Japan's Valentines Day!

Of course everyone has heard of Valentine's Day, and it's as big a deal here in Japan as anywhere else. Everyone loves receiving gifts like a dozen roses for Valentine's Day, right? Indeed it's a rare chance for the notoriously reserved Japanese people to show a bit of love. But how many of you know about White Day? No, it has nothing to do with racial pride or laundry detergent.

It's exactly one month after Valentine's Day and the two are a pair. In Japan, the Valentine's Day tradition is for girls and women to give gifts (usually chocolate or cookies) to the boyfriends, husbands, fathers, teachers, bosses, co-workers, guys they pass on the street...no, wait, it's not quite that extreme. But the concept of "giri-choco", or giving chocolates out of duty rather than love is common though not something most women really feel like doing. If the gift is to be seen as really heartfelt, it needs to be handmade. So department stores will do a brisk trade in the various ingredients needed to make chocolate confectionaries. With all the romantic hype in stores and the media, as well as the pressure of giri-choco, a guy who gets no chocolates on Valentine's Day is entitled to feel like something is seriously wrong with not just his social life but also his workplace.

Anyway, for the ladies the pay-off comes a month later on March 14, when it's the guys' turn to give something back. With the name White Day, I suppose the gift should be something white, and the only "tradition" I have heard regularly is that it was white lingerie. But I can't imagine that actually happens so often except between particularly romantic couples. The other rule, called "sanbai-gaeshiin," is that the guys are supposed to give a gift worth three times the value of what they received a month earlier (oh right, that's fair!). And certainly it's common to hear high school girls saying they give a couple of hundred yen's worth of giri-choco to their Dads only with the ulterior motive of getting a Gucci bag or something similarly extravagant in return. Such is the materialism of today's Japanese youth! But the most common gifts semm to be chocolates, cookies and flowers, all the way up to jewelry and those expensive accessories that many ladies hope for and hint at but don't ask for outright.

White Day, as you have probably already guessed, is a creation of marketing minds rather than anything remotely traditional. Though some sources talk about similar ideas in the mid-1960s, it's popularity only dates back to the early 1980's and so it doesn't have quite the marketing punch of its February partner. But if you got something from a young lady last week, you might want to consider the consequences of not giving something back...

Transformational Akihabara has its finger on the pulse of pop culture

Tokyo’s Akihabara district is always transforming itself.

Once promoted as the nation’s largest shopping area for home electronics and computers, where vendors thrived in line with Japan’s postwar surge in prosperity, Akihabara — or “Akiba” for short — is now the center of the nation’s pop culture as well, as typified by pop idol music groups such as AKB48.

The groups regularly perform shows at a special “live house” in an entertainment complex called Pasela Resorts Akiba, where an outlet of major electronics vendor Ishimaru Denki once stood.

In stark contrast with the chilling cold outside, there was a fiery scene inside earlier this month as young men waving penlights cheered on their favorite idols as they danced to blasting music on a smoky stage bathed in colorful lights.

Indeed, the areas around what is now Akihabara, home to lower-ranking samurai warriors in the Edo Period, were prone to fires back then. “Fires and fights are common scenes of Edo,” an old saying goes.

After a fire swept through in 1869, the Meiji government built a shrine, later known as Akiba Shrine, to a fire-fighting god. A train station built in 1890 was named Akihabara.

Akihabara’s rise to the center of pop culture today, however, has its downsides.

The main street was the scene of a tragic killing spree in June 2008, when a truck driven by Tomohiro Kato plowed into a crowded intersection on a busy Sunday.

Kato, then 25 years old, got out of the vehicle and began stabbing pedestrians, killing seven and injuring 10 others.

Kato, whose death sentence is still pending at the Supreme Court, is said to have nurtured a grudge against his company and society and targeted Akihabara because young people flock there to have fun.

After the incident, the vehicle-free “pedestrians’ paradise” on Sundays was suspended, and didn’t resume until 2011. But the closed-off streets where visitors are free to stroll are becoming popular again, according to local merchants.

With the help of the nationwide “Cool Japan” campaign to promote anime, “cosplay” (large-scale costume parties) and other things peculiar to Japanese pop culture, Akihabara is drawing the attention not only of young people in Japan, but also overseas.

Local residents hope that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will provide a platform to promote Akihabara to the world.

JAPAN NEWS TRENDING: Women give men Valentine's Day chocolates made with their own menstrual blood

Here's a Valentine's Day surprise that nobody would like, and we should also warn you that if you are currently eating something you might want to stop before you keep reading. A disturbing new trend has recently surfaced in Japan where women mix spit, hair and menstrual blood in the chocolates they make for men on Valentine's Day.

 

In Japan, when girls give chocolates to the boys they like on Valentine's Day, it's known as "honmei choco," which translates to "true feelings chocolate," but this chocolate contains way more than feelings.

One such woman posted, "This year too, I’m praying that I can succeed in love, and the time has drawn near when there will be lots of boys around who will eat my scary hand-made chocolates — that I’ve made by mixing in my own blood and spit — without even knowing it."

Another person said, "It’s Valentine’s in just two weeks’ time. All you virgins who’ve never received chocolates probably don’t know about this, but in hand-made chocolates from girls, at the very least, there’ll be blood and spit, and hair that has been ground finely in a mixer. Since these are hand-made from the heart, please be sure to eat them alone in secret ♥︎" YIKES!!!!

Although we're hoping it is, no one knows for certain if the whole thing is a hoax. Either way, the trend is drawing a lot of attention as the thread of posts talking about these scary chocolates has already been re-tweeted over 15,000 times.JAPAN NEWS TRENDING: Women give men Valentine's Day chocolates made with their own menstrual blood

Kampo: A Japanese Traditional Medicine

What are Kampo medicines?

Kampo medicines are herbal drugs made from natural ingredients of plant, animal, and mineral origin that are prepared according to classical Kampo theories. Kampo uses many familiar materials as medicinal ingredients; for example, "Keihi", commonly known as cinnamon, and "Borei", which is oyster shell. Several natural ingredients are mixed according to traditional formulae to draw out a synergistic effect from each other. In Japan today, Kampo drugs for medical use are prescribed by licensed medical doctors while some are available at pharmacies and drug stores without prescriptions.

History of Kampo in Japan

Kampo originally came to Japan from China in the fifth to sixth century. Based upon this traditional Chinese medicine, Japan has developed and systematized its own unique medicine through a long empirical tradition of study.

