One piece of Japanese clothing that I like is the hanten. My wife’s grandmother made a hanten from silk. It looks very nice and it is very warm.
Of course, I can wear it while relaxing at home. Sometimes I want to keep it on when I go outside, but my wife tells me that is strange.
Do you wear a hanten? Where do you wear it? Do you ever go outside with it on?
Valentine’s Day was this week. I got lots of chocolate: chocolate cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate truffles, and more. I got homemade chocolates, Belgian chocolates, American chocolates, and Japanese chocolates. I was very happy on Valentine’s Day.
That day, I ate a lot of chocolate. The next day, I ate a lot of chocolate. Yesterday I ate a lot of chocolate. I am eating too much chocolate. Tonight I will try not to eat too much chocolate.
Did you get chocolate on Valentine’s Day? Did you eat too much?
When I was a child, we called the board at the front of our classroom a “blackboard”. Traditionally people wrote with chalk on large pieces of slate. Slate is black, so they called it a blackboard. Later people made boards painted black for blackboards.
During my childhood, many schools started using dark green paint on the blackboards. Since the boards were not black anymore, people started to call them “chalkboards”.
Now some people still say blackboard, but most people say chalkboard.
Sometimes old words lose their meaning and we keep using them. Sometimes old words lose their meaning and we make new words.
I like the word chalkboard because it explains how we use the board. I think the color is not so important.
Soon it will be Valentine’s Day. Many people give cards on Valentine’s Day. Chocolates and flowers are also common gifts. Jewelry or lingerie are more rare.
If I teach a class around Valentine’s Day I like to give chocolates to my students. Other than that, I don’t give many presents on Valentine’s Day.
When I was an elementary student, we used to make cards for every student in our class.
Will you give any gifts on Valentine’s Day? Will you give chocolate?
Today I have been thinking about paper: specifically Japanese paper. Mino city in Gifu prefecture is well known for Japanese paper. My hobby is Japanese calligraphy, so I am interested in paper.
One time, I went to Mino to learn about paper. We visited a center where we could make our own paper. I really enjoyed it. I laid designs and a wire mesh over my paper and showered it with water. After it dried, it looked almost like lace.
Someday I hope to go again.
Have you ever made paper? Did you enjoy it?
Today we celebrate Coming of Age day in Japan. The term “Coming of Age” represents a change from childhood to adulthood. In Japan we celebrate this change at 20 years old. When someone turns 20 they can vote. Also they can drink and smoke.
In America we consider people adults at 18 years of age, but it is very complicated. We consider people under 21 years old to be minors. Americans can vote and smoke when they turn 18, but they can’t drink until they turn 21 years old.
Ancient Jewish tradition celebrates coming of age at 13 years old.
Many Latin American families celebrate a woman’s coming of age at 15 years old.
Different cultures have different ideas about passing into adulthood. When do you think children become adults?
Yesterday my wife made a traditional porridge. On the Seventh of January, some people make nanakusagayu which is a rice porridge with seven kinds of wild greens. Many children do not like it because it has a strong grassy flavor.
I like many different flavors, so I enjoyed the porridge. This morning we ate the leftover porridge and added Japanese plum.
Japan is a country with many, many traditions. Some of these traditions are disappearing. I think nanakusagayu is a disappearing tradition.
What do you think? Do you eat it every year?
君の為に 