At the start of each season in Japan, the major domestic (Japanese) beer brewers offer special beers related to the season.
I just bought Suntory’s new 発泡酒 (malt liquor beer) for this spring, called 「春咲く薫り」(“Spring Blossom Fragrance”).
春咲く薫り(はるさくかおり)
I like it. Tastes good!
It’s not cold in Tokyo today…the temperature is very comfortable. And it’s forecast to stay this warm all week at least.
It’s nice weather today but it’s forecast to rain tomorrow and Friday.
If you have outdoor plans on a day that it’s forecast to rain, what do you do in your country?
In Japan, people (especially children) hang a Teru-Teru-Bozu up.
Do you know what a “Teru-teru-bozu” is?
Teru-Teru-Bozu is a Japanese charm that is supposed to keep rain away.
When Japanese kids have an outdoor event, such as a school “Sports Day” or a field trip, and it’s forecast to rain on that day (and cause the event to be cancelled), they will make a Teru-Teru-Bozu out of cloth or, more commonly, tissue paper and hang it up.
There’s also a song for the Teru-Teru-Bozu that is along the lines of the English song “Rain, Rain, Go Away”.
Actually, I’ve written about Teru-Teru-Bozu once before, five years ago. (Click here to read it.)
I watch the 天気予報 (weather forecast) on TV every morning.
Today, they said that 梅雨 (rainy season) has officially started in Japan today.
It is starting early this year! Normally rainy season begins in mid-June (I wrote a post about it four years ago. Click here to read it.)
It’s raining in many parts of Japan today…but, thankfully, not in Tokyo.
It is forecast to rain in Tokyo tomorrow though.
Are you in Japan? Are you planning to come soon? Have you ever experienced a rainy season in Japan before?
Yesterday, we went to 上野公園 (Ueno Park) for 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing). 桜 (Cherry Blossom) season has just begun. Having a picnic under the trees in bloom is a popular pasttime in Japan. Ueno Park is a very popular place for Cherry Blossom Viewing in Tokyo … so it was very crowded yesterday when we went. Here are some photos I took:
Tomorrow, 2013 March 20th, is 春分の日 (Vernal (or Spring) Equinox).
春分の日 (Vernal Equinox) is in the third week of March.
This is one of two days per year that both day and night are an equal twelve hours. It’s also commonly considered the first day of spring (in the northern hemisphere).
This day is a legal holiday in Japan. So, most people have the day off from work or school.
Six month later, in September, is 秋分の日 (Autumn Equinox). That is the other day that both day and night are an equal twelve hours long.
It’s commonly considered the first day of Autumn.
And it is also a legal holiday in Japan.
There is also, of course, 夏至 (Summer Solstice) in June. Daylight is longest on this day. It’s the first day of summer.
And, 冬至 (Winter Solstice) in December. Nighttime is longest on this day. It’s the beginning of winter.
Although both Spring and Autumn Equinoxes are holidays in Japan…oddly, neither Summer or Winter Solstice are.
Maybe you’re wondering how Spring and Autumn Equinoxes are “celebrated” in Japan.
On these days, many people go to their family grave at the cemetery to clean the grave, leave flowers and incense, and remember their ancestors.
花見 (“Cherry Blossom Viewing“) is a centuries-old Japanese tradition. Every spring, Japanese people have a picnic with friends and family under the 桜 (Cherry Blossom) trees.
Japanese people have always loved the pink Sakura (Cherry Blossoms), as can be seen in many things in Japan such as haiku poems, ukiyoe (woodblock prints), paintings, Sakura-flavored snacks, tea and 日本酒 (Japanese sake rice-wine).
I wrote a post last year explaining a bit about Japan’s love of 桜 (Sakura flowers) and 花見 (“Cherry-Blossom Viewing”).
Basically, the Sakura are beautiful and fragile and they are in bloom for only a short time before they fall to the ground in a way that looks like beautiful, gentle pink snowfall…it’s called 「桜吹雪」 (“Sakura-fubuki” (Sakura snowfall)).
They symbolize the beauty, fragility and brevity of life itself.
But this year, due to the disaster last month, the Japanese government has asked people to use 自粛 (self-restraint) this “Cherry Blossom Viewing” season.
Does it seem odd to you that the government would ask that of people in Japan?
I have heard that many people from other countries were surprised to learn that the Japanese government would request people to refrain from Cherry Blossom Viewing or at least to do it quietly and reverently this year.
But in Japan we have no problem with such a request. In fact, even if the government hadn’t asked, most people in Japan probably would have done so anyways.
In many cases 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing) leads people to drink excessively and sometimes become a bit loud. But this year, so soon after the huge disaster in the 東北地方 (Tohoku Region) and with so many up there still trying to recover from it, no one is in the mood to celebrate.
Many people are electing to skip Cherry Blossom Viewing this year, and those who are doing it this year are doing so quietly and with more reflection.
Today my wife and I went to a temple with a small lunch to enjoy a quiet 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing).
Here are some photos that I took:
Some junior high school students walking to school. The school year has just begun in Japan.
Can you see the Sakura petals falling in 桜吹雪 ("Sakura snowfall")?
Many Sakura petals on the ground.
Back of 大仏 (Buddah)
Not long after we returned home, our house shook pretty hard from a big aftershock that was a 振動 5 (Level 5 of the Japanese earthquake scale (with goes to “7”))! It was a 振動 6 (level 6 (out of 7)) at it’s epi-center in the Sendai area! It was then that I realized today is the one-month anniversary of the 2011 March 11 Sendai Earthquake!