The name "Kampo" first came into use in the latter half of the sixteenth century to distinguish traditional medicine from newly acquired western medicine. Kampo means the medicine transmitted from Kan (the Chinese Han dynasty), while western medicine was called Rampo (medicine from Holland). Kampo was the mainstream of Japanese medicine at that time.

In the latter half of the nineteenth Century, Japan's government developed a new medical system centering on western medicine. As a result, Kampo fell into decline and it disappeared from center stage and was all but forgotten for a period of time. Nevertheless, its tradition survived and eventually interest in Kampo was renewed. Though there had been great advances in western medicine it was not a panacea for all illness and accordingly Kampo gained popularity as an effective complementary and alternative medicine. In 1967 Kampo extract medicines were included under public insurance coverage for the first time in Japan, triggering new progress in Kampo and its application in the framework of modern medicine. Since then Kampo medicines have become widely used for clinical therapies. Today they are not only used in primary care for common colds and other minor ailments but also as cutting-edge medicines for cancers, etc.

Production of Kampo

Traditionally, Kampo medicines are prepared by blending cut natural herbs and boiling them in water to infuse them. The resulting decoctions have distinct tastes and flavors. Today in Japan the traditional method of preparation is still practiced, but more widely used are ready-to-take Kampo extract granules or tablets produced from herbal extracts in pharmaceutical factories.
The production system for these Kampo medicines is supported by techniques of the highest level in the world, enabling stable supply of quality Kampo medicines with high concentrations of herbal extracts, while precisely following the authentic recipes in classical prescriptions.

Today Kampo medicines are available in a wide range of formulations such as fine granules, powders, tablets, capsules, and solutions, just like modern western medicines. These extract medicines, unlike old-style Kampo crude herb mixtures, are easy to carry around, can be taken anytime anywhere, and have a good shelf life.


Kampo now used together with western medicine

Western medicine focuses on individual organs or parts of the body. It seeks to target the sick parts of the body to identify and remove the cause of a sickness. The effect is direct and sharp. Today many diseases have become curable with this style of medicine and new discoveries continue to be made. Yet as powerful as western medicine is, it is not versatile enough to cure all types of sickness and there are limits to what it alone can do. Additionally, western medicine is known to produce many adverse side effects and sometimes cannot give patients relief when the exact source of a symptom cannot be identified.

In contrast, Kampo employs a symptom-oriented, holistic approach. It does not just focus on the condition of diseased parts but checks the condition of the entire body and mind. Then it seeks to produce a proper balance of all organ systems to recover health in patients. The effect is weaker and slower compared to western medicine, but Kampo is better in alleviating the symptoms suffered by patients. Accordingly, Kampo has attained a high level of patient satisfaction.

In Japan today, based on a deepened understanding of their respective strengths, western medicine and Kampo are being used together in clinical treatment, where the most effective ways to combine their advantages are being explored. This "combination" therapy has contributed to enhanced patient quality of life.

Kampo medicines have taken firm root in Japan and currently more than eighty percent of doctors prescribe Kampo medicines, which are also widely available at pharmacies and drugstores.


Kampo for further development of medicine

In Japan, Kampo medicines both for clinical use and over-the-counter sales are contributing to public health and are expected to evolve even further. Currently, Japan is the only country where clinical doctors are permitted to prescribe both western types of medicines and Kampo medicines at the same time and where both are covered by the same public insurance system. Therefore the application of Kampo medicines and their contribution to clinical treatments in Japan are very worthy of attention, to fully appreciate the great future potential of Kampo for opening a new path for modern medicine.

Tea Ceremony- A Way of Life

A Japanese cup of tea is more than is implied by the name for the ceremony - cha no yu (hot water for tea). It is, in fact, a quiet interlude during which host and guests strive for spiritual refreshment and harmony with the universe. The Japanese Tea Ceremony captures all the elements of Japanese philosophy and artistic beauty, and interweaves four principles - harmony (with people and nature), respect (for others), purity (of heart and mind), and tranquility. It grew from the custom of Zen Buddhist monks drinking tea from a single bronze bowl in front of a statue of their founder, Budhidharma, during their act of worship. Over the centuries, rituals gradually developed around the religious significance and the use and appreciation of the utensils needed for preparing and serving tea.



Today, the ceremony may be performed in a specially designed room in a private house, in a tea house within a private garden, in a designated complex of rooms in the workplace, or in a public tea house.
A full tea, or Chaji, involves a meal and the serving of two different types of tea and can last for four hours, but shorter, simpler teas can be served to suit individual occasions. Some alternative teas to use in these ceremonies include Genmaicha, Kukicha and Hojicha (all very popular Japanese teas). Ceremonies are held to honour special guests, to celebrate particular occasions such as the blossoming of the cherry trees in Spring, to admire the full moon, or simply to gather together a few friends.

For each occasion, the flowers, vase, wall hangings, and tea wares are chosen carefully to suit the event, the time of year, and the desired atmosphere...




When the guests arrive, they are not greeted at the door by their host or hostess, but are guided through a series of open doors to a waiting room. Here they are served a small porcelain cup of hot water taken from a kettle in the tearoom as a foretaste of the water to be used in the tea making. They then make their way quietly and calmly into the garden and are met halfway at a gate by the host or hostess, who opens the gate and silently greets them with a bow. This gentle passage through the garden represents a breaking of ties with the everyday world and allows a clarifying of the senses through the enjoyment of the sweet sound of trickling water and birdsong, and the visual pleasure of trees, plants, and blossoms. Nearby stands a stone lantern to light the path when evening falls. The guests pause to cleanse their hands and mouth with water from a stone basin of running water.

The entrance to the tea room is so low that everyone must stoop to go through - a symbolic gesture of humility - and once inside, guests spend a few minutes admiring the kettle, the scrolls decorating the walls, and the flowers. They then kneel on tatami (rice straw) mats, sit back on their heels, and watch while their host performs the ceremony of the lighting of the charcoal fire. A meal of fine foods and saki is then served but although this can last for more than an hour, it is not the main event but merely a preparation of the body for the tea that is to come. After eating, the guests step back outside into the garden while the tearoom is freshened ready for the tea brewing ceremony. They then return inside and spend the next forty five minutes sharing a bowl of green tea (usually upper-end teas, such as Gyokuro, Sencha, or Matcha). A sweet cake made with bean curd is served and is eaten with little wooden picks that each guest has brought to the ceremony.



By this time, the fire has burnt low and the host or hostess performs a different fire-lighting ceremony and waits, while conversation continues, for the kettle to boil for a second time. Individual bowls of thin watery tea are then prepared and served to each guest in turn, again accompanied by little dainty sweets. Once this is over, final greetings are exchanged and everyone leaves.

