So the long-awaited “Golden Week” a.k.a. “GW” has come!
How are you all spending this long holiday?
One of the celebrated days of the GW, is called the “Children’s Day こどもの日” (kodomo no hi).
This is the day we are supposed to celebrate and wish for the health and happiness for kids, but mainly for boys.
Remember we had a day for girls back in March?
Just like many other countries in the world, we traditionally wish for happy marriage for the girls, but the strength and health for boys!
To symbolize these, the decoration for the Children’s Day to be the samurai armor or the armor’s helmet “兜” (kabuto).
So what else are decorated/eaten for the Children’s Day?
A type of mochi called “柏餅” (kashiwa mochi) is the seasonal sweets for May – the sweetened red bean paste is wrapped in mochi, then with the oak leaf. Not so pink and fluffy like the Girls’ Day tradition of the colorful rice puffs!
The schools/kindergartens, or anyone with a space in their house will also get their “鯉のぼり” (koinobori) out.
These are carps made of cloth, tied on a poll so that it will “swim” the sky – some towns/villages will have hundreds of them swimming all together which can be a breathtaking view!
This is also a season for fleur-de-lis (iris) in Japan, so you will see “菖蒲” (shoubu) flower everywhere 🙂
Written by Otoha
タグ: Japanese culture
Why Japanese sleep on the floor?
Although most of Japanese people use bed to sleep,
it is still common to sleep on the floor for Japanese.
Why is it??
There is no exact answer, but these are what I think are true!
1. Tatami mat
2. Shoes matter
3. Space problem
1. Tatami mat
Tatami mat is the traditional Japanese floor made of rice grass,
Which is soft and cozy to sleep on.
It use to be a major type of floor in Japan and the size of the room is measured by the number of tatami mats.
For example 6 tatami mats are the most common single bed room size in Japan.
2. Shoes matter
It might be also because of tatami mat, Japanese traditionally take off their shoes when they get into the house.
Tatami mat is soft and easy to be damaged, they do not wear shoes on tatami.
Therefore, the floor is treated as clean enough to put Futon and sleep on.
3. Space problem
Because it can be folded into two or three and put away to the storage, Futon was a space-saving way of using small space.
The room can be used as a study or dining room during a daytime, and a bed room during a night time.
These are what I(Japanese) think are the understandable reason for why Japanese use floor to sleep on.
If you are in Japan, try this traditional way and see how it fits you 🙂