Farewell…For Now

Hello fellow Natives!

I know it seems I just came back after a long break, and I had planned to post at least twice more after the special holiday ones but the break has made me lazy.  Tomorrow I go back to school and the never ending drudgery that is essays, projects and tests.  I don’t know when or if I’ll post again, so I’d like to say farewell for now, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my blog.  

Image from Pintrest.

This does not mean that I will completely give up though.  If I ever have a spare moment (that I’m not going to use for sleeping) then I’ll try and post at least once a month.  I’ll probably post just to procrastinate studying!  I even have some spring-related posts in mind that I’ll try to do during my spring break in April.  Otherwise I’m out of commission until late May when school ends.  I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the places and customs of Japan and have been able to experience them for yourself.

Me when I was in middle school in Japan, living like a native.

I’ll leave you with these parting words of travel wisdom (a haiku I created):

“Travel, but be thankful you have somewhere to call home.

See everything you can see because you might not get a second chance. 

But do not blur by it like a tourist; live it like a native.”    

Image from Pintrest.

 

さよなら！ (Bye)

The Goodies: New Year’s Continued

How to be a Native - Step Nine

Get the Good Stuff

As I mentioned in the previous post, New Year’s is a big thing in Japan so this post will focus on various things Japanese (and you) can do during the New Year.  All these activities can be done pretty much anywhere in Japan, so if you can’t get to a specific place have no fear.  New Year’s goodies can be found all around you.

An example of juunbako.  Image from Deen's Wonder Japan Blog.

It just isn’t a Japanese New Year without the right food.  Osechi (御節) is the traditional type of food eaten for New Year’s.  It’s served much like a bento (弁当) lunch in boxes called juubako (重箱), which are stackable.   

 Many different types of food are eaten, some of which include pickled vegetables, fish, seaweed, mochi (rice cake 餅), bamboo slices and fish cakes.  You can find osechi in any grocery store or order something more special from restaurants. 

An example of osechi.  Image from Teacher Albert's website.

In most Western countries, they send Christmas cards.  Well, Japanese do the same thing for New Year’s except instead of cards they use postcards (nengajyo 年賀状) and decorate them with the animal for that year.  This year is the year of the snake so most postcards will feature snakes in some form.   

Examples of New Year's postcards.  Image from Yoshizen's Blog.

Some people forgo that though and just put greetings, photos or as I did one year, hand drawn pictures.  These postcards are created before the New Year begins so they can be delivered on New Year’s Day.  Stragglers do arrive after that time though. 

Ok, so this is an ema, but it still has a snake on it.

 If you’re a kid in Japan during the New Year then you will be VERY happy about the tradition of otoshidama (お年玉) (I know I was).  This tradition consists of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. giving their kids money.   They can get anywhere from 2,000 yen (about $20) to 10,000 yen (about $100) from EACH PERSON.  (Or from each head of the family.)  $$$$!  Sorry, I was reminiscing there…

Some otoshidama envelops (you put the money in them). 

Of course that money doesn’t last long as kids (and adults) race to the stores to cash in on the New Year’s tradition of Lucky Bags (fukubukuro 福袋).  They're filled with various items, depending on the store selling them.   

This lucky bag says it's for ladies and costs 3,000 yen ($30).  The original price of the goods range from 10,000 yen ($100) to 10,500 yen ($150).

The bags are sealed so customers don’t know what they’re getting, but know that it's DEEPLY discounted from the original price.  Sometimes they have displays that show what you might get.

Here's some more Lucky Bags priced at 2,100 yen ($21).

There are many other parts to the Japanese New Year but these are my favorite and I hope you enjoy them too!  Wishing you the best this year!

Takahatafudo: Where New Year’s Begins

How to be a Native - Step Eight

New Year’s = Temple Trip

New Year’s is THE BIG EVENT in Japan.  Celebrations last about three days.  If you really want to be like the natives you will hop aboard a train and go to a temple.  For me, that temple was in Takahatafudo (高幡不動) in Hino (日野市).  This particular temple is considered a high ranking temple for the Tokyo area.  

Takahatafudo and the New Year's crowd.

Even if you’re not into Buddhism, the experience of unity and excitement the Japanese express during their time at the temple are well worth seeing.  It almost has a festival feel to it what with the booths of food and good luck charms for the New Year (and the crowds).

A food booth during New Year's.  Image from Pacific Islander's blog.

Before you get some of those charms though you must burn your old ones at the fires they have set up (called otakiage お 焚き上げ).   

A "fire pot"for burning old charms.  Image from yumemakura's website.

Those types of charms are usually wooden plaques called ema (絵馬).   

A ema (wooden plaque) charm.  Image from The Japan Chronicles blog.

 Some ways to get good luck are drinking and washing your hands from the water there, pouring water on statues or breathing in incense from areas set up outside.  

A place to wash hands, drink from or leave money for good luck.  Image from satori leilain japan's blog.

 Another way to get good luck (because that’s what the New Year’s celebrations are all about) is to throw some money offering into a box, clap your hands twice and ring the bell which hangs above your head in front of one of the main buildings.  This bell ringing gets the gods’ attention while you make your prayers/ wishes to them.  

