Obon in Japan

Obon is one of the most important Japanese traditions. People believe that their ancestors' spirits come back to their homes to be reunited with their family during Obon and pray for the spirits. For the reason, Obon is an important family gathering time, and many people return to their hometowns.

Obon was originally celebrated around the 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar. Obon periods are nowadays different in various regions of Japan. In most regions, Obon is celebrated around August 15, and it typically begins 13th and ends 16th of August. In some areas in Tokyo, Obon is celebrated around July 15, and it is still celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar in many areas in Okinawa.

Japanese people clean their houses and place a variety of food offerings such as vegetables and fruits to the spirits of ancestors in front of a butsudan (Buddhist altar). Chochin lanterns and arrangements of flower are usually placed by the butsudan.

On the first day of Obon, chochin lanterns are lit inside houses, and people go to their family's grave to call their ancestors' spirits back home. It's called mukae-bon. In some regions, fires called mukae-bi are lit at the entrances of houses to guide the spirits. On the last day, people bring the ancestor's spirits back to the grave, hanging chochin painted with the family crest to guide the spirits. It's called okuri-bon. In some regions, fires called okuri-bi are lit at entrances of houses to send the ancestors' spirits. During Obon, the smell of senko incense fills Japanese houses and cemeteries.

Toro nagashi (floating lanterns) is a tradition often observed during Obon. People send off their ancestors' spirits with the lanterns, lit by a candle inside and floated down a river to the ocean. Also, bon odori (folk dance) is widely practiced on Obon nights. Styles of dance vary from area to area, but usually Japanese taiko drums keep the rhythms. People go to their neighborhood bon odori held at parks, gardens, shrines, or temples, wearing yukata (summer kimono) and dance around a yagura stage. Anyone can participate in bon odori, so join the circle and imitate what others are doing.

Obon is not a Japanese national holiday, but many people take vacations during this time. Mid-August is the peak travel season in summer.

Japan.Tokyo

I's a country where live together in an incredible way of innovation and heritage in a fantastically cozy coexist developed culture of politeness and culture of self-esteem. 

In this country, the perfect balance with the richness of quiet restraint in spending, Shintoism and Buddhism, and perfection is simplicity.

Tokyo is striking in its modernity and crazy rhythm of life

There are tunnels under the sea, combining artificial artificial islands.

Driverless trains.

Traditional Japanese religion - Shintoism . Everywhere there are Shinto shrines. Before entering the sanctuary should rinse your hands and mouth with water. Inside is a large bell with a rope, for which it is necessary to pull your prayers have been answered. But before you pull, you need to throw a coin in that box for rope. This is a donation to the temple. The whole procedure is very simple and fast, and that a lot of people.

It is a traditional Japanese street lamp, once covered the fire, but now from here just for show. Street lighting function now performs his little offspring right.

Ginza - Tokyo's shopping and luster. Day and night, summer and winter.

Pachinko. It is a national Japanese gambling fun. The noise inside is crazy, it is necessary to shout in the ear to be heard. Officially forbidden to gamble, so the game goes on the metal balls that through clever system of exchange, convert the corner into cash.

Tokyo Tower is somewhat similar to the Eiffel

Tokyo's Asakusa district - one of the oldest areas of Tokyo with a gem - a temple of Asakusa Canon.

It has its own Statue of Liberty.

Kamakura

Kamakura  is a city located in  Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about 50 kilometres  south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called Renpu.

Kamakura has many historically significant Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, some of them, like Sugimoto-dera, over 1,200 years old. Kotoku-in with its monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha, is the most famous. A 15th century tsunami destroyed the temple that once housed the Great Buddha, but the statue survived and has remained outdoors ever since.

Nearby - his sandals

The road to pagan temple

Kimono

Kimono - a traditional Japanese clothing worn by men, women and children. But very often in a kimono can see the women, as originally it was the clothing geisha. It is worn not only on holidays, but also in everyday days. For example, during the holidays trying to put a bright kimono, with a variety of patterns. It could be flowers, fish, birds and much more. Everyday is a kimono usually dark colors and simple colors. The same kimono differs from the material. This can be silk, which is more expensive, or cotton. For women's kimono as a symbol of femininity, purity and nobility. A popular if this type of clothing now?

