How Aesthetic Senses Shape Names

One of my classmates arranged these flowers using (han-geshou) and nadeshiko (pink dianthus) in a tea ceremony class last week. These delicate white flowers are known as "Lizard's Tail" in English—a peculiar name. The name comes from the drooping flowers that resemble a lizard's tail. In contrast, the Japanese name 半化粧 (はんげしょう) carries a poetic meaning. These slender, white flowers are paired with leaves that feature white splashes, as if a woman had powdered her face to meet her loved one. This leads to the term 'han-ge-shou,' which literally means 'putting on makeup halfway. So romantic, isn't it?

This difference really shows how aesthetic senses can vary, doesn't it?

The way we name this little plant

 These flowers are called "lizard's tail" in English. Isn't it a "lovely" name?　
It was named so since the drooping flower depicts a lizard's tail, they say.


On the other hand, 半化粧 （はんげしょう）is a Japanese name for these white, slender and drooping flowers. The most beautiful part of this plant is that some leaves have white splashes on the surface as if a woman were putting powder on her face to meet her loved one. That is why we call it "han-ge-shou", which literally means " putting makeup on halfway" in Japanese.
So romantic, isn't it? They delighted my eyes this afternoon at Shirotori Japanese Garden.

all the way from another world

I just walked back from our house grave in the temple with some lit incense sticks which I brought back from the grave altar.  It is believed that the souls of the ancestors come along with me, being guided by some lit incense and a small fire for welcoming at the house entrance.  

This is one of the biggest traditional Japanese Buddhist events to commemorate our ancestors' souls as well as those of all people in the past.  Now they are with us for three days to spend time with their descendants at their homestead. Welcome back.

Obon is the biggest traditional as well as religious event besides the New Year in Japan. We have about a week holiday during the Obon nationwide.  In general many young family living away from their parents  put themselves into hustles and bustles of packed trains with people and roads with cars in order to visit their houses they've grown up.  A happy family of several generations visit the house grave together to pay a respect to their ancestors. Definitely Obon makes it possible for many family members to get reunited to enjoy the holidays.  This way Japanese people are more likely to put an importance on a family unity.

Tomorrow our house monk is coming  to give a sutra for our ancestors in front of the house altar. Then the day after tomorrow,  they are ready to go back to their world of the dead riding on a egg plant cow or a cucumber horse which are standing by on the altar.

Our Obon has got underway just now.

Peace Declaration from Hiroshima

Hiroshima marked the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing yesterday on August 6th.

Thousands of people from home and abroad gathered at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in the morning. The ceremony was on air on TV/radio. When a clock hit  8:15 sharp , an exact time the first atomic bomb in man's history was dropped onto the city  67 years ago,  the whole nation including people in the park as well as in front of TV sets stopped  to take  a moment of silence.

 (all images from a TV program)

In the ceremony, the mayor of Hiroshima annually gives his address for the worldwide peace and the elimination of nuclear weapons. We call it "Peace Declaration " and it is delivered to the whole world.  It gives us an opportunity to stop for a while to turn our thoughts to Hiroshima.  
We're going to have another memorial ceremony in Nagasaki on August 9th, the second a-bombed city. Finally on August 15th, we have the anniversary of the end of the war.  No more Hiroshima.  No more Nagasaki. 
For every Japanese, August is definitely time to think of everlasting peace on earth.

Here you will read "Peace Declaration" by the mayor of Hiroshima.  
You can get the language you want at the bottom of the page to read this. 
Also you will read the web news article here.

Our garden came to life again

They grew too fast during the scorching hot summer. Too fast and too wild for me to control.

Once a year we have the gardeners (we call them friendly "Niwashi-san")come over to trim the trees and clear the bushes. This year too, Niwashi-san did such a beautiful work. Their skills are amazing especially when they work on pine trees. Basically they don't use scissors to trim these. They just pick up excessive tiny pine needles by hands. It's the most delicate work and it is often considered as an ultimate skill for a good gardener. It requires patience and attention to make a whole pine tree into a better shape. They often stay on a tree for hours to pick pine needles in the strong sunlight while others trim trees by scissors and sometimes electric scissors.
So ironically this is often said that a pine tree in a garden is money sucking.

