Typical Schedules Of Japanese People At The End Of A Year

New Year celebration is one of the biggest seasonal events for Japanese people. Also it's the biggest vacation time and most people have their New Year vacation at least between December 31st and January 3rd. However, traditionally there are many things to do as preparations for New Year celebration, so most people become more busy before having their vacation. 

One of the pre-new-year preparations is sending out New Year greeting cards as I introduced in my previous post on November 22nd, then after finishing the work, what else people would do for the preparations? 

First, people have a big clean-up of their house, then go out for shopping to get all the stuff for New Year celebration. There are traditional New Year decorations, and since the decorations are for one time use, people buy them every year. It is said that the new year decorations should be set up by 30th. 

Also, from January 1st to 3rd is traditionally the time for family gathering and New Year celebration parties. People eat New Year special dishes with their family and friends and actually the traditional dishes should be cooked before New Year. So, after Christmas grocery markets are still full of people coming to buy the ingredients or cooked new year food. 

Then, for those who prefer homemade new year dishes, between December 30th and 31st would be the busiest time for the cooking. Some people even make Mochi (rice cake) from sweet rice at home on December 30th and decorate part of it at home as you can see in the photos above and eat the rest during New Year celebration days.

On December 31st, the last day of the year, people eat one kind of Japanese noodle "Soba" called "Toshikoshi-soba (Noodle for New Year's Eve)". It is a tradition for the end of a year to wish longevity. After eating the noodle, finally it is the relaxing time to wait for count down!

Traditional Customs Need Practicality To Survive?

December 21^st was "Toji Day" which means a a winter solstice day. Since the day has the shortest daytime in the year, Japanese have traditional seasonal event for this day.

With traditional Japanese customs, people eat pumpkins and set Yuzu (one kind of Japanese citrus) afloat in the bath before they take a bath. Some say the reasons of these customs came from the facts that Yuzu is a kind of tree which has a long life span, and strong resistance against tree diseases, also pumpkins are good for preventing a cold because they contain good nutrition such as vitamins. Some other say the custom came from the round shape and the yellow color of pumpkin and Yuzu which remind of the shape and color of the sun. 

I heard many different countries all over the world have a seasonal event on the winter solstice day, too. It would be a natural consequence since this day seems like the end/start of the solar cycle and it must have been important for people since ancient times. Apparently Korean people eat red beans soup containing rice cakes for this day. One of my friends told me that in her hometown before people have the dish people spread cooked red beans in their room by throwing beans to the wall when she was in school. It was to avoid evils from home.

The Korean custom sounds familiar for Japanese people. In Japan red beans is also often considered as a lucky item which can avoid evils, so we have other seasonal event to eat red beans soup. Moreover Japanese eat "red beans rice" traditionally when they have something to celebrate. Even for the winter solstice day, people in Nara prefecture cook pumpkins with red beans. There are sometimes common customs between countries.

However, she told me that she doesn't think people still keep the old custom in Korea. actually, to make the beans ritual work and avoid bad lucks and evils from the house, it is said that people need to leave the scattered beans at least one whole day. Then, obviously cleaning work on the next day is hard. We can easily imagine sometimes the stains caused by red beans wouldn't be able to be removed. 

In Japan, still the traditional custom for the winter solstice day is practiced. Every year supermarkets have piled pumpkins and Yuzu on the day and people eat pumpkin dishes and set Yuzu in their bath at night. Perhaps it was because the custom happened to have enough practicality although people didn't know initially and also doesn't bring any troublesome afterwards?

There is a previous post about the winter solstice day!

What Are Japanese Galapagos Cellphones (Gala-kei)?

I introduced recent Wi-Fi services and the circumstances in Japan in my previous post of my another blog on December 15th. Then, today I'd like to introduce Japanese cellphones which were prosperous before smartphones and tablets came out. 

As I wrote in my post on 15th, until several years ago each Japanese cellphone had always had a phone number and an email address provided by the cellphone company which sold the cellphone because Japanese regulation didn't allow people to change sim-card by themselves. Cellphone companies improved their products individually and people could use their phone number and email address as far as they used same cellphone company. So, when people switched their cellphone company, they had to change their phone number and email address.

