12.18.08
Posted in Culture, Japan, holidays at 3:40 pm by jflairhomestyles
The holiday season starts from the Thanksgiving day and the whole country gets decorated with beautiful Christmas decorations in the U.S.
In Japan, we didn’t traditionally celebrate Christmas. It was introduced about 450 years ago, but the concept didn’t really flourish until 1900 when one of Japanese grocery stores used it for a commercialized purpose. Not many people in Japan may know about the meaning of Christmas or how it started, and we spend Christmas as more like a giving gifts time.
Christmas is more important for a couple than a family in Japan. I don’t know why, but for some reason, it’s a HUGE deal to spend time with someone special on Christmas eve if you’re not married. Many restaurants are packed with couples for romantic meals on Christmas Eve.
As a child, I remember getting excited about a Christmas western dinner on Christmas Eve. A typical Christmas meal in Japan consisted of chickens and a white strawberry short cake. The recipe of a whole chicken was passed on from my mom’s American friends, and that has become our traditional Christmas dish in my family. Considering a typical Japanese meal is rice, miso soup, and fish, this western feast was something to look forward to for a year at least in my family.
Christmas is my favorite event in the U.S. The decorations, songs, and spirits make everyone happy. I still cook chicken for Christmas in my home in N.C to cherish my memories of my dearest family in Japan.
This year, I’ll get to share that special day and meals with some of Japanese friends who are away from their families in Japan.
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12.13.08
Posted in Culture at 3:59 pm by jflairhomestyles
We have some traditions in Japan that others may not understand, and one of them is Oseibo. Oseibo means giving gifts and Oseibo time is the end of year. People give gifts to thank their relatives, coworkers, or businesses for their relationships and show that you care about them. It’s almost like Christmas Cards that you send to your friends and coworkers, but in this case, it’s a gift that ranges $50-300 or so.
Things got very efficient over the years and people can just go to the Oseibo-section at a department store and pick gifts and have the store ship directly to those who live far away. If you live close by, you make a visit with a gift, which may be wrapped with furoshiki, and have some conversation over a cup of green tea. Typical gifts are gift cards, alchohol, ham, oil, jam, sweets, etc… It’s almost like Christmas gifts, but it’s not. You have to give Christmas gifts separately if you want. Oseibo is something that you should not skip if you want to keep the relationship with them. A Oseibo gift shows how important they are to you, so you have to be careful about selecting a gift.
We have another gift giving time in summer called Ochugen, and you’ll have to do the same thing all over again!
The more people you know, the more gifts you have to buy. I remember my grandmother was on top of all these stressful things. She used a brand new note book every Oseibo or Ochugen time to list what she sent, who she sent to, and what she received from who. I don’t know how much my grandparents spent, but it must have been a lot if you have to use a whole note book!
Because it was usually in the summer or the end of year when we visited them, we got to observe gift giving customs first hand and constantly heard the door bell ring during our visit. People bring their gifts and greet at the front door. You hear a lot of “Arigato gozaimasu” – thank you very much in Japanese. As a child, I always looked forward to visiting their home because they had TONS of stuff in a “gift room”. I would go to the room and pick a couple of things that I liked. If it was food, I could either get to eat as much as I could while I was there or I could bring it back home with me.
It may be that not many people like these customs because they can be stressful and people may feel obligated to give gifts, but as a child, I remember looking forward to it and enjoying it very much!
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12.12.08
Posted in Culture, Trend at 1:00 am by jflairhomestyles
We had some people over this past weekend for yummy Japanese meals. We had Temaki (hand roll) sushi, Okonomi-yaki (Japanese Pizza), Yakisoba (Grilled Noodles), sake and other goodies.
We prepared the main Japanese meal and people came over with various tasty dishes and drinks. It was very refreshing to see one of my Japanese friends show up with her dish wrapped in furoshiki. Because I am so used to see people coming over with paper bags or plastic grocery bags, it was nice to see someone actually using furoshiki. It was a simple design and a color, and all she did was to tie the four corners in the center. It looked elegant and looked like she had something special – yes indeed, she brought Mochi (rice cake) and Dango (smaller rice cake) to honor our dogs (we named our dogs after Japanese sweets!).
She brought back the furoshiki and I’m certain that she will reuse it for another party.
We hope that more people will be aware of the environment everyday and spread the use of eco-friendly items such as furoshiki to do something “green” .
Cheers!
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