そばの日（soba no hi）: Day of buckwheat noodles

They say the last day of every month is Soba no hi (そばの日), day of buckwheat noodles. It was established in 1983 by the Nihon men gyo dantai rengo kai (日本麺業団体連合会), Japan Noodle Industry Group Association. It is originated in the custom of merchants in the Edo era who ate noodles at the end of each month as a lucky food. Since the shape of noodle is thin and long, they wished their shindai (身代) fortune to last long like noodles.
On New Year's Eve most of Japanese people eat Toshikoshi soba (年越しそば), passing the year buckwheat noodles to wish live long like noodles.
There are many different noodles in Japan such as soba (蕎麦), udon (うどん), ramen (ラーメン), hiyamugi (冷麦), somen (素麺), pasta (パスタ), and so on.　I think ramen is the most popular among them. You can check 19,000 ramen shops by website.

ヨコスカ ネイビーバーガー（yokosuka neibi baga）: Yokosuka Navy Burger

Today four restaurants in Yokosuka started to sell the new hamburger called Yokosuka Navy Burger. In Yokosuka there are bases of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka known as Yokosuka US Navy base.
About 10 years ago Yokosuka City started producing Yokosuka kaigun kare (よこすか海軍カレー) , Yokosuka Navy Curry Rice using the recipe of JMSDF curry and it became a special food of Yokosuka.
On Nov. 19, 2008 Commander US Naval Forces Japan, Rear Admiral James D. Kelly gave the recipe of typical hamburgers produced aboard U.S. Navy ships and bases in Japan to the Mayor of Yokosuka City, Ryoichi Kabaya. Promoting the "Navy Burger" as a symbolic food of Yokosuka represents the strong and friendly relations between the U.S. Navy and Yokosuka citizens.
Yokosuka Navy Burger seems very simple taste of beef with sliced onion and tomato. It costs from yen 770 to yen 1,300 with French fries and soft drink.
Would you like to try?

興行収入（kogyo shunyu）: Box-office profit

Today the box-office profit of the year 2008 was published. The statistics have been taken since 2000. Profits of all movies released last year reached yen 194,836,000,000 which was -1.8% than the year before. However Japanese movies sold yen 115,859,000,000 which was 22.4% up and became the heighest since 2000. Foreign movies sold yen 78,977,000,000 which decreased to occupy only 40.5% of total and became the lowest year since 2000.
The most popular Japanese movie of last year was "Gake no ue no Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ)", Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea directed by Hayao Miyazaki, which sold more than yen 15,500 million.
The most popular foreign movie of last year was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which sold yen 5,710 million.
The most popular Japanese movie ever was "Sen to Chihiro no kami kakushi (千と千尋の神隠し)" Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki in 2001 which got Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards. The profit was yen 30,400 million and more than 23,500,000 people went to see the movie.
The most popular foreign movie ever was "Titanic" in 1998 which sold yen 26,000 million and more than 16,830,000 people watched in Japan, and $1,835,000,000(USD) in the world.
There are 3,359 screens in Japan which added 138 since the year before and 160,490,000 people went to see the movie last year which is -1.7% than previous year.
If the entrance fee becomes cheaper, I am sure more and more people will go to see movies.

日本へようこそ（nihon e yokoso）: Welcome to Japan!

Last night around 10 PM, my favorite movie star Brad Pitt with his partner Angelina Jolie and their 6 children arrived at the Narita Airport by their private jet. The purpose of their visit is the PR for his new movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" which will be released on Feb. 7 in Japan.
I am very looking forward to watching this movie because it is nominated for the most 13 categories of the 81st Academy Awards including Brad Pitt as the Performance by an actor in a leading role.
Angelina Jolie's new movie "Changeling" will be also released on Feb. 20. She is also nominated for the Performance by an actress in a leading role for this movie.
It's been 3 years and 2 months since they came to Japan together for the PR of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" in November 2005.
It usually costs yen 1,800 (about $20) for an adult to watch a movie in Japan. But depends on theaters, they have special service days such as "Ladies' Day" once a week and "Movie Day" on the first day of the month, and people can watch a movie at yen 1,000. Seniors (60+) are able to watch at yen 1,000 always, I think.