Kimono - clothing fashionistas in our time, no magazine is complete without a photo shoot in a kimono. Heroes anime cartoons at least once appear on the screen in this kind of clothing. At the fashion show is always a collection of the most exciting colors. For example, in a popular magazine "Popteen" appeared advertising a new collection of "Kyoto Sweet Collection".


Kimono is chosen depending on age, marital status and type of event:

Kurotomesode - black kimono, having image just below the waistline. This is the most formal kimono for married women. It is also often used at weddings in dresses mother of bride and groom.

Furisode - kimono with long sleeves. This is the most formal kimono for unmarried women, it is worn bridesmaids on the wedding.  

Irotomesode - monochrome kimono, painted below the waist. This type of kimono a little less formal than kurotomesode.

              Homongi - kimono for receptions. It is present along the image of the shoulders and sleeves. Wear it both married and unmarried women.

Tsukesage - ornaments are more modest than homongi. Most of them covers the space below the waist.

Iromudzi - it is worn by women in tea ceremonies. Fabric is always one color.

Comon - kimono with a fine figure, so they can be worn as a city and a restaurant.

Edo komon - kimonos in peas. In the Edo era it was worn samurai.

Uchikake - formal kimono, which are the bride or which appear on stage. Dresses over the kimono as a raincoat. Usually a bright color or white.

Mofuku - kimono, made of black silk. All accessories to the kimono, too black. He dresses in the day of the funeral processions.

This beautiful dress inspired and continues to inspire many people to write poems, paintings, to make a film and much more. Kimono - part of the history of Japan, which is not yet finished.

Japanese toilet...

Back at the dawn of the civilized world Japan amazed the world with their technological achievements (take, for example, Nintendo and the Tamagotchi). Some Japanese products were able to circumvent and subjugate the world, radically changing the lives and outlook of people. The world is rapidly beginning to introduce Japanese technological achievements in life. But when it comes to the toilet, Westerners are horrified by the fact that the Japanese even a place as a toilet seat could fit lots of obscure buttons, displays, indicators and a huge number do not understand, switches and glowing lights.

This familiar to everyone attribute of every house has received a second life in Japan and has been called Washlet, or as Europeans call it - Supertoilet. In addition to completely innocuous features such as heated toilet seat, the automatic recovery, hermetization, air conditioning, lighting Supertoilet has also a set of very outstanding features, such as music, which in the opinion of the Japanese helps you to relax in such a crucial moment, and warmed to body temperature fountain which escapes from the toilet, well, you know where... Well, of course, inherent in the Japanese epidemiology, ionizers are not omitted which is also mounted in the toilet.

Japanese engineers never rest on laurels and continue to modify the miracle invention, providing it with a special system for the prevention and treatment of hemorrhoids and setting inside the toilet an express analyzer of urine, the results of which are transmitted through a wireless connection to your doctor.

If you're ever lucky enough to face with this amazing embodiment of human thought, then you will have to wonder twice, since no one Supertoilet display does not show any usual European language. Therefore, pressing all the buttons if you are lucky of cource, you will be surprized with amazing music works of Mendelssohn, but if not lucky, you get a stream of soap solution directly in the eyes ...:)

Japanese cuisine - Sushi...

For centuries, Japanese cuisine has developed and evolved. Today, every sushi lover knows that Japanese cuisine has its own qualities and virtues. It should be noted that Japanese products themselves are very useful, hence the exceptional value of any dish from a wide range of Japanese cuisine. Japanese cuisine was born a long time. Initially it was perceived as a tradition among the inhabitants of Japan. But later the whole world knew the exceptional value and taste of Japanese cuisine. Today, Japanese products are very popular.  It is important to note that Japanese cuisine is rich in mineral micronutrients due to careful treatment of Japanese products. Japanese products are very carefully selected before you begin cooking a particular dish, so the Japanese cuisine provides a good taste good food and perfect flavor.

Japanese cuisine today can offer any modern Japanese restaurant, but you can cook them and at home.
In our Japanese store is always in the presence of a large selection of products for the Japanese sushi, sashimi, rolls and other Japanese dishes at home.  Plunge into the world of Japanese culture and traditions, and you do not want to go ... 