It was inconvenient but as far as people keep using same cellphone company, it wasn't a problem and they could renew their cellphone machines to a latest model. Since Japanese cellphones included email functions from the early days, it got color display quickly and by 2000 new models with camera came out. People started exchanging photos via emails with their new cellphones and it became an explosive hit item. 

After that, Japanese cellphones got more and more small improved functions such as a small window display on the surface to show mails arrivals, missed calls, and time, connection condition, and battery level, IR communications function, internet accesses and so on. Therefore, when first smart phones came out, some people said, "So what? Almost same things are available with my current cellphone." In fact, still certain number of people are using the old-type Japanese cellphones even now.

Of course the emails with old-type cellphone can't see files made by computer, moreover nowadays the size of most internet sites became too heavy for these cellphones, but still they has enough advanced functions similar to smart phones. Then, from some point people started calling them "Galapagos Cellphones". 

Galapagos is the name of islands on the Pacific Ocean belonging to Ecuador. Location-wise the islands has been isolated and creatures on the islands are uniquely evolved. The famous historic scholar Charles Darwin (1809-1882) visited the islands and wrote "The origin of Species". Yes, it is a metaphorical name to express it got isolated improvements inside of Japanese islands.

The cellphones are still on sale and some people prefer them over smart phones. Apparently their OS systems are particular to these cellphones, moreover the OS is different between each cellphone company thus it is said that it won't be a target for computer viruses because they are too minor. So, perhaps they have less functions but safer. Then, do you think they can survive for a long time same as elephant tortoises on Galapagos Islands?

Feel Free To Join "Konpira Picnic", A Nice Local Activity Held At A Small Shrine In West Tokyo!

On this coming Sunday, December 4th, a nice local community event will take place in Hachioji City, Tokyo. A small mountain near Takao Station on JR-Chuo-Line/Keio-line is designated as a green conservation zone by Hachioji-City. On the top of the mountain there is a tiny shrine called “Asakawa Konpira Shrine”. It is one kind of Japanese Shinto-Shrine.

Since the late 1980s, a monthly community activity named “Kompira-Picnic” has been held there on the first Sunday of every month (except August) although "picnic" is not a traditional Japanese activity. It would be very rare as an activity at a local Shinto-shrine. Moreover, it is an open event for everybody, to join it people need neither registration to the group nor reservation.

However there is only one requirement for the Kompira-Picnic which is "Bring your own food and drinks and share with others". Despite that, you are always welcome if you go there in the afternoon around lunch time. This picnic activity has been getting international people's attention and almost every time there are some foreign people as you can see in the photos. So People use both English and Japanese at the picnic.

At one time the picnic became quite popular and the shrine was full of people on every first Sunday, but unfortunately the number of participants has decreased in recent years. However, there are still some regulars (including foreigners and Japanese), and people enjoy talking and having a nice time with lots of good food and drinks. Of course tourists can also join this picnic. It's a fun activity! 

In addition, two of the long time foreign regulars of the picnic activity became Shinto priests there. Both of them are Australian ladies. They got a training to be Shinto priest in the head shrine of Konpira Shrine in Shikoku Island, and became Shinto priests many years ago. Apparently TV crew will also come to the picnic activity to film the rare foreign Shinto priests on this Sunday!

Please feel free to join the picnic!
☆If you are interested in reading more about this picnic, please check here!
☆Also there is a facebook page providing information about this picnic! https://www.facebook.com/ActiveLineHachioji

☆The location of the Konpira Shrine is below!

There Are Traditional Lucky Lakes Showing Sightseeing Spots In Tokyo!

In my previous post on November 26th, I introduced food stalls at "Torinoichi Market" which is a traditional lucky charm market held a couple of times during November. Many people buy "lucky lakes" at the markets to collect lucks for the next year.

Plain type of the lucky lakes looks like the one in the second photo from the left end on the upper row and you can tell it is a small lake. However, most of lakes on sale at the market has lots of decorations on it as shown on the third photo from the left end on the upper row so that they don't look like lakes. The decorations are usually traditional lucky items such as gold coins, rice years, a beckoning cat, and so on. 

