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On the night of February 3rd, it is possible to witness Setsubun, a traditional Japanese custom to celebrate the coming of spring and to ward off illness and misfortune. Family members can be seen throwing beans at an imaginary demon at the front door decorated with fish heads stuck on a stick (maybe a stray cat eyeing the fish heads). Just as the demon runs away, the whole family starts eating sushi rolls in silence, all facing the same direction.
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Have you read “manga”?It is only about these 20 years that Japanese manga has been recognized overseas, but in Japan manga has been developed as a culture taking a long history.
This time, I will introduce the history of manga and 5 recommended manga that I definitely want you to read.
The oldest manga in Japan is said to be "Choju-Giga" around the 12th to 13th centuries. This work vividly depicts rabbits, monkeys, frogs, etc. playing sumo and playing in the water.
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Oshogatsu is the most important holiday in Japan. It corresponds to Thanksgiving and Christmas in the United States. Most companies and schools are closed from the end of December to January 3rd for Oshogatsu.
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Pretty rounded pink flowers, bright green reminiscent of vegetation ... No doubt "nerikiri."
Nerikiri is the symbol of Japanese wagashi and it allows you to “feel” the flavor due to a unique shape or color. The ingredients are very simple and there are only three "Shiroan," which is made by steaming white beans and white azuki beans and mixing them with sugar to make a paste, "Tsunagi," is processed from glutinous rice and colored powder to create color.
With the magic of a Japanese confectionery craftsman who freely manipulates these three, it becomes a beautiful model. It is not only beautiful, but also expresses the plants and scenery of each season. Each nerikiri is filled with the scenery of Japan.
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However, since I got involved with this site, I have been able to better understand the structure of kanji and it has become more fun studying kanji.
I came to realize that there are some rules concerning the origin of kanji.
If you know these rules, it will be more fun studying kanji and you will be able to remember them a lot it quicker.
From now on Kohachi will teach you the principles that he has learned. I hope this will make it easier for you to remember kanji.
You will be able to understand the composition of kanji by learning only four principles.
I will explain each principle
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Japanese houses in the Edo Era were constructed of wood. Wooden houses can withstand earthquakes, but are vulnerable to fire. In particular, around the 18th century, Edo or present-day Tokyo, had an estimated population of 1 million people, which was the largest in the world at that time.
The dense population meant houses were extremely close to one another. If a fire broke out in one house, it immediately spreads to the surrounding houses.
Instead of extinguishing the fire in the burning house, firefighters in the Edo Era prevented the fire from spreading to other houses by tearing down the houses around it. They demolished a large number of houses to create a wide buffer zone.
There were 48 firefighter teams in Edo.
If a fire broke out, each team searched for houses to demolish and hung a wooden “消し札"(fire-extinguishing)tag with the team's name on the eave of each house they planned to demolish.
Each team ran around between the burning houses to hang the "消し札"(fire-extinguishing)tag. As this was considered very brave, people started wearing name tags and message tags that resembled the "消し札"(fire-extinguishing)tag when they participated in the festivals. They also used these tags as accessories. Apart from the fire-extinguishing tag, fighter cards, festival bills, and lucky cards also came about.
Senjyu Corporation used its technology and design skills to develop modern fighter cards, festival bills and lucky cards. Iron plates have replaced wooden tags and letters have become three-dimensional.
Senjyu Corporation has therefore been able to revive the spirit of the Edo Era in modern, cool and attractive accessories.
Seeing is believing. Please enjoy the following design samples.
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Do you know what the most popular Japanese sweets abroad are? Without doubt the answer is mochi.
Dango, Daifuku Mochi and Warabimochi are recognized abroad as mochi.
From the Japanese point of view, however, we don’t usually recognize mochi as sweets. Speaking of mochi, the common image is Kakumochi or Marumochi such as kagami mochi or ozoni, which are indispensable for the New Year. Dango and Daifuku are called Wagashi.
Should a Japanese person ask you what your favorite food is and you answer mochi, be careful as you may be given mochi with a soy sauce flavor or soaked in soup stock.
Now, going back to the subject, this time I will introduce Daifuku Mochi, which is very popular as Japanese sweets.
Daifuku Mochi is made by wrapping bean paste with thinly stretched mochi. The standard bean paste is anko made from red beans. There are many types of Daifuku Mochi, including Mame Daifuku with beans in mochi and Ichigo Daifuku with a fresh strawberry flavor.
You can enjoy a “fluffy” texture on the surface of Daifuku Mochi when you put the mochi part of it in your mouth. It will melt immediately if you try to chew it.
Anko, the standard bean paste, is made by steaming red beans and adding sugar. Tsubuan contains grains while Koshian is a paste.
Anko has a unique texture and sweetness, and it seems that foreigners either like or dislike it. However, as anko has a traditional Japanese sweets taste so you should at least try it once. It is not as sweet as chocolate, but you can distinctly taste the original ingredients.
Recently there are many videos outlining recipes on how to make Daifuku Mochi at home. It is recommended that you try your hand at making Daifuku Mochi yourself.
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Do you by any chance dislike the shape of the kanji for the name you decided on? If this happens to be the case, there is no need to replace the kanji name itself, as this would change your fortune. Instead, I recommend that you simply change the kanji font. I show you several interesting examples of kanji font.
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The official name of Kaminarimon is Furaijinmon, which comes from the names of the gods Fujin and Raijin. They are situated to the left and right of the lantern. It seems that the name Kaminarimon became common around the samurai Edo Era.
Fujin is the god of wind and Raijin the god of thunder. They have protected Sensoji from damage caused by wind and floods for decades. Raijin is on the left side facing the gate and Fujin on the right. If you are not sure which is which, Raijin carries many drums on his back that create thunder. Please try to see these gods.
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