September 2011
148 posts
HELP FOR JAPAN →
HAIKU →
A traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Often focusing on images from nature, haiku emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression.
Haiku began in thirteenth-century Japan as the opening phrase of renga, an oral poem, generally 100 stanzas long, which was also composed syllabically. The much shorter haiku...
YAKINIKU →
Yakiniku (焼き肉 or 焼肉), meaning “grilled meat”, is a Japanese term which, in its broadest sense, refers to grilled meat dishes. It is derived from its Korean roots.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Yakuniku is a variant of Bulgogi that has been modified by Zainichi Korean to appeal to Japanese tastes.[8
TAKAMAKURA →
Geisha were trained to sleep with their necks on small supports on takamakura instead of pillows, so they could keep their hairstyle perfect. To reinforce this habit, their mentors would pour rice around the base of the support. If the geisha’s head rolled off the support while she slept, rice would stick to the pomade in her hair. The geisha would thus have to repeat the tiresome process of...
MAKOTO AIDA →
Makoto Aida is known for provocative paintings and drawings that subvert popular Japanese visual culture with their complex political undertones. Aida’s work is based in the raw badlands of parody, fear and absurdity in contemporary life. Drawing from the long history and traditions of painting and printmaking in Japan, he takes an askew angle on the darker side of the national consciousness. Aida...
ONSEN →
An onsen (温泉?) is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language, though the term is often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsen scattered along its length and breadth. Onsen were traditionally used as public bathing places and today play a central role in directing Japanese domestic tourism.
TSURIDŌRŌ
TSURIDŌRŌ (Tsuridoro) 釣灯篭. Hanging metal lanterns usually of bronze or iron, were hung from the corner eaves at palatial residences, temples and shrines.
KURONEKO →
Kuroneko (藪の中の黒猫 Yabu no Naka no Kuroneko?) is a 1968 Japanese horror film, directed by Kaneto Shindō. The title means “Black Cat” in English. It was placed in competition at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival,[1] but the festival was cancelled due to the events of May 1968 in France.
FUJIN →
Fūjin (風神?) is the Japanese god of the wind and one of the eldest Shinto gods. He is said to have been present at the creation of the world and when he first let the winds out of his bag, they cleared the morning mists and filled the Gate between heaven and earth so the sun shone.
WAGASHI →
Wagashi are traditional Japanese confections that evolved into an art form in the ancient Imperial capital, Kyoto. The character pronounced ‘wa’ denotes things Japanese, while the characters for ‘gashi’, an alliteration of kashi, have come to mean confections. Wagashi represent the essence of Japanese culture, and continue to be vital force in Japanese life.