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Here is a Japanese tradition I hadn't heard of before. Eating 'rice pudding' (okayu) (おかゆ) (お粥) on January seventh

I feel there is some 'drama' when translating おかゆ into English. Porridge? Gruel? Congee? I would say 'rice pudding.'

おかゆis not much more than rice boiled in water.

Here is a video using the word congee as the English translation for (おかゆ. The word congee appears at 0:24.


Here is a video using the phrase 'rice gruel' as the English translation for おかゆ. The phrase 'rice gruel' appears at 0:19.

 
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Another Chika-sensei video. Hatsumode (はつもうで) (初詣) is the custom of making the first visit of the year to a shrine [temple] during the New Year. She visits the large (and very crowded)) Shinto Shrine called Meiji Jingu in the center of Tokyo. She says 3 million people visited Meiji Jingu on the first day of New Years! (Japanese New Years lasts for four days.)


Watch as this lady does her Hatsumode at an ancient temple in Nagoya built in 1688. For me, this temple is a good example of something that is 'shibui' (しぶい) (渋い) which means ancient and exquisite.


I can't resist posting a video of Hatsumode at Todaiji (とうだいじ) (東大寺) Temple in Nara City in Central Japan. This building and statue of Buddha are huge! Take a look at how small people look in front of the temple at 1:59. The Todaiji Temple building was built in 745 AD, was the largest wooden building in the world until 1998, was originally 30% larger, was rebuilt twice after fire, and was rebuilt in its present-day size in 1709. It houses the world's largest bronze statue of Buddha. (I said the Nagoya Temple is しぶい but now I think Todaiji Temple is more しぶい.) Take a look at the long line of people at 0:26 waiting to get into the temple. (Hatsumode can be very crowded and involve standing in long lines. I remember one year standing in line for about an hour to get into a temple for Hatsumode, at midnight, in the New Years cold.)

 
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A touching video about Japanese villages torn apart and abandoned after a dam was built in the 1960s.


 
Here is a fascinating part of Japanese New Years that is not a tradition but is something a lot of people enjoy at New Years — the Red Team and White Team Singing Contest on TV. It is called Kouhaku Uta Gassen (こうはく うた がっせん) (紅白歌合戦). It is the biggest annual TV musical show. It's so popular, it's like watching the Grammys. Take a look from 0:19.


Here is another video that talks about a New Year's TV show called Johnny's Countdown. Watch from 1:27.

 
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During the holidays, Western children get presents but Japanese children get cash. The name for this money is otoshidama (おとしだま) (お年玉). According to the video, "Adult members of the family must give an 'otoshidama' or cash envelope to young children in the family." Watch from 2:40.

 
When do you stop? I think older children get otoshidama too. At least from their parents.
 
Folding fans are one of the best-known examples of Japanese culture. This video is terrible because the sound keeps cutting in and out (no sound until 1:20) but we can take a look at some information about fans.

Huge fan at 2:15
Very beautiful fans at 2:29
Historical dance of children using fans at 5:05
Importance of using a folding fan in the tea ceremony at 5:44
The meticulous process of making fans at 7:47
A bit of folding fan history from 14:40
Influence of fan design on Japanese art during the 1600's from 18:31
Use of fans in Noh Theater from 20:59
Essential use of fans in Rakugo Theater from 22:32
A fascinating art-form called "frolicking butterflies" from 23:18 (which I had never seen before)

 
Origami (おりがみ) (折り紙) is the Japanese art of paper folding. Take a look at:

Types of origami
Action origami (that moves) 1:39
Modular origami (several origami that are combined into a larger origami) 2:05
Wet-folding (dampening the origami with water). Take a look at the cool dragons at 2:17 and 2:24.
Pureland origami (doing only one fold at a time) at 2:41
Origami tessellations (a collection of origami on a surface) at 2:49
Kirigami (cutting with scissors to make origami) at 3:09. (I like the very geometrical shape at 3:23.)

 
The most popular figure to make with origami is the paper crane. Here are folding instructions.

 
princessbutter said:
Chicken Nanban Soba.
Click to expand...
It is "Kamo Nanban Soba".

Kamo nanban - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Chicken Nanban
Chicken Nanban is a Japanese chicken dish that originated in Miyazaki Prefecture. It is a dish of chicken entwined with flour and beaten eggs, soaked in sweet and sour sauce, and then sprinkled with tartar sauce.
 
It is a Japanese custom to fold 1,000 paper cranes and string them on a piece of string. Take a look at thousands and thousands of folded cranes at 0:58. It is said making 1,000 paper cranes helps a wish come true. Many people do this and make a wish. (The video also opens with some great footage of real Japanese cranes in the snow in winter.)

 
Miss Sadako Sasaki (ささき さだこ) (佐々木 禎子) died from leukemia in 1955 as a result of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. It is now a custom in memory of Sadako to make 1,000 folded cranes to pray for world peace.

Sadako Sasaki - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Listen to her brother Masahiro (ささき まさひろ) (佐々木雅弘) tell the story.

