ajks’ blog

Japan Traditions:

We have  5 seasonal  festivals  a  year. They began about 1000 years ago .These are special events  where  people celebrate the changing of the season and pray for happiness & good luck to  God.

I read in a book that in ancient Japan, people would go into a field or mountain to gather herbs and pray to God. These herbs would purify their bodies. There was also the belief that dolls possessed the power to contain bad spirits. This ancient Japanese custom is known as Hina-Nagashi or also known as Nagashibina. Straw hina dolls are put in a boat which will float down a river to the sea, taking troubles and bad spirits with them.

Now, the custom for March 3^rd is a festival for girls. The current belief is that the dolls will bring happiness and protect girls from evil spirits. The dolls are displayed in a room where you can pray to God on behalf of little girls for happiness, prosperity, and to ensure they grow up healthy and beautiful. Usually these ceremonial dolls are passed down from generation to generation.

Another custom is to display peach blossoms. which is an auspicious tree. In ancient times it was believed that the fruit would give one ageless youth and longevity. Peach blossoms are a very important decoration of this festival since nowadays, it symbolizes a happy marriage. The blossoms signify feminine traits of tranquility, composure and gentility.

I think this is simple but pretty festival that I hope will continue on for many generations. 

Note: Thank you to my friend, Noriko Mishima, for allowing me to post this here. This is part of her business website. Her family has a beautiful flower shop in Japan. This is the link for her shop: http://www6.ocn.ne.jp./~hana1187/index2.html  Once you click on that link, at the bottom, there's another link to click on and that will take you to see all the beautiful designs they have. Of course, my absolute favorite is the sakura bouquet.

I listened to Japanese children's songs when I was growing up. When my sons were babies, I had a record album with Japanese children's songs and played it for them all of the time. I had someone convert the record album to a cd for me and it brings back so many wonderful memories. I'm going to slowly share these songs with you.

Since it's evening time for me now, the first one that I'll share is appropriate.

(Don't forget to turn off the auto music player first)

Yuuyake Koyake

Yuuyake koyake de hi ga kurete
Yama no otera no kane ga naru
Otete tsunaide  mina kaerou

Karasu to issho ni kaerimashou
Kodomo ga kaette ato kara wa
Marui ookina otsukisama
Kotori ga yume o miru koro wa
Sora ni wa kirakira kin no hoshi

And here's my rough translation of the song:

Fiery Sunset

The day ends with a fiery sunset
The mountain temple’s bell rings
Let everyone go home, hand in hand
The crows go home together too

After the children returned home
Appeared the big, round moon.
While the baby birds dream,
In the sky the golden stars twinkle

From Saku:

The last of the pictures from the new magazines. Gosh it took a long time!!! Drum roll please.......presenting Arashi!

From Saku:

I found Toma in my new magazines. It seems that he's starting to gain popularity more and more.

From Saku:

Takki and Tsubasa magazine scans.

From Saku:

NEWS scans from the new magazines.

From Saku:

Here's scans from the new magazines that I got today.

From Saku:

Adding more K8 scans from new magazines that I picked up today. Enjoy!

EDIT: Adding two more forgotten photos 10/02/07