受験シーズン (juken sizun) : Season of Entrance Examinations

Schools in Japan start in April and end in March. After preschool Japanese people go to elementary school for 6 years and then junior high school for 3 years. These 9 years are compulsory education therefore everybody have to go to school. After that more than 96 % go up to high schools. The entrance examinations for high schools have just begun. I think this is the first challenge for most Japanese people.
In Kanagawa prefecture, systems of entrance examinations have been changed drastically between 2004 and 2005. Now there are two chances for candidates to apply for public high schools. At the first selection about 30% of the fixed number will be chosen by application, self-PR essay, school academic records, interview and either essay examination or skill examination or self-expression activity. At the latter selection about 70% of the fixed number will be chosen by application, school academic records, and achievement tests of 3 to 5 subjects.
Year 2009 is the 150th anniversary for Yokohama to have opened its port to the world. Yokohama City decided to open very unique high school from April this year called Yokohama Science Frontier High School which specializes in science. The school provides 20 laboratories, 400 personal computers, dome for observation of the heavenly bodies, and so on. Some of the Super Advisors are Nobel Prize winners! The capacity is 6 classes for 240 students.
There was the first selection today. The fixed number of all Kanagawa high schools for the first selection is 18,698 and the number of applicants was 41,335, which is 2.21 times as many as the fixed number. However Yokohama Science Frontier High School had the highest competition rate of 5.24, more than double of average. How popular!
The result will be published on Feb. 3.
Good luck boys and girls!

FYI:
http://www.city.yokohama.jp/me/kyoiku/sidou2/koukou/sfh/image/YSFH_English.pdf

年賀状 (nenga jo) : New Year's Cards

Many people around the world send season's greeting cards around Christmas time. Japanese people send nenga jo (年賀状), New Year's Cards. If you post the cards by Christmas time, they will be delivered in the morning of New Year's Day called gan tan (元旦). This season's catch phrase for New Year's Cards was "I think nenga jo is a gift." I think so too.
By Christmas time last year 3,312,000,000 special post cards called nenga hagaki (年賀はがき)which have lottery numbers have been sold. In the morning of New Year's Day this year 2,089,000,000 cards were delivered.
Usually people write new year's greeting, their resolutions of the new year, or update of themselves. Some people use family pictures too. I love receiving new year's cards with individual messages.
Yesterday there was a drawing. Prizes are popular electrical appliances, domestic travel tickets, selective gourmet foods,and so on. The booby prize is a piece of stamp sheet.
I hope somebody I sent the card got a nice prize.

千秋楽 （sen shu raku ）

Today was sen shu raku (千秋楽：literally thousand autumn pleasures), the last day of the Grand Sumo Tournament of hatsu basho (初場所), the first tournament of the year.
Until yesterday Yokozuna Asashoryu (横綱　朝青龍)has been the only wrestler that won every match (14-0). And the second was Yokozuna Hakuho (横綱　白鵬) who lost one game(13-1). Today they had a match, and Hakuho won. Therefore they became 14-1 vs 14-1, which led to another match between them.
As a result Yokozuna Asashoryu won and became a champion after 5 grand tournaments. This became his 23rd victory. He has been absent for the last three tournaments because of his left elbow problem, therefore this is called "revival victory."
At the ceremony, in addition to the Emperor's Cup, Prime Minister Taro Aso (総理大臣　麻生太郎) gave him a certificate and the Prime Ministry cup.
Congratulations!

初釜 （hatsu gama）

Do you know anything about Japanese Tea Culture? The most famous tea master is Sen no Rikyu (千利休) who lived from 1522 to 1591. There are more than 400 years' traditions in cha no yu (茶の湯), tea ceremony.
There was hatsu gama (初釜), first tea ceremony of the year at my masters' house. I wore kimono and went to attend around 10:30 AM. It started at 11:00 AM and ended at 4:00 PM. There were 11 guests. There are many procedures and rules in tea ceremony.
After greeting, we washed our hands and rinsed our mouth at the outside stone basin and entered the main room. First was the charcoal procedure called sumi demae (炭点前), followed by thick tea procedure called koicha (濃茶).　Before koicha, we ate sweets called hanabira mochi (花びら餅), petal shaped soft rice cake, which is especially made for the first tea ceremony. Koicha is drunk by some people from the same bowl. After Koicha, there was a break and we had kaiseki (懐石) cuisine. Our master is from Kyoto, therefore we enjoyed special white miso taste zoni (雑煮) eaten in Kyoto area, too. After that there was a short break again to change the room decoration. Finally there was a thin tea procedure called usu cha (薄茶).　　At that time I was honored to be the main guest called shokyaku (正客).
I started learning the Omote senke (表千家) tea ceremony in the fall of 1988. For several years I have practiced every week, but after that I was not able to attend regular lessons, so I only joined these special occasions.
I am not good at sitting on my heels (seiza: 正座), but I like both serving tea and drinking tea.
Green tea is very good for your health. So please try!

