Kishu Binchotan is known a stick for the best quality charcoal used for freshen in the air and purifying water. It is a special charcoal made from real pieces of a type of white oak wood, uses a special tree called Ubamegashi or ubamega oak (Quercus phillyraeoides), now the official tree of Wakayama Prefecture.

The excellent of Binchotan are attributed to steaming at high temperatures because the coal burn extremely hot without any smell of chemical and burns much longer than traditional charcoal. The aroma of the burning coal is pleasantly subtle and the grilled food does not come out with an over power smoky or other unpleasant flavors; it is a favorite of Unagi (Eel) and Yakitori (Grilled chicken) cooks. And then, you drop a stick of Binchotan into a glass, bottle or pitcher of water and place in your fridge overnight. It will naturally purify and soak up the chlorine and other unpleasant tastes, while releasing natural minerals, improving the taste and softening it as well. Then, you can put it in rooms to freshen the air. There are many more supposed benefits and health values of white charcoal. Currently there are a number of Binchotan based consumer products on the market such as socks, shirts, shampoo, cosmetic products, and many more. It can be reused for up to 3 months and easily recharged once a month by boiling it for 5 minutes let it dry. It can be recycled it by breaking it small pieces place into your plant soil for creating micro water and air cavities in the soil.

This dish originally from Nagoya a few years ago and became very popular in Japan now. you can buy them in convenience stores and many other places.

Rice balls with deep-fried shrimp, called Tenmusu is a Nagoya specialty, are highly favored for takeout food and great as a snack. Tenmusu is a little smaller than a regular rice ball (onigiri), There are contains small pieces of deep-fried shrimp or vegetable tempura at the center of it, was wrapping each musubi with nori (dried seaweed) and placing it on dish or a dried leaf. tenmusu often come with Japanese butterbur boiled with soy sauce( kyarabuki).

Crying Sumo (Konaki) or Sumo of tears (Nakizumo) is a popular annual Japanese contest for  babies that take place all over the country. The festival held on Sunday by sumo  wrestlers, the tiny winners are determined by who cries first. If both babies start crying at the same time the winner is the one who wails the loudest in the arms of sumo wrestlers. Japanese parents apparently believe the sumo-induced cries are beneficial, with the babies crying out as a prayer to the gods for good health. At the very least, it probably exercises the lungs.

Some babies reportedly refused to cooperate and stayed silent or even dared to laugh in the wrestlers’ faces. Or, at least, that wasthe case until the wrestlers resorted to slipping on their scary masks. The event is based on the ancient Japanese proverb that ‘crying babies grow fast’(naku ko wa sodatsu). It is thought that the louder the cry, the more the gods have blessed the child with strong and good health, are supposed to drive away evil spirits. is at least 400 years old.

Locations with Crying baby Sumo contests are the Sensoji temple,Tokyo, There are also contests at Ikiko shrine in Kanuma-ski, Tochigi, in September; Yamajioji temple in Shimotsu-cho, Wakayama, in October; and at Saikyoji temple, Hirado, in February.

The exchange of business cards is an elaborate ceremony in many Asian countries, especially in Japan.

Japanese ceremony for a card exchange is called “meishikoukan”, is an essential part of Japanese business etiquette. The business card is a representation of your status in society. Japanese consider their traditions and culture very important, proper business etiquette demands one treats the business card with respect and honour.

Traditionally, the vertical set-up was used for Japanese business cards. The horizontal layout has become the norm. Addresses are in a different order than in English. The country appears first, then the state, the city with the zip code in front, then the street address. Usually the person’s name is written in Japanese using both kanji and romaji (typically kanji is on the obverse of the card, and romaji is on the reverse), along with the person’s title and the company for which he/she works. Other important information is usually provided, such as business address, phone number and fax number.

How to exchange business cards in Japan

In Japan, after a person has introduced him/her, Use both hands to present your card, and received with both hands with a slight bow. The business card should be printed in both languages; it should be printed in your home language or English language on one side and Japanese on the other. If you receive more than one business card at once, leave them lying on the table in front of you neatly until the end of the meeting or carefully insert them into a business card holder. It is important to deal with another’s business card with care.

In a business situation, business cannot begin until the meishi exchange process is complete.

One of the most famous Japanese classic ghosts (yuurei) story is Oiwasan, the story of Oiwa and Tamiya Iemon, is a tale of betrayal, murder and ghostly revenge. of all time, it has been adapted for film over 30 times, and continues to be an influence on Japanese horror today, which was written in the Edo period, which lasted from 1603 to 1867.

