The cherry blossom season is nearly over in Tokyo. Below is the picture of cherry blossoms last week:
The Sakura Zensen (cherry blossom front) is now moving to north, the Tohoku region. Cherry blossoms are cherrying up Japanese. Nature is harsh, but it is also nice to us. Enjoy the picture of sakura!
April 18 2011 | Life and Weekly Articles | Comments Off
We have seen devastating photos of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan over the past weeks. But, we need to cheer ourselves up!
Sakura, cherry blossoms start blooming overcoming very cold winter. (It was really cold.)
The full bloom is coming. I will post the full bloom soon!
April 04 2011 | Life and Weekly Articles | Comments Off
Today, February 14 is Saint Valentine’s Day. According to American Catholic, St. Valentine’s Day is ”the day dedicated to love, which has its roots in ancient Rome and on which the Church recalls a martyred saint.”
It is ”Chocolate Day” in Japan
In Japan, however, St. Valentine’s Day is the day for women to give chocolates to others. There is a tradition (created by chocolate manufacturers and sellers) that women give chocolates to men on that day. Originally, it was intended that women give chocolate gifts to men whom they have special feelings. Over the years, the definition of St. Valentine’s Day chocolates have been extended. Women give giri choco (meaning, “duty” chocolate gifts) to their male co-workers or bosses in the workplace while they give honmei choco (meaning, “true feeling” chocolate gifts”) to men whom they have romantic feelings.
Chocolates are not just for men any more
Receivers of the chocolate gifts are not limited to men in recent years. Women give tomo choco (meaning, chocolate gifts for friends) to their girl friends to thank for the friendship. There are also women who buy jibun choco (meaning, “my” chocolates) for their treats.
A good excuse to buy gourmet chocolates
What make St. Valentine’s Day chocolates so special in Japan? It is a good excuse for women, especially those who have been cutting back on their spending, to buy expensive grourmet chocolates for their special people and for themselves. Just once a year. Not a big deal.
It is not a man but chocolates that successfully capture a Japanese woman’s heart on St. Valentine’s Day. I wonder how many men feel jealous of chocolates…
February 14 2011 | Culture and Life and Weekly Articles | Comments Off
Cherry blossoms cheer people up. Let’s get “Genki”!
April 01 2009 | Life and Weekly Articles | No Comments »
Happy New Year to everyone.
Noriko
January 02 2009 | Life and Weekly Articles | 1 Comment »
Eating good food is one of the joys of living. Good food satisfies our appetite and makes us feel happy. Eating fine foods is a joy for many Japanese. Some Japanese go to Napoli to taste real Napoli pizza; others go to Okinawa to enjoy goya champuru (bitter gourd), a famous Okinawa cuisine.
How can we maintain the joy of eating easily when recent oil price surges have affected our spending and lifestyle? With only 1,000 yen in one’s pocket, there are still many ways of getting good food, satisfying our appetite, and making us feeling happy.
August 16 2008 | Clothing, Food and Housing and Economy and Health Care and Life and Research and Technology and Weekly Articles | No Comments »
Our attention has been grabbed by the recent indiscriminate murder cases in Akihabara and Hachioji in Tokyo because the criminals were temporary staff.
Temporary Workers on the Increase
I know that there are many temporary workers, but I did not know how rapidly the number of temporary workers had increased over the past decade. According to the Statistics Bureau, the number of temporary workers was just 87,000 in 1987. That number reached 3.31 million in 2006. It can be said that ‘Haken’ (employing temporary staff) has become a common employment practice, taking over the traditional system of lifetime employment.
August 09 2008 | Life and Weekly Articles | No Comments »