電子メールの日（denshi meru no hi）: Day of E-mail

Jan. 23 is written as 1.23, and read as ii (1) fumi(23) in Japanese pun. Ii fumi is written in Japanese as いい文= good letter or E文=E-mail. Therefore Japan Electronic Messaging Association (then) decided Jan. 23 as denshi meru no hi (電子メールの日)Day of E-mail in 1994.
I did not know about the Day of E-mail at all, and I knew it by newspaper today.
I do not remember when I started using e-mail, but I have used e-mail since 1996 when I was at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington for sure. Since then E-mail has been very important means of communication for me. However I have been annoyed by SPAM or junk mails too. How about you?

In today's news I heard President Obama has been allowed to use Blackberry, and that he is addicted to it.

The 23rd of every month has been known as fumi no hi (ふみの日：Day of Letter) since 1979, and on July 23 (fumizuki fumi no hi) day of letter of month of letter every year commemorative stamps are issued.

鍋物 （nabe mono）

It was another cold day today. In such a day many Japanese families have nabemono (鍋物) for dinner. Nabe means a cooking pot, and mono means things. Nabemono is one pot dish with a variety of ingredients such as meat, fish, vegetables, tofu (豆腐) bean curd and so on. According to the ingredients, the ways of cooking are different, so are pots and names.
This dish is often cooked at the dining table, and people sitting around can pick up what they want to eat.
There are mainly two types: lightly flavored mostly with kombu (昆布) kelp and eaten with dipping such as yudofu (湯豆腐) and　mizutaki (水炊き) or deeply flavored with miso (味噌) soybean paste or shoyu (醤油) soy sauce or dashi (出汁) stock and eaten without dipping such as yosenabe (寄せ鍋), sukiyaki (すき焼き), and oden (おでん).
There are many regional nabemono, too.
If you visit Japan in winter time, please enjoy nabemono. My recommendation is shabushabu (しゃぶしゃぶ), which you soak the thinly sliced beef or pork and vegetables in boiling water and eat with either ponzu (ポン酢) soy sauce with citrus or gomadare(胡麻ダレ) sesame flavored sauce.

Inauguration: 大統領就任式（daitoryo shunin shiki）

The inauguration of the 44th president of the United States of America was held on Tuesday Jan. 20 in Washington DC, following the Martin Luther King Jr.'s Day. There is 14 hours difference between EST and JST(Japan Standard Time) now, it was broadcasted from 1 am to 3 am this morning, which included oaths of the vice president and the president and his address, but not the parade. Today's many news programs picked up the historical events here in Japan too.
Last year Barack Obama's speeches were published as books with CD, and 400,000 copies have been sold. His persuasive speech is very popular in Japan. This inauguration address will also be published as CD soon.

Since Mr. Barack Obama started his election campaign 2 places in Japan have been known to whole nation and started supporting him because they have the same name as he does. They are Obama city in Fukui prefecture (福井県小浜市) and Obama Onsen in Nagasaki prefecture (長崎県小浜温泉). They also celebrated the new president. I believe they want Mr. President to visit their places someday.

大寒（dai kan）

It is dai kan (大寒), big cold today, which is one of the nijyushi sekki (二十四節気). The last one was sho kan (小寒), small cold on Jan. 5 and the next one is risshun (立春), the first day of spring on Feb. 4. So this is the coldest season now.
What do you use for heating in your country?
We use oil, gas, and electric heaters, but there is a very unique electrical appliance in Japan. It is called kotatsu (炬燵). It is a low table with an electric foot-warmer underneath, covered by a blanket and a futon or thick quilt. It is warm and comfortable, therefore once you enter the kotatsu , it is very hard to leave.
According to Wikipedia, there are similar things in Iran and Afghanistan, but I have never seen them by myself. I saw the similar table in Granada, Spain in the winter of 1993, but they used chairs too.
Since the latter half of 2007 hot water containers called yutampo (湯たんぽ)which was imported from China in the 14th century has been becoming popular again because of the jump in prices of oil.　