Because the Tea Ceremony involves an understanding and appreciation of a complex combination of sensual and spiritual elements, the training to become a Tea Master is long and demands complete commitment. A student can learn enough of the basic movements and rituals to create a tea after three years or so of dedicated study, but becoming a true Tea Master is a lifetime's work and the training process is never really completed.

Because there are so many ways of creating a tea, and because the ceremony involves almost every aspect of Japanese life - architecture, history, food, craft, art - a student must bring to his or her training all the knowledge and skills learned and developed in everyday life as well as human qualities such as sensitivity, awareness, skills of communication.

Although the study is long and demanding, it is also fun and very rewarding... And whatever style of tea a host or hostess creates, each tea occasion links the people taking part to a continuous chain of 885 years of tea history.

Ukiyo-e Paintings and Prints

Ukiyo-e, 'pictures of the floating world', depict the Kabuki actors, courtesans and female entertainers (geisha) of the pleasure-quarters of urban Japan, where men (strictly, commoners, but also numbers of samurai) went to escape the rigid social hierarchy of feudal society.

The Ukiyo-e school developed out of early seventeenth century fūzokuga ('genre paintings') of the entertainment districts of Kyoto and Osaka. However, by the late seventeenth century, the centre of demand for these works had moved east to the Shogun's capital city of Edo (modern Tokyo), with the rapid growth of the wealthy merchant class there.





Ukiyo-e artists worked in a number of formats. Printed books (guide-books, picture-books, illustrated narratives, and illustrated poetry anthologies) grew in popularity as literacy rates increased. Many Ukiyo-e artists were also commissioned by rich clients to produce hanging-scroll paintings (nikuhitsu), often showing single figures of celebrated courtesans. However, it was the single-sheet woodblock print that was most readily available as a cheap memento or pin-up, and many thousands of designs were produced by a succession of highly accomplished artists.

 



Many of the earlier Ukiyo-e prints by artists such as Hishikawa Moronobu, Sugimura Jihei (worked about 1680-1705), Torii Kiyomasu I (worked about 1700-20), Nishimura Shigenaga (died 1756) were hand-coloured. From the early 1740s, Okumura Masanobu (?1686-1764) and others started to use a limited number of colour blocks.

Olympics Medal 1964

Medals were designed by. Mr. Yusaku Kamekura. On the reverse side of the medals are the letters of  "XVIII OLYMPIAD TOKYO 1964" with the game designation in English of each of the 20 sports (e.g. ATHLETICS).

Medals were of 60 mm in diameter and 3 mm thick. The gold medal is a pure silver mould strongly gilded with 6 grams of fine gold, the silver medal is made of pure silver, and the bronze medal is of bronze. The medals were provided with a ring plated with gold, silver or copper respectively, and a coloured box coated with Japanese black lacquer.

The medals were cast at the Japanese Mint. Some of the surplus medals were presented to public museums and for exhibition purposes, while the remainder were melted down.

Tokyo will be the host country for the 2020 Olympics. Also, the Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has accepted a request to become head of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic organizing committee.

Tokyo 2020 Candidate City Poster.

The walk of life in Japan

These mountain paths date back to the 10th century and link the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, Tanabe and Wakayama to the three grand shrines of Kumano. These three grand shrines - Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha and Kumano Nachi Taisha - started out as popular pilgrimage destinations for the imperial family and aristocrats, before gaining popularity with commoners during the 15th century.


In 2004, Unesco declared the Kumano Kodo along with its sacred sites and shrines to be World Heritage sites - making this only one of two pilgrimage routes to achieve this status, the other being the more famous Camino de Santiago in Europe.

Many sections of the ancient mountain paths have been restored and with comfortable traditional guesthouses along the way (known as ryokan and minshuku) it is now possible to undertake your own pilgrimage and walk your way into a small part of Japan's history.

The beauty in undertaking this pilgrimage is threefold - you get to see amazing mountain scenery and actually have the time to appreciate it; you get to immerse yourself in the traditional Japanese way of life, including how they sleep, eat and bathe; and you get to take part in something much bigger than yourself, a sense of achievement that comes from successfully completing your pilgrimage, whatever your motives, as others did so many hundreds of years ago.

We started our adventure by taking the train from Kyoto to Tanabe. Near the train station there is an excellent tourist information office where they will answer any of your questions (in perfect English) and have many maps and brochures on the Kumano Kodo. We stopped here to have lunch before catching a local bus to our pilgrimage starting point, Takajiri.

Our four-and-a-half-day pilgrimage took us 70km along the Nakahechi route, through remote mountain paths and forests, past innumerable oji shrines and, most importantly, to two of the Kumano grand shrines - Hongu Taisha and Nachi Taisha.

The pilgrimage does test your fitness and endurance, with many long, lung-cleansing inclines followed by steep and slippery, joint-jolting declines. The scenery throughout the whole trail is breathtaking - from pristine mountain vistas, to misty wooded forests, to bamboo groves and lush river valleys.

We stayed in five quaint little villages along the Nakahechi route, where our hosts were always welcoming and very helpful, even if they didn't speak much English. Our dinner each evening was a gastronomical delight, each meal cooked freshly by our hosts and consisting of pickles, noodle soups, fried fish, tempura seafood and vegetables, sashimi and sticky rice. We washed down all this wonderful food with delicious local sake.

Each guesthouse had a lovely traditional communal Japanese onsen for bathing. An onsen is a hot spring bath, which the Japanese believe to have healing properties. Whether it does or not, soaking in a lovely hot bath is the perfect end to a tough day of hiking and a great remedy for aching muscles.

Each night we stayed in tatami mat rooms and pulled our futon mattresses out of the closet to convert our living room to a bedroom. We would leave the window open to enjoy the cool mountain breeze throughout the night, and slept the wonderful deep sleep of those who have earned it.

Our pilgrimage came to an end at the grand shine of Nachi Taisha, in a lovely little tourist town called Nachi-san and which is also home to the sacred Nachi-taki waterfall. Here we had a communal dinner with other pilgrims and shared stories of our experiences on the Kumano Kodo. We all agreed; it had been a tough but highly rewarding experience.

Japan's Dark Souls Cafe

You've played Dark Souls the game. And next January in Tokyo, you can patron Dark Souls the cafe!

From Software, the game's creator, says the goal is to recreate the game's mood in the form of an eatery. And on January 6, Australian themed bar OZ Cafe in Tokyo's Nishi-Azabu will be reborn as Dark Souls Cafe. Currently, there are no photos of the completed cafe.

