All about the Japanese culture.
Furoshiki (風呂敷), is a traditional cloth wrapping technique, used to transport clothes, gifts or bento; plenty of stuff really. Furoshiki come in various forms and designs and there are many ways of folding the cloth depending on the object that is wrapped.
Today, Furoshiki are mainly used to bring gifts, although they started as bath mats during the Edo Era. Pretty big change, right?
Let’s find out more!
Karuta refers to a variety of card games in Japan, in particular card matching games.
Karuta (かるた) comes from the Portuguese word carta, meaning card. Indeed, the Portuguese introduced card games to Japan during the 16th century. However most card games that were introduced at the time were replaced with purely Japanese ones, with cards bearing Japanese imagery.
Originally, the word Karuta referred to basically any card game, however today it mainly points toward card matching games, whose origins go way back.
In modern day Japan, a certain type of Karuta holds competitive matches and is, similarly to darts, considered as a sport due to its intensity.
Continue reading “Karuta かるた : the surprising features of Japanese card games”
Yama-Dera (山寺, lit. meaning « Mountain Temple ») is a Tendai Buddhist temple complex, located in Yamagata prefecture, built on a small mountain. Founded during the 9th century AD at the beginning of the Heian Era, by Buddhist monk Ennin, Yama-Dera offers a 1 000 steps climb, with exceptional scenery throughout the whole ascension allowing for an incredible experience.
« At the top awaits a feeling that you’ll never experience, unless you climb. »
« 登らなければ味わえない感動が、そこにあります。 »
It’s that kind of experience.
Let’s find out more about this temple’s history and what is has to offer!
Nakijin is a town of around 9 500 people on located on Okinawa’s main island.
Nakijin is said to be ぬーねんしが (nūnenshiga) which is Okinawa’s dialect for 何もないけど (nanimo nai kedo) meaning “there’s nothing but…”
In Nakijin there are no shopping malls, no family restaurants or big scale amusement installations. Only untouched traditional and natural scenery remains. “There’s nothing but we’re satisfied”, that’s Nakijin.
Continue reading “5 Beautiful places in Okinawa you MUST check out 沖縄穴場”
Kamishibai (紙芝居) is a form of Japanese street entertainment and theatrical performance. The name Kamishibai literally means “paper drama” (紙 kami, meaning “paper”, and 芝居 shibai meaning “play” or “drama”). The performers tell a dramatic story while showing drawings or paintings at the crowd. This type of show now is mostly oriented towards children. It was very popular during the early 20th century and until the 1950s.
