By

Su Dan
Class Two
Japanese New Year
Januar y 1st t o 3r d ar e
shouga ts u (New Y ear's
holiday s 岁首，正月 ) in Japan.
T hes e ar e th e mo st impor tant
holiday s in J apan. P eople say
to eac h other "a ke-mashite-
omedet ou-go zaimas u" ( Ha pp y
new y ear ) w henever t hey s ee
at the fir st t ime in the new
 Osec hi Ry ouri
( ぉ節 料理 - 年节菜料理 )
1. Japanese people eat special
dishes called osechi ryouri( ぉ節料
理 - 年节菜料理 ) during shogatsu( 岁
首 ).
2. Osechi ryouri( ぉ節料理 - 年节菜料
理 ) is packed in a Jubako box( 食
盒 ), which has several layers.
3.The foods are colorful and
artistically presented. Each dish
Jubako box
 Mochi& Zouni
4. It is also traditional to eat mochi
(rice cake 年糕 ) dishes on New Year‘s
Days. Zouni (rice cake soup 烩年糕 ) is
the most popular mochi( 年糕 ) dish at
this time. The ingredients( 成分 ) vary
depending on regions and families. If
you are lucky, you can taste many
different zouni( 烩年糕 ). Zouni( 烩年糕 )
is usually soy-sauce based with
pieces of chicken, chinese cabbage,
carrot, green onion, and daikon( 萝卜 )
radishes .
 Hatsumoude
It is traditional for Japanese people to visit to a
shrine( 神社 ) or a temple during New Year's Days.
People pray for safety, health and good fortune. The first
visit to a temple or shrine in a year is called
Hatsumoude( 第一次 去神社 参拜 going to shrines to
pray). It is not a very religious event but rather a
custom. You can go any shrine( 神社 ) or temple near
you for Hatsumoude( 去神 庙祭拜 ). Many well-known
temples and shrines are extremely crowded. For
example, Tokyo Meiji Jinguu( 东京明 治神宫 ),
Kanagawa( 神奈川 县 ) Kawasaki( 川崎 ) Taisya( 大
社 ), Chiba Naritasan( 千叶县 成田山 新胜 寺 ), Nagoya
Atsuta Jinguu( 名古 屋热田 神宫 ) are very popular and
expected by a couple million visitors during New Year's
Days each year.
 Kanagawa Kawasaki Taisya
Tokyo Meiji Jinguu
Chiba Naritasan

