 New Year
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Rice cake for the god
This is the rice cake to offer up to the god. Of course the god is not the God of Christianities. Generally speaking the Japanese have a lot of gods or spirits.
This rice cake is a disk-type and is called "KAGAMI-MOCHI".
"KAGAMI" is a mirror and "MOCHI" is rice cake. Rice cake like a mirror.
 Rice cake is paste of a certain kind of rice which is a little different from the kind of rice Japanese people usually have. It is more stickier. The adults gather the children to the event of making rice cake and show the old way of it. That is to beat rice again and again in a millstone with a mallet, just like the way the hare is doing. The Japanese in the past thought with looking at the pattern of the moon, "a hare is making rice cake at the moon".
But nowadays rice cake also is almost made with the machines. What has become of the hare?
Lost his job?
A tangerine is put on the rice cake. It is an ornament. Other ornaments are sometimes set, too.
This custom has been still going on commonly. |
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New Year's decoration pines
The New Year's decoration pines are installed in the new year on both sides of the gate at the house as the ornament to welcome the god to the house. The people thought that the god who came from the heaven dwelt in the decoration pines.
This is called "KADO-MATSU" in Japanese. "KADO" is the gate and "MATSU" is the pine.
Now, this is established at the mansion where there is a gate or at the company is. At the general house, it isn't too much established.
Usually, the three bamboos are used for the center of the New Year's decoration pines.
The circumference of the bamboo is filled with the leaf of the pine.
The picture on the left is doing the ornament with true red growing plant in the winter which is called "NANTEN". |
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Sacred straw rope
The sacred straw rope is placed on the gate as the road where the god enters the house.
This is called "SHIME-NAWA". "SHIME" is to strangle and "NAWA" is the rope.
It sets up the sacred straw rope as the holy place and the mark to greet the god and that the affliction and the bogy were made not to be able to enter begins.
The staple food of the Japanese is the rice. The sacred straw rope is made with the stem of the rice. The people prayed to the god for a lot of rice to be able to be harvested.
Now, it is used as the ornament.
The picture on the left makes the part of the rope circular. It is decorating the rope with the red and white paper, the orange, the lobster, the leaf and so on.
It is placed on the gate at the house and so on at present. |
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Lion dance
This is the dance of the lion which causes the happiness.
This is called "SHISHI-MAI". "SHISHI" is the lion and "MAI" is the dance.
The lion dance was adopted from China as the religious entertainment to calm down by suppressing the evil spirit and to make of the enemy be awed.
The green part is made of the cloth, and the person goes in and dances.
The mouth of the lion can open mainly, the adults put the head of the child in the mouth of the lion and sometimes astonish.
At present, "the lion dance" became not able to be too much seen. |
| Eve of the beginning of spring |
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A bean-throwing ceremony
In the four seasons in Japan, the change is being cleared.
In the change into the spring from the winter, it is different from the change of the other seasons and the people do the special event.
The day, it is called the eve of the beginning of spring.
The day when the event is done, it depends on the year. It is done around February the 3rd.
The present calender beginning of February is the season of the winter but the event is due to the lunar calender.
In Japanese, it is called "SETU-BUN". "SETU" is the season and "BUN" is to divide.
The people scatter the soybean while they cry for "ONI WA SOTO, HUKU WA UTI" the day of the eve of the beginning of spring.
"ONI" is the bogle and "SOTO" is the outside.
"HUKU" is to be happy and "UTI" is the inside.
The meaning is "the bogle come out outside ! letting the happiness in the house !".
"Because the season changes rapidly, let's be careful of the body".
It uses the soybean for the bean. The soybean is the bean which is good for the body which has a lot of nutrition.
This custom has been still going on commonly.
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