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。

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.