全国都道府県対抗男子駅伝（zenkoku todofuken taiko danshi ekiden）

There was the 14th zenkoku todofuken taiko danshi ekiden (全国都道府県対抗男子駅伝), All Japan Men's Long-distance Relay Road Race yesterday in Hiroshima. There are 47 todofuken(都道府県), prefectures in Japan, which is called "ichido itto nifu yonjusanken (1道1都2府43県), Hokkaido, Tokyo-to, Osaka-fu & Kyoto-fu, and 43 prefectures."
There were 7 relays, so 7 runners from each prefecture (47) competed 48km. 2 runners were junior high school students, 3 runners were high school students, and 2 runners were adults. This year Nagano prefecture team won again at the new record of 2 hours 18 minutes 43 seconds.
There are two UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in Hiroshima: Genbaku domu (原爆ドーム: A-Bomb Dome or Hiroshima Peace Memorial) and Itsukushima jinja (厳島神社：Itsukushima Shinto Shrine). Both are cultural heritages and registered in December 1996. I hope you will have a chance to visit there someday.

センター試験 （senta shiken）

It has been said that it is very difficult to enter universities but easy to graduate from them in Japan. Yesterday and today there were so-called senta shiken (センター試験), National Center Test for University Admissions at 738 places throughout Japan.
There were 543,981 applicants this year, and 79.3% of them are the third year high school students. There are 797 colleges and universities (82 national, 89 public, 626 private) which use these tests' scores for judging. Some schools use these scores only but others use these scores in addition to their own entrance exams. Candidates choose the tests according to their school's requirements.
There are 28 tests in 6 subjects. Yesterday there were tests of Civics, Geography and History, Japanese, and Foreign Languages. Today there were Science and Mathematics. Since many schools require Foreign Language, 501,115 candidates (92.1%) took the examination yesterday. There are 5 choices (English, German, French, Chinese, Korean), but most of them take English. They have to take listening comprehension test too.
Usually it had been bad weather when there were National Center Test for University Admissions, but it was rather nice weather this year.
Good luck!

阪神・淡路大震災(hanshin awaji dai shinsai): The Great Hanshin Earthquake

It's been 14 years since the Great Hanshin Earthquake happened. It occurred on Tuesday January 17, 1995 at 5:46:52 AM in the southern part of Hyogo prefecture. Its magnitude was 7.3, and registered as shindo (震度) 7 on the Japanese scale which had never happened before. 6,434 people lost their lives and about 44,000 people were injured. More than 300,000 people were sheltered. The amount of damage is said to be more than 10 trillion yen, and according to Wikipedia it is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the "costliest natural disaster to befall any one country." I think this earthquake is the biggest and worst since Kanto dai shinsai (関東大震災), Great Kanto Earthquake on September 1, 1923 at 11:58:32AM.
Every year on this day since the earthquake, there are many memorial events in many Kansai area.
Until that time, volunteerism has not been known to Japanese people, but this catastrophe made people volunteer. Therefore the year 1995 is called borantia gannen (ボランティア元年), the beginning year of volunteerism.

One of the best things I learned during my stay in the USA is volunteerism.

There is a phrase in Japanese, "jishin (地震:earthquake), kaminari (雷:thunder), kaji (火事:fire), oyaji (親父:father)." 　This is the order people have been afraid of most, though I am not sure if people are still afraid of the last one.

歌会始(uta kai hajime)

There was a new year's annual ceremony called uta kai hajime (歌会始)at the Imperial Palace yesterday. Uta kai hajime is the first meeting for making poems. This imperial household ceremony started in the 13th century, and general people were able to join since 1874. This year's theme was sei (生), life.
21,180 poems were made by general people, and 10 of them were selected. The youngest was 14 years old, and the oldest was 80 years old. Their poems were read out according to the traditional intonation and melody, followed by selectors', special guest's, imperial family members', crown princess', and crown prince's poem.
After that Empress' poem was read out twice, and finally Emperor's poem was read out for three times.