This is part of a promotion for the upcoming Dark Souls II, which will be released this March. Starting January 6, the Dark Souls Cafe will be opened for a limited time only and serve Dark Souls themed food and drink.

Ōmisoka- Second-most important day in Japanese tradition.

New Year's Eve in Japan is observed by settling financial accounts (kake ), eating a special noodle dish known as okake, which is hot soup over noodles, and taking a hot bath followed by a well-earned rest. Widely celebrated on December 31, Omisoka marks the end of the preparations for New Year's celebrations, which go on for the next three days. It is a popular time for visitors to drop in to exchange New Year's greetings over cups of hot sake and decorated mochi cakes.

The city of Ashikaga, 50 miles north of Tokyo, is the site of the 1,200-year-old Saishoji temple, headquarters for the Akutai Matsuri, the "naughty festival," or "festival of abusive language." On New Year's Eve there, participants walk (or take a bus) up a dark mountain road led by a man blowing a horagai, a shell that is supposed to fend off bad tidings. Some carry lanterns and wear cardboard hats bearing the picture of Bishamonten, one of the seven gods of fortune in Japanese Buddhism. The Saishoji temple was built in honor of this god.

The festival originated more than 200 years ago so repressed workers could let off steam; therefore, this is not simply a midnight stroll. Those hiking toward the temple atop the 1,000-foot-high hill scream curses into the night. They curse politicians, teachers, bad grades, low pay, and any other complaints of modern daily life in Japan. They release pent-up frustrations with words they ordinarily would not say directly to anyone. Bakayaro is one of the words most frequently heard. It means, roughly, "you idiot."

After the 40-minute walk the crowd storms into the temple, the bell is rung, prayers are offered, and the cursing continues. But when the new year arrives at midnight, the curses end and more typical celebration begins. Then the celebrants turn to another unique ceremony: when the priest calls the name of each worshipper, the individual kneels with a wide red lacquer bowl at his or her lips. Sake is then poured onto the person's forehead, runs across his or her face, into the bowl and is consumed. All this occurs while the priest reads the worshipper's personal wishes for the new year to the pounding of a taiko drum. This ceremony is supposed to ensure that happiness will flow in the new year.

On Omisoka, people wearing kimonos fill the streets as they go to visit shrines. But millions watch the "Red and White Song Contest" on TV. This marathon song festival, first organized in 1950, has become an indispensable ritual of the New Year. The show, lasting up to four hours, usually has 50 performers, 25 on each team. The Red team is comprised of women, the White team men. When the performances are over, the audience and a panel of judges decide which team won. Typical past performances include an orchestra playing Mozart and a group singing Okinawan folk music; a bit less typical was a female singer in a gown of feathers that made her look like a bird; as she finished her song she flapped her arms and flew away, suspended by a wire.

The TV show ends shortly before midnight in time for an older tradition: the tolling of the great bells in Buddhist temples at midnight. Priests strike the bells 108 times, a reminder of the 108 human frailties or sins in Buddhist belief. By the end of the 108 strokes of the bell, the impure desires of the old year have been driven away.

An ancient folk ritual of a very different sort is observed on the Oga Peninsula, Akita Prefecture, on New Year's Eve. Young men play the part of hairy devils called Namahage, dressing in grotesque red and blue masks and straw cloaks. They stomp through the streets shouting, "Any wicked people about?" and then pound on people's doorways, the idea being to frighten children and newly married women so that they won't be lazy. After being admitted to a home, they sit down for rice cakes, first scaring the wits out of children with stories of what will happen to them if they are naughty.

Love Doujinshi? - It's COMIKET 2013!

Comiket actually started back in 1975 (the name is actually a combination of Comic and Market) by a guy called Yoshihiro Yonezawa – who, in the early 1970’s became disolusioned by the state of the Japanese manga scene. He found that at the time, most published manga was becoming boring – with writers and publishers too scared to try new things. As a manga critic, he found increasingly that the best Manga were those in more underground publications – and so he founded Comiket, so that those publications could be more widely sold and read.

Since 1975 Comiket has grown in size to well over  500,000 attendees – and now features Anime, Manga, Games, Visual Novels as well as an army of Cosplayers.

It’s essentially a massive convention, where ‘Dojinshi’ – self published writers and developers of Manga and Games – converge to sell their wares over three days. It’s a great opportunity for people with great ideas and talent to get their products out there – without having to rely on traditional paths into stores.

Many artists and developers can be very successful by taking this route – and there are actually many stores in Japan now dedicated to selling doujin products, and many of the most prolific and talented doujin circles produce Manga and Games that can rival commercial products in terms of quality and production values.

The last Comiket was held back in August of this year – if you want to get an idea of the kinds of games that were on show last time around.

The Comiket was held from the 29th to the 31st of December, so expect we will add more articles about this event soon! 

Christmas in Japan

Christmas in Japan is quite different from the Chrismas celebrated in most countries in which the population has a large percentage of Christians or a Christian heritage. Only 1/2 of 1% of the Japanese population is estimated to be Christian, with the majority of Japanese being tolerant of all faiths: Buddhism, Christianity, Shinto, etc. In spite of this, the Japanese are great lovers of festivals and celebrations, including Christmas.

December 25th is not a national holiday in Japan, although December 23rd, which is the birthdate of the present emperor, is. Although it is not an official holiday the Japanese tend to celebrate Christmas, especially in a commercial way. The Japanese celebrate Christmas Eve by eating a 'Christmas Cake' which the father of the family purchases on his way home from work (or his wife does in the case where he has to work on Christmas Eve). Stores all over carry versions of this Christmas cake and drop the price of it drastically on December 25th in order to sell everything out by the 26th. This has resulted in a rather interesting expression in which young girls are referred to as a 'Christmas cakes': marriageable until their 25th birthday and requiring heavy discounts to get married after their 25th birthdays.

In recent years, thanks to the marketing prowess of the folks at Kentucky Fried Chicken, the Christmas Chicken Dinner has become quite popular. Many Japanese even make reservations for their "Christmas Chicken" ahead of time. People line up at their outlets to pick up their orders. As a result of KFC's brilliant advertising campaign, most Japanese now believe that Westerners celebrate Christmas with a chicken dinner instead of the more common ham or turkey.

Christmas Eve has been hyped by the T.V. media as being a time for romantic miracles. It is seen as a time to be spent with one's boyfriend or girlfriend in a romantic setting, so fancy restaurants and hotels are often booked solid at this time. It is often also a time when girls get to reveal their affections to boys and vice versa. Because of this, extending a girl an invitation to be together on Christmas Eve has very deep, romantic implications.

