Tuesday, May 26, 2015
A Mini Virtual Tour of Sumo Wrestling May Competition
Sumo Wrestling has 6 competitions throughout a year. In May one of the competitions is held in Tokyo and it’s just finished yesterday. A rising young wrestler, Teruno-fuji, became the champion.
Around the Sumo stadium “Kokugikan”, there was an open-air market during the competition and those who came to watch Sumo can also enjoy shopping.
If you can't see the slideshow, please click here!
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Photos of seasonal items for traditional Boys’ Festival Day
Today,
May 5th is Boys’ Festival Day which is one of the traditional seasonal
events in Japan. Families with little boys would display a Samurai
armor, a traditional doll of a great man, or carp shaped wind streamers at home to ensure their sons' good future.
Also there is a seasonal sweet for this day, and it is one kind of rice cakes called Kashiwa-mochi. Kashiwa means a name of a Japanese oak tree, the sweet is wrapped by an oak leaf, so it is called Kashiwa-mochi(Oak-rice-cake). The Difference from the cherry blossoms rice cake is that people don’t eat the oak leaf. The oak leaf has the meaning of wishing for prosperity.
Moreover, traditionally people take a bath scented with one kind of Japanese iris leaves. Since old times it has been said that the plant can get rid of evil thing, so people soak this leaves in their bath and pray for their health. Once a year, only for this day Japanese supermarkets sell the iris leaves like the one in the photos.
Also there is a seasonal sweet for this day, and it is one kind of rice cakes called Kashiwa-mochi. Kashiwa means a name of a Japanese oak tree, the sweet is wrapped by an oak leaf, so it is called Kashiwa-mochi(Oak-rice-cake). The Difference from the cherry blossoms rice cake is that people don’t eat the oak leaf. The oak leaf has the meaning of wishing for prosperity.
Moreover, traditionally people take a bath scented with one kind of Japanese iris leaves. Since old times it has been said that the plant can get rid of evil thing, so people soak this leaves in their bath and pray for their health. Once a year, only for this day Japanese supermarkets sell the iris leaves like the one in the photos.
Monday, May 4, 2015
A Photo of A View of The Japanese Minami-Alps(South-Alps) Mountains
The title might sound strange but actually some
mountain ranges called “Alps” exist in Japan although
of course those are not the original names.
The views of the mountain ranges remind Japanese of the mountains of the Alps in Europe, so the name “Alps” is known commonly for those. There are three of them, which are “The Minami-Alps(South-Alps) Mountains”, “The Chuo-Alps(Central-Alps) Mountains”, and “The Kita-Alps(North-Alps) Mountains”.
This photo is a view of the Minami-Alps(South-Alps) Mountains which is stretched over the border of Nagano prefecture and Yamanashi prefecture. The formal name of it is “The Akaisi Mountains”, but a national park include the area was named “the Minami-Alps National Park” officially in 1964, and a city in that area changed the name and became “Minami-Alps City” in 2002, though it sounds a little bit strange to have the word “Alps” in a name of a Japanese city.
Do you think those mountains looks similar to the Alps in Europe, too?
The views of the mountain ranges remind Japanese of the mountains of the Alps in Europe, so the name “Alps” is known commonly for those. There are three of them, which are “The Minami-Alps(South-Alps) Mountains”, “The Chuo-Alps(Central-Alps) Mountains”, and “The Kita-Alps(North-Alps) Mountains”.
This photo is a view of the Minami-Alps(South-Alps) Mountains which is stretched over the border of Nagano prefecture and Yamanashi prefecture. The formal name of it is “The Akaisi Mountains”, but a national park include the area was named “the Minami-Alps National Park” officially in 1964, and a city in that area changed the name and became “Minami-Alps City” in 2002, though it sounds a little bit strange to have the word “Alps” in a name of a Japanese city.
Do you think those mountains looks similar to the Alps in Europe, too?
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