However it can be something out of the ordinary. Then, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office building located in Shinjuku has nice examples of it at their travel information corner on the ground floor. Many lucky lakes are displayed there representing major areas in Tokyo. The decorations on each lucky lake are showing famous landmark in the area. 

For example, the lucky lake for Ryougoku area where the "Hall of Sumo Wrestling in Tokyo" is located shows a figure of a Sumo wrestler, hot pots called "Chanko-nabe" which are Sumo wrestlers' typical meal, and the special fan for Sumo judges. In the same way, the lucky lake for Shibuya and Harajuku area has the Hachikou-dog statue and famous shopping mall "Shibuya 109". The one for Roppongi is showing "Tokyo Tower" and The Diet Building.

How many travel spots on the decorated lucky lakes can you recognize?

Would You Like To Try A Virtual-Reality Tour Of Japanese Festival Food Stalls?

Last Wednesday was the day for traditional Japanese custom, "Torinoichi (Dey of Bird Market)". It is a seasonal event to sell one kind of lucky charms which is held a couple of times in November every year. I introduced about the market last year, so please check the previous post post for more explanation! (Click here to read the previous post about "Trinoichi"!)

With these kind of traditional events held at shrines and temples, we can find many festival stalls selling food. Buying these festival food would be one of the enjoyments when people go out for festivals. 

The photos are showing Otori Shrine in Hachioji City, Tokyo. Streets around the shrine are filled with lots of food stalls. They sell various food such as cotton candies, spit-roasted meat, Takoyaki, roasted chestnuts, traditional mix spice, and so on. I took a short video when I walked through among the stalls and linked below.

Hope you will enjoy the virtual-reality tour of Japanese festival stalls!

When Do Japanese People Start To Prepare New Year's Greeting Cards?

As I wrote in my previous post yesterday, some traditional custom to prepare for New Year has been started already. Then, generally when Japanese people start to prepare their New-Year's-greeting cards (Nengajou)?

I have introduced about special postcards for New Year's greeting on my blog last year, and most people use prepaid postcards issued by post office because they have lottery numbers. Every year, these postal cards are put on sale on November 1st. So, technically people can start working on their "Nengajou" from November 1st. Thus, many shops already have "Nengajou" corner as you can see in the upper left hand side photo above. 

For the designs, the animal symbol of the year based on Chinese zodiac is very common. Next year, 2017, is a "Year of Rooster", then many of postcards have illustrations of roosters or Chinese characters means "bird". Also all kinds of traditional lucky symbols are popular for "Nengajou".

However, many people wouldn't start the work during November since people need to check if there is anyone who wants to skip New Year's greetings. After receiving  "being-in-mourning cards" and revising their list for "Nengajou", people can start writing the cards. Well then, when people can start sending them out?

Japanese post office recommend to drop "Nengajou" into postbox between December 15th and 25th for those who want to be certain they will be delivered on January 1st. Then how "Nengajou" will be separated from many other mails which are send out at the same timing? 

I'm showing typical Japanese postal box in the upper right hand side photo. Usually one of the opening is for usual letters and postcards, and the other is for large size letters, international letters, and express letters, but after December 15th some of the opening will be only for "Nengajou". Moreover, When people tie their "Nengajou" and put a label of "Nengajou" on it, post office will keep them for a while and deliver them on January 1st.

However, please be careful, these system are only applied for postcards and somehow envelopes for New Year's greeting are not applied for the system.

Some Japanese People Already Started Preparations For New Year?

It's already in the second half of November and weather is getting cold day by day. Although there is still more than one month to see the new year in, some of the traditional Japanese customs to prepare for the end of the year and the new year has been started?

In Japanese traditional custom, people exchange postcards for New-Year-greetings. Even though young generation tend to use e-mails for the greetings nowadays, still many people send actual postcards. Of course it is still too early to send out postcards for New-Year-greetings, but some people already have a preparation related to New-Year-greetings in this month.

In Japanese culture, people hold back greetings and celebrating for the coming new year when they lost any close family members during the year because they are in mourning for the loss. In the case, they send out a special kind of postcards to let everybody know "we'll skip New Years's greetings for our loss...". These postcards are called "being-in-mourning cards".