 
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Here is a very cute anime containing scenes of children folding origami paper cranes. (My goodness, getting the CGI right to show the characters doing all those folds must have taken a lot of work.)

At 1:28 we get a good look at the Japanese custom of sitting on a cushion, on a tatmai (woven rice stalk) floor, and sitting at a low table.

At 1:44 we see a futon on the floor (used for sleeping), and how a small room such as this is used in a multipurpose way as a living room, bedroom, etc. (I lived in such a small 'multipurpose' one-room apartment in Japan for years.) In this scene you can also see several strings of paper cranes hanging from the ceiling.

 
One of the most famous and important religious pilgrimages (henro) (へんろ) (遍路) in Japan is the Shikoku Pilgrimage (Shikoku henro) (しこく へんろ) (四国遍路) on the island of Shikoku. The pilgrimage consists of walking around the island of Shikoku and visiting 88 temples.

An explanantion of Shikoku Island (consisting of the four prefectures of Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, and Kochi) and the Henro begins at 0:59.

 
Here is a fascinating aspect of the the ohenro (おへんろ) (お遍路). (Henro means pilgrimage and Ohenro means honorable pilgrimage.) Specific clothes and accessories are worn and used. In this video at 1:17 we can see a rear view of the white robes worn by ohenrosan (people who walk the henro). At 1:25 we again see the white robes, conical hats, and sashes worn around the shoulders. At 1:29 we can see a white robe that is laid out and has stamps obtained at each of the temples visited. From 2:21 to 2:35 we see walking sticks that are used.


Below is a link to a webpage with a more detailed explanation

 
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My parents in law did it with teh robes and hats and such but "cheated" as some do by driving near all 88. They have the stamps and such. I visited a few but had no time for the pilgramige, I did see some foreigners doing it.
 
Salyavin,

I hear what you are saying. For example, it is 77 km (47 miles) from temple 23 to temple 24. That's a long walk!

~~~

Osettai (おせったい) (お接待) are small presents children give to people (ohenrosan) (おへんろさん) (お遍路さん) who are walking the pilgrimage. Watch from 0:54 as elementary school children give おせったい to おへんろさん. Watch from 1:30 as the children even hand out free tea and fruit juice. The video begins with a foreigner talking about how he appreciates the おせったい he received while walking the pilgrimage.

 
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Kūkai (くうかい) (空海) was an eigth century (774-835) Buddhist monk who established the 88-temple Shikoku pilgrimage (Shikoku henro) (しこく へんろ) (四国遍路). (He is also known posthumously as Kōbō Daishi (こうぼう だいし) (弘法大師)). He established the Japanese Buddhist denomination known as Shingon Buddhism. He is also credited with creating the Japanese writing system called hiragana (although I don't know if I believe that).

Here is a video about Kūkai.


Here is a video about Kūkai narrated in a computer-generated voice that is a little weird (especially when it comes to pronouncing Japanese names), but don't let it bother you.

 
Here is a curious video about the origin of the name Kūkai. Kū (くう) (空) means 'sky' and kai (かい) (海) means 'sea'. According to the video, one day Kūkai looked out the entrance to the cave he was living in, and he took note of what he saw — the sky and sea. Because of this, he took the name "Sky and sea."

 
Many people have never heard the sound of Japanese Buddhist chanting, so here is such a video. (This is a video of a Japanese-style Zen Temple in Argentina.) The rhythmic beating to synchronize everyone's chanting begins at 0:28. (Lyrics are available in romaji -- and in kanji for anyone who wants to practice reading kanji.) I enjoy going to Buddhist chanting and trying to follow along by reading the kanji.

 
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Many people are familiar with the Japanese writing system called hiragana, which is organized into an 'alphabetical order' beginning with a, i, u, e, o (あ、い、う、え、お). But there is an even earlier 'alphabetical order' system called i, ro, ha (い、ろ、は).

Kūkai (くうかい) (空海) (774-835) is credited with writing a poem which organized the hiragana sounds into the い、ろ、は order. This contributed greatly to the organizing of hiragana. "It is famous because it is a perfect pangram, containing each character of the Japanese syllabary exactly once. Because of this, it is also used as an ordering for the syllabary, in the same way as the A, B, C, D... sequence of the Latin alphabet." (Wikipedia)

But this piece of Kūkai history comes with controversy because it is now thought that the い、ろ、は poem may have been written after Kūkai died.

Iroha - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Here is the い、ろ、は poem put to music.

 
The Japanese writing system called hiragana is not an alphabet, it is a syllabary (although many people call hiragana the 'Japanese alphabet' because it is an easily way to explain hiragana to beginning students of Japanese). It is a syllabary because hiragana is written with one symbol per syllable, not per individual vowel and consonant. (The idea of putting together vowels and consonants to make syllables is not used in Japanese.) Since there is no dividing up of Japanese written characters into vowels and consonants, there is no need to use them in written Japanese.

Take a look at this video. Notice how each Japanese syllable is written in ABC's with a vowel and consonant (except for the first five hiragana) but only one Japanese character for each syllable.

 
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