Christmas presents are exchanged between people with romantic commitments as well as close friends. The presents tend to be 'cute' presents and often include Teddy Bears, flowers, scarves, rings and other jewelry. Christmas cards are also given to close friends.

Christmas presents tend to be things which are cute and sometimes slightly expensive because of the relationship to the person to which they are given to. More obligatory year-end presents are given during this season as well to people who have done you a favor during the year, however, in contrast to Christmas presents, they are given between companies, to bosses, to teachers, and family friends. These presents are known as 'Oseibo' and are generally things which are perishable or which wear out quickly for which the price can readily be checked because of the system of 'on' and 'giri' (loosely translated obligation and reciprocity). These presents are usually purchased at department stores so that the recipient can check the price and return something which relates to the scale of reciprocity.

For the more elderly couples, many hotels host dinner shows featuring major singers, actors, and actresses. Tickets to these shows, due to the season, are very pricy.

The Christmas season comes during the month of the year-end parties. Company groups, hobby groups, sports groups, etc. often book a section of a restaurant to have drinking parties, known as 'bonenkai' [forget the old year parties]. This phenomena leads to streets, subways, and trains full of people in varied states of intoxication during this season.

Christmas lighting and displays are often up at the end of October and this year many stores have displays featuring Teddy Bears. There is also a trend developing for make-it-yourself presents.

The New Year's holidays, which constitute the main holiday season for the Japanese, come closer to the American-European idea of assembling family and friends. Christmas seems to be closer to the Western concept of St.Valentine's Day.

First space robot asks Santa for rocket for Christmas

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata (L) smiling with the humanoid robot "Kirobo" (R) in the International Space Station (ISS) in space on December 20, 2013 (AFP Photo / KIBO Robot Project)

Even robots have a Santa list. The world's first robotic astronaut has been talking with crew members onboard the International Space Station about the presents he wants for Christmas. It's all part of an experiment to improve man-machine communication.

The pint-sized robot called Kirobo is part of a Japanese experiment to develop a companion for isolated people. Chatting with astronaut commander Kiochi Wakata, the robot was asked about Christmas presents, and replied, "Santa Claus will come to space. I want a toy rocket... let's ask Santa Claus."

And when the conversation got around to blasting off into space, Kirobo exclaimed "It was exciting!"

The robot is 34 centimeters tall and weighs a kilo, and is capable of responding to human questions, without any pre-programmed responses. It is processes the questions and then chooses words from its vocabulary to form a proper answer.

“What kind of training have you done?” asks the astronaut

“I was trained to talk to people,” answers Kirobo with apparent pride as it moves its tiny head and legs in red booties.

When Wakata asked the robot how it feels to be in a zero-gravity environment, “Oh, no problem at all,” came the reply.

Kirobo appears to understand it is a robot, because when Wakata remarked “it's incredible that Kirobo came here all by yourself", Kirobo answered: “Well, I'm a robot!”

Koichi Wakata is the first Japanese commander of the ISS and joined the team in November along with Russian astronaut Mikhail Tyurin and NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio.

Kirobo was created to accompany Wakata on various experiments and reached the ISS on August 10. "Good morning to every one of you people on Earth. I am robot astronaut Kirobo. I am the world's first talking robot astronaut. Nice to meet you," it said in Japanese on arrival at the ISS.

The robot was created by a number of Japanese organisations, including advertising company Dentsu, the University of Tokyo, robot developer Robo Garage, Toyota, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).

Tomotaka Takahashi, a roboticist and Kirobo developer said that they [the team which created Kirobo] ‘had some trouble getting the robot to carry on a conversation smoothly.'

"When people develop a relationship, it is an accumulation of small bits of communication. Small things make it work or not work," he said. "We've learnt important tips to develop a robot that can communicate with people more."

The robot creators want to know if a machine with developed conversational skills can be a companion for isolated people and how well robots and humans can interact. They hope the robots of this kind may take more active roles in accompanying astronauts on their missions.

CR: http://rt.com

Hikikomori: Why are so many Japanese men refusing to leave their rooms?

The hikikomori is considered a uniquely Japanese phenomenon. The hikikomori is typically a male (80% are male), teenaged to 30 years old, who has quit school, has no technical skills, and is unemployed, living in his room in his parents' house, never coming out, taking meals left at his door by his parents, passing the day reading, websurfing, viewing television, idling.

Hikikomori are not strictly hermits (who have a strong psychological or intellectual motive for solitude) and are more properly recluses. But the youth of the hikikomori, their radical withdrawal, and their dependence on the tolerance of parents -- especially the mother -- is considered unique to Japan. A related term or acronymn speciifically referring to the hikkikomori's social status (but including non-hikikomori as well) is NEET, meaining young people "Not in Education, Employment, or Training."

Michael Zielenziger notes in his book Shutting Out the Sun that [Hikikomori] cannot be diagnosed as schizophrenics or mental defectives. They are not depressives or psychotics; nor are they classic agoraphobics, who fear public places but welcome friends in their own homes.

Richard Lloyd Parry adds that neither is it the same as what in Japan is called "school refusal", although inevitably sufferers from hikikomori abandon their educations. Some are teenagers, but most are in their twenties or older.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which long ignored the problem, in 2003 defined hikikomori as avoiding social participation, including avoiding school attendance, compulsory education, entering the workforce -- including part-time jobs -- and associating with somebody outside the home; generally remaining at home for six months or more.

The Ministry also maintains that although as a general rule we define hikikomori as nonpsychotic phenomenon ... it is not uncommon that hikikomori includes schizophrenia before a definite diagnosis is made.

But according to the American Psychiatric Association's standard Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM4), there is no known psychiatric ailment from which hikikomori suffer. Other observers have argued for symptoms of Asperger's and for what the DSM4 calls "social avoidance disorder," but there is no clear evidence. Zielenziger also suggests post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which further identifies the key element within Japanese opinion, that hikikomori are suffering not a psychiatric but a social disorder.

Modern Japanese Society

To argue that social conditions are a chief source of a psychological conditions in specifically traumatized individuals is not favored by modern medicine or science. (A valiant exception is the physician Gabor Mate, M.D.). Yet this thesis is familiar to sociologists. Examining recent Japanese societal change provides a context for understanding the hikikikomori experience as a result of a long historical process.

Japan was always an insular nation until in 1853 United States gunboats under Admiral William Perry "opened" the country to Western domination. Japan was forced into economic dependence and regime change. With establishment of the Meiji government in 1868, Japan set out to centralize the imperial government and build a strong military in response to Western humiliations it had suffered, a fate paralleling recent European control of China.