The typical design for these "being-in-mourning cards" are sacred lotus flowers and chrysanthemum flowers in gray color or pale color as you can see in the left hand side photo. There are also special stamps for these "being-in-mourning cards", since stamps with cheerful designs or colors wouldn't fit the situation.

Then, those who received the "being-in-mourning card" take the sender's name out from their list of New-Year-greeting cards for the coming new year. With this process, people can avoid bothering each other's mourning and celebration during new year holidays.

Thus, to consider other people's preparation for their New Year's greeting cards, the "being-in-mourning cards" should be sent out by the middle of November, so I'm already receiving some "being-in-mourning cards". Therefore I think sending out "being-in-mourning cards" can be included in preparations for New Year.

There Is A Connection Between Ginkgo Leaves And Sumo Wrestling

In the connection I wrote about ginkgo in my previous post on November 15th and 17th, I'd like to introduce a connection between ginkgo and Sumo wrestling. Actually ginkgo is important for Sumo wrestlers although we don't see any actual ginkgo tree nor leaves at Sumo competition.

As I write in my previous post on November 17th, ginkgo is "Ichou" in Japanese language. Interestingly, the top part of Sumo wrestlers' traditional unique hair style, shown in the photo above, is called "O-ichou". "O-ichou" means "Big Ginkgo". The name came from the shape. 

As you can see in the photos above, Sumo wrestlers have a traditional Japanese hair style called "Mage" which is one of the big features of their appearance. It looks almost same as the hair style of Samurai but slightly different. Sumo wrestlers spread the tip of their tied hair very wide just like the shape of a ginkgo leaf. That's why the part is called  "O-ichou (Big Ginkgo)" and it is specific to Sumo wrestlers.

"Mage" hair style with "O-ichou (Big Ginkgo)" is considered as a formal hair style for high-rank Sumo wrestlers, so they only make their hair tip into the "O-ichou (Big Ginkgo)" shape at formal situations such as Sumo matches and ceremonies. "O-ichou (Big Ginkgo)" is very important showing their rank. 

When young boys join a Sumo-beya (Sumo gym) to become a professional Sumo wrestler, they usually have a modern hair style. Then they let their hair long to make the "Mage" hair style with a hope to be a high-rank wrestler someday and get his tip of "Mage" into "O-ichou (Big Ginkgo)" style. So, it is a big moment for a wrestler when they get "O-ichou (Big Ginkgo)" with their "Mage" hair style for the first time in his career. 

Sometimes, a young wrestler has a conspicuous talent and get promotion very quickly to reach the high-rank which he is allowed to make "O-ichou (Big Ginkgo)" shape before his hair get enough length. In the case people see a short pony tail or a bent ponytail on his head among wrestlers with "O-ichou (Big Ginkgo)" at competitions as shown in the upper right end photo and the lower photo. Sumo fans enjoy seeing such a young wrestler, too, since it means he has a possibility to become a great wrestler.

It's Time To Enjoy Tastes Of Fall! Have You Tried Ginkgo Nuts Picking?

Japanese say fall is "The Season of Good Appetite". Surely it is probably the biggest harvest season in Japan since the first rice of the year comes out in addition to various fall vegetables, and it's also the season for most nuts and mushrooms. 

Actually you can enjoy little harvest of fall even in town. When you see some people are roaming in parks and street-sides with plastic bags in this season, just like in the photos on the upper row, they may be doing ginkgo nuts picking. In Japan ginkgo trees are one of the very common kinds you can find at parks and street-sides. For example, in Hachioji City they are planted for 4.2 km (2.6 miles) along Koshu-kaido (Rd. 20), which is one of the oldest national roads, in Takao area. 

Although ginkgo has male trees and female trees and only female trees get nuts, you can check it easily in this season since ginkgo nuts growing in the blanches is quite visible as you can see in the upper right end photo. Also the smell of them is very easy to recognize. Frankly, it's really stinky. 

So, actually when you try ginkgo nuts picking, they looks like small brown fruits with wrinkles as shown in the lower left end photo. The nuts is still covered by the stinky pulp. Then you need to get rid of the stinky part from all the nuts and wash them before enjoying the taste. Well, it might sound too much trouble. Don't worry, of course supermarkets have ginkgo nuts which are already washed and they are not stinky at all. 