Emperor's
poem

There are many types of peoms in Japan, but this was so-called waka (和歌: Japanese poem) or tanka (短歌: short poem ）which consists of 5 units of go shichi go shichi shichi (5-7-5-7-7), 31 sound.
Next year's theme is hikari (光), light. 184 people from 26 countries applied this year. Why don't you try to make the one? The closing date is Sep. 30, 2009.

小正月(ko shogatsu)

Jan. 15 is known as ko shogatsu (小正月：small new year) compared to Jan. 1 as o shogatsu (大正月：big new year).
There was a custom to eat adzuki gayu (小豆粥：red bean rice porridge) in the morning.
There are events called sagicho (左義長) or donto yaki (どんと焼)　at ko shogatsu. They are a kind of fire festivals that some people bring the new year decorations (See photo) and burn them. With the smoke the Year God that visited at the New Year will go back to heaven. The heat is used to warm rice cakes, potatoes, dumplings at the top of a pole. Eating them is believed to avoid sickness during the year.

睦月（mutsuki) : January

If you know how to count one to twelve in Japanese then it is very easy for you to say the names of the month. You just need to add gatsu (月) , month after the number. That is, January is ichi-gatsu (一月 or １月 ) , February is ni-gatsu (二月 or ２月 ) , March is san-gatsu (三月 or ３月 ) , April is shi-gatsu (四月 or ４月 ) , May is go-gatsu (五月 or ５月 ) , June is roku-gatsu (六月 or ６月 ) , July is shichi-gatsu (七月 or ７月 ) , August is hachi-gatsu (八月 or ８月 ) , September is ku-gatsu (九月 or ９月 ) , October is jyu-gatsu (十月 or １０月 ) , November is jyuichi-gatsu (十一月 or １１月 ) , and December is jyuni-gatsu (十二月 or １２月 ).
Besides these easy names we sometimes use the traditional lunar calendar names. January is mutuski (睦月: harmonious month ) , February is kisaragi (如月/衣更着: new plants) , March is yayoi (弥生: beginning of spring ) , April is uzuki (卯月: month of deutzia ) , May is satsuki (五月/皐月/早月: fast month ) , June is minazuki (水無月/六月: literally month without water, but actually water month ) , July is fumizuki (文月: letter month ) , August is hazuki (葉月: leaf month ) , September is nagatsuki (長月: long month ) , October is kannazuki (神無月: month without gods ) , November is shimotsuki (霜月: frost month ) , and December is shiwasu (師走: teacher run ) .
Which names do you prefer?

大相撲（ozumo) : Professional Sumo

Sumo (相撲), sumo wrestling is one of the national sports in Japan. It has a long history, however ozumo (大相撲), professional sumo has started in Edo period. Now ozumo is organized by Nihon Sumo Kyokai (日本相撲協会) Japan Sumo Association founded in 1925.
There are 6 Grand Sumo Tournaments called hon basho (本場所) literally real place in a year. Three of them are held in January, May and September at Ryogoku kokugi kan (両国国技館), The Sumo Hall at Ryogoku in Tokyo, one in March in Osaka, one in July in Nagoya, and one in November in Kyushu. Each tournament starts on Sunday and lasts for 15 days and ends on Sunday.
January Tournament is called hatsu basho (初場所) and Jan. 11 was its sho nichi (初日), the first day this year.
Now there are 2 highest ranking wrestlers called yokozuna (横綱), grand champion(s). They are Asa sho ryu (朝青龍) and Haku ho (白鵬). Both are from Mongolia.
I hope there will be Japanese yokozuna too near future.

成人の日(seijin no hi) : Coming of Age Day

Today is a national holiday called seijin no hi (成人の日), Coming of Age Day. In Japan becoming 20 years old is considered to be adult who can vote, drink, and smoke.
This holiday was established in 1948 to celebrate and encourage those who became 20 years old. It had been celebrated on January 15 until 1999, but according to "Happy Monday System" seijin no hi has fallen on the second Monday of January since 2000.
This year about 1,330,000 (680,000-men, 650,000-women) new adults are celebrated in all Japan.
There is a ceremony called seijin shiki (成人式) which is held by each municipality. Usually women attend the ceremony wearing beautiful long-sleeved kimono called furisode (振袖) which is extremely expensive, and some men wearing the formal crested kimono called mon tsuki hakama (紋付袴) and others wearing their best suits.
This is the first year that those who are heisei umare (平成生まれ), those who were born in Heisei era became 20 years old.
Congratulations!

