The Montvale Free Public Library   Japan and the Korean Peninsula

Websites to visit...
Kids Web Japan
ABC Teach-Japan
Tooter4Kids.com - Interesting facts about Japan
Origami
Kabuki Theater
Haiku
Japanese architecture
Japanese Fashion
Sumo Wrestling

Children’s Day in Japan

Children’s Day is a national holiday in Japan, which always falls on May 5th.  The holiday apparently comes from an ancient Chinese story about carp, which swam up a waterfall and turned into dragons. The carp, or koi in Japanese, became symbols of perseverance.

The Japanese version tells of the koi swimming up the waterfall, but does not mention the dragons. Families fly giant carp windsocks from flagpoles next to the house for about 1 month before the holiday and about 2 weeks to a month after. These windsocks are called koinobori, carp flags. Originally flags with symbols of strength, such as carp, and the family crest were flown. On the same flagpole a streamer called a fukinagashi was flown. This symbolized the whip, the busho, samurai warrior leaders carried into battle. The busho was a symbol of the samurai’s authority.

Later the other symbols were dropped and only carp and sometimes the fukinagashi were used. Families generally stop flying the koinobori when their children are 10 or 11, about the time they enter junior high school.

Boy’s Day became an official holiday in the Edo Period and was set on May 5th. At the same time Girl’s Day was set on March 3rd. The holiday was established to help create a national identity and stress military training for boys. After World War II the name of the holiday was changed to Children’s Day to remove the stress on military training. Now, many families fly a koinobori for each member of the family, from the father down to the youngest son, but not for the daughters.
 

When a baby boy was born, the child’s maternal grandmother would give the koinobori to the parents as a present for the new baby. Originally, the grandmother might make the flag. Now the child’s father or mother buys the flag at the toy store. Since the parents buy ready-made koinobori now, many young people are unaware of their family’s crest. Some families do not fly koinobori anymore. Families who do fly koinobori also display special decorations. These are called musha-kazari, and are a model of samurai armor, samurai sword, and a bow and arrows. Sometimes it is just the helmet and sword or arrows. Musha-kazari are very expensive.

Families eat special rice cakes for Children’s Day. They eat chimaki and kashiwamochi. Chimaki is a chewy rice cake served wrapped in a bamboo leaf. Kashiwamochi is a chewy rice cake with sweet, red azuki bean paste inside, served between two oak leaves.
When they eat this food, the boys wear paper samurai helmets. Families fly the koinobori and fukinagashi in hopes that their children will be strong and healthy and to inspire the children to persevere. Some children thank their mothers for everything they do for them on this day.

Japanese New Year’s Festival

New Year (shogatsu or oshogatsu) is the most important holiday in Japan. Most businesses shut down from January 1 to January 3, and families typically gather to spend the days together.

Years are traditionally viewed as completely separate, with each new year providing a fresh start. Consequently, all duties are supposed to be completed by the end of the year, while bonenkai parties ("year forgetting parties") are held with the purpose of leaving the old year's worries and troubles behind.

Homes and entrance gates are decorated with ornaments made of pine, bamboo and plum trees, and clothes and houses are cleaned.

On New Year's eve, toshikoshi soba (buckwheat noodles), symbolizing longevity, are served. A more recent custom is watching the music show "kohaku uta gassen", a highly popular television program featuring many of Japan's most famous J-pop and enka singers in spectacular performances.

January 1 is a very auspicious day, best started by viewing the new year's first sunrise (hatsu-hinode), and traditionally believed to be representative for the whole year that has just commenced. Therefore, the day is supposed be full of joy and free of stress and anger, while everything should be clean and no work should be done.

It is a tradition to visit a shrine or temple during shogatsu (hatsumode). The most popular temples and shrines, such as Tokyo's Meiji Shrine, attract several million people during the three days. Most impressive are such visits at the actual turn of the year, when large temple bells are rung at midnight.