Yesterday (Sunday, March 6th) was a nice day and it was pretty warm. My wife and I went to 上野 (Ueno, Tokyo) and walked around (my kids stayed home and studied for their final exams this week).
Ueno train station (Tokyo, Japan)
It was so warm that I began to think that spring has come. But this morning I saw the weather forecast on TV that said it would be a cold and rainy day today…and from about 9:00AM – lunchtime, it would snow!
Tokyo's weather forecast for 2011 March 7 - 14.
The weather forecast was exactly right. It was quite cold today and it snowed all morning starting at about 9:00AM.
I’m happy to see that it’s not forecast to rain or snow anymore for the rest of the week. It’s be sunny most days…and start getting warmer again. Next Monday is forecast to have a high temperature of 16°C (about 61°F).
How’s the weather in your city now?
Yesterday was cold and rainy in Tokyo again. In the evening the temperature went down to 2°C (about 36°F).
It’s sunny and warmer today…but still cool. The high temperature today is 11°C (about 52°F).
If you’re visiting Japan for the first time right now you’re probably surprised how cold it is for late April.
But this isn’t normal. It’s unusually cold for this time of year.
It actually snowed a bit in Tokyo last night.
On TV I heard that this was the first time that it snowed this late in the year in Tokyo since 1969!
But the weather forecast for Tokyo says that everyday next week will have a high temperature of around 18°C (about 64°F) and a low of around 11°C (52°F).
So hopefully the cold spell is over.
(But it’s forecast to rain next Wednesday to Friday in Tokyo. 😦 )
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My blog averages over 1,500 hits per day.
But yesterday my blog received the most visits in a single day so far…1,986 hits.
Before yesterday, my blog’s busiest day was 2010 February 14. It received about 1,850 hits that day.
Yesterday was my site’s busiest day…but I didn’t get a single comment yesterday. 😦
I appreciate all the visits to my blog. But I especially enjoy reading visitors’ comments…I guess most bloggers feel that way.
So, by all means, leave comments often.
Thanks.
Yesterday was the last day of my kids’ spring vacation. And in Japan, after spring holidays the new school starts in early April.
So, today will be my daughters’ first day in the next grade. My oldest is starting 高校２年 (11th grade), my second daughter will begin 高校１年 (10th grade), and my youngest is now in 中学校２年 (8th grade).
They grow up so fast!
As I said, my second daughter is starting 高校１年 (10th grade). It’s the equivalent to tenth grade in America…but a literal translation would be “high school year 1” because it’s the first year of high school in Japan.
So today is her 高校入学式 (High School Entrance Ceremony).
Last year at this time my oldest daughter had her 高校入学式 (High School Entrance Ceremony) on the same day that my youngest had her 中学校入学式 (Junior High School Entrance Ceremony).
So last year, I went to our oldest daughter’s ceremony and my wife went to our youngest’s ceremony (Click here to read the post I wrote about that day).
But today, both my wife and I will be attending our second daughter’s 高校入学式 (High School Entrance Ceremony).
おめでとう (Congratulations) to her!
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I titled this post “53.3% built” because the Tokyo Sky Tree is now standing at 338 meters (about 1,109 feet) tall.
That makes it taller than the 333 meter tall Tokyo Tower and the tallest structure in Japan.
When it’s completed in late 2011, it will stand 634 meters (about 2,080 feet)…which will make it the world’s tallest tower.
338 meters is 53.3% of 634 meters…hence this post’s title.
I went by the Tokyo Sky Tree yesterday, so here are some of the photos I took (as with all the photos on my blog, click on them to enlarge):
When completed, the Tokyo Sky Tree will be about twice as tall as it is now!
I held my camera diagonally for this shot.
Today was my second daughter’s 中学校の卒業式 (junior high school graduation ceremony).
In early April (after Spring Break), she’ll start high school.
Last year at this time, my oldest daughter graduated from junior high. (Click here to read the post I wrote about that day).
In America, high school starts at grade nine…but in Japan, elementary school is six years (America is only five), then three years of junior high, and three years of high school.
It totals twelve years just like in America but high school in Japan starts at the equivalent to grade ten in the U.S.
Last week she and her friends from school went to Tokyo Disneyland together.
Tokyo Disneyland was having it’s annual 「春のキャンパスデー」 (“Campus Day”).
This promotion is from 2010 January 4 – March 19.
So it ended today.
On Campus Day, students can buy a 「キャンパスデーパスポート」 (“Campus Day Passport“) to enter the park at a discounted price.
The price for junior high and high school students is usually ¥5,000 but during this campaign it’s only ¥4,000 for them.
College students usually pay ¥5,800 admission to Tokyo Disney, but on Campus Day the price is ¥4,500.
Of course, to qualify for these discount prices students must show their student ID card.
I grew up in Florida. Not too far from Orlando Disney World, but I’m not sure if they have “Campus Day Passports” there or not.
Have you ever been to any of the Disney parks in the world? What types of sale promotions do they have?
About five years ago, Tokyo Disneyland began going by the name “Tokyo Disney Resort“ because they built a second park.
So Tokyo Disney Resort comprises both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea.
They are next to each other, but they’re two separate parks.
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So, at my daughter’s junior high school, the students who graduated today are now on Spring Break.
They’ll start high school in a few weeks.
My other two daughters have another week of school before their spring break starts.
But this is a three-day weekend. Monday is 「春分の日」 (Spring Equinox), which is a holiday in Japan.
Tokyo Five 
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