Japanese Traditons
"OBON"
Whatfs OBON?
OBON is one of the Japanese religious traditions.
What should we Japanese do at OBON? In general, we Japanese are likely to return home at this time
and prepare to welcome our families who've already left this world. What does it mean?
In our religion it is said that spirits go back to their homes at OBON.
So, we have to welcome them back in ways such as cleaning graveyards up ,lighting candles
and offering fruits,flowers on the altar.
When is the OBON? Usually it's from 13th to 15th of August.
We Japanese take a holiday during this time called e OBON YASUMIf.
eYasumi ' means e holidayf.
Some people gather with relatives at this time such as like the Chrismas holiday.
"KIMONO&YUKATA"
Nowadays we Japanese donft wear kimonos except for special occasions such as wedding ceremonies and funerals.
On the other hand, YUKATA is hot with young people and isn't only for elders.
Whatfs YUKATA and whatfs the difference between YUKATA and KIMONO?
YUKATA is much cheaper than real kimono and easy to put on.
KIMONO is a bit hard to put on.You need to learn how to put on a kimono and tie it up with OBI.
Or you have to ask someone to help you put on a kimono.
There are lots of ways to tie upa kimono with OBI.Whatfs OBI?
You can see OBI tied around the waist when wearing a kimono.
Meanwhile, lately we have simple OBI for YUKATA. Thatfs why YUKATA is still popular for younger persons.
They can easily put on YUKATA even though they would not know how to tie it up a KIMONO with OBI.
You should try them when you come over to Japan during the summer!
"REIGI"
What's 'REIGI'?
'REIGI' means 'courtesy' in English.
You may regard that Japanese are fond of politeness.
We have lots of ways of being polite.
Sometimes we could be funnily toooooo polite .
For example,We likely to bow not only at the beginning, but also at the end of a formal meeting or business.
Yes,commonly we donft kiss or hug either,we bow instead ofcourse!
Sometimes you could see Japanese funnily bow too much!!(lol)
Another example would be like this.
What would you say when you give a present to someone,especially elders?
"It is a very nice present for you. You should keep it" Stuff like that,right?
We Japanese never say that.Then, what should we say?
We say this "TSUMARANAI MONO DESUGA "
It sort of means e Itfs not so interesting or not so good f
Wouldnft that sound funnily? Yeah,I bed.
Ofcourse we don't use that expression in a normal situation though.
Itfs a very common,but super polite expression used by Japanese when in an official or formal situation.
Why? Because we take respecting others,especially elder people,for granted,
with a way of being modest ourselves.
"TSUMARANAI MONO DESU GA" means a negative expression though,
shows a way of being polite and respecting the others.
I would say that Japanese like to talk with modesty a lot!!