For those who love ginkgo nuts a lot, probably the work to get rid of the stinky pulp doesn't matter. In fact many people enjoy ginkgo nuts picking in this season. As you can see in the photos, now the ginkgo leaves are still in green but a little later it will turn into gorgeous yellow, then people can enjoy the beautiful view, too, when they pick ginkgo nuts.

As for the photos of ginkgo nuts dishes above, the lower center photo shows roasted ginkgo nuts, and the lower right end photo is "ginkgo nuts rice" which I introduced in my post last year. To check the recipe of  "ginkgo nuts rice", please click here!

A Halloween Special Sweets? No, It Is A Japanese Sweet Called Kastera!

Since tomorrow is Halloween, this sweets seems like a special sweets for Halloween, but it is a Japanese sweets called "Kasutera" which has a long history. The bat design is actually the trademark of one of the major Kasutera makers, "Fukusaya", although the orange and purple colors on the box are their new seasonal design for this Halloween season.

Then, why the "Fukusaya" is using a bat design as their trademark? Does it really have no connection with Halloween? 

As you can see in the photos, the maker started their business in 1624, which is during Samurai time, precisely Tokugawa Shogunate era (1603-1867). Although in the beginning they use one of the Chinese characters for their name, "福（Fuku）" as their trademark, 12th president of Fukusaya changed it to a bat design in the beginning of Modern era and it was still too early time for Japanese people to know about Halloween. 

However, apparently the bat design came from a foreign culture. Fukusaya's original trademark, "福（Fuku）" is a Chinese character means "Fortune/Luck" and Fukusaya had been trading with China to buy one of the main ingredients for Kasutera sweets, sugar, since the beginning. Thus the 12th president of Fukusaya got an idea of their new trademark using a symbol of fortune/luck in China. That was the bat design.

I'm sure nobody expected it in old times, but their fortune/lucky symbol got a lucky coincidence, and now the package with their trademark perfectly fits Halloween season! 

Halloween Became A Cute And Lovely Event In Japan!

In these years Halloween became really popular in Japan. Shopping malls and restaurants started to have Halloween events and many people enjoy wearing costumes and having Halloween parties although most people didn't know much about it 10 years ago. 

Now towns are filled with lots of Halloween goods as you can see in the upper photos above and many companies are selling Halloween version sweets. Even some beer companies started selling pumpkin beer, but the taste is different from pumpkin beer in U.S.A. 

Needless to say, but Halloween is originally an event with scary evil spirits. Therefore in U.S.A. I have seen many Halloween decorations which looks very scary. However Japanese people always tend to love "Kawaii (cute/lovely)" stuff, then it seems like they imported cute characteristics and fun feature of Halloween into Japan. Thus Halloween decorations and Halloween goods shops in Japan look just cute. As you can see in the lower right hand side photo, some sweets even have the words of "Lovely Halloween". 

"Kawaii (cute/lovely)" is now becoming a big trend stream recognized world-widely. Since Japanese people had modified Christmas and Valentine's Day into Japanese style events, this cute and lovely Halloween is going to be "Japanese style Halloween"?

Mt. Fuji Got A Snow-cap First Time For This Fall!

Today, on October 26th, I saw the top of Mt. Fuji over a sea of heavy fog was covered by snow first time for this fall! It was a fantastic view. 
Apparently this was a date record equaling the latest first snow-cap in fall and 26 days later than the average.

Last year it happened on the October 14th, and I wrote a post on my another blog "Yuko Takayama". 

More photos of Mt.Fuji view from West Tokyo area are here! (Please click here to see them!)

Mascot Characters Of Train Companies Are Also Wining Popularity

I'm writing about Japanese trains and how people enjoy trains in Japan lately in my posts on October 14th (Yuko's Japan Guide), also 18th and 19th (Yuko Takayama). Then there is one more factor which helps to increase the popularity of trains and I'd like to introduce it this time.