Nagoya Atsuta Jinguu

 Since mos t bu siness es ar e cl osed
duri ng th e fi rst th ree d ays of the
year , the str eets t end t o be quiet
exce pt fo r th ose ne ar sh rine s and
temp les. Nowa days, it is com mon fo r
many depa rtme nt sto res t o ho ld New
Year 's sp ecia l sale s at this time.
So, you s ee m any sh opper s in the
stre et to o. S ome pr oduct s ar e
disc ounte d a lot, s o it migh t be
wort h it to c heck t he pr ices out i f
 Coming-of-Age Day (Seijin no hi)
1. The second Monday of January is
Coming-of-Age Day, a national holiday to
encourage those who have newly entered
adulthood to become self-reliant( 独立的 )
members of society.
2. The holiday used to be on January 15, but
in 2000 it was moved to the second Monday
of the month. Municipal governments host
special coming-of-age ceremonies for 20-
year-olds, since an "adult" in Japan is
legally defined as one who is 20 or over.
3. Gain the right to vote
4. Allowed to smoke and drink
5. Age 20 is a big turning point
for the Japanese
 Ceremonies
In the past boys marked their transition
to adulthood when they were around
15, and girls celebrated their coming of
age when they turned 13 or so. During
the Edo period （江户时代） (1603-
1868), boys had their forelocks( 额发 )
cropped off, and girls had their teeth
dyed( 染 ) black. It wasn't until 1876
that 20 became the legal age of
 Wearing
 A lot of females
choose to wear
traditional
furisode （振袖
，状似和服的长
袖）
 Sapporo( 札幌 ) Snow Festival
 The annual Sapporo( 札幌 ) Snow Festival is the most
famous winter festival in Japan and attracts many
people from all over the world. This festival is held in
early February and lasts about a week. More than 300
large snow statues are exhibited in three sites in
Sapporo-city, Hokkaido( 北海道省 ): Odori Park( 大通
公园 ), Makomanai(真駒內)and Susukino(薄野) areas.
At night those ice statues are illuminated( 照亮 ), and
the views are incredible. You can view beautiful
Sapporo( 札幌 ) Snow Festival photos.
 Sapporo-city( 札幌 ) is the capital of Hokkaido
prefecture( 北海道省 ), and the population is about
1.75 million. It is located in the south of Hokkaido
island( 北海道岛 ).
Odori Park
Makomanai and Susukino
 Girls' Festival in Japan
 March 3rd is Girls' Festival in Japan.
 Not an official holiday
 Pray girls’ health and happiness
 People display Hina-ningyou (the special
dolls which are only for this festival), offer
hishi-mochi (red, white, and green
lozenge-shaped 菱形 rice cakes) and
peach blossoms and celebrate the festival
with drinking shiro-zake (sweet white
sake).
 King and Queen dolls that
were called Hina( 小偶人 )
dolls, and these dolls were
displayed for only two or
three days every year.
Full set of Dolls
Small set with palace
Emperor and Empress
•Hinamatsuri was mostly
celebrated in cities, but
after the Meiji Era, 1868-
1912, when hina-ningyou
were merchandized( 商品 ),
this custom became
widespread across the
whole country and became
the main event of the
 Hina-okuri
• people float paper dolls down rivers
late on the afternoon of March 3, still
exists in various areas
• Originally, the paper dolls were made
to represent each person and all the
ill-fortunes that might visit that
person in the coming year were
wished onto the doll.
• Then the doll was sent away on the
•Mother made special dishes.
•Friends who were girls and
the daughter sang a song, ate
wonderful dishes, and drank a
weak sake( 清酒 ) drink that
was called sweety alcohol.
•Father always presented for
she a lot of flowers.
•Not need to do homework!!
 Japanese Plum Festivals
梅花节

