Hina Matsuri – What It’s All About

Hina Matsuri (the Doll Festival), AKA Momo-no-Sekku (the Peach Festival), AKA Girls' Day, is the day when Japanese families celebrate their daughters. I wrote about it a bit the other day in the Hina Matsuri Tsurushibina post, and I'll include the text at the bottom, too. These two dolls represent the emperor and empress at … Continue reading Hina Matsuri – What It’s All About

Hina Matsuri Tsurushibina

The Doll Festival (Hina Matsuri/Momo no Sekku/Girls' Day) is just around the corner (well, March 3), and families with daughters—and hotels like Hakone's Kowaki-en—are setting out their decorations. Families with daughters display a special set of dolls to bring happiness and health to their girls. The dolls represent the wedding procession of an emperor and … Continue reading Hina Matsuri Tsurushibina

Wakame Harvesting

This year has been a bad year for wakame. Last year, the harvest was good. It was so good that the beach was strewn with wakame, both farmed and wild. Early mornings would see neighbourhood ojisan and obasan out gathering it in overflowing shopping bags. We had wakame shabu shabu time and again in the … Continue reading Wakame Harvesting

Zuisen-ji Green

One of the things I love best about Japan is its greenery. It may have massive cities and more concrete than you can shake a stick at, but when it's green, it's green--with ferns, bamboo, towering cedars, and soft moss. And you really don't have to go too far off the beaten track to find … Continue reading Zuisen-ji Green

Daikoku Sama

This happy-looking fella is the god of wealth, farmers, food and good fortune. He can be found at Hasedera, grinning out from the side of the Daikoku-do (Daikoku Hall), where Hasedera's original Daikoku Sama statue is. The past few days, we've been on the Shichifukujin (Seven Gods of Luck) tour of Kamakura, filling up our … Continue reading Daikoku Sama