TsukuBlog
A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Daruma Dolls- the Evolution of Japan`s Longest Selling CHARACTER ( and January 3rd’s DARUMA MARKET at the Ganzan-Daishi Temple in Joso City)
2 January, 2021
By Avi Landau
Cartoon characters have become Japan’s most important cultural export, and I’ve heard that the total sales abroad of anime, manga and their related merchandise have grown to surpass even those of the automobile industry. Anpanman, Doraemon, Ultraman, Pikachu and their friends have become hugely popular, even household names, not only in Japan, but in many countries around the globe, as Japanese artists continue to prove that this Land of the Cult of the KAWAII (cute), is THE major comic-book and cartoon character powerhouse in the world. In addition, nearly every major event, sports team, train line etc., has its own mascot character.
By Avi Landau
Its always the same quandary, every New Year`s Holiday I`ve spent in Japan. From January 2nd and on for the next few days, as I drift through the shopping malls and department stores (where else can you go when it`s so bitter cold), carried along as if I had no will of my own by the frenetic crowds out for HATSU URI (初売り)- The First Days of Business of the New Year – I find my eye drawn to the prominently displayed cases full of colorful shopping bags. In bold, usually red letters, things such as – KAIUN (開運ー Brings Good Fortune), OTANOSHIMI (お楽しみ – Looking Forward to What`s Inside) and most commonly just FUKUBUKURO (福袋- Lucky Bag), which is what these bags are known as.
TsukuBlog
A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Ozoni (お雑煮)- Japan`s New year`s Soup – What`s your family`s recipe and what shape are yor rice cakes?
1 January, 2021
My family`s Ozoni – in the Kanto Style: a clear broth with kelp, dried bonito flakes, sake and soy sauce. Bits of chicken, slices of radish, yam and carrot are added, and then it`s all topped with shavings of citron (yuzu) rind and a leafy green called MITSUBA. And of course there is a square piece of OMOCHI (pounded rice) down in there somewhere
By Avi Landau
TsukuBlog
A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
明けましておめでとう- Akemashite Omedeto! – ( the Japanese greeting for the beginning of the New Year )- a revealing look at the origin of the expression
1 January, 2021
O-Zoni, the traditional New Year`s soup which is eaten during the first three days of the year. The ingredients used to make it vary from region to region. Pictured above is a batch cooked up in Nara Prefecture. It has a white miso based broth and is filled with thinly sliced radish, a block of tofu and a round MOCHI rice cake.
By Avi Landau
TsukuBlog
A Local Perspective on Life in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Watching the First Sunrise of the Year ( HATSU HINODE, 初日の出) From the Seashore or High Up on a Mountain
31 December, 2020
Hatsu Hi no De ( the First Sunrise of the Year) as seen from near the top of Mt. Tsukuba
By Avi Landau
It probably should come as no surprise that here in The Land of the Rising Sun, a land in which a myriad gods and natural phenomena are looked upon and treated with religious reverence, it is considered highly auspicious to greet the first day of the new year by WATCHING THE SUN RISE. The most outstanding of the heavenly bodies, the sun is connected with what is probably Japan`s most famous deity- AMATERASU – the sun goddess and divine ancestor of the Imperial family (according to myth). So it seems only natural that along with listening to the bells at a Buddhist temple, a visit to a Shinto shrine and the acquisition of a new amulet and/or lucky objects ( ENGI MONO)