February is the best time for

viewing plum blossoms in the
Honshu( 本州 ) region, Japan.
Take a walk in your
neighborhood to view the pretty
plum blossoms!
Also, visit plum blossom
festivals held at this time of the
year.
 Atami Plum Garden (Atami Baien 热海 梅园
)
Atami baien is located in Atami-city 热海 , Shizuoka(
静冈 ) Pref. Atami baien is 15min. by bus from Atami
station. To get to Atami station, take the JR Tokaido
东海道 新干线 line train or Tokaido Shinkansen( 新干
线 ). It takes about one hour if you take shinkansen
from Tokyo and about two hours from Osaka( 大阪 ).
From Atami station, take the bus for Aino-hara-
Danchi or for Baien( 梅园 ) to Baien-mae stop. There
are about 800 plum trees in the garden and they are
usually in full bloom until the end of March. There
will be also various events on Saturdays and
Sundays during this festival.
Mito Kairakuen Plum Festival
Kairakuen Park is located in Mito-city( 水
戸市 ), Ibaraki( 茨城 ) Pref. From late
February to early March each year, the
Plum Festival is held. Kairakuen Park is
one of the three great parks of Japan: the
other two are Kenrokuen Park in
Kanazawa and Korakuen Park in
Okayama( 冈山 ). The ninth Mito Clan( 氏
族 ) Lord, Nariaki Tokugawa( 水户 藩第 9
代藩主 德川齐 昭 ) created this park in
1841. This 13-hectare park has 3,000
plum trees of 100 varieties, so you can
view pink and white blossoms all over.
Mito is just north of Tokyo. It takes about
one hour by the JR Joban line express
train to Mito from Ueno( 上野 ), Tokyo.
 Ceremony of Water and
 The ceremony of Fire
water and fire in Nara
Todaiji temple( 奈良东大寺 ) is called
shunie ceremony, which is also known as
Omizutori ( お水取り , "water. taking").
 Todaiji temple is well known for hosting
Japan‘s largest Buddha statue. Shunie
means the ceremony of February in
Japanese and is the series of Buddhist
rituals, in which priests pray to the
eleven-headed goddess Kannon( 观音 ) by
confessing( 忏悔 ) their sins and
defilement. The ceremony is held at
nigatsudo hall( 二月堂 ). Eleven priests,
called rengyoshu, pray for nation's
prosperity and world peace by
 Shunie ceremony is held from March 1st
to 14th (it's in February in the lunar( 月亮 )
calendar) every year at Todaiji temple,
Nara.
 Two o'clock in the morning of the 13th of
March.
 The priests, led by torchlight, scoop up
perfumed water from the Wakasa Well
located below Nigatsudo.
 This water is given to the people and
offered to the eleven-faced Kannon-image
at Nigatsudo hall.
 The sacred water is poured into two pots.
One pot is filled with water from the
previous year. The other one is filled with
water from the past rituals from 1,200
years!
 Ceremony of Fire
This is called otaimatsu.
Visit Nigatsudo hall（二月堂）
to observe the first watch of
the night between 6pm-7pm
to view this ceremony.
 On the 12th, 11 priests carry 11 torches(
火把 ) to the balcony instead of 10 priests.
This ritual is called dattan, and the
priests, with big torches in their hands,
run through the balcony. They perform
hashirinogyoho (the ritual of
circumambulation), chanting( 圣歌 ), as
they wave rods and swords to ward off
evil spirits. Their huge shadows can be
seen on the wall behind a veil( 面纱 ).
When the priests are revealed, they run,
swinging their torches. You will see
showers of flickering light and sparks
from the burning torches. It's believed
that if a child wears a dattan hat, which
was used for the dattan ritual, he or she
will grow up healthly and have a happy
 Cherry Blossom Viewing in
Japan （樱花节）
• Cherry blossom viewing has been a
Japanese custom since the 7th century
.
• drink, eat, and sing during the day and
night
• Dango is very popular .
• There are cherry trees everywhere in
Japan.
• the national flower of Japan
• The Japanese cherry tree does
not yield fruit like other cherry
trees.
• Spring cherry blossom (sakura 樱
花 ) viewing parties last from late
March to April to late May.
• In Tokyo, Ueno( 上野 ) park and
Yoyoki park( 代代木公园 ) are very
popular places for cherry blossom
viewing.
• If you do not like a crowd, you can
go to mountains or other quiet
places for cherry blossom viewing.
 Boys' Festival
 Tango-no-Sekku( 端
午の节句 ), the
Boys' Festival .
 It is Japan's way of
celebrating the
healthy growth and
development of her
young boys.
nearly
everywhere
huge, gay-
colored Koi-
Nobori( 鲤形条
幅 ), carp-like ( 鲤
鱼形 ) streamers
made of paper or
cloth, which fill
with wind and
 the most spirited of fish
 So full of energy and power that it
can fight its way up swift-running(
快速流 动 ) streams and cascades(
小瀑布 ). Because of its strength
and determination to overcome
all obstacles( 障碍 ), it stands for
courage and the ability to attain
high goals. The carp is an
appropriate symbol to encourage
manliness( 刚毅 ) and the
overcoming of life's difficulties
leading to consequent success.
 The Origin Of Boys’ Festival