In these years, many of Japanese companies and even municipalities have some mascots like baseball teams and they help these companies by giving friendly feeling to people. What's more, actually these mascots can cause a situation that they get people's attention and make the company or municipality popular. Since Japanese people love mascots and it happens often, so companies and municipalities are nowadays very serious about having a cute or characteristic mascots.

Of course, train companies are not exception. Today, most companies have some characters for their train lines and they also sell many products featuring their mascots, such as pens, notes, and sweets. A good example of it would be "Suica Penguin" which is a mascot of JR East (East Japan Railroad Company). 

You might have seen it already, since the mascot design is on their prepaid e-money card called "Suica". The penguin character was originally created for the Suica card because prepaid e-money card was a completely new way to pay train fees at that time. the company tried to get people's attention to push the big change from paying by cash to using prepaid e-money cards.

The penguin character became really popular quickly, probably more than the company expected. Some people got "Suica card", not to try the new system but to get a card with the cute penguin character. Today, the Suica penguin became the image character of JR East company and we can find many Suica Penguin goods at shops inside or beside stations of JR East company.

I guess to get a popular mascot brought a very strong advantage for the train company because the population of train lovers consists of mainly men and boys since old times, but with the character the company got many women and girls fans anew. Now you can see how important these mascots are, right?

October 14th Is Railroads Day In Japan, Do You Like Trains?

Today, October 14th is a memorial day for Japanese railroad since it is the day the first railroad business of Japan began services 144 years ago. It was fifth year of Japanese first modern government, Meiji Government, which was established after Tokugawa Shogunate government collapsed and Samurai era was ended. 

At that time, trains run only between Shinbashi in Tokyo and Yokohama in Kanagawa prefecture and the distance was only 18 miles (29 km). However, now train lines are covering all over Japan and it has been the most common means for traveling. It's still much faster than cars' travel and easier than getting on airplanes. Also since Japanese expressway is all toll roads, train fees are not too expensive travel expenses compared with it.

In addition, the popularity of train lines is not because of only practical reasons. There are many railroads/trains lovers in Japan. Therefore every time when there is a new train line opened people rush to there. Moreover some of them are really into railroad/train business deeply like railroad-mania, or train-mania and they tend to travel to enjoy train lines than to get on trains to travel to their destinations. Somehow railroads/trains attract people a lot in Japan. 

The model trains toy shown in the photos is also not only for kids. There are very real train models and some train lovers enjoy making dioramas with them. I don't know when it began but nowadays the maniac-type fans of railroads/trains are called "Tetsu" among people. Funnily, the meaning of the name based on the direct translation would be "Irons", because the Japanese word for "railroad" is "Tetsu-dou (iron-road)".

Back to the original topic, in 1922, October 14th was set up as "Railroads' Memorial Day" initially, then the name was changed to "Railroads Day" in 1994. Apparently, every year before and after Trains' Day, special events and festivals related to railroads/trains take place here and there, also at museums of railroads/trains. If you are interested in Japanese railroad/train fan's world, you can take a look at it in these places!

ShichiFukujin (Seven Good Luck Gods) Includes 'A Red Dot'

I introduced an international gods group called "Shichifukujin (Seven Good Luck Gods)" in my previous post on the October 2nd. The Shichifukujin gods are very popular and many Shinto shrines and Buddhism temples all over Japan worship them separately.

In the Shichifukujin Gods, only "Benzaiten" is a goddess. In Japanese language, there is an idiom to express this situation. When people see only woman in a group she is called "Kouitten (a red dot)" in the group. So we can say "Benzaiten" goddess is "Kouitten (a red dot)" in the gods group.

The origin of the idiom is an ancient Chinese poetry and it was telling about only red flower blooming in a green bush and it is standing out. Then the word turned to be used for the situation that there is only woman/girl in a group. 

Unfortunately there is no antonym of the idiom for a man in a women's group. Perhaps we should create a new idiom like "only green dot for the opposite situation?

The shrine in the lower photos is a "Benzaiten Shrine" inside of Yakuo-in Temple on Mt. Takao in Tokyo. It is inconspicuous and located in backside of temple buildings, so it would be a kind of off-the-beaten-track place on the temple ground. When you have a chance to visit Mt. Takao Yakuo-in Temple, please check the hidden "A red dot of Shichifukujin" shrine!