鏡開き(kagami biraki)

January 11 is known as kagami biraki (鏡開き) literally opening the mirror. Before the New Year comes, we decorate a pair of piled round (mirror shape) mochi (rice cake) called kagami mochi (鏡餅).　See photo. They are put at toko no ma (床の間), alcove and/or kami dana (神棚), a household Shinto altar and/or genkan (玄関), entrance and so on to welcome toshi gami sama (歳神様), the Year God. And on Jan. 11, they are taken down and cooked and eaten. Usually we eat as o zoni (お雑煮), rice cake soup or o shiru ko (お汁粉), sweet bean paste soup with rice cake.
Until the third Shogun Iemitsu Tokugawa passed away on April 20, 1651 (lunar calendar), this custom had been held on Jan. 20, but people wanted to avoid the same date (20th) in the Kanto area, they decided to do on 11th, the same date as kura biraki (蔵開き), storehouse opening which merchants practice.

三連休（san ren kyu)

A five-day week "(週休二日制 shu kyu futsu ka sei)" has introduced in Japanese public schools since April 2002. Many companies also practice this institution. So for many people this is the first long weekend: Saturday, Sunday, Monday off because this Monday is one of the national holidays called "成人の日（seijin no hi: Coming of Age Day)."
三連休（san ren kyu) means three consecutive holidays. Since 2000 there appeared "Happy Monday System" and 4 holidays changed the original date to the second or third Mondays to have 3 days off. And "成人の日（seijin no hi: Coming of Age Day)" is one of them. There are 16 national holidays and 1 extra holiday (振替休日: furi kae kyujitsu) this year. And there are 7 long weekends.
What would you like to do?

初雪（hatsu yuki): First snow

It was very cold today. In Tokyo and other regions "初雪（hatsu yuki: first snow in the year or season)" was observed in early morning and it became "霙（mizore: sleet)" or "氷雨(hisame: freezing rain)" later. It was 7 days earlier than last year, but 7 days later than usual.
I live in Miura, Kanagawa where is about 1 hour and half from Tokyo to the south by train. We did not have snow, but it was raining all day long.
In Japan we use Celsius. It is about 8℃ outside which is about 46.4F.　Formula is C=(F-32)x5/9.
I miss Florida warmth!

仮装大賞（kaso taisho) Masquerade

There is a very popular TV program titled 全日本仮装大賞（zen nippon kaso taisho: All Japan Masquerade). Its 81st contest was broadcasted tonight from 7 PM for 2 hours by NTV (Nippon Television Network Corporation). This program has 30 years history which started on Dec. 31, 1979 for the first time. Usually there are 3 contests in a year: the new year's season, spring, and fall.
This time 5,828 teams applied and only 36 teams were selected and the youngest 3 years old to the oldest 83 years old competed. Since this time the judging rules have been changed a little bit, and there were 5 referees who had 4 points each. So the perfect score was 20 points. Two teams got 20 points, and they became the champion and the second.
Champion team's performance was the scene from the popular movie of last year, and its title was "海の中のポニョ（umi no naka no Ponyo: Ponyo in the Sea)", and 16 girls danced like rhythmic gymnastics which was so beautiful. They got yen 2,000,000 as a prize. Other awards were Idea prize, Humor prize, Performance prize, Technique prize, and Fantasy prize. One of the surprises was there was a couple that engaged after their performance and fortunately they got the Fantasy prize. Congratulations!

七草（nanakusa)

January 7 is known as the day of 七草（nanakusa: literally seven herbs). And there is a custom for Japanese people to eat 七草粥（nanakusa gayu: rice porridge with seven herbs) in the morning. If you eat 七草粥 on Jan. 7, it is believed that you won't get sick for the rest of the year. Seven herbs are セリ(seri: dropwort), ナズナ(nazuna: shepherd's purse),ゴギョウ(gogyo: cottonweed),ハコベラ(hakobera: chickweed),ホトケノザ(hotokenoza:henbit),スズナ(suzuna:turnip),スズシロ(suzushiro: Japanese radish). Eating 七草粥　is to rest the stomach and intestines after too much eating at New Year's and to provide green nourishment.
It was today of 20 years ago that the Showa Emperor passed away and that the new era called "平成（Heisei）" started.