Whatever it is, thanks to Niwashi-san, here comes back our garden of what it is to be. A "real garden" not a jungle anymore. The next thing I am concerned about is how long I can keep our garden this neat and clean after they left. Let's see.

Our desperate effort to save electricity

Five months have passed since the huge earthquake hit the northern part of Japan on March 11. I believe you are quite concerned about the damaged nuclear plants in that area. In spite of the fact that more than 100 people in charge of the power plant are working every night and day for getting stabilized the power situation, we don't see any better results yet.

Of all 54 nuclear power plants in Japan, due to the breakdown of the power plant in Fukushima as well as some other nuclear plants being out of service for annual maintenance, we are now facing the upcoming shortage of electricity.

The government asked every office and manufacturing company to cut the 15% electricity usage from the previous year except hospitals and elderly care facilities in those areas up until the end of September. In many offices where there used to be quite formal dress code, men and women are now free from wearing neckties, long sleeves and jacket since a closed high-rise building temperature often gets over 28 degrees C. In many private and public buildings such as department stores, offices and stations, they now switch off some lights in the buildings.

Not only those public organizations but also everyone at home is now very much aware of how to economize the whole usage of electricity. Approximately 50% of electricity consumption at home during summer is used for air conditioners following a refrigerator, lightning, TV etc. So it is quite evident that the whole nation can save electricity so simply by way of giving up air conditions! Oh but No way! That's not possible. Summer in Japan is very hot and humid. In addition, the recent global warming spurs the summer temperature to over 35 degrees C. The heat is really ferocious. We can't do without air conditioners.

Now we get much information from TV, public ads, newspapers and almost any kinds of medias about how to economize the whole usage of electricity at home.

For example, they advise us we should set the temperature no lower than 28 degree C, clean a filter at least once a week, use a electric fan to circulate air in a warm room, etc. As for a refrigerator, they recommend us we should not pack many items, should use a plastic curtain to prevent warm air from coming inside when we open its door. Boy, there are many "to do" and "not to do". Yet despite these annoying advices, many people are so aware of power shortage and we are making a desperate contribution by sweating.

Wagashi pleases our eyes

Here are the sweets I got from my favorite confectionery at the airport shopping mall yesterday.

Wagashi(Japanese small sweets) are formed into shapes to express the images of different four seasons. During the summer, every confectionery has their own way to express some faces of the hottest season using kudzu powder or agar powder. These ingredients create a transparent layer which adds some cool images of water and breeze which we admires in summer.

Just imagine what these three wagashi express the faces of the summer.
Since each wagashi is titled after some images of the season by the confectionery, here are the answers.
From the left to right:" physalis alkekengi fruit with the red husk","summer evening" and "the moon reflecting on a lacquer tray." Well what do you think? Before putting them into a mouth, they certainly please our eyes.

the 91th National High School Baseball Tournament

Chukyo High School baseball team from our city, Nagoya won 1st national high school championship in 43 years!!! Gee, it was a good and thrilling game. The school team from our city, Nagoya pulled out a 10-9 victory over the Niigata school but Niigata showed their tough spirit in the last inning with two outs almost catching up to 10.
Every year in August the National High School Baseball Tournament takes place for about two weeks at Koshien Baseball Stadium, which has the oldest history in Japan. For all the high school baseball players, playing games at Koshien is their final goal. However, there only 49 high school teams out of about 4000 schools can come to Koshien as the representative team of each 49 prefectures in Japan.
The National High School Baseball Tournament is so popular and loved by most people across the country. Why? It's only a high school baseball. You might think. Most Japanese love the young players' pure sportsmanship, their enthusiasm to baseball, effort, teamwork, dedication-----most Japanese see the spirits of good old days on those high school players. I'm not so much crazy about watching professional baseball games in general but this "Koshien" is something different. There are many more people like me regardless of ages and sexes. People are paying so much attention to the games during the tournaments. In the end I just feel proud of two team respectively. Here is a slide show from a Japanese newspaper. Seeing is believing. ( be aware of background sound volume)

farewell to all the deceased spirits

Well, it's about the last day of "Obon".
Today, after three days of receiving the ancestors spirits at our house altar, giving the small set of meals three times each day, we then sent them off to their world of the dead by visiting a temple with some incenses from our house altar, which is believed that spirits come along in lights of incenses to the family grave at the temple.