There Is An International Gods Group loved By People

I have introduced about Japanese Shinto several times in my previous posts and explained that Japanese Shinto is a religion based on nature worship, which says that there are countless gods and goddess for everything in nature. These many gods and goddess are colloquially called “Eight Million Gods”.

It seems like the “Eight Million Gods” can really include everything because Japanese people have worshiped so many different things, people and gods at Shinto shrines in history. Actually until Japanese first modern government made a law to separate Shinto gods and Buddhism clearly, people had mixed Shinto and Buddhism and Buddhism statues were often worshiped at shrines. 

With the concept of “Eight Million Gods”, probably it wasn't strange to do. In fact not only Buddha and Buddhism guardians but also some of other foreign gods have been taken in Shinto shrines. Then, people even made a new gods group for wishing a good luck. 

It is a team of seven gods including six foreign gods and a Japanese god, and named "Shichifukujin (7 good luck gods)". The members of the "Shichifukujin (7 good luck gods)" are Fukurokuju (Taoism god from China), Juroujin (Taoism god from China), Ebisu (Japnanese god), Daikokuten (Hinduism god from India), Hotei (Buddhism monk from China), Bisyamonten (Hinduism god from India), and Benzaiten (Hinduism goddess from India). So, it's an international gods' group established in Japan and it is said that it was created in the 14-16 century.

Nobody knows how it started, but apparently the idea came from a famous Chinese subject for a drawing, "The Seven Wise Men In a Bamboo Forest". In some areas, people added one more god and made it "Eight good luck gods" since eight is a lucky number in Japan. 

By the way, for the most common design of "Shichifukujin" would be a "fortune ship set" that the seven gods are riding on a ship together as you can see in the red box in the photos above. However, to worship "Shichifukujin", usually the statues are placed separately in different shrines and temples and people can enjoy going on a pilgrimage all seven gods to make a wish for a good luck. It's been a popular activity called "Shichifukjin Meguri (The seven good luck gods pilgrimage).

When you search the word "Shichifukujin", you would be able to find many places to enjoy the pilgrimage of seven gods. It would be a nice walk trip especially in this fall season!

There Is A Traditional Second Birth Celebration At 60 Years Old In Japan

I introduced some photos about celebration items and costumes in my previous post on September 21st. In Japanese culture actually there are many more traditional celebration events for lifetime. I'll show the summary list below.

7 days after a baby birth: A celebration for official announcement of the baby's name.
Around 1 month after a baby birth: A celebration to take the baby to a shrine/temple for the first time.
100 days after a baby birth: Having a celebration party to wish the baby will have abundant food for his/her lifetime.
3 years old (for girls): A celebration called "Shichi-go-san" to with the children's healthy growth.
5 years old (for boys):A celebration called "Shichi-go-san" to with the children's healthy growth.
7 years old (for girls):A celebration called "Shichi-go-san" to with the children's healthy growth.
60 years old:A celebration called "Kanreki".
70 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Koki".
77 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Kiju".
80 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Sanju".
88 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Beiju"
90 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Sotsyju".
99 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Hakuju"
100 years old:A celebration for a longevity called "Hyakuju".

As you can see, after 60 years old there are many events to celebrate longevity. However, it is no wonder because reaching these ages would have been really impressive in old days. Then 60 years old is the turning point for the frequent celebrations.

Actually, 60 years old is a special age in Asian culture which is considered as the period of starting over. There are two old cyclical systems to count years called "Jikkan" and "Junishi". These were invented in China and have spread in Asian countries including Japan.

The "Junishi" cycle system is often translated "The 12 animal zodiac signs" in English and using twelve different animals to count 12 years as one cycle. It's still very common and everybody know own animal of their birth year in Japan. On the other hand, "Jikkan" is not well-known anymore, but it is also a cycle system of years. This one is using 5 basic elements such as fire, water, soil, wood, and gold.

In old days, people counted years combining these two cycles as in "Year of wood mice", "Year of fire ox" and so on. Then, at 60 years old people will have the original combination of these two cycles when they were born. Thus 60 years old became the age people finished one big cycle and start over the next cycle, just like the second birth of the life. It would be a good timing to have celebration. 

