Japanese Traditions. Setsu Broderick

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Houses

       May

       Kodomo no Hi (Boys’ Festival or Children’s Day)

       Toys and Games

       June

       Rainy Season

       Indoor Fun

       July

       Tanabata Matsuri (Star Festival)

       Staying Cool

       August

       O-Bon Festival (Festival of the Souls)

       Summer Fun

       September

       Enjoying Nature

       Harvest Time

       October

       November

       Getting Colder

       Visiting the Shrine

       December

       Getting Ready for New Year

       Acknowledgements

      January

      Tondo Festival

      Happy New Year! Akemashite omedetō!

      There was nothing as joyful in our childhood as New Year’s Day, and we could hardly wait for it to come. On New Year’s Day, families and friends enjoyed delicious New Year’s food and had fun together all day long. Outside, we flew kites, spun colorful tops, and played hanetsuki (a game like badminton). Inside, we played sugoroku (similar to backgammon) and card games like karuta.

      One evening in the middle of January, our village celebrated the Tondo Festival. The men built a tall tower with bundles of bamboo. Then everyone brought their used New Year’s decorations and the whole thing was lit on fire. People prayed for their family’s happiness and good health through the year. It was very exciting to see the big flames and sparks lighting up the dark sky. We toasted kagami-mochi (large rice cakes) on the fire embers, and everyone ate them for good luck in the coming year. Somehow, the rice cakes always turned out to be charred ... but we didn’t mind eating them anyway!

      New Year Traditions

      Kakizome (Calligraphy)

      Traditionally, on January 2nd, children write special New Year’s calligraphy. The words they choose symbolize their wishes or resolutions for the New Year. For example, two of the words written here are: shinsetsu (“kindness”) and tomodachi (“friend”).

      Nenga-jo (New Year’s Cards)

      People send nenga-jo, postcards with New Year Greetings, to family and friends. Usually, they write standard phrases and a few sentences about what they did in the past year, or their New Year resolutions. It’s also common to decorate the card with the Zodiac animal of the year. For example, 2010 is the Year of the Tiger.

      Usually, the postman brings a big delivery of all the postcards sent to each family from their friends and relatives from all over the country. It’s fun to read them all together!

      Daruma Doll

      Daruma is said to have brought Zen Buddhism to Japan. Legend tells that he sat in a cave meditating for so long that he lost the use of his arms and legs! This is why Daruma dolls are round, and if you try to knock them over, they go upright again. Daruma represents determination. Often, people get a Daruma doll when they want to achieve some goal. They write their goal on the back, color in one eye, and then do everything they can to achieve that goal. When they do, they color in the second eye to celebrate their success!

      New Year Games

      Hanetsuki & Koma

      In hanetsuki, which is similar to badminton, two players hit a birdie back and forth with a decorated wooden paddle called hagoita. The one who lets it drop to the ground gets a black ink mark on her face!

      Koma, or spinning tops, is fun to play. The tops are spun either by hand or with a string. In one game each player spins their top within a circle and tries to knock the other top out of bounds.

      Tako-age (Kite-flying)

      Japanese kites are made of paper glued onto a thin bamboo frame. They come in many different shapes and sizes, and are decorated with faces of samurai or kabuki actors, or with calligraphy.

      Fukuwarai

      In this game, one

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