How to make sushi at home

Recipes sushi roll are remaining basically unchanged, do not cease to be supplemented and improved, updated with new. This dish is constantly gaining more and more admirers. The reason is simple. To prepare an aesthetically attractive, appetizing and delicious sushi at home do not need to follow the contrived dogmas and strictly adhere to certain requirements. The distinctive feature of the land lies in the fact that it is enough to understand the principle of its preparation, and then be at full capacity to use their own imagination and ingenuity, inventing their own recipes and experimenting with the ingredients list of which can be limited only by your personal taste preferences, not forgetting how to cook rice for sushi.

8 Reasons to prepare sushi at home:

- Sushi - are very tasty
- Sushi - is LEAN MEAL
- Make a gift or a beloved favorite
- Surprise friends at a party
- Try Japanese cuisine is 5 times cheaper than in a restaurant
- Reduce overweight

Japanese rice - short-grained, sticky rice. Large content of gluten (gluten) allows him to keep good form.

Nori (nori) - thin sheets of dried seaweed. They have a crunchy texture, but softened by moisture in rice.

Pickled ginger or Gary - thinly sliced pickled ginger. It is served on land or on the side of the plate. (Home pickled ginger)

Rice vinegar has a sweet taste. He added to rice for flavor, and that it lasted longer.

Wasabi - sharp green Japanese horseradish paste. It is available in a tube or powder.

Futomaki (Futomaki) - large rolls, usually with five toppings.


Nigiri-zushi (Nigiri) - sushi, which clung with his hands, served on lettuce, and top them put raw fish.

Temaki (Temaki) - twisted hands kulechki nori, filled with rice with toppings of your choice.

Uramaki (Uramaki) - sushi inside - inside the nori, rice outside.

Japanese Tea Ceremony

The Japanese tea ceremony (cha-no-yu, chado, or sado) is a traditional ritual influenced by Zen Buddhism in which powdered green tea, or matcha (抹茶), is ceremonially prepared by a skilled practitioner and served to a small group of guests in a tranquil setting.

Cha-no-yu (茶の湯, literally "hot water for tea"), usually refers to a single ceremony or ritual, while sado or chado (茶道, or "the way of tea") refer to the study or doctrine of tea ceremony. Since a tea practitioner must be familiar with the production and types of tea, with kimono, calligraphy, flower arranging, ceramics, incense and a wide range of other disciplines and traditional arts in addition to his or her school's tea practices, the study of tea ceremony takes many years and often lasts a lifetime. Even to participate as a guest in a formal tea ceremony requires knowledge of sado, including the prescribed gestures and phrases expected of guests, and the proper way to take tea and sweets, and general deportment in the tea room.

There are 8 varieties of Japanese tea. The most common are 6 classes:

Sen-cha (cha - tea in Japanese): the most typical type of Japanese green tea, covering 85% of the total. Collect only the pulp of tea leaves. The collection usually takes place in early summer. There is also an elite variety of the same Sep-cha, collected earlier, in which taste more tender, sweeter and less bitter. And he and the other tea after the steam treatment kneaded and dried. The more green tea, so it is better. Sen-cha must not contain a single stem. Only leaves, rolled in a thin tube. What they are smaller, so the quality is worse. They can be long, but should not be chopped.

Ban-cha is cooked the same recipe as the Saint-cha, but from the stems.

Hozhi-cha it roasted until its brown Sep-cha-cha or ban. It has a very strong aroma.

Genmay-cha - a mixture of hozhi-cha-cha or Sen-tha with rice, prepared under high pressure, and other aromatic grains. The peculiar flavor of roasted grains refreshing view of the tea. Its low content of the tea can use at any time for people of any age.

Gyokuro-cha - is the most expensive and high-quality tea. It is grown under special shelf-formed bars, to avoid a direct hit by the sun. After thermal treatment it is also mauled and dried, but among Gyokuro tea is handcrafted, which means that he myat human hands. This tea is drunk from small cups, because of its rich taste.

Mat-cha - as Gyokuro is made in the penumbra, but without rumping and ground with a powder. This type of tea used for tea ceremony.

