Culture

Teaching Japanese fairy tales to kids? This set of puppets from the Momotaro story is a great way to liven up the class. The kids can take turns in placing the characters on the board as they appear in the story. These puppets are…

I really liked to read about different cultural days in Japanese. I have recently ordered books on the HinaMatsuri. I am looking forward to its arrival. I am also going to get this book on Tanabata even though it is a few months…

Girls Day or Boys Day there seems to be a considerable expense involved! I looked up two classic items for these days on Amazon, Japan. This one is the 7 tier court of the Emperor and Empress. It is splendid and I am sure a lot of…

I am thrilled to find some models of Western influenced Japanese architecture on Amazon Japan. This model is wonderful - a replica of the Sapporo Clock Building. I wrote about western inspired buildings today on Kimonobox. I…

These building replicas look interesting. I wonder what you would use them for other than decoration? Could you use them for architecture study in a classroom situation? Perhaps. They are certainly a fabulous find on Amazon Japan.…

Perhaps you have enjoyed the irori at a Japanese restaurant before and not realised the cultural significance of it? Perhaps you have wished to buy a irori for your own home but not realised you could? Take a look at this cool pick on the…

The recent holiday for Coming of Age Day in Japan revived my love and interest in the kimono. The girls and boys were seen in full kimono attire in shopping centres, restaurants and hotel lobbies all day. It was a lot of fun to compare the…

Have you ever wanted to own your own Pokkuri shoes? The pokkuri shoes are traditional wooden platform shoes. They are the shoes that are often worn by Maiko during their apprentice as Geisha. They are wonderful at keeping the kimono off…

The karuta cards in Japan are typically seen a symbolic part of New Year. There are competitions to select the karuta queen and their male counterparts. Many TV stations like to focus on karuta playing and in many homes throughout Japan it…

Setsubun is approaching very soon. In Japan, the festival Setsubun is celebrated on February 3. It is thought of as a festival which helps remove evil and usher in luck. Lets hope we have lots of luck in 2010. In preparation, stores sell…

The Hawaiian dancing boom is still going strong in Japan. (The town of Obama, even welcomed the US President on his visit, with Hawaiian dance in November 2009.) Hawaiian dancing is not only a lovely form of dance but also really…