Various kinds of special dishes are served during shogatsu. They include osechi ryori, otoso (sweetened rice wine) and ozoni (a soup with mochi).
                          Osechi Ryori                     Toshikoshi Soba

There are also a few games traditionally played on New Year, however, their popularity has decreased in recent times. Hanetsuki (Japanese badminton), takoage (kite flying), and karuta (a card game) are some of them.

A very popular custom is the sending of New Year's cards, which are specially marked to be delivered on January 1. It is not uncommon for one person to send out several dozens of cards to friends, relatives and co-workers.

Visiting Japan during the New Year's holidays can be both rewarding and frustrating. Read more on the pros and contras of visiting Japan during New Year.

Information on the Atomic Bomb

Atomic bomb or A-bomb, weapon deriving its explosive force from the release of atomic energy through the fission (splitting) of heavy nuclei (see nuclear energy). The first atomic bomb was produced at the Los Alamos, N.Mex., laboratory and successfully tested on July 16, 1945. This was the culmination of a large U.S. army program that was part of the Manhattan Project, led by Dr. Robert Oppenheimer. It began in 1940, two years after the German scientists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman discovered nuclear fission. On Aug. 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima with an estimated equivalent explosive force of 12,500 tons of TNT, followed three days later by a second, more powerful, bomb on Nagasaki. Both bombs caused widespread death, injury, and destruction, and there is still considerable debate about the need to have used them.

Atomic bombs were subsequently developed by the USSR (1949; now Russia), Great Britain (1952), France (1960), and China (1964). A number of other nations, particularly India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea now have atomic bombs or the capability to produce them readily; South Africa formerly possessed a small arsenal. The three smaller Soviet successor states that inherited nuclear arsenals (Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus) relinquished all nuclear warheads, which have been removed to Russia.

Atomic bombs have been designed by students, but their actual construction is a complex industrial process. Practical fissionable nuclei for atomic bombs are the isotopes uranium-235 and plutonium-239, which are capable of undergoing chain reaction. If the mass of the fissionable material exceeds the critical mass (a few pounds), the chain reaction multiplies rapidly into an uncontrollable release of energy. An atomic bomb is detonated by bringing together very rapidly (e.g., by means of a chemical explosive) two subcritical masses of fissionable material, the combined mass exceeding the critical mass. An atomic bomb explosion produces, in addition to the shock wave accompanying any explosion, intense neutron and gamma radiation, both of which are very damaging to living tissue. The neighborhood of the explosion becomes contaminated with radioactive fission products. Some radioactive products are borne into the upper atmosphere as dust or gas and may subsequently be deposited partially decayed as radioactive fallout far from the site of the explosion.

Information found at http://kids.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry?id=atomicbo

Fashion in Korea and Japan

Zori Sandals Types
Zori sandals are any japanese sandal that has a flat bottom. Zori sandals include both the tatami sandals and vinyl zori sandals. The zori sandal is worn by both men and women and are made in a variety of colors and materials.

Tatami Sandals

Tatami sandals are considered a casual japanese sandal and are the most popular for daily wear. The sandals are called tatami which means straw. The surface of the sandal is made from woven straw like the tatami mats used on the floors of japanese homes. The thong is made of velvet and comes in either red or black.

Kimono 

The word kimono simply means things to wear and is pronounced kee-mo-no. The plural of kimono is simply kimono. The kimono has had a long history in Japan and the kimono has changed over time to reflect the society and culture of that period. 

Today, a Japanese woman usually owns only one kimono typically a furosode kimono which is worn for the coming of age ceremony on her 19th birthday. For weddings, the complete bridal kimono and kimono apparel is usually rented. Kimono are also very rarely worn as every day clothing anymore. Occasionally, if you go to a small rural town in Japan or one of small islands like Okinawa, you will see the traditional every day kimono worn by elders.  

Find more information at  http://www.japanesekimono.com/index.htm