"Finger pressure" - Shiatsu Massage

In the western world, the massage technique known as Shiatsu has come to be known by many names. Some of these names are barefoot shiatsu, namikoshi shiatsu, oha shiatsu, shiatsu-do, macrobiotic shiatsu and Zen shiatsu.  In this century Japanese therapists like Namikoshi and Masunaga, developed shiatsu into a professional therapy. They introduced shiatsu in Europe. At the moment shiatsu is becoming more and more known in Europe. That is not strange, because shiatsu is very effective and easy to apply.

Shiatsu is a Japanese massage technique that literally means "finger pressure": the word "shi" means "finger" while "atsu" means pressure. It is a massage technique that existed for over 2,000 years, and is actually a derivative of the ancient Chinese massaging and healing method of acupressure.

Just like acupressure – and acupuncture – it is believed in the practice of shiatsu that the body consists of 14 meridians, which each meridian corresponding to a major organ of the body. These 14 meridians serve as a channel through which energy or chi flows. An unhindered and balanced flow of chi in the body translates to good health.

In Shiatsu massage, the aim is to remove the obstacles that block the flow of energy through the meridians of the body. It also seeks to restore the balance in this flow of energy. The removal of these obstacles and the restoration of balance in the body are done by pressing the fingers – and at times the elbows, knees and feet – on the acupoints, also known as pressure points, along the meridians of the body. The shiatsu therapist also manipulates the areas adjacent to these pressure points to further stimulate the body’s capacity for healing and to enhance the feeling of wellness.

It is proven that pressing the acupoints in shiatsu helps in stimulating the release of endorphins and energizes the immune system, coaxing the body to fight against disease. Shiatsu can be used to address various health issues, from muscular pain to digestive pain and even emotional pain.
Shiatsu massage can be intense, and so it is not uncommon for patients to find themselves laughing or crying, wanting to shout out or be still, or display other emotions during the treatment. This is taken to be a sign that the energy flow within the body is being restored to the way it should be.

After a session of shiatsu massage, a client should feel a deep sense of calmness, relaxation and contentment. However, he or she should also expect to feel symptoms of cold and flu after the first couple of sessions; it is a side effect of shiatsu that is also taken to be a sign that the body is well on its way into mending.

Japanese Geisha...

Geisha (芸者 "person of the arts") are traditional Japanese artist-entertainers. Geisha were very common in the 18th and 19th centuries, and still exist today, although their numbers are dwindling. Geisha is the most familiar term to English speakers, and the most commonly used within Japan as well, but in the Kansai region the terms geigi and, for apprentice geisha, "Maiko" have also been used since the Meiji Restoration. The term maiko is only used in Kyoto districts. The English pronunciation or the phrase "geisha girl," common during the American occupation of Japan, carry connotations of prostitution, as some young women, desperate for money and calling themselves "geisha," sold themselves to American troops.

The first geisha were all male; as women began to take the role they were known as onna geisha (女芸者), or "woman artist". Geisha today are exclusively female, aside from the Taikomochi. Taikomochi are exceedingly rare. Only three are currently registered in Japan. They tend to be far more bawdy than geisha. Other public figures who contributed to the creation of the modern geisha were Oiran, or courtesans, and Odoriko, dancing girls. The Odoriko in particular influenced geisha to include dance as part of their artistic repertoire.

Geisha were traditionally trained from young childhood. Geisha houses often bought young girls from poor families, and took responsibility for raising and training them. During their childhood, apprentice geisha worked first as maids, then as assistants to the house's senior geisha as part of their training and to contribute to the costs of their upkeep and education. This long-held tradition of training still exists in Japan, where a student lives at the home of a master of some art. This training often lasts for many years.

The course of study traditionally starts from a young age and encompasses a wide variety of arts, including Japanese musical instruments (particularly the shamisen) and traditional forms of singing, traditional dance, tea ceremony, flower arranging (ikebana), poetry and literature. By watching and assisting senior geisha, they became skilled in the complex traditions surrounding selecting, matching, and wearing precious kimono, and in various games and the art of conversation, and also in dealing with clients.

Once a woman became an apprentice geisha (a maiko) she would begin to accompany senior geisha to the tea houses, parties and banquets that constitute a geisha's work environment. To some extent, this traditional method of training persists, though it is of necessity foreshortened. Modern geisha are no longer bought by or brought into geisha houses as children. Becoming a geisha is now entirely voluntary. Most geisha now begin their training in their late teens.