Physical checkup 健康診断 （kenko shindan)

The worst three causes of death of Japanese people are said to be cancer, heart disease, and stroke. However these days the metabolic syndrome which causes the life-style related disease such as diabetes has attracted many people's attention. Usually people can take annual physical checkups at schools or companies, but those who are not belonging to those organizations can take the checkups to prevent that disease at their local hospitals and clinics for the reasonable prices (yen 1,500 for under 70 years old, free for 70 to 74 years old, and X-ray for lung cancer costs yen 1,100), which system started in April, 2008. I went to the hospital today and took the checkup which included urine and blood tests, cardiogram, X-ray, measuring of height, weight, waist and blood pressure, and interview. The results will be sent by mails in a few days. I think health is the most important "健康第一（kenko daiichi)". Please take good care of yourselves!

小寒（shokan)

Many things like governmental offices and companies have started working today. Tokyo Stock Exchange opened with the customary ceremony called 大発会（daihakkai), and young ladies were wearing beautiful kimono called 振袖（furisode). Tsukiji Fish Market also started their first auction called 初せり（hatsuseri).
And the coldness also started. Besides Gregorian calendar, Japanese people use other calendars too. One of them is called 二十四節気（nijyushi sekki) which originated in China. One year is divided into 24 terms. And today is the day of 小寒（shokan: literally small cold) and 寒の入り（kan no iri) the start of coldness. It will be getting colder and colder until 大寒（daikan: literally big cold) which is the coldest time, and it falls on Jan. 20 this year.
So please take good care of yourselves not to get cold.

天地人（ten chi jin)

Today is the first Sunday this year. NHK(Nippon Hoso Kyokai: Japan Broadcasting Corporation) started broadcasting the new 大河ドラマ（taiga drama: literally Big River Drama)titled 天地人（ten chi jin: Heaven Earth People)at 8 PM. Taiga drama is annual year-long historical drama series, first started in 1963 and this is the 48th series. It is usually 45 minutes long program from 8:00PM to 8:45PM at Sunday night (rebroadcast next Saturday), but today it was 75 minutes long. It is composed of 50 stories until Dec. 13, 2009. This year's story focuses on the life of 16th century samurai Naoe Kanetsugu, and depicts 愛（ai: Love) and 義(gi: Righteousness) of Japanese people which seem to have been disappearing these days.

Hakone Ekiden 箱根駅伝

There are many winter sports in Japan, but on Jan. 2 and 3 is known for the day of 箱根駅伝(Hakone ekiden), long-distance relay road race. It was the 85th race this year, 22 universities plus one selected team joined, which was the biggest in its history. The first half is 108km(67.5mi)from Tokyo to Hakone yesterday, and the latter half is 109.9km(68.7mi)from Hakone to Tokyo today. There are 5 relays each, and there are many dramas and records. Many people went to see the race by the road and cheered runners, and the more people watched the race on TV. Toyo university won yesterday, and so did today. And it was their first victory.
Hakone is a very famous place for beautiful sceneries and hotsprings.
I hope you have a chance to visit there someday.

First dream 初夢 （hatsu yume)

初夢（hatsuyume) is the first dream of the year. Some people say it is the first dream of new year's night, but others say it is the second night of the new year. It is believed to be auspicious if you see the dreams of "First-Mt. Fuji, second-hawk, third-eggplant" (those are specialty of Suruga area where the Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa was from). 初　(hatsu) means for the first time. So 初日の出(hatsu hi no de) is the first sunrise of the year,　初詣(hatsu mode) is the first visit to the shrine,　初釜(hatsu gama) is the first tea ceremony　初稽古(hatsu geiko) is the first practice, and　初仕事(hatsu shigoto) is the first work.

May you have a wonderful dream!

Happy New Year! 新年明けましておめでとうございます(shinnen akemashite omedeto gozaimasu)

In Japan New Year お正月(oshogatsu) is the biggest celebration in a year.
Before new year comes, we clean the whole house, decorate the gate and rooms with special ornaments, and prepare the special food called "おせち料理(osechi-ryori)" seasonal food.
We usually eat "お雑煮(ozoni)" rice cake soup and drink the spiced sake called "お屠蘇(otoso)."
Children look forward the new year because they will get money so-called "お年玉(otoshidama)."
We greet by saying "新年明けましておめでとうございます(shinnen akemashite omedeto gozaimasu)" which means "A Happy New Year!"