Stuff that happened in the past.
神奈川沖浪裏
Beautiful, isn’t it ?
This art work by 葛飾北斎 (Katsushika Hokusai), called 神奈川沖浪裏 (Kanagawa-oki nami ura; Eng: The Great Wave off Kanagawa), is one of, if not the most famous paintings of Ukiyo-e style.
But what exactly is Ukiyo-e? Where did it come from?
And what makes those paintings so special ?
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!
「鬼は外！福は内！」”Demons outside! Fortune inside!”
Throws beans at a monster, achieving weirdly satisfying results.
And thus spring begins!
