Kyoto is well-known for its riverbed restaurants. These are restaurants that build zashiki or a tatami-covered platforms on the river and serve food and drinks. This service normally runs from May until September. However, Kyoto gets very hot in the summer, so there is no service at lunch time between June and August due to the danger that food might spoil in the heat.
About 500 years ago, Goshuin already existed. It is believed that back then a Goshuin was an official stamp that was used at shinto shrines and temples, and that it was also an official stamp used by the shogun and daimyo. By sometime during the edo era the system had changed though, and common visitors can now receive goshuin for a small fee. To those visitors a goshuin was like an amulet blessed by the holy spirit that they received and treated with gratitude and respect. In Japan today, there are many people especially women who collect goshuin. Here are some things that you should keep in mind if you want to receive goshuin. 1. You should purchase a goshuin-cho. This is a notebook to receive a goshuin. 2. If you are planning on receiving goshuin from both shrines and temples, you should have a separate goshuin-cho for each. You should not mix shrines and temples. 3. You should properly pray first before you ask for a goshuin. 4. This is not just a hobby or pastime. It is believed that the spirit of god or Buddha is always present in Goshuin. So treat them with respect. There are some shrines and temples that no longer give away goshuin due to the bad manners of the visitors. Some goshuin look so cute, and I can understand that people want to collect them as a hobby, but please understand the true meaning of goshuin.
Tourists typically prefer to visit Japan during the dry and sunny days, but I still enjoy cloudy skies, and the look and sound of rain on the glistening streets and buildings. This is a photo of Tokyo Tower in the rain.
Last year the rainy season ended at the end of June in Tokyo. That was the earliest ever according to the Japan Weather Association which has been keeping records since 1951. This year they are predicting that the rainy season will last until the mid/end of July. Usually the rainy season in Tokyo area starts near the end of May or the beginning of June and ends around the beginning to middle of July. The rain often brings out the beauty of scenery in Japan especially at the traditional showplaces.
This is a rainy season photo by Suzuki Hidenobu of a pond known as Monet’s pond in Gifu, Japan. Hidenobu is a well-known photographer not only in Japan but also in Europe and the U.S. He received a gold award at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA) exhibition that was held at the Louvre Museum in 2016. His photos were displayed at the SNBA exhibitions in 2016 and 2017 and at Art Expo New York in 2018. He has received several awards from the National Geographic Society in 2014~2018. More of his photos are here.
The Andes Melon (アンデスメロン) was developed by a Japanese nursery company in 1977. This is short for “Anshin-des Melon”. Anshin-des Melon literary means “worry free melon” in Japanese because this breed resists mildew, fungus and other diseases better than other existing varieties. But the name anshin-des would not appeal to most Japanese people, so they dropped “shin” and just called it Andes Melon. Of course this makes it sound like it came from the Andes Mountains, but the nursery company did not have a problem with this – probably because that sounds foreign and stylish. Personally speaking I love the name Anshin-des Melon 100 times better than Andes Melon. lol
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~~~!!!
Father’s Day was started in the U.S., but in Japan we celebrate it as well on the same day (please click here for more details). In Japan we say “お父さん、ありがとう (thank you, Dad)”, “父の日ありがとう (thank you on Father’s Day)” or “いつもありがとう (thank you always)” instead of “Happy Father’s Day (父の日おめでとう)”. Additionally, in Japan we only celebrate our own fathers and only our own fathers. Wives normally don’t celebrate husbands on Father’s Day, siblings don’t celebrate their brothers who have a child, and friends don’t celebrate men who have a child.
Just like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day was started in the U.S. In 1910 Sonora Smart Dodd sent white roses to her father to thank him for raising her by himself. She strongly felt that fathers should be recognized as well as mothers. She asked her church to hold a celebration on her father’s birthday which was in June. This was the origin of Father’s Day. Just like Mother’s Day, this tradition reached Japan and we started celebrating Father’s Day, and just like Mother’s Day the symbol of Father’s Day in Japan is roses. However, I think we often give more manly gifts instead of flowers.
Mother’s Day actually started in West Virginia. When the person named Ann Jarvis, who was a social activist during the American Civil War, passed away, her daughter donated 500 carnations to the church in West Virginia for the mother’s funeral attendees. This was the origin of Mother’s Day. This tradition reached Japan and we started celebrating Mother’s Day. Interestingly, in Japan we kept the ritual of sending carnations and almost always give carnations to our mothers instead of any other flowers, whereas in the U.S. roses are much more mainstream on Mother’s Day.
In the language of flowers white carnations mean “respect”, red ones mean “mother’s love” and pink ones mean “gratitude”. However, yellow ones mean “jealousy” and “disrespect”, so you may want to avoid yellow ones as a gift. lol