Religious, cultural, and technological change overthrew Japan's semi-feudal ethics and culture. Militarism and rapid social and economic displacement grew, culminating in imperial wars (against Russia, Korea and China) and, eventually, World War II.

The humiliating defeat of Japan in World War II was compounded by subsequent U.S. occupation and thorough-going dismantling of Japanese institutions. Japan's elites effectively scorned the vestiges of a traditional agrarian economy and its social values to embrace not only industrialization (already dominant since the Meiji) but specifically, capitalism and globalization.

Post-World War II children were shunted into a high-stress school system, and the populace into factories and bureaucracies. Japan suffered speed, noise, urbanization, population shifts, and characteristic family breakdown from extended ie or stem structure families to Western-styled nuclear family as the defaul social unit. Suburban sprawl and ubiquitous technology became the norm in the crowding islands of Japan. The culture feverishly attempted to redress humiliation while technocrats exploited the Japanese character of cooperative stoicism.

In 1980's, the feverish economic bubble burst. But there could be no return to the past. Coincidentally, the hikkikomori phenomenon begins to emerge at this time, accelerating in the 1990's.

All observers have noted the relentless pace of schooling in Japan, rigorous entrance exams beginning before elementary school, high expectations of financial and career success placed on children (especially males) beginning in elementary school, career tracking of youth as early as junior high school/middle school for university versus technical training, 18-hour classroom and study days up to seven days a week, plus bullying, peer pressure, conformity, and burn-out. Maggie Jones notes: "As the Japanese saying goes, 'The nail that sticks out gets hammered in.'"

As the disparity between parents and children widens, so does the enormous disparity between the myth of hard work for success and the dismal economic and social reality of post-boom Japan.

If men, especially, were driven by a "manic defense" in striving for psychological redress after World War II, then post-boom Japan accelerated the relentless pace. For males especially, burning out by high school means no academic or social future.  

The dilemma of the hikkokomori is the initial experience of alienation followed by the psychological but also practical inability to reenter society. Zielenziger quotes one mother of a hikikomori as saying:

Hikikomori value the intangibles ... but cannot speak out because there is no place in Japanese society that allows them to. ... A person who challenges, or makes a mistake, or thinks for himself, either leaves Japan or becomes a hikikomori.

One articulate male hikikomori blogger writes that he is aging, that he knows his parents will pass away some day, that he should work as soon as possible. "I know," he admits. "But I'm not able to overcome my Hikikomori."

Conclusion

Hikikomori is in part a unique social and cultural circumstance of Japanese society, but no observer has perceived hikikomori as the transformation of a long history of eremitism characteristic of agraian, semi-feudal Japan -- and the apparent disfiguration of eremitism in hikkikomori. Granted that the psychology of modern society will not preserve this continuity. It is not difficult to imagine the modern young hikkikomori as the hermits, wanderers, and monks of a bygone era. As the mother quoted by Zielenziger noted, hikkokomori simply do not fit in the modern age, but cannot go back to the past either.

The great irony in hikikomori lost to Western observers is the theme of solitude and isolation in Japanese history, culture, and lore. The ancient Shinto creation myth describes the female deity Amaterasu lost in isolation in the emblematic world of the dead after failing to create a proper life for herself and her mate. She is forever destined to hide her disfigurement. This Japanese archetype culminates in the story of the contemporary Japanese Princess Masako (born in 1963), who lives in seclusion, said to suffer depression but, perhaps, suffering a too-realistic view of her world.

And now, the fate of the Japanese people so historically beset by disaster and tragedy, culminates in the unspoken probability of Japan's destruction by nuclear radiation and the ironic disdain of the West after centuries of hostile attention and exploitation, an entire nation ruefully represented in the hikikomori.

Shingeki No Kyojin- Ilse's Notebook

Sometime in year 850, the Survey Corps forces are readying themselves to go outside the Walls once again. An annoyed Hange tries to speak to Levi, but before she can even say something, Levi rejects the thought, knowing that Hange wants him to assist her with capture of a Titan. After Mike also refuses, the gate opens and the soldiers head out, starting the 49th expedition, much to Hange's enthusiasm. Later, while the soldiers are taking a break, Hange argues with Erwin, who refuses to approve of the Titan capture operation, as setting up a base is their priority. Hange then leaves the tent and angrily confronts Oluo, using Levi as an example of how knowing your opponent is important to defeat them.

On the look out, Mike notices a Titan in the nearby forest. While all other soldiers are to be on guard, Hange rides a horse to the Titan's direction, with Levi being ordered by Erwin to follow him. Eventually, she reaches the Titan and while attempting to talk to it, the chase begins. She leads it out of the forest, however, the Titan suddenly stops chasing Hange and heads back to the forest. Hange goes after it, with Levi and his squad following them. Eventually, the Titan reaches a certain tree and begins bumping its head into it. Hange, wondering what is going on, tries to approach the Titan, however, it attacks her, with the Squad Leader barely dodging. Suddenly, Oluo appears attaching the hook of his 3D Maneuver Gear onto the Titan's neck in an attempt to kill it, but Hange yells at him to wait. The moment of hesitation cause Oluo to be caught by the Titan, however, Levi frees him by cutting off the Titan's arm and killing it afterwards. He then confronts Hange for endangering other soldiers. At that moment, Petra notices a corpse inside the tree that the Titan approached. After learning that the soldier is Ilse Langnar, Levi finds a notebook lying nearby.

At unknown time during the Survey Corps' expedition outside the walls, Ilse is seen running through an unknown land, noting down everything that is happening around her. Her squad has been killed by Titans and her gear is broken, but in spite of that, she continues advancing in hopes of reaching home without encountering Titans. However, while running throug a forest, noting down the events, she suddenly encounters a Titan. She continues writing as the Titan isn't attacking. Thinking it's over, she writes down her last regrets, but suddenly, the Titan speaks a few words. Much to Ilse's shock, it bows down, while saying "Ymir-sama, welcome back", which Ilse writes down. She then tries to ask questions, without getting any response. Enraged, Ilse yells at the Titan for its species eating humans without any reasons, which causes the Titan to tear the skin off its face, much to Ilse's horror, who tries to escape, but to no avails, as the Titan catches her and crushes her head.

