Japan isn’t a very religious holiday but one holiday they do
have is called Hatsumōde.
It is between December 29
and January 3 every year. In between those days every person in the country is
usually off work. Families visit, the house is cleaned and debts are also paid.
Then everyone goes and visits shrines around the country. Some shrines and
temples have millions of visitors over just those three days. The families all
spend time together and enjoy sake, which is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made
from fermented rice. The holiday also centers around a written oracle called
omikuji. It can predict good or bad luck and then it also tells you how your
year will be. It is very detailed and tells you about your love life and also
strategies for your business. People bring their old oracles from last year and
burn them at the shrine. Since sake is such a huge part of Japense holidays,
and Japanese culture in general. I am going to attach a link at the end of this
on how to make sake. It isn’t something
you make in the kitchen easily but it’s a fun recipe for any body who loves to
make beer! Sake is wildly popular in Japan and that is another Japanese food
that has made its way to America and become popular here as well. It is often
used at celebrations and holidays but now in America most people just drink it
at any Japanese restaurant.
Recipe: http://homebrewsake.com/home/recipe/
picture of sake
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatsum%C5%8Dde
Grace I really enjoyed reading about the Japanese holiday. After reading what you had to say I never knew that they didn't celebrate any religious holidays. It was net to read how they celebrate different holidays such as like you said about Hatsumode. Seems to me that family is very important to them! Over I learned a lot about how they celebrate compared to how we celebrate here in the United States.
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting to read about Japanese culture. I never knew that the Japanese get a weeklong vacation from work to celebrate Hatsumode because their aren't any holidays like it in the U.S. I found it surprising that the Japanese are not very religious, but they still maintain spirituality.
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