Well, this is a very common way of sending the spirits off and there are also many other ceremonies held at very historical and famous temples all over Japan. One of the most impressive event is one I saw in Kyoto. It's called Gozan-no-Okuribi(roughly sendoff fires on five mountains). At around 8 o'clock in the evening, the giant fires in the shape of five different Chinese characters and images on the hillside of five surrounding mountains in Kyoto are lit one after another.
This event has been long held for centuries. Tourists as well as local residents gather at many locations in the city to see Okuribi and send off their ancestor spirits. Here are the pictures I took from the hotel roof top when I went to see it with my daughter.

Now it's time to pray for our family ancestors

I believe owing to the unusual weather in our country for these days, several unexpected natural phenomena have taken place here and there such as the past heavy rainfall in the west part of Japan, the earthquake hitting some cities in the central part of Japan and at last the record-breaking summer heat in many cities and towns. These phenomena taken place in each area changed many people's lives into disastrous ones one day all of a sudden. Yet, time is just passing by. I really wish they get their usual lives back into normal as soon as possible.


Now-----

From the early beginning of August, most Japanese are busy for a summer holiday. There are many ways to spend this holiday season but in fact there is the major event called "Bon" in our country. We call it in more casual way "O-bon". Obon is the event which is very important for us next to the New Year's Day. During the Obon holidays, we visit our family grave at each family temple and then a Buddist priest visit our home and pray for our ancestors at our family altar. So this time is not an exception. Most housewives are busy for getting prepared for "Obon" cleaning the house, cleaning the garden, getting fruits and other offerings to place on a family altar, visitng a temple to clean the grave and attend the ceremony to welcome the ancestors spirits at home and then having a priest at home. Every event takes place from the early beginning of August. I would say all these events are mostly on housewives' role. Of course a husband and children are glad to help his busy wife but as a matter of fact, there is not much they can really do.


Anyway the season of Obon is very busy for everyone, every family. Many young families in big towns are heading for their parents homes of local cities and towns to attend this Bon ceremonies along with their little children. For kids, this trip to their grandparents' are the great excitements as well as their young parents since this should be a big family and relatives reunion. As it is always the same, every transportation is packed with people and cars at the beginning and at the end of the Bon holidays. Gee, my family is so lucky in that we live close to my parents and the family temple.

We are ready for having a priest tomorrow and the final event falls on August 15th.
It is a good opportunity for every one to think back of the ones who used to be our members of the family and anyones who used to be very important to us. As for me, especially during Obon, I think of my dear grandparents so often. I have so many dear memories I spent with them.

Japan is covered with heavy clouds

By the time every school is off for a month-long-vacation, the rainy season throughout Japan is supposed to be over and we were going to be ready for a sunny summer. But this year something is different. The seasonal rain front normally would have subsided by this time of the year but this time it remains over western Japan.

According to the meteorological agency, the humid and wet air from the East China Sea makes thick and wet clouds over northern Kyushu are and stimulates the rain front. This humid air is blocking a high pressure area over the Pacific from covering Japan. As a result we have a longer period of rainy days than usual and what was worse, the rainfall has been quite heavy and has brought about serious natural disasters such as huge landslides and floods mainly in western part of Japan.


In some area of Kyushu, the rain poured so hard in a short period of time and recorded more than its monthly rainfall.


Nagoya, where I live in, locates just about in the center of Japan but still we've had rainy days over this weekend and it pours so hard all of a sudden sometimes with a thunder.
Many people including me believe this is not a simple matter of natural disaster.
Man has been disturbing the principles of the nature. That brings about crucial negative phenomena here and there on the earth. How far are we going?

We're sorry for those people in Kyushu area who were damaged, threatened, injured and were killed by this wild rainfall. Hope that the weather will be settled down pretty soon. We don't want any more people injured and dead.