Hange, as she finishes reading the notebook, then begins writing a document of proposal to Erwin for the resuming of the Titan capturing operations within the Survey Corps. Using the diary as a base of her arguments, Hange wants to continue what Ilse has started. She then visits Ilse's family, showing them the notebook. Some time later, Hange is approached by Oluo, who wants to apologize, however, Hange is the one to do so. Her, Oluo, Levi and Petra then walk through the town, with Hange expressing her joy for being given a permission by Erwin to continue her research.

Some viewers were able to do some reviews on it, here's one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl-s4TdBy-o

Then next OVA will be release by April 2014. Stay tuned for it.
English Sub are already out!

Christmas in Japan

Christmas is not widely celebrated in Japan as not many people there are Christians. However, several customs have come to Japan from the USA such as sending and receiving Christmas Cards and Presents.

In Japan, Christmas in known as more of a time to spread happiness rather than a religious celebration. Christmas eve is often celebrated more than Christmas Day. Christmas eve is thought of as a romantic day, in which couples spend together and exchange presents. In many ways it resembles Valentine's Day celebrations in the UK and the USA. Young couples like to go for walks to look at the Christmas lights and have a romantic meal in a restaurant - booking a table on Christmas Eve can be very difficult as it's so popular!

Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan, so schools and businesses are normally open on December 25th.

In Japanese Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Meri Kurisumasu'. And it's written in the two Japanese scripts like this; Hiragana: めりーくりすます; Katakana: メリークリスマス. Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.

Parties are often held for children, with games and dancing. Japanese Christmas Cake is a sponge cake decorated with trees, flowers and a figure of Santa Claus.

In Japan Santa is known as サンタさん、サンタクロース santa-san (Mr Santa). Another Japanese gift bringer is Hoteiosho, a Japanese god of good fortune from Buddhism and not really related to Christmas.

Fried chicken is often eaten on Christmas day. It is the busiest time of year for restaurants such as KFC and people can place orders at their local fast food restaurant in advance! The traditional Japanese christmas food is christmas cake, but it's not a rich fruit cake, but is usually a sponge cake decorated with strawberries and whipped cream.

The Japanese New Year (called 'o shogatsu') is more like a traditional Western Christmas. New year is the period where families get together, have a special meal, pray and send greetings cards. New year is celebrated over five days from December 31st to January 4th and is a very busy time.

Japanese Clothing: YUKATA

The Yukata is a casual light cotton kimono for wearing in summer. Yukatas normally have very brightly coloured designs on them. Today thesekimonos are mainly worn to the traditional Bon-Odori and summer festivals. The relative simply design of Yukata means Japanese women can, with some practice, put thiskimono on unassisted. 

The name yukata comes from the word -yu- (bath) and -katabira- (under clothing). In the Heian era (794-1185), court nobles wore linen "yukata" which were draped loosely after taking a bath. The yukata was later also worn by Japanese warriors and by the Edo era (1600-1868), it was widely worn by the public when public bath became a popular recreation in Japan.

Today, the yukata is widely worn as a casual wear in summer, as well as in festivals. Further, the yukata is also widely worn in "ryokan" (traditional Japanese inn). The yukata is loved for its lightweight cotton material. Fabric designs vary from the traditional plain cross hatch pattern to the more colourful designs. A cotton sash is usually worn with the yukata for casual daily or nightly wear. In attending festivals and public occasions, the yukata is worn with a wider belt, which can be simply wrapped around the waist and tucked in at the end. For a more formal appearance, the yukata is worn with an obi belt, along with a matching geta (wooden sandals) and purse to complete the attire.

Today, the yukata is widely worn as a casual wear in summer, as well as in festivals. Further, the yukata is also widely worn in "ryokan" (traditional Japanese inn). The yukata is loved for its lightweight cotton material. Fabric designs vary from the traditional plain cross hatch pattern to the more colourful designs. A cotton sash is usually worn with the yukata for casual daily or nightly wear. In attending festivals and public occasions, the yukata is worn with a wider belt, which can be simply wrapped around the waist and tucked in at the end. For a more formal appearance, the yukata is worn with an obi belt, along with a matching geta (wooden sandals) and purse to complete the attire.

Japanese girls and young Japanese women both here in Australia and in Japan enjoy the opportunity to dress in their Yukatas. Today there are not as many suitable chances to wear this colourful traditional Japanese outfit.

KENDAMA: A Japanese Wooden Toy

The kendama today are made from a stick with a point at one end, three attached cups, and a ball with a small hole in one end. The cups on either side of the stick are called the big cup and small cup. The ball is connected to the stick by a roughly 40-centimeter (16-inch) piece of string. At the end of the stick is a point with which the player can attempt to spear the ball. At the other end of the stick is a cup called the medium cup.

The game is basically played by tossing the ball and attempting to catch it in one of the cups or to spear it with the point of the stick. Although it may sound simple, there are a nearly unlimited number of specific techniques for doing so.

Many people may think that kendama was invented in Japan, but this is not actually the case. While many different theories exist, there are records indicating that kendama originated in France in the sixteenth century. There are also theories that this game was developed in Greece or China, and the absolute truth is not known.

In France, this game was called bilboquet. Bilmeans "ball," and boquet means "small tree." This word expresses the fact that the game involved playing with a small wooden ball. The game as it was played then was different from what we know as kendama today; there was alarge cup and a small cup on either end of a stick, to which a ball was attached with a string. The player would continually toss and catch the ball, alternating between the two cups.

Kendama is believed to have come to Japan via the Silk Road during the Edo period (1603-1868) into Nagasaki, the only Japanese city open to foreign trade at the time. While it may have entered the country around the middle of the Edo period in around 1777 or 1778, the exact date is uncertain. At the time, kendamawas apparently enjoyed by adults as a sort of drinking game. A player who made a mistake was forced to drink more.

As Japan entered the Meiji era (1868-1912), the Ministry of Education introduced kendamain the report on children's education that it put together in 1876, and the game gradually began to catch on among young people. In 1919, during the Taisho era (1912-1926), the forerunner of today's kendama went on sale. It was called Nichigetsu Ball (Sun-and-moon ball), because the ball looked like the sun, while the shape of the shallow carved cups was like a crescent moon. This toy became a huge hit, and from this time into the beginning of the Showa era (1926-1989), a variety of different types of kendama appeared, including a ball attached to a kind of paddle.

After World War II ended in 1945, kendama were sold in candy stores along with other popular toys, such as menko, bidama, and beigoma. In 1975 children's author Fujiwara Issei founded the Japan Kendama Association, which standardized kendama for competitive use and created standardized rules for the purpose of allowing a greater number of people to play the game together the same way.

