Maneki-Neko Day
“Kuru fuku” means “a coming good fortune”, and this is what people hope for from a maneki-neko. Since Japanese people associate the …
お月見 – Otsukimi 2018
Traditionally Otsukimi or the moon-viewing event is held on August 15th based on the old lunar calendar. But it actually falls on …
Asagaya Tanabata Festival
A neighborhood in Tokyo called Asagaya holds its annual festival (阿佐谷七夕まつり) for Tanabata (click for more details) in August about one month …
七夕 – Tanabata
Tanabata (たなばた or 七夕) is a Japanese event / celebration day that originated in China. According to Chinese legend, the Milky Way …
バレンタイン – Valentine’s Day
Normally, on Valentine’s Day a girl in Japan gives chocolate or some other gift to a guy. Typically Japanese girls are shy, …
恵方巻き – Ehōmaki
Ehōmaki means “lucky direction sushi roll” and is a relatively new tradition for Setsubun in Japan. 7-Eleven in Japan introduced this practice …
豆まき – Bean Throwing
People in ancient Japan believed that they got sick due to evil spirits when the season changed. The bean-throwing ceremony or mamemaki …
節分 – Setsubun
Setsubun literally means “dividing season” and it is the day before the beginning of spring according to the traditional East Asian calendar. …
鏡開き – Kagami Biraki
Kagami biraki means “to open the mirror” in Japanese. The mochi that was offered to Toshigami-sama as a Shōgatsu kazari is called …
謹賀新年 – Happy New Year
“謹賀新年” is read as kinga shinnen. It means “happy new year” in Japanese, but it is only used as a written greeting for nengajo, …