A cow or bull is also made which symbolises how the spirit can ride home at a leisurely pace. This is made out of an aubergine and chopsticks. Both animals are placed on a shelf on the altar. Recently, some families have gone to great lengths to make vehicles.  Click here to see some creative しょうりょうま (shouryouma) 

Shouryouma
I, Katorisi [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

• On the 13th of August, light the chochin lantern

• In the evening,  go to their grave and welcome the spirits home. Lighting a pile of hemp or straw in front of the house helps the spirits find their way to your house. This is called 迎火 (mukaebi). If you light some inscense, the spirits can travel on the smoke on the horse to arrive at the house.

MukaebiI, Katorisi [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

• Once they enter your house, offer them food and drink.

• On the last day of Obon, there will be a dance called the Bon Odori dance. The purpose of this dance is to welcome and send back all relatives as well as some angry spirits that have found their way here. Each region has its own Obon dance and music.

Bon OdoriBy Yasu (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

• For their final send off, you use fire just like you did to welcome them here. some regions float lanterns down a river to guide them back to their world.

Tourou nagashi
By 藤谷良秀 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

This festival is very similar to the Mexican festival, Dia de los Muertos. They remember and celebrate the dead on the 31 October.

This is probably going to be my last post on Japanese summers. I may continue this series if you would like me to. Please comment if you liked this post or if you want me to continue this series next year. Please subscribe and come back to this blog again. ＼(^o^)／

Summer in Japan- Survival guide

This is my survival guide to staying in Japan in the summer.

1. Escape the heat

Just going to a department store or any building can really help keep you cool. You can also do some shopping while you are there. It can also help you save money on your energy bills too.

     2. Bring a ton of suncream and a hat

As the sun is very strong in the summer, it is very important to put on plenty of suncream so you do not burn or get sunstroke. Hats keep harmful UV rays away from your face, head and neck.

    3. Keep hydrated

On every street, station and building, there is usually a vending machine or a convinience store where you can buy cold beverages. I reccommend unsweetened iced tea because it is tasty and refreshing. I also reccomend a range of juices called 野菜生活 (yasai seikatsu). Yasai seikatsu is a brand of juice that contain a large amount of vegetables and some fruit. They all taste great but my favourite is the 'Fruity salad' juice.

Japanese vending machine with
hot and cold drinks

kyu3 [CC BY-SA 2.1 jp
kyu3 [CC BY-SA 2.1
jp (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/2.1/jp/deed.en)],
via Wikimedia Commons

Yasai seikatsu Fruity salad juice

4. Have a fan on you

A way that people in Japan advertise is by handing out packs of tissues with adverts and offers on. In summer, some companies advertise with practical objects like plastic uchiwa fans. If see anyone giving out fans, take it!

    5. Eat cold food

During the summer months, eating cold food helps you keep you cool. Somen noodles are Japanese noodles that are very very thin and are made from wheat flour.  It is similar to Angel hair pasta. They are usually eaten cold and dipped in a special dipping sauce made out of soy sauce and dashi. Eating hiyayakko in the summer can also keep you cool. It is chilled tofu and is usually eaten with a little sprinkling of bonito flakes and some soy sauce. Watermelon is a great fruit to eat in the summer. However eating too much cold things can actually stop your body from cooling down. So to stop this from happening, have some warm or hot food once in a while.

Somen noodles with spring onion and dipping sauce
By shibainu (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
 via Wikimedia Commons

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

 Somen noodles

6. Wear breathable clothes

It gets very muggy so wearing breathable clothes helps you feel more comfortable in the heat. But it is a good idea not to wear skimpy clothes. Sandals are also good to wear outside.


   7. Use an ice pillow

Japanese people do not really use ice pillows unless they have a fever, as they have air conditioning. If you have access to a freezer, there are special pillows that you can put in the freezer to cool. Before you use them, wrap a thin towel around the pillow so you protect the skin that is exposed to the ice pillow.

My ice pillow

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Summer in Japan- Whoops!

Today, was a really hot day so I was thirsty. I thought that drinking juice would help me cool down. But what I did made something better than cold juice. I accidently made kakigori

If you read my post on kakigori, then you will know what it is. However, if you have not read it, kakigori is basically shaved ice with a flavoured syrup. It was very easy to make so I thought that I could share the method with you.

How to accidently make kakigori

You will need: a carton of juice (I used Cawston's apple and mango juice)

                      a freezer

    1. Take your carton of juice and put it in the freezer.

    2. Remove from the freezer after a couple of hours

    3. Cut the top of the carton open, your juice should look similar to a slushy

4. Enjoy your frozen treat ♪───Ｏ（≧∇≦）Ｏ────♪

Summer in Japan-Fireworks

One of the most important parts of summer in Japan are the fireworks! Fireworks in japanese is 花火 (hanabi).

Fun fact: If you translate the japanese word for firework literally, it means fire flower.

During the summer, there will be a firework display on the weekend somewhere in Japan. As there are many firework displays in Japan, I thought that I would write about the most famous one in Tokyo

Sumida River fireworks festival-Tokyo

Sumida River fireworks festival next to the Tokyo Skytree
By てんどん (http://photozou.jp/photo/show/141110/145311514) [CC BY 2.1 jp (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.1/jp/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

This is a firework festival that takes place every year on the last Saturday of July over the Sumida river near Asakusa. Nearly a million people come to watch this display. As there are so many spectators, the fireworks are set off from two locations so everyone can see. In this display, two rival pyrotechnic groups compete against each other and make better fireworks than their opponent. The Tamaya and the Kagiya makes fireworks of different shapes, colours and patterns to make an inpressive display for everyone watching. Two sightseeing spots are the Sensoji temple and the Tokyo Skytree. 

The Tokyo Skytree 

Sensoji temple
By Leonard V Carlson / Picturetokyo at English Wikipedia
 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Fun fact 2: Fireworks were originally used to scare off demons.

History

It started in 1732 as part of the festival for the dead when there was poverty, famine and disease. The fireworks were used to entertain the masses. At this time the festival was called 両国川開(Ryogoku Kawabiraki). This tradition continued until World War 2 started. Even when World War 2 was over, the festival did not recommence after 1978. This tradition still carries on to this day

if you enjoyed this post, please comment. If you want to know about another aspect of Japan, please leave it in the comments.