(all the images are from The Japan Time on Line)

Newborn cicada

Every summer I run into the moments of a grub's casting. Usually casting begins in the evening when it gets dark. It was so interesting for me to find one here that a little grub starts its casting early in the evening when I went to the mail box outside to pick up a evening newspaper. It must be quite a job for him to come out by stretching backwards first and before he falls off, he stretches forward and reaches to his previous body he has just casted away.
It is said that Cicadas in Japan live only two weeks in the trees while they live underground for seven years until they come outside on the ground.
Casting is such an exciting moment. Even its little wings are still wet and shrinked. His round and large dark eyes are cute against his white body. By the time the wings get dry, the color of a newborn cicada turns to dark. Then it's time to fly. Good luck! Live up your life!

Yay, Unagi Day!

(one famous eel restaurant in my city)

This year, Doyo-no-Ushi-no-he(Midsummer day of the OX) fell on July 19th in Japan. Many Japanese in groups and families visit the local famous eel restaurants and eat unagi(eel) with rice. At eel restaurants, unagi are grilled on the charcoal and dipped into a heavy, special made sauce of their each secret and this process are repeated until they are done. In fact, this “tare”, a special sauce differs from each restaurant and that counts in deciding which restaurant is best.

Mmmmm, this heavy" tare" is a heavy mixture of all different ingredients based on soy sauce, sugar and other are all different from restaurants to restaurants and the recipe has been kept secret.
I know many visitors from abroad are stunned to know we eat eel but in fact you’ll love it when you try. I love love love unagi. Of course, you can take them out from a restarant and a department store.

But why are we so much absorbed in having it on this day?

“Doyo” is the period of 18 days before the beginning of every four season on the lunar calendar. And today when we talk of “doyo”, it widely refers to the “doyo” of summer which brings about the hottest and hardest climate throughout a year. (by the way, “ushi”(ox) is a sign which refers the order of year, month, date and time based on the ancient Japanese zodiac cycle.)

People in olden days tend to follow an old saying that if taking some food of which names start with “u”, they have little chance to get sick during this hottest season.

(HIRAGA Gennai)

And there comes another story of one famous inventor of that era. His name is HIRAGA Gennai. He made one suggestion to one owner of the eel restaurant having a trouble on running his eel restaurant during hot summer with few customers. This famous inventor suggested that the owner should put an ad saying “Eat Unagi on Doyou-no-Ushi-no-he and you’ll be in a good shape during the hottest season.” Yes indeed, “u” for Unagi! So people love this and since then the custom has been enjoyed up until today. Eel has a good, stamina-providing nutritious balance, and it is ideal for this time of year, when people tend to lose their appetites because of the heat.

My family of course, went out to have unagi at one of the unagi resutaurants one week in advance when my daughter came home. It was sooo delicious.

(eel)

(all of the pictures from two restaurants web sites)

http://www.houraiken.com/

http://blog.linknet.mobi/unagi-nishimoto

More about cranes

Since I 've talked of Little Tiara and Nanette's a thousand cranes project, some of my friends in Japan have folded cute little cranes, taken pictures and sent these to me. I've already forwarded them to Tiara but since these cranes are so adorable, I've decided to post them here and show you all those cranes.

A "thousand cranes " has a very important meaning to the Japanese. First, a crane is a symbol of good fortune, good health, and long life to us. So a crane is always one of the popular origami figures for us to make. Since it is a symbol of good fortune and good health, sometimes in life, we face the situation to fold a thousand cranes for some ones who are very sick or in despair. One of the famous stories is "Sadako and the thousand cranes", which is a very sad but encouraging story. We learn the importance of world peace from her story. Here is the wikipedia on this topic. And thank you, Lenorenevermore, for reminding me of writing about Sadako in your comment.

This summer is too hot

It's the end of July. The weather here is just terriblly hot this summer. The temperature has been going up to 38 degree c. these days. It seems that we are really facing with a global warming. It is something we've never expect that the temperature goes up over 30 degree c even in summer. When I was a kid, summer heat was hot in the midst of the day, but durable. The overall weather in our country seems getting so to speak, "wild" in terms of rainfall and thunderstorm and to our surprise, tornedo.
These have brought some serious damages in local areas all of a sudden.
Cicadas in our house garden are busier than usual in chorus from morning till night and that makes us feel this summer is surely much hotter.