These are the types of bells you ring to summon the gods.  Image from Travel Japan Blog.

A type of fortune is the omikuji (おみくじ), a piece of paper that one picks from a box (after paying) and either contains a good fortune or a bad one.   

An omikuji before it's opened.  Image from csuntokiwa09's blog.

 If you get a bad one, don’t despair!  Simply tie it to the “wall” or whatever is set up for that and then you can avoid that bad fortune.  

Bad fortunes are tied to a tree at Takahatafudo.

 There are many other aspects to New Year’s in Japan, which I will cover in my next post.  As for next year, it will be the year of the snake (my year coincidently) so be prepared to see pictures of snakes wherever you go. 

Image from cutcaster.

If you want to properly greet someone on New Year’s Day then just say, “Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!” (あけましておめでとうございます.)   Yes, I know it looks like a mouthful but with practice you’ll be fine.  You can listen to the correct pronunciation here.

Love the Night: Christmas Lights

How to be a Native - Step Seven

Get dazzled by illuminations.

A Christmas cake. Image from Google.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  I know I was supposed to post last Sunday, but I'd just finished finals, so I was like, “Nah… I need to rest.”  But I’m back now and have come bearing the gift of a cool Christmas event.  Before I get into that, here is a little native knowledge about Christmas in Japan (because it would be too long for the sidebar). 

Christmas is just another day in Japan (everyone goes to work and school) so most of the celebrations take place on Christmas Eve.  It’s more of a lover’s holiday instead of time together with the family.   

The Christmas Menu

One of the ways Japanese celebrate it is with special Christmas cakes (not fruit cake but sponge cake with Christmas decorations).  They also have KFC dinners because Japanese don’t have ovens big enough for a turkey. 

Here is my “oven” from 
when I lived in Japan. 

Small but delicious.

My family still managed to have a more American style Christmas dinner though. 
And finally, instead of each home putting up lights, the city, shops and parks put up vast and beautiful displays called illuminations.

For me, there is nothing quite as spectacular and special as Christmas lights and in Japan they go all out.  They can be seen all over the country, but in the Tokyo area I recommend Tama Center (多摩センター) in Tama (多摩市).

The main display.

 Their lights display starts at the south end of the Tama Center Station (多摩センター駅) and goes down along two roads, one of which goes to the Parthenon, a type of concert hall.   

Some lovely horses.

There are many different designs ranging from the traditional Christmas trees, reindeer and Santa to an ocean display and random animals such as horses, pigs, squirrels and so on.   

Santa and his reindeer having a little fun.

My favorite is the ocean display because it truly dazzles with all that light.

Swimming in light.

Which ones are your favorites?  Tama Center puts up this display every year and it’s completely free, so there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t treat yourself to it.   

A squirrel and some reindeer.

When you get too cold to go on, you can do some gift shopping.  Tama Center has hundreds of shops all within easy walking distance of the lights.  

Blue hearts of love.

Have fun and stay warm!  I’ll post again next week with a special New Year’s event.

      

Holidays and School, What Can You Do?

Hello fellow Natives!

Image from Pintrest.com.

So it's that time of the year when the holidays are bearing down upon us (Americans anyway) and since I'm a student that also means I'm buried under a mini-mountain of homework and final projects till the end of the semester.

So because of all that, I will not be posting anything new for awhile.  But don't despair!  I will be back around mid-December with some special posts on fun things to do in Japan during Christmas and New Year's.  So until then, I hope everyone (in America) has a great Thanksgiving and those in Japan a good Labor Thanksgiving Day!  For those of you outside the States, I hope the rest of November is stress-free.

Image from New Lafayette.org.

Cat Café: The De-Stress Zone

How to be a Native - Step Six

Have tea…with cats.

Yeah, that's the spot.

Being a cat lover, I find the unique experience of cat cafés to be worth sharing with others.  My recommended cat café is Nyantomo (にゃんとも) literally “Meow friend” located in Hachioji (八王子市). 

This one is pretty small, but they have some adorable cats and a discount for students (750 yen vs. regular 900 yen) per hour.      

Stalking around.

So why does Japan have cat cafés and what are they?   They are places for people (mainly women in their 20s and 30s) to enjoy the company of cats because most landlords in Japan don’t allow pets. 

One of the kittens.

Most people who visit cat cafés do it to de-stress.  They find the companionship of cats to be relaxing, especially for overworked individuals (a common thing in Japan).

Just resting.

I certainly felt much calmer and happier after playing with the cats for a few hours.  A very welcome relief when school was consuming the rest of my time.

Yes, I'm very comfortable like this.

Some of the cats are special/rare breeds while others are common.  When I visited Nyantomo, they had 10 cats plus 2 kittens, which were in a viewing room (for their safety). 

It's mine!!

Below is their flyer.  The cat’s names from top to bottom and left to right are: Shion (aster), Sora (sky), Momo (peach), Sakura (cherry blossom), Haru (spring), Hime (princess), Umi (sea), Hinata (sun), Ichigo (strawberry), and Kotora (?).    

Nyantomo Flyer

Here’s a video from Time Magazine’s website.  Below are directions with English translation (added by me).

Not a cat lover?  There are also bunny, bird and dog cafés.