Japan History and Culture

The history of Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri)

The Snow Festival began in 1950, when six local high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park. In 1955, the nearby Makomanai base joined in and built the first massive snow sculptures, for which the Snow Festival has now become famous. Several snow festivals existed in Sapporo prior to the Sapporo Snow Festival, however, all of these were suspended during World War II.
Owing to the Energy crisis of 1974, snow statues were built using drums. This was due to the shortage of gasoline caused by the crisis and many of the trucks used to carry snow to the site were unavailable. In the same year, the International Snow Statue Competition started and since that year many snow statues built by teams from other countries have featured; especially from sister cities of Sapporo such as Munich.

In years when the accumulated snowfall is low, the Self-Defense Force, for whom participation is considered a training exercise, brings in snow from outside Sapporo. The Makomanai base, one of three main sites from 1965,hosted the largest sculptures, with an emphasis on providing play space for children. Use of the Makomanai site was suspended in 2005 and moved to the Sapporo Satoland site located in Higashi-ku from 2006.

Nakajima Park was established as one of the festival sites in 1990 however, it was removed as a site in 1992.The third site, known as the Susukino Snow Festival is situated in the night-life district of Susukino and includes predominantly ice carvings. The site was approved as one of the festival sites in 1983. In every year, the Susukino Queen of Ice, a female beauty contest, is held at the site

The Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri)

Dates: February 6 -12
City: Hokkaido, Sapporo Prefecture
The Sapporo Snow Festival, one of Japan’s largest winter events, attracts a growing number of visitors from Japan and abroad every year.
Every winter, about two million people come to Sapporo to see the hundreds of beautiful snow statues and ice sculptures which line Odori Park, the grounds at Satoland, and the main street in Susukino. For seven days in February, these statues and sculptures (both large and small) turn Sapporo into a winter dreamland of crystal-like ice and white snow.

The Sapporo Snow Festival was started in 1950, when high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park. It has since developed into a large, commercialized event, featuring spectacular snow and ice sculptures and attracting more than two million visitors from Japan and across the world

The Snow Festival is staged on three sites across Sapporo City: the Odori Site, Susukino Site and Sato Land Site.

The main site is the Odori Site in Sapporo’s centrally located 1.5 kilometer long Odori Park. The festival’s famous large snow sculptures, some more than 15 meters tall and 25 meters wide, are exhibited there. They are lit up daily until 22:00.
Besides about a dozen large snow sculptures, the Odori Site exhibits more than one hundred smaller snow and ice statues and hosts several concerts and events, many of which use the sculptures as their stage.
Great view over Odori Park can be enjoyed from the Sapporo TV Tower, which stands at the eastern end of the park and is opened from 9:00 to 22:30 during the festival (from 8:30 on the weekend). Admission to the top observatory deck costs 700 Yen per adult.

The Susukino Site, located in and named after Sapporo’s largest entertainment district, exhibits about one hundred ice sculptures. Susukino is located only one subway stop south of Odori Park. The ice sculptures are lit up daily until midnight (until 22:00 on the festival’s final day).

The less centrally located Sato Land Site in Sapporo Sato Land Park is a family oriented site, featuring slides and a maze made out of snow and ice. It also exhibits several more small snow sculptures, and is open daily from 9:00 to 17:00

History of geisha

First geisha appeared in the early 1600s. After 8 centuries of fighting among the warrior lords, the country was united under a military dictator, or shogun. Tokugawa Ieyasu quelled the internal warfare, unified most of the country, and in 1603 became shogun, establishing his government in Edo (now Tokyo). This Edo-based shogunate lasted some 265 years and is called the Edo period. Under shogun rule, Japan isolated itself entirely from the rest of the world. During that time, prostitution was controlled. Special “pleasure quarters” were set up. The pleasure quarters became the places of sexual freedom. Exclusive prostitutes or courtesans would entertain samurai warriors. It was there where the first geisha appeared. These geisha were men. They also were called jesters (hokan) or drum bearers (taiko-mochi), and they were there to make the guests laugh. In 1751, some customers in a Shimabara brothel were surprised when a female drum bearer came to their party. She was referred to as geiko, the term still used in Kyoto instead of geisha. By 1780 female geisha outnumbered the men; by 1800, a geisha was a woman.

Even after the novelty wore off, female geisha remained in high demand. By the 1750s, the licensed quarters had already been in existence for 150 years, and yujo (the prostitutes) were not as skilled in the arts as they had once been. In fact, the entertainment of the pleasure quarters had probably gone a little stale. The new female geisha took the quarters by storm. They sang popular songs; they were fun to talk to. And although in the official hierarchy of the licensed quarters, geisha stood near the bottom, customers preferred the fresh-faced geisha with her shamisen to a high-ranked yujo.