With a set of rules and specifications for the equipment in place, kendamabegan to grow in popularity as a competitive sport. In addition to the Award of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, which is given to the winner of a kendama competition for elementary school students, there are tournaments for both students and adults held around the country, andkendama enthusiasts are working to increase the popularity of the game overseas.

The Japan Kendama Association is hopeful that kendama will become known around the world one day, and its members are making efforts to foster international exchange.

How to: Visit a Sento (Japanese Public Bath House)

At the end of a long day, a hot sento public bath can wash away your troubles, and that’s a pleasure worth sharing. Sento are a fading tradition but still dotted throughout Japanese suburbs, and even central Tokyo has a few ornate temple-like baths left. You’re likely to be the only non-Japanese at a sento, so to avoid standing naked and tongue-tied, find out what to bring, what to do there and which bath is electrified. Yes, electrified.

1. Pack your kit

You’re going to get naked. Completely. So the most essential item is a small towel to cover your privates. Everything else is optional. Most sento don’t provide soap and shampoo (although they sell them) so take these if you wish, along with a loofah, toothbrush and other toiletries. Don’t bring valuables, and expect some stares if you're heavily tattooed - many Japanese people still associate this with the yakuza, although it's highly unlikely you'll be mistaken for one.

2. Come to your sento

Sento range from small suburban baths to ‘super sento’ in the centre of Tokyo. When you enter, leave your shoes in a shoe locker. Pay the entrance fee (around ¥450) to either an old lady at a counter or at a vending machine for tokens.

3. Undress to impress

Men and women bathe separately, so look for the characters 男 for male and 女 for female to avoid embarrassment. Once through, you’ll find a change room with lockers for your clothes and belongings. After undressing, all you should be wearing is that small towel and a locker bracelet. Cross through the sliding doors with your toiletries to the tranquil baths.

4. Brush up on etiquette

The baths are a large, tiled space with deep rectangles of water and wafting steam. Speaking is kept to hushed, library levels. You’ll find open shower cubicles or basins lining the walls. Sit at a stool facing the wall and use the small bucket provided to wash yourself with warm water (soap optional). The baths are not for washing yourself in, so make sure you are sparkling clean before getting in. And find the toilets if you need to go! Hang up your towel and scrub yourself head to toe of any dirt, soap and shampoo.

5. The right bath

Enter a bath naked, or use your towel to tiptoe over if you are shy, but remember: the only thing that goes into a bath is your nude clean body. Choose your pool of water carefully. Maybe not the one with the lightning bolt symbol above it, unless a mild electric shock thrills you - the theory is that electricity contracts the muscles, thus relaxing you when you get out. Be careful also of the scalding bath - you’ll know it the moment you dip your pinkie in. Start instead with the hot bath, entering slowly to test the temperature. If there are other bathers, there’s no need to say a word or make eye contact, just enjoy. Relax, leave behind the world outside hurtling at bullet speed, and reflect upon the mural of ancient Mount Fuji.

6. Double dip

Once you have soaked enough in the hot bath, try the icy cold bath to snap you out of drowsiness. Some sento also have a mineral bath with rich, cola-black water.

Now step out and repeat the process, washing yourself again on a stool, then sinking into another bath - this is the centuries-old ritual of sento.

7. Lights out

To leave, go Japanese style - don’t wash off the minerals of your last dip, get changed into your pyjamas, try a milk from a vending machine, and stroll back to your bed, totally at ease with the world and ready for a deep sleep.

Japanese Antiques- NETSUKE

Japanese people used to hang their everyday articles such as small money pouches, tobacco pouches, and seal or medicine cases (inro) from their sash or belt (obi), because the Japanese traditional garment (kimono) has no pockets. To prevent it falling to the ground, the hanging object was attached to a small toggle with a cord, and the toggle is called netsuke.

Netsuke were probably simple pieces of wood or whatever was useful as a toggle, it developed into a craft art with great artistry and playful ideas through the Edo period (i.e., from the early 17th century through the mid 19th century). Netsuke in a considerably wide range of subjects and materials were made by thousands of artists; early craftsmen specializing in other fields such as metalwork or sculpture and made netsuke as a hobby, while many of the later carvers devoted all their career to netsuke production.

However, around the mid 19th century, the popularity of netsuke started to wane due to the changes in fashion and cultural situations. A relatively small number of netsuke artists continued to create netsuke of high standard through the mid 20th century.

From the mid 19th century onwards, westerners became interested in netsuke. A large quantity of those miniature carvings began to be exported to the West. Since then, netsuke have been actively traded, collected, and studied by westerners, while they attracted little attention of the majority of Japanese people.

Netsuke made until about that time are called "antique netsuke," while those carved later are referred to as "contemporary netsuke." This latter term means more than just "netsuke made in modern time": some western collectors and dealers have encouraged Japanese artists to create netsuke with their original ideas and modern sense, not just to imitate antique pieces. Recently, the number of netsuke artists have been growing in Japan, and in other countries as well, and there are approximately one hundred Japanese and non-Japanese artists whose works regularly appear in sales and exhibitions.

Today, the netsuke, both antique and contemporary, is internationally appreciated as a unique and fascinating art form. At present, it might still be better known in the West, but there is a growing interest among the Japanese (some Japanese actually carry netsuke by attaching them to their cell phones).

The netsuke is still evolving, and you can explore this exciting art form by just looking at them, holding them in your hand to enjoy the feel, collecting them, studying them, and even carving them!

As of now, the modern netsuke is the keychain. The term has evolved over the years without knowing that it has been netsuke before. One of the popular designs as of now has been Hello Kitty. 

Japanese Culture- OSEIBO

OSEIBO is one of Japan's two traditional gift-giving seasons, along with summer's Chugen. O-seibo originated with the custom of placing offerings on ancestors' graves. Over time, the custom morphed into more general gift-giving.

O-seibo are usually sent from early to mid December, and it's good to be delivered by around December 20. Despite the timing, O-seibo gifts are different from Christmas presents.

Everywhere in Japan in December you'll see elaborate displays of Christmas decorations, and Christmas-themed treats intended for gift-giving. But at the same time, you will also see some traditional O-seibo gift. It usually range widely in prices, but the average is about 3,000-5,000 yen per gift. The type and price of gifts depend on the relationship with the recipient. Most items are condiments, beer, tea, canned food, desserts, gift certificates, and lots more. Department stores display many types gifts at the end of the year and in midsummer. Most people ask the store to deliver gifts to recipients.

If you have Japanese customers or good Japanese friends, they will surely appreciate a small gift item at year end, with a seasonal theme, and you don't have to specify whether it's for Oseibo or for Christmas.