 some historians trace it to an ancient

rural Chinese custom (Sechie), in
which the royals guards wore
ceremonial helmets and carried bows
and arrows, which became popular at
the Japanese court during the days of
the Empress Regnant Suiko (593-629
A.D.).
 One legend relates that the festival is a
branch of a custom practiced by farmers
in May, the time when insects begin to
appear to harm the young plants.
 The farmers tried to drive the insects
away by frightening them with bright
banners and grotesque( 奇形怪状的 )
figures.
 As the Musha-Ningyo (warrior dolls 勇士娃
娃 ) became more artistic, they were
gradually displayed indoors, not to scare
away insects but to remind the young
boys of the family of manliness and to
ward off evil spirits.
 Another legend traces the origin of the Boys'
Festival to Tokimune Hojo( 北条时宗 )'s
victory over the invading Mongols on May 5,
1282. As a result, Samurai( 武士 ) families
erected( 使竖立 ) the flags and streamers in
celebration of the victory.
 Others believe that the unification( 统一 ) of
the country by the Ashikaga Shogun( 足利将
军 ) in the 14th century had been celebrated
in this fashion on every May 5 until the interior
decorations came to be emphasized.
 Inthe modern
observance of
Tango-no-Sekku,
a display is
arranged in the
tokonoma( 壁龛 ),
or alcove( 壁橱 ),
in the guest
rooms of
Japanese
 Among the decorations are
a miniature helmet( 微型盔
甲 ), suits of armor( 装甲 ),
a sword, a bow and arrow,
silk banners( 旗帜 )
bearing the family crest( 家
徽 ) and the warrior dolls
which represent Kintaro(
金太郎 ), a Herculean( 巨大
的 ) boy who grew up to be
a general; Shoki( 钟馗 ), an
ancient Chinese general
believed to protect people
from devils; and
Momotaro( 桃太郎 ), the
Japanese David the Giant
killer
Their parents provide them with
the traditional cates such as
Chimaki (sweet rice dumplings
wrapped in iris or bamboo leaves
粽子 ) and Kashiwa-Mochi (rice
cakes containing sweet stuffing
wrapped in oak leaves 用檞树叶包
的带馅儿的年糕 ).
 Shobu ( 菖蒲 )
 The iris leaf is prominent in the observance of
Tango-no-Sekku because the sound of the
word Shobu( 菖蒲 ), although written with
different characters, implies striving( 努力 ) for
success.
 On May 5, the Japanese steep( 浸泡 ) the
leaves in hot water and enjoy the fragrant( 芳香
的 ) Shobu-yu (iris hot-bath 菖蒲浴 ) because of
the traditional belief that the iris bath is a
miraculous prophylactic ( 预防药 )against all
kinds of sickness.
 Also for the festival, finely-chopped iris
leaves are mixed with Sake( 清酒 ) to
produce a drink (Shobu-sake 菖蒲酒 )
especially enjoyed by the Samurai( 武
士 ) of old.
 people still observe the custom of
putting iris leaves on the eaves( 屋檐 )
of their houses on May 5 as a talisman(
护身符 ) against the possible outbreak
of a fire or presence of evil spirits.
 Aomori Nebuta Festival
( 青森睡 魔节 )
• It's held from Aug. 2 to Aug. 7
every year. Over 20 nebuta floats
are pulled by people in the streets
of Aomori( 青森 )-city. Also,Aomori(
青森 ) citizens and audience
participate in the festival as
dancers called haneto( 跳人 ).
• Practiced in Tohoku region( 东北地区 )
• It is a variation( 变化 ) of the
purification( 净化 ) ceremony which
consists to flow away paper lanterns(
纸灯笼 ) with everything evil by
waters.
• Before Meiji era, they might be at
most carried with hands or on
shoulders.
• After the war, as a tourist
attraction, their size has increased
more and finally they are no more
carried on shoulders.
 How To Make A Nabuta
Float
1.Designing
Getting materials from
historical story, designer
starts drawing laugh design
by pencil and then colors up.
Nebuta designer takes most
time for this stage.
2.BuildingNebuta
Tent
Building Nebuta
tents for making
and containing
Nebuta. Its size
becomes 12m width,
12m depth, 6m to
7m hight.
3.Parts Production
Making parts ( "face" " hands"
"legs" "knife" " spear" etc,) as
previously arranged. If the
rough drawing is finishied
earlier, these parts are
prepared before the tent is
built.
4.Framing
Making wooden frame in
order to paste Japanese
paper( 和纸 ) with wires and
strings. (Before around
1955, bamboo is used
instead of wires.)
5.Electric Wiring
Electric bulbs and
fluorescent lamps (600 to
800 pieces 荧光灯 ) are
used inside Nebuta,
though candles are used in
old days.
6.Paper Pasting
Pasting paper, lest it runs
off the edge. It is the most
difficult process of Nebuta
production.
• 7. Drawing (Sumi Ink)
Drawing with Sumi
Ink. 书法和绘 画用 的烟灰 墨块
 8.Drawing (Braze)
Patterning with colored braze.

