The price of an ehōmaki made with gold seaweed is 12,800 yen. With the current strong dollar, this converts to approximately 83 dollars, lessening its impact. However, when the exchange rate was 100 yen to the dollar, 12,800 yen would have been 128 dollars. The one with sea urchin on it was from 2019 and cost 15,800 yen, which was around 145 dollars at the then-current exchange rate. Despite the rising costs, I wonder why the price of this particular ehōmaki has decreased…
“Seijin no Hi” or “Coming of Age Day” is a national holiday celebrated on the second Monday in January with a ceremony called “seijin-shiki.” Since April 1, 2022 the Japanese government has lowered the age of adulthood from 20 to 18. However, there are still certain rights and responsibilities you cannot assume until you turn 20. (See my 成人 post for details.) For many decades, the coming-of-age ceremony was traditionally held at age 20, and most areas continue this practice. Some regions have renamed the ceremony from “seijin-shiki” or “coming-of-age ceremony” to “hatachi no tsudoi” or “20-year-old gathering.”
Japanese Snow Monkeys bathing in hot springs are probably well-known around the world, but it was not known that these monkeys could catch fish. Footage of this behavior was broadcast on a Japanese TV show in July 2022, and in November of that year, it was published in the international scientific journal Scientific Reports, shocking the world.
Siblings Hifumi (23) and Uta Abe (21) both won gold medals in Judo at the 2020 Olympics. I wasn’t going to talk about any specific athletes since everyone is spectacular to me, but the Abe siblings look so cute that I just wanted to mention them. They are the first Japanese gold medalist siblings, and the first siblings from any country to win gold medals on the same day.
Tokyo and many other area in Japan have just entered the rainy season (tsuyu). This white doll is Teru Teru Bōzu(please click the link for more details).
Hachimura was the first Japanese player drafted in the NBA. His father is Beninese, but he was born in Japan and grew up in Japan. He was a fan of Ichiro and played baseball when he was a child. During his middle school, a friend of his pulled him into basketball. He was drafted to play for the Washington Wizards yesterday, 6/20/2019. Hachimura-kun, Ganbare~~~!!!
The Chief Cabinet Secretary just announced the name of new era. It will be Reiwa (令和: pronounce “ray-wa”). It means auspicious and peaceful. The Heisei period will continue until the 30th of April when the Emperor Akihito will abdicate the throne and the Reiwa period will start on the first of May. Please click here to read about Japanese imperial year.
In Japan besides the Western Calendar (西暦) we often use Japanese imperial year (和暦). Currently the imperial year is Heisei (平成) 31 since Heisei started in 1989. We call this current era since 1989 Heisei Era or Heisei Period. The past few eras were changed after the emperor passed away, but our current emperor decided to abdicate the throne due to his age and health. He is now 85 and had a several surgeries, so he will abdicate on the 30th of April this year. For the past few eras the era name was decided after the emperor passed away, but this time the new era name will be discussed by the cabinet on the first of April and will be decided on the same day.
As you may know, Japan is famous for its bullet train or shinkansen (新幹線, which literally means “new trunk line”). These trains can now run at speeds up to 320km/hour (200mph). When shinkansen service first started in 1964, the bullet trains only ran at about 210km/hour (130mph) on one line connecting Tokyo and Osaka – but even this speed was much faster than most other trains. Today trains that run this fast or faster already connect most major cities on the islands of Honshū (Japan’s Main Island) and Kyūshū (South Island). Beginning on 3/26/16 the first shinkansen will travel between Honshū and Hokkaidō (North Island), and those islands will be connected through a tunnel.
A short video showing shinkansen trains in operation network is here.
An early spring special for Starbucks in Japan is sakura (cherry blossom) strawberry flavor. They have both latte and frappuccino versions that come with sakura strawberry flavor sauce, sakura strawberry whipped cream and sakura strawberry shaved chocolate. Japanese people get excited about seasonal limited time items, and these are only available for one month until 3/15/16.