The geisha in the licensed quarters were forbidden to sleep with the yujo’s customers. In 1779 geisha were recognized as practicing a distinct profession, and a registry office (kenban) was set up to provide and enforce rules of conduct for them. Geisha were not to wear flamboyant kimono, or combs and jeweled pins in their hair. Arthur Golden further explains:A traditional image of a geisha in the West is often confused with what was a prostitute from the 1800s. The look of a prostitute and the geisha is very distinct. Geisha tie their obi tied in the back. A prostitute, on the other hand, wear her obi tied in the front: she is taking her kimono on and off all night; she can’t have a dresser come in, so she ties it in front herself. Also, the image of lots of hair ornaments — it is also of the prostitutes. Geisha wear much simpler ones. (The Secret)

Under these regulations, geisha completely separatedfrom the prostitutes. Geisha prospered. The simplicity of their appearance became highly popular. They spread over the country while Japan continued to shut itself out from the rest of the world.
World War II also had great influence on the image of geisha. Japan proclaimed war against the United States. The Japanese were sure they would win because the emperor’s power was divine. After the United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered. The country had been devastated. The United States Army headed by Gener al McArthur came to Japan. Already a year and a half before the surrender, the war was having its effect on the geisha districts. The expensive restaurants at which they entertained were required to close at eleven, and geisha to cease entertainment at ten. Sayuri recalls the times of Depression during World War II:
Our okiya had been stripped off the things other families had lost long ago, such as stores of food, undergarments, and so forth. … The neighborhood association began confiscating many of our ceramics and scrolls to sell them on what we called the “gray market,” which was different from the black market. … It was mainly housewives selling off their precious things to raise cash.

The geisha districts were required to close down completely on March 5, 1944. Since the geisha houses were closed, the Americans looked for fun elsewhere:Even as the Meiji government had essayed to provide ladies of pleasure for early foreign visitors and residents, so the Japanese government thought to do it for the Occupation forces. Soon after the surrender there was a poster in Ginza inviting young ladies to join a “recreation and amusement association” for the entertainment of the Americans. It had a few gatherings in the basement of a Ginza department store, but soon became a cabaret for Japanese. The government early indicated a willingness to set aside a generous number of pleasure quarters for the exclusive use of the Occupation.

The American troops found pleasure with the streetgirls. They called them geisha (wrongly pronounced “geesha”). The new “geisha” had neither the accomplishments nor the brains of the real ones. However, Americans used the term geisha because it was easy and convenient. Japan lost the war, and the geisha their reputation.

fried octopus balls (Takoyaki)
Takoyaki is made up of two words in Japanese, tako means octopus, and yaki which means grilled or fried. It’s sort of a party food, or a drinking food. Takoyaki venders are very popular in Japan. To make takoyaki, a grill pan for takoyaki is used. The pan has many small cups to pour the batter

 

 INGREDIENTS

• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 2 1/2 cup dashi soup
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 lb. boiled octopus, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1/4 cup dried sakura ebi (red shrimp)
• 1/4 cup chopped pickled red ginger
• *For toppings:
• fried bonito flakes
• Kewpie (pretty much the best mayo ever)
• aonori (green dried seaweed)
• Worcestershire sauce or takoyaki sauce (could also use tonkatsu or okonomiyaki sauce)
• Mayonnaise
How to make
1. Cut octopus into bite size pieces.
2. Cut cabbage, green onion and pickeled ginger into migingiri (mince).
3. Beat egg, added with dashi.
4. Add flour, baking powder and salt, mix lightly for making batter.
5. Heat and oil takoyaki plate well.
6. Pour batter into molds on hot plate and put octopus, cabbage, green onion, pickled ginger and tenkasu on each top. Heat a while.
7. When batters on the edge of the molds become cooked, gather batter outside of the molds into the center together with fillngs. Use senmaidoushi (skewer) to gather.
8. When batter browns turn over to form balls. Continue to heat while turning it over and over until balls become evenly browned and well cooked inside.
After you are finished, take the balls out of the pan and sprinkle them with Kewpie(pretty much the best mayo ever), takoyaki sauce (could also use tonkatsu or okonomiyaki sauce), katsuoboshi (shredded fish flakes), aonori(green dried seaweed), and any remaining negi.

The History of Wagashi
The origin of Wagashi dates back to the Yayoi Era (B.C.300-A.C.300), when it was no more than natural fruit, berries, and nuts. “Wagashi” was greatly influenced by the grain processing skills that were introduced from China along with the Buddhist culture during the Nara Era (A.C.710-784), and people started to make Mochi and Dango (different forms of rice cakes). However, these were mainly used for religious purposes and were too exclusive for the average person. The basic forms of most Wagashi we see today come from that era.

Japanese confectioneries made remarkable strides during the late Muromachi Era （A.C.1336-1573) when Japan was exposed to foreign trade. Trade with Portugal and Spain brought new recipes and ingredients, which profoundly influenced “Wagashi” making. The introduction of sugar revolutionized the formula for sweetness, which until then had largely depended on the natural flavor of the ingredients, and spurred further development.

By the time the art of Wagashi-making had matured during the early Edo Period (A.C.1603-1867), the “Wagashi” trade was experiencing great competition and development in Kyoto, Edo, and other regions. Average people were enjoying them as well. The excellent Wagashis developed during this period are practically identical to the ones we see today Its usage diversified also, as they started to appear in tea ceremonies, afternoon snacks, and gifts.

During the Meiji Era （A.C.1868～1912）, Western cakes and desserts entered Japan and greatly influenced the development of “Wagashi.” The word “Wagashi” was coined during the last part of the Taisho Era (A.C.1912～1926) in order to differentiate Japanese confectioneries from Western ones. Although Wagashis have been influenced by foreign cultures throughout the centuries, they have always been refined by the Japanese sense of art. Wagashis will continue to be an integral part of the Japanese culture that grows as new skills come along.