SETSUBUN
　　　
　　　　　'Setsubun' originally meant season divisions by the old Japanese lunar calendar. So there were four Setsubuns in a year. However, only the day between winter and spring came to be called 'Setsubun' because spring was so important for old Japanese people that every life starts newly in spring, for example, rice raising, grass and leaves sprouting, and so on. Today 'Setsubun' is the 3rd of February.
　　　　　At the end of the 7th century in Japanese Court, one of the annual events was held which meant driving away evil spirits and diseases from the Court building and yard, which was an event from China. Some guardmen of Emperor pretended to be a demon and others pretented to try to catch or shoot them with an arrow.
　　　　 At first the event had been held in New Year's Eve only among aristocrats, but later it came to be held on the day between winter and spring, the day of Setsubun, spread among shrines, temples and ordinary people.
　　　　　Today in Setsubun day's eve you throw roast soy beans at the entrance and other places of your house shouting out 'Go out, Demons', which means to drive away evil spirits and diseases from your house. Some people in some regions hang a roast head of a sardine stuck with a holly twig at the entrance door. It means protection from evil spirit coming into your place. And also it is said that you can be live healthy for a next year if you eat as many soy beans as your age number.

JAPANISH CHRISTMAS　

　　　　　In Japan, almost all Japanese people celebrate Christmas even though they are not all christians. Some of them even don't know the real meaning of Christmas. Japanese people don't see religious aspects of Christmas. Rather than that, they think it as a special event in a social and family life.

　　　　　Japanese people have had 'animism' since old time and maybe still now. They thought that there was a holy spirit in everywhere and everything. Actually when Buddhism came from China through Korea in the 7th century, they accepted it and Buddhism and Shinto coexisted in society. When Christianity came from Europe in the 15th century, they also accepted it and Shinto, Buddhism and Christianity coexisted in society. 'Coexist' means no one of the two or three tried to sweep away the others in people's mind, in spite that some persons with authority and political power pushed their favorite one regarding of their own profits.

　　　　　On December 24th a person celebrates Christmas, on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day the same person goes to the Shinto shrine and prays, the Buddhist style funeral is held when the same person dies, and Japanese people never feel any contradiction about that. The reason of all those is 'animism', I think. In my opinion, from Japanese people's perspective, every god and holy spirit is O.K. Not choosing only one and not having any strong passion to the only one religion, every god has equality and they can take positive and profitable elements from any one of them depending on cases.

　　　　　On December 24th families with young children have a home party and a special dinner. Parents and grandparents give presents to children. Young couples have an expensive dinner at a gorgeous restaurant. They give a present to each other as a remembrance of the day. A lot of Japanese people associate the word 'Christmas' with 'christmas cake' which is covered with chocolate cream and decorated with a little Santa doll and a little holly leaf on, which people in any other countries don't have.

SHICHI GO SAN

              Shichi go san (shichi means seven, go means five, and san means three in Japanese) is the celebration for children of 3, 5, and 7 years of age. It started in Heian era, about 1,200 years ago. In those days the death rate of infants was so high that people thought very young children belong to God or mythological world rather than to this real world until they become 7 years old. In other words, they thought that very young children are unstable existence whose life has not settled firmly in this real world. So when children become 3, 5, and 7 years old, parents appreciate and celebrate that they could survive. They thank their guardian God for letting them survive and pray for their health, long lasting life, and happiness ever since.

              Among Heian aristocracy, when their children became 3 years old, parents stopped shaving children’s hair and let it grow longer. When boys became 5 years old, parents began to make them wear ‘hakama’ which are long pleated culotte-like Japanese trousers, which represented the symbol of adults. When girls became 7 years old, parents began to use sash belts instead of strings for dressing or binding kimono on them, which also represented the symbol of adults. All of those practices were a kind of rites for children to come into society and to be admitted as real members of society.

              Now when children become 3(both boys and girls), 5(only boys), and 7 (only girls), parents dress them up and take them to the shrine on November 15^th or a day near that. The shrine priest holds a ceremony to keep them from bad luck or evil spirits and pray for their health, long life and happiness. And the priest gives Chitose Ame (thousand year candy) to them. Parents have a professional photographer take children’s portraits. Some parents present the portraits to grandparents in remembrance.

              Chitose Ame, which is candy shaped like a long stick, started in the 17^th century Edo City. A candy shop owner, whose name was Kyubei(pronounce like Q-bay), had the idea to connect the shape like a long stick to long lasting life, and sell them as lucky charms and souvenir in the shrine’s yard. That became a big trend soon and remains nowadays. The candy's color is red and white. The combination of red and white is meant lucky, blessed and congratulation.
　　　　　

MOON VIEWING


　　　The Moon Viewing　 is one of Japanese traditional festivals. We enjoy viewing the full moon in the evening of August 15th of the lunar calendar when the moon is at its full. Accoding to the solar calendar, the full moon day is differnt date year by year. In this year it was September 28th.　There is the same celebration in China, so it is said that it came from China about 1,200 years ago. It is also said that the origin of the Moon Viewing was farmers' celebration of the harvest of taros. Actually in some regions people call the full moon on the day 'The Beautiful Moon Like a Taro' and boiled taros are put as offering with admiration for the moon's beauty.
　　　We put Japanese pampas grass in the vase, and small balls of rice cake and other crops on the wooden offering stand in order to show our admiration and appreciations to mother nature which provides us with such rich crops and good food.
　　　Usually the offering stand with the rice cake balls on it is set on the porch or veranda of the house because it makes easy for children in neighborhood to steal the rice cake balls from outside. Only on that day they are allowed to steal them. Some kids use a long wooden stick to steal them. It is even said that more rice cake balls are stolen from the house, more luck the family of the house can get.
　　　Rice cake balls are differnt in their shapes, tastes of sauce, ways to make and so on according to regions.