Culture Day

Today is a Japanese holiday called 「文化の日」 (Culture Day).

On this day, the Emperor Of Japan give medals in a special awards ceremony to people who have contributed to Japan.
Today nearly 700 people who be awarded various medals for things ranging from people who conducted rescue operations in a boating accident to athletes to a video-game developer.

My wife’s grandfather received a medal from the Emperor years ago for having served in the volunteer fire department for fifty years.

Also on this day, there are numerous “culture festivals” around Japan.
I have been to many of them. Last year I wrote a post about a festival I attended on Culture Day. Click here to see that post…there are many photos and videos I took at the festival.

And some places around Tokyo will begin putting up their Christmas illumination and trees.
Tokyo Tower and some branches of the Mitsukoshi Department Store will have their giant Christmas tree up from today until Xmas day.

Yesterday was a cold and rainy day. The high temperature was only 16° Celcius.
Today is forecast to be a sunny day…but a little colder than yesterday (the high temp will be 15° C).

Weather forecast for Tokyo, Japan (2009 Nov 2-9)

Typhoon again

Earlier this month there was a 台風 (typhoon) that hit Japan. It was the first one to hit Japan directly in a number of years.
(Click here to read my post about it).

Well, the weather was very cool (today’s high temperature was 17° C in Tokyo), rainy and windy all day today…because there’s another 台風 (typhoon) near Japan.

Look at this weather map showing the rain over Eastern Japan.

This typhoon isn’t hitting Japan directly like the last one did.

Here’s a map showing the typhoon’s forecasted path…it was off the coast of Tokyo at 8:00PM tonight and it’ll be past northern Japan and closer to Russia tomorrow.

But the 天気予報 (weather forecast) from tomorrow til next Monday for Tokyo is for the rain to stop early tomorrow morning and then sunny and warmer!

Tokyo's weather forecast for 2009 Oct 27 - Nov 2

今週の天気予報

The weather has been very nice these days in Tokyo.
And it’s forecast to continue like this…until Sunday.
The 天気予報 (weather forecast) says it’ll rain on Sunday, August 30th.

Weather forecast for Tokyo from August 26 - Sept 1

It says:

• Wed, Aug 26: Sunny / partly cloudy (22-28°C) (20% chance of rain (COR))
• Thur, Aug 27: Sunny / partly cloudy (23-29°C) (20% COR)
• Fri, Aug 28: Mostly sunny (23-31°C) (10% COR)
• Sat, Aug 29: Sunny / partly cloudy (25-31°C) (20% COR)
• Sun, Aug 30: Scattered rain (24-29°C) (50% COR)
• Mon, Aug 31: Cloudy (23-27°C) (40% COR)
• Tues, Sept 1: Cloudy (22-27°C) (40% COR)

So, if you’re in Tokyo and plan to do some outdoor activities this weekend, doing them on Saturday rather than Sunday, if possible, would probably be a good idea.

If you’re looking for an idea for something to do this weekend in Tokyo…there’ll be the annual Brazilian Samba Fesival in 浅草 (Asakusa, Tokyo) on Saturday.

It’s gonna snow?

This winter it hasn’t snowed at all in Tokyo yet.

It usually snows once or twice every winter. Not too much…usually just enough to turn the ground white, and it melts away in a day or two.
(I seem to recall that it used to snowed more heavily and more frequently in Tokyo when I first got here in 1990. Is my memory off…or has global warming changed Tokyo’s winters?)

Anyways…it’s forecast to snow in Tokyo for two days next week. On Tuesday, March 3 and Wednesday, March 4.

There’s an 80% probability of rain for today, then cloudy tomorrow, Sunday and Monday are supposed to be mostly sunny…then the snow on Tuesday and Wednesday…followed by a cloudy day next Thursday.

Do you like snow?
Personally, I don’t care for it much. Actually I like Spring and Summer much more than Winter!

Tokyo's weather forecast for February 27 - March 5, 2009.

iKnow!

Do you study 日本語 (Japanese)?
Have you ever seen the website called ” iKnow! “?

It’s a excellent site for language study drills. English speakers can study Japanese, and Japanese people can use it to study English.

You can customize it to your level of ability and it drills new words different ways: 漢字 (kanji) → English, ひらがな → English, and English → Japanese (both 漢字 (kanji) and ひらがな), and also shows the 漢字 (kanji characters) and has you type in the reading for them.

(I believe you can also study Japanese using only alphabet characters instead of 漢字 (kanji) or ひらがな if you can’t read Japanese characters…but I haven’t tried it that way, so I’m not positive)

It’s a quite good program. And the best part is…the beta version is free! (Click here to visit the iKnow! page.)

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Yesterday, the weather wasn’t so cold in Tokyo…but it rained hard. So, although today’s a nice clear day,  it’s colder. In fact, the 天気予報 (weather forecast) for today says it will snow on the other coast of Japan!

Here’s today’s 天気予報 (weather forecast) for all of Japan (東京 (Tokyo) is sunny):

And this week’s 天気予報 (weather forecast) for Tokyo:

It’s forecast to rain again on 火曜日 (Tuesday) and 水曜日 (Wednesday)! 😦

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All of last week, my second daughter had 職場体験 (work experience). Most Japanese junior-high school students work at a local business for a week to an idea of what it’s like to have a job (and maybe help them decide on a future career).

Last year, my oldest did her 職場体験 (work experience) at a local 幼稚園 (kindergarten). And last week, my second daughter just finished her’s at a nearby 動物園 (zoo).

Both of them really enjoyed the experience.

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Speaking of the 動物園 (zoo)…yesterday, my youngest daughter’s class at school took a field trip to 上野動物園 (Ueno Zoo) and the 博物館 (museums) near the zoo.

Luckily it didn’t rain until later in the day, so they were able to enjoy the 動物園 (zoo).

She took all of these photographs (she took alot more photos…but I’m not posting any of them that show her or her classmates):

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And tomorrow, we’re going to watch my youngest daughter’s Koto concert. (Koto is a traditional Japanese musical instrument that my daughter plays).