草枕 – Kusamakura
Sōseki Natsume (1867 – 1916) is a famous writer in Japan. In his novel Kusamakura he said 智に働けば角が立つ。情に棹させば流される。意地を通せば窮屈だ。兎角に人の世は住みにくい。- 夏目漱石 My translation is below: If …
バレンタイン – Valentine’s Day
Normally, on Valentine’s Day a girl in Japan gives chocolate or some other gift to a guy. Typically Japanese girls are shy, …
雪だるま – Snowman
Snowman is called yuki daruma in Japanese. Usually Japanese yuki daruma is consist of two snow balls; head & body, whereas American snowman …
Sapporo Snow Festival
Every year a snow & ice festival is held in Sapporo, Hokkaido in February. The festival started in 1950 and this year is …
恵方巻き – Ehōmaki
Ehōmaki means “lucky direction sushi roll” and is a relatively new tradition for Setsubun in Japan. 7-Eleven in Japan introduced this practice …
恵方 – Ehō
Ehō means “lucky direction” in Japanese and it is the direction where the Lucky Goddess or Toshitokujin (歳徳神) is based on the …
Sushi Workshop
Date: 2/2/18 (Friday) Time: 6-9pm There will be two workshops; 6:00-7:15 & 7:30-8:45pm. The workshop 7:30-8:45pm is already full. Please do not …
節分 – Setsubun
Setsubun literally means “dividing season” and it is the day before the beginning of spring according to the traditional East Asian calendar. …
七福神 – Seven Lucky Gods
In Japanese mythology the Seven Lucky Gods are worshiped as fortune bringers. The Seven Lucky Gods are Hotei, Jurōjin, Fukurokuju, Bishamonten, Benzaiten, …
鏡開き – Kagami Biraki
Kagami biraki means “to open the mirror” in Japanese. The mochi that was offered to Toshigami-sama as a Shōgatsu kazari is called …