Doyo no ushi no hi !!!

I believe July 21st is the “Midsummer Day of the Ox” (土用の丑の日 – doyou no ushi no hi) in Japan.What’s that?  Well, basically it seems to be a day to eat freshwater eel (unagi). It is said that eating eel gives us stamina and energy to survive the hottest season, so that is why we eat it during the hottest time of the year in Japan. Sometimes this day is referred to as ‘unagi day’.

Midsummer Day of the Ox can fall on different days each year, but it is usually at the end of July or the beginning of August. The date depends on some complicated calendar stuff which, to be honest, I don’t really understand.  It seemes not all but many foreign students thought ‘doyou’ meant ‘Saturday’ and ‘ushi’ meant ‘cow’, when they first saw the name of this day in Japanese. Actually, ‘doyou’ means ‘the end of the season’, and because of the old calendar, this day now falls in the middle of summer, thus ‘Midsummer Day of the Ox.’

So, why the Ox?  Well, I’m not sure actually.  It might be something to do with the Chinese zodiac, or it might just be that we need the strength of an ox to survive ‘natsubate’ (‘summer fatigue’).  Let's beat NATSUBATE!!! So I will go out to look for restaurants serving a big and good portion of HITSUMABUSHI!!!

Refer to followings about hitsumabushi restaurants
http://www.houraiken.com/
http://hitsumabushi.xtone.jp/ibasyo.html
http://www.hitsumabushi.co.jp/

TANABATA (七夕)

Have you ever heard TANABATA? TANABATA (七夕, meaning "Evening of the seventh") is a Japanese star festival, originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). According to legend, the Milky Way, a river of stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. The celebration is held at night.

Recently people generally celebrate this day by writing wishes, on tanzaku (短冊), small pieces of paper, and hanging them on bamboo with other decorations of Origami and paper crafts. Since kindergarten age people learned how to do it so TANABATA is familiar festival to Japanese. The bamboo and decorations are often set afloat on a river or burned after the festival, around midnight or on the next day. There is also a traditional

Tanabata song:
Sasa no ha sara-sara (笹の葉　さらさら)

Nokiba ni yureru (軒端にゆれる)

Ohoshi-sama kira-kira (お星様　キラキラ)

Kingin sunago (金銀砂子)

Translation:

The bamboo leaves rustle,

shaking away in the eaves.

The stars twinkle;

Gold and silver grains of sand.

Big TANABATA festivals will be held around Nagoya. Let's go out and experience TANABATA (>0<)///

For details, refer to the following URLs;

One of the three biggest festivals, Anjo Tanabata Matsuri(第５８回安城七夕まつり)　→　http://www.anjo-tanabata.jp/　

Other of the three biggest festivals, Ichinomiya Tanabata matsuri(一宮七夕まつり)　→　http://138ss.com/tanabata_bunner/index_tanabata.htm

bIg ChAnGe..... cHaMiLa HeAr......

My name is Chamila became JPNAVI with working from 2011.7.1.I enjoyed being here at JPNavi even though I only Joined on Two Days, everyone was really nice to me, and took care of me. I had a lot of fun being together with everyone, eating and talking and, of course, working here was a really nice experience.I`ll Do My Best....

Last blog.

Hi, Kate here!

Today is my last day at JPNavi, so it will be my last blog as well. I'm going back home next week, and I have a lot of packing and cleaning to do.
I enjoyed being here at JPNavi; even though I only worked for a little bit, everyone was really nice to me, and took care of me. I had a lot of fun being together with everyone, eating and talking and, of course, working here was a really nice experience. I am very happy to have met such nice people, and I hope they will keep well while I'm gone!

Being in Japan was really fun. I cam here last year in the end of August, and I have no idea where the 10 months have disappeared. I fell in love with karaoke, making a point of regularly going to sing my heart out; I've learned to discover new dishes by combining spices that I've never used before and of course I practiced kyudo, which became an important part of my life.
I really wish I didn't have to go back home, and could stay here another year and study at Aichi Shukutoku University. The teachers were always nice and helpful, making every lesson extremely fun and relaxed. The students were always interested in us foreigners, but I never felt more welcome.
The whole experience of studying abroad made me feel more open to the world, and accept a different thing without questioning it too much. I've had a really friendly environment where I lived, and I feel like I won't be able to live without everyone, but we'll keep in touch I hope!

Do come to Japan, and see how it is for yourself! You won't be disappointed! :)

Paradise Kiss the movie!

Not long from now, on the 4th of June, one of my favourite mangas will be released as a live-action movie! Created by Yazawa Ai (who also created the very popular NANA) 'Paradise Kiss' is a story about the world of fashion, modeling and above all love and sacrifice. It may sound like it's very dark and gloomy, but on the contrary! It's filled with lots of jokes and funny references, though some of them might appeal only to more mature readers.

The story revolves around a high school senior, Hayasaka Yukari, and the members of a fashion atelier, also high school seniors, preparing for their final fashion show. In the atelier you will find George, an extremely eccentric fashion designer with blue hair; Arashi, who apart from sewing George's designs plays in a punk band; Miwako, who wants to follow her sister into the fashion industry in her own, pink-haired way; and finally Isabella, who's full of mysteries that you will have to discover yourself.
In the beginning Yukari doesn't approve of the fashion students nagging her, and is more than startled by George's behaviour and manners. But gradually, she begins to understand their world and gets pulled into it, her mind leaning favourably towards the career of a model. Of course this does not go well with her Mom and Yukari has to go through a lot to get what she really wants!

The movie stars two of my favourite actors: Mukai Osamu as George and Yamamoto Yūsuke as Yukari's high school crush Hiroyuki Tomomuri. Mukai and Yamamoto previously worked together when making Atashinchi no Danshi, alongside the female star Horikita Maki. Horikita and Yamamoto worked together in a 2007 drama Hanazakari no Kimitachi e.