It also prevents from blotting(

吸墨水纸 ).
9.Painting
Painting with colorant( 着色
剂 ).
10.Placing
Placing Nebuta on the 2m
height base by 50 people.
Nebuta hight becomes 5m
altogether.
 Tanabata Japanese Star
Festival( 乞巧节 )
► July 7th is called Tanabata( 七夕 ) in
Japan.
► People write their wishes on tanzaku
paper (colorful, small strips of
paper) and hang them on bamboo
branches.
► Many cities and towns hold festivals
and have Tanabata displays
decorating the main streets.
► In some regions, people light
►The most common
Tanabata( 七夕 )
decorations are colorful
streamers.
►Other common
decorations are Toami
(casting net 钓竿儿 ) .
►Kinchaku (bag 旅行箱 )
 The Origin Of
Tanabata
►Tanabata originated
more than 2000 years
ago with an old
Chinese tale called
Kikkoden( 七仙女 ).
► Once there was a weaver princess named
Orihime( 织女 ) and a cow herder prince
named Hikoboshi( 牛郎 ) living in space.
After they got together, they were playing
all the time and forgot their jobs. The king
was angry at them and separated them
on opposite sides of the Amanogawa
River( 银河 ) (Milky Way). The king allowed
them to meet only once a year on July
7th. This is why Tanabata( 七夕 ) is also
called the Star Festival. People say that
Orihime( 织女 ) and Hikoboshi( 牛郎 ) can't
meet each other if July 7th is rainy, so
they pray for good weather and also
► In many regions in Japan,
Tanabata( 七夕 ) is celebrated
on August 7th (which is near
July 7th on the lunar calendar)
instead of July 7th.
► Tanabata( 七夕 ) events are
held all over Japan, but the
festivals in Sendai-city( 仙台
市 ), Miyagi( 宫崎 ) Prefecture
and Hiratsuka-city( 平冢市 ),
Kanagawa( 神奈川县 )
Prefecture are particularly
well-known.
 Obon Festival( 盂兰盆 节 )
 The 13th through 16th of
August is called obon( 盂兰
盆节 ) in Japan.
 Obon( 盂兰盆节 ) is a
Buddhist event and one of
the most important traditions
for Japanese people.
 Pray for the repose( 休息 ) of
the souls of one's ancestors(
祖先 ) .
 People believe that their
ancestors( 祖先 ) ' spirits
come back to their homes to
be reunited with their family
during obon( 盂兰盆 节 ).
 People clean their houses and
offer a variety of food such as
vegetables and fruits to the
spirits of ancestors in front of a
butsudan (Buddhist families altar
祭坛 ). The butsudan is
decorated with flower and
chouchin (paper lanterns). On
the 13th, chouchins are lit inside
houses, and people go to their
family's ohaka (graves) to call
their ancestors' spirits back
 On the 16th, people
bring the ancestor's
spirits back to
ohaka(graves),
hanging chouchins
(paper lanterns)
painted with the family
crest to guide the
ancestors'( 祖先 )
spirits.
 In some regions, fires
called mukaebi( 迎火 ) are
lit at the entrances to
homes to guide the
ancestor's spirits.
 In some regions, fires
called okuribi( 送火 ) are
lit at entrances of homes
to send the ancestors'
spirits.