Traditionally, people celebrate "Kanreki (60-year-old celebration)" wearing a red traditional type of vest and a special red cap as you can see in the upper middle illustration. Regarding the color, red is a special color in Japanese culture as I introduced on the September 21st and that's why most costumes for celebrations in the photos above are including red color. About the style, This kind of vest had been a common outer wear in old time and the special style cap is just like the cap which one of the Japanese gods of good fortune, "Daikoku-ten", is wearing as you can see in the upper left hand side photo.

However, the typical "Kanreki (60-year-old celebration)" style seems like kind of outdated. In fact many people are not interested in wearing it nowadays since both of the items are not very fancy nor practical. Apparently, when people turn 60, most of them now choose other red items such as red T-shirts, red sweater, or red cardigan to celebrate the event. It would be a good change for this traditional custom.

How about wearing a nice red clothes and having a celebration when you turn 60 years old?

Red Is A Special Color In Japanese Culture

I introduced traditional rouge made from a flower called Benibana (Red-flower) in my previous post on the September 20th. Actually red color has been a special color in Japanese culture since ancient times. 

Ancient Japanese people believed that red color can protect people against evil and disease, then it was used at celebration ceremonies and critical junctures of life such as new year celebrations, weddings, childbirths, and so on. 

Regarding the traditional cosmetic rouge which I have introduced was not only for lip colors but also used for eyeliners and eye-shadows, and blushers. Probably people wished to avoid bad lucks by wearing red color at events. In addition, red color has also been used a lot for structures of Japanese Shinto shrines and Buddhism temples as you can see in the photo on the lower left hand side.

After modern times, I guess people are not so believing in the power of red color but still using it for celebration time and important turning points of life as a traditional custom. So you would find red color often at ceremonies. Moreover the color combination of  "red and white" has been the most common color set for celebration. Thus, when people hear/see "red and white", it would automatically brings some happy image of celebrations. 

One more thing, actually Japanese word for "baby" is "Aka-go", "Aka-chan" or "Aka-nbou", and the first part of them "Aka" means "Red". With direct translation, the meaning of these words are "Red-child", "Red-chan", and "Red-bou". (The "chan" and "bou" are words to be attached when people call a person or a creature with friendly feeling.) 

In general most people call babies "Aka-chan (Red-chan)".  It might sound funny but to put it in extreme saying Japanese people are calling babies "Red"!

So, red is really a special color for Japanese people!

Isn't Sweet-potato The Translation Of Satsuma-imo In Japan?

In my previous posts on September 11th, 13th and 15th, I introduced a Japanese seasonal event “Otsukimi(Moon Viewng)” which celebrates beautiful “Autumn Moon”. The event was originally for giving thanks for the harvesting since fall is the biggest harvesting time. Every fall people look forward to having newly harvested rice, seasonal mushrooms, chestnuts, and many of other seasonal produce. Thus Japanese call autumn “the season of  good appetite”.

Satsuma-Imo(Asian Sweet Potatoes) is one of the typical fall produce in Japan and piles of Satsuma-Imo can be seen all supermarkets as in the left hand side photo.

Actually I introduced this prodice with Japanese name on purpose, because there is a confusing fact in Japan. 

Somehow the English word for Satsuma-Imo, "Sweet potatoes” is a name of one kind of sweets in Japan. This sweets “SWEETPOTATO”, is made of Satsuma-Imo, but it is mashed up and mixed with sugar, cream and butter then baked, shown in the right hand side photo.

When asked about "Sweetpotato" in Japan, Japanese would automatically think of the sweets and not the produce Satsuma-Imo. So if you ask where you can buy "Sweetpotato", people would introduce some cake shops or sweets shops nearby.

*To read my previous post about Otsukimi event, please click the link below!

     September 11th, A Traditional Seasonal Event Of Autumn, OTSUKIMI Is Coming Soon!

     September 13th, About Otsukimi Event; Can You See A Rabbit On The Full Moon?

     September 15th, The Truth Of The Connection Between Otsukimi Day And The Full Moon Day Of Mid Autumn