There are many festivals in Japan. I have seen some of them, but usually I just know the festivals by names and just through TV news.
One of such festivals was held tonight. That is Chichibu Night Festival. It is a festival of Chichibu Shrine in Saitama (埼玉). It has a history of more than 2,000 years. It is one of Japan's three greatest hikiyama (曳山：float) festivals. The other two are the Gion Matsuri (祇園祭) in Kyoto (京都) from July 1 to 31, and the Takayama Matsuri (高山祭り) of Gifu (岐阜) from April 14 to 15 and from October 9 to 10.
The most exciting scene of the Chichibu night festival takes place in the evening of December 3.
Please check the following site.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/history/traditionalevents/a63_fes_chichibu.html
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
流行語大賞（ryukogo taisho）: Vogue-word grand prix
On December 1 every year top ten of the vogue-words and the grand prix are announced. It has been started since 1984, and this year was the 26th. The title, the sponsors and the kinds of awards have been slightly changed, but outlines are the same, that is the new words or vogue-words of the year are selected and the people or organizations related to the word are awarded.
The grand prix of this year is seikenkotai (政権交代), change of power. By the 45th general election held on Aug. 30, the ruling party has been changed from the Liberal Democratic Party to The Democratic Party of Japan. This was the first time in the history. The winner is the prime minister Yukio Hatoyama (鳩山由紀夫).
One of the grand prix of the last year was ara fo (アラフォー), which is around 40, meaning the people who are around 40 years old.
The grand prix of this year is seikenkotai (政権交代), change of power. By the 45th general election held on Aug. 30, the ruling party has been changed from the Liberal Democratic Party to The Democratic Party of Japan. This was the first time in the history. The winner is the prime minister Yukio Hatoyama (鳩山由紀夫).
One of the grand prix of the last year was ara fo (アラフォー), which is around 40, meaning the people who are around 40 years old.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
師走（shiwasu）： December
Another month has come. How fast time flies! There is only one month left. December is jyunigatsu (十二月) in Japanese. The other name is shiwasu (師走), which literally means teachers or priests run. People feel rushed in December.
In Japan we feel it is the end of the year and that January is the totally new month of the new year, therefore at the end of the year we do the general housecleaning (大掃除：osoji) to welcome the new year. We usually have about a week off between the end of the year and the beginning of the year, which is called nenmatsu nenshi(年末年始).
December is also the season of the year-end gift called oseibo (お歳暮). The summer time gift after the bonus season is called ochugen (お中元). Beers or coffee or hams or fish or meat or oils or soaps are some of the popular items.
In Japan we feel it is the end of the year and that January is the totally new month of the new year, therefore at the end of the year we do the general housecleaning (大掃除：osoji) to welcome the new year. We usually have about a week off between the end of the year and the beginning of the year, which is called nenmatsu nenshi(年末年始).
December is also the season of the year-end gift called oseibo (お歳暮). The summer time gift after the bonus season is called ochugen (お中元). Beers or coffee or hams or fish or meat or oils or soaps are some of the popular items.
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