Omotesando, Tokyo is home of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade for Japan biggest city. This year’s parade is on March 14 and starts from Omotesando Hills; it runs from 2 p.m. till 4 p.m.

Tokyoites aren’t the only ones that think they have a little Irish in them. Other areas in Japan also hold parades and more.

“What is Moe Day?”
Moe (もえ・萌え): Literally means “to bud” and is a pun on the homonym “to burn”. It is used among otaku to mean getting fired up for budding young beauties. A character described as moe today is an amalgam of Lolicon and Bishoujo features. Most are infantile and bright and have massive, wet, dog-like eyes. They can seem almost animal-like, alien, or androgynous. The appeal of moe features relates to childlike purity, so it should come as no surprise that moe characteristics tend to be younger than …

This October 3rd in 2009 is Ju-goya (Full moon night). It is the day for Tsukimi. Tsukimi means watching the moon. People enjoy watching the moon and the feeling it gives in the autumn nights.

This custom originally came from China, but has changed a little in Japan. Compared with Chinese Tsukimi, which is a big annual event, Japanese Tsukimi mainly is a day to enjoy watching the moon and just soaking in autumn.

The third Monday in September is Respect for the Aged Day or Respect for the Elderly Day.
It is a kind of like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. You go out of your way to be especially respectful to elderly people on this day.
It is something to celebrate that people in Japan can have long lives. In Japan, people celebrate their long lives at each juncture, such as Kanreki.
Kanreki means 60 years-old. The people who become Kanreki celebrate it by wearing a red Chanchanko (a padded sleeveless kimono jacket) and a …

I found this fan.
I smiled when I saw it. It was like a pun.
The Japanese writing on the fan, 祭,is the kanji for matsuri, which means festival.
Since now is around the time for many summer festivals, I figured that the fan was probably dropped on the ground after a festival.
I remembered a Japanese expression I learned sometime back,
ato no matsuri, which means ‘after the festival.’
It’s used like the English expression “after the fact”.
To give an example of how this expression can be used, I want to tell you something about …

The Setusbun is coming…it’s the changing of the seasons and it’s celebrated every year as part of the spring festival(haru matsuri). Demons and Oni alike will soon be running scared. It’s going to be a terrible time for them as the ritual cleansing of evil from the past year will soon be upon them. It’s also going to be a horrible time for all their lurking friends as we drive away the disease-bringing evil spirits for another year to come. The ritual for all of this uproar …

Christmas as a holiday in Japan is a bit different than Christmas in the west. It’s a day for the kiddies and presents, if they are not an adolescent and still believe in Santa Claus. Otherwise, no presents! Why? Because Santa is the only one that brings presents, so once you stop believing in him that party is over. However it is common in Japan to give Christmas presents.
Hoteiosho is a priest or a God who closely resembles our Santa Claus. Hoteiosho is depicted as a kind …