Valentine’s Day in Japan
Japan has a different tradition than other countries. Valentine’s Day in Japan is a day when women give chocolates to men and, women can declare their love only on Valentine’s Day.
From the beginning of February till Valentine’s Day, department stores and chocolate shops are stocked with chocolates and flooded with female shoppers. It was said that Japanese chocolate companies started as a marketing promotion to sell them.
So, they are sold the most of the sales of the year on the day. This picture was taken at a department store at Futako Tamagawa in Japan. This year, I found a chocolate with Japanese sake.
It was customary that only women gave chocolate to men they like. The chocolate for their special guy are called “honmei -choco” or a chocolate for her sweetheart.
But, now days, women give chocolates to the men that she doesn’t feel special love for. These chocolates are called “giri –choco” or an obligation chocolate. These are usually reserved for co-workers and bosses. The honmei –choco which could be handmade is more expensive than giri-choco. Also, “gohoubi-choco” or little treat for yourself is getting popular too.
There is “White Day” which men have their chance to return the favor one month later on March 14th.
NHK
NHK, the national broadcasting organization in Japan, has started a public experiment of providing easy-to-understand news website since April, 2012. It is targeted for Japanese grade school students and foreigners living in Japan with basic Japanese speaking skills.
The scripts are provided in simple sentences with audio. All scripts can be read if you know how to read hiragana and katakana, Japanese phonetic characters.
Yeah, try this out! NHK News Web Easy.
“Shimi-Tofu” – Freeze dried Tofu
During this time of year, brown things are hung under eaves in Shinshuu in Japan.
They are called “shimi dofu” or freeze-dried bean curd and are used as preserved foods in this area. Also, they are known as “koya dofu” throughout Japan.
However, their preparation methods are different. Shimi dofu is dry naturally; frozen at night and defrost during daytime while koya dofu is not dried naturally; frozen and aged for ten days, then roasted over the fire.
Shinshuu’s template best suited for making shimi dofu. In Shinshuu, it heats up by as much as 8 degrees Celsius and drops to 10 degrees Celsius below freezing. This picture shows that they are not dried yet. After one week or ten days later, you can eat and enjoy them.
Snow Festival in Sapporo
“Sapporo Snow Festival” in Hokkaido is known around the world.
The 64th Sapporo Snow Festival is taking place in Sapporo, Hokkaido prefecture from February 5th to the 11th. During the festival, 216 massive snow and ice sculptures which are modeled on popular cartoon characters for the year or famous landmarks from around the world are displayed on the main street. Around 3,500 five-ton truckloads of snow was used at this event. Making a single ice sculpture, it takes one to two weeks and 100 people.
This festival is a popular annual winter event in Japan and attarcts about two million people visiters from all over the world every year. The sculptures are illuminated by various colors and transformed into fantastic forms in the evening.
It is the first time experience for many of them to be outside with the temperature which going down to minus 3 degrees Celsius. So, without measures against cold, you cannot survive there. Instead of enjoying it, you would be an ice sculpture. They will come to watch you.
Bessho Onsen – 3
The reason why Bessho Onsen became very popular is a public bath used to be very popular. There are still three public baths and popular at Bessho Onsen, and they are “Ooyu,” “Daishiyu,” and “Ishiyu”.Ooyu” “Daishiyu ”and“ Ishiyu” connected with Kiso Yoshinaka, Dishiyu, Jikakudaishi, and Sanada Yukimura, respectively.
Recently, a footbath or hot-spring for soaking your feet has become very popular. There are two footbaths at Bessho Onsen. The best part of these is free for everyone.
It is not a big hot spring place, but when you step into the place, you will feel the nostalgia of an old-time public bath. This public bathhouse will take you back to the good old days of Japan.