Posts tagged as “cultural artifacts”

By Saki Suyama

The Japanese first birthday celebration is unique. It is called “isshyou mochi.” On the first birthday,a baby is humped with a very big rice cake on her back and encouraged to stand up.

The rice cake is made from an isshyo of rice, which is about two liters of rice, so it is very heavy for a one-year old baby. Some babies and stand up others fall down by the weight of the rice cake.

Ishyou has double meanings: a volume of rice which is approximately two litters, and “as long as one lives.” Parents and grandparents make a wish so that their children will be able to eat rice as long as they live.

After the celebration, parents distribute the rice cake used in the event to their relatives. Proud parents let many people know that they have a healthy child in their family. This event symbolizes the love of parents, and I think we should continue to celebrate the festival in the future.

Photo by Saki Suyama

By Masato Kusakari                

Japanese families display enormous rice cakes called kagami-mochi, namely, mirror rice cake, during the New Year Holiday. The kagami-mochi is as large as a volleyball, but it is flat like a pie.

The kagami-mochi is a sacred food for Japanese. The New Year Holiday is for Japanese to welcome the god of the incoming year, and the god must be welcomed to their houses and entertained by the special rice cake.

The incoming year god is called Toshi-gami-sama, namely, Mr. God of the Year. The god visits everyone’s house on January 1, and after a few days the god leaves back to the mountain. Then people are allowed to eat the rice cake. People eat it on a certain day, which is called “the day to open the mirror.”

They believe the rice cake has special powers: they will not get sick and can avoid disasters by eating the mirror cake on the mirror opening day. To sum up, kagami-mochi represents traditional beliefs that have been passed from generation to generation.

Photo by Masato Kusakari

By Kotone Muraki

Osechi a dish that can be eaten during the New Year in Japan. There are 20 to 30 types of side dishes in osechi. I think osechi is a gift from ancestors who have wished for good health. The reason is that each side dish in the osechi has its own meaning.

For example, shrimp symbolizes longevity because a shrimp is bent, which is similar to the back of an old man who lives long until the waist is bent. Black beans have the meaning that they work hard until they get a black tan. In addition to this, osechi also has wonderful meaning that each side dish can be healthy for one year this year.

Also, osechi has a very long history of 1000 years. These are inherited from the generations of ancestors. Therefore, osechi is a present from forefather who is connected to the past and the future.

Photo by Kotone Muraki

By Ryuya Nozaki

This is a calligraphy set which I used when I was an elementary school child. In this bag, there are brushes, ink, paper wait, pieces of thin paper, and felt mat. This smells like the ink that reminds me of my calligraphy experiences.

Calligraphy was brought to Japan from China in the 11^th century and Japanese started to learn how to write. Since then calligraphy has been an important subject of education. Japanese children take calligraphy lessons in elementary school and junior high school as a required subject.

Currently Japanese do not use brushes and ink for regular writing, but letters drawn by a brush has special meanings. For example, Japanese perform kakizome, the first writing of the year, to show their new year resolutions on long sheets of paper in January.

Such letters are displayed on the wall because Japanese feel something spiritual in the brush drown letters. There are so-called a shodo performance, an exhibition where writers wearing white kimono and traditional black trousers draw powerful letters using an enormous brush on a sheet as big as a carpet, among calligraphy clubs at high schools.

The audience enjoy watching the exciting process of brush-drawn lines and dots turning to something spiritual. I am glad I took calligraphy lessons because I am able to admire the beauty of calligraphy.

Photo by Ryuya Nozaki

By Tatsuya Hironaka

Tourists who travel in rural areas of Japan in May can watch colorful fish-shaped objects fluttering in the wind. They are called koi-no-bori, namely, carps climbing upstream.

The fish objects are carps because carps are considered strong and beautiful fish in Japan. The carp streamers are a symbol of the ideal Japanese family. There are usually more than three fabric carps displayed, symbolizing the nuclear family.

The set should have the biggest one, the second biggest and the smallest. The biggest one on the top, usually painted in dark colors, represents the father. The size is usually seven meters long. The second one painted red, represents the mother, whose size is about five meters long.

The smallest one shows the child, whose size is about three meters long. If a family has more children, they should add the number of the small one. Since they are enormous, it is rare for families living in cites show off traditional carp streamers, but they hang smaller sets made of paper in their balconies, hoping that their children will grow up healthy and strong just like the carp streamers.

Photo by “Apr09(2009-04-30)308” by giu205 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0