Summary of the Oiwasan story

A long time ago (in the Edo period), a woman named Oiwa was married to a Samurai man named Tamiya Iemon and they lived in Yotsuya in ancient Tokyo. Even though Iemon didn’t have a job, Iwa was happy because she was carrying a baby. However, Iemon was depressed due to unemployment. One day, Iemon was attracted to the lovely daughter of a wealthy family. She quickly fell under his spell and agreed to marry him. One night Iemon put a particularly horrible poison in Oiwasan’s food. The poison does not kill her, but the poison hideously disfigured the right side of her face became deformed and her hair to fall out. After she died, Iemon married his new wealthy bride. Iemon was not happy because he was tormented by Iwa’s ghost. It appeared everywhere around him. And many strange things happened and all of the people who had mistreated her died.

All over Japan you will see this carp streamers (koinobori) flying in the wind, sometimes as early as from March until the 5th day of the 5th month. The 5th of May is called Children’s Day (kodomo no hi) in Japan.

This is a famous short Koinobori Song often sung by kids and their families.

Japanese:

屋根(やね)より高(たか)い鯉幟(こいのぼり)

大(おお)きな真鯉(まこい)はお父さん

小(ちい)さな緋鯉(ひごい)は子供(こども)たち

面白(おもしろ)そうに泳(およ)いでる

Romaji:

Yane yori takai koi-nobori

Ōki na magoi wa o-tō-san

Chiisa na higoi wa kodomo-tachi

Omoshirosō ni oyoideru

Translation:

Higher than the roof-tops are the koinobori.

The large Black Carp is the father.

The smaller Golden Carp are the children.

They seem to be having fun swimming.

Carp streamers or carp-shaped windsocks are also known as “koinobori” in Japanese decorate the landscape from April through early May, in honor of Children’s Day (kodomo no hi) on May 5, on this day parents who have a newborn baby boy celebrate their son’s birth by flagging carp streamers in the sky, above the roofs of houses, outside shops, and in the countryside, strung out over rivers. This day was designated as Boys Day or tango no sekku.

The carp streamer is a Japanese symbol of masculinity and success in life, the large koi are a symbol of the courage, strength and determination to overcome all obstacles, it stands for courage and the ability to attain high goals  because it the most spirited of fish, its ability to swim up a waterfall. The Japanese families traditionally flew koinobori from their in front of house to honour their sons.

The streamers are made by colourful decorated paper, cloth, nonwoven fabric etc .The sizes of streamer generally with length 100 meters, and weight 350 kg was made in Kazo, Saitama.

The koinobori set are consists of streamers, made of paper or cloth, from the top of the bamboo or wooden pole down.

The top of the pair of two arrow- shaped spokes wheels (yaguruma) with a ball-shaped spinning vane, symbols of warfare.

The top of the carp streamers is represents the streamer with colorful stripes (Fukinagashi). This one is of five lucky colors, but sometimes they are made of red and white (koohaku) only, another auspicious combination. These streamers were used during battle in olden times to indicate the whereabouts of a brave warriors.

The largest and uppermost, black carp streamer represents the father of the house (Magoi).

The red carp streamer represents the mother of the house (Higoi).

The blue carp streamer one represents the boy.

The other carp streamers are children.

A koinobori set can cost anything from 10,000 yen (US$100) to 60,000 yen (US$600). Ours was 40,000 yen and some change. Not cheap by any means, but you only have to buy them once, you use them year after year, and up close they are actually pretty freaking cool.

Flat Marbles (Ohajiki, 御弾き, おはじき)

Ohajiki is a traditional game for Japanese children, especially girls. In the past, they used roll shells, pebbles or pieces from another game, but now they use flat ball made with small coin-shaped colures ceramic, glass or plastic, and whose diameter is 1-1.5 cm The name of game came from playing by snapping or flicking (“hajiki” in Japanese word) with the fingers.a game similar to marbles. This game became very popular as an indoor game for girls during the Edo period (from 1603 to 1867).

How to play

1. All players sit down on the floor and all players place the same number of ohajiki on the floor, and then do jan ken pon (rock, paper, scissors) to determine who goes first.

2. The first player gathers everyone’s pieces using one hand and then scatters ohajiki 20 pieces on a table or on the floor.

3. The player can only touch the disc, Shoot (flipping or snapping) one of the two pieces to hit another. If the player successfully hits one of the other players’ discs she can keep it.

4. But if player cannot hit, player does not get to keep any of them, then it is the next player’s turn. The person who acquires the most pieces is the winner.

Shimenawa are sacred rope with strips of white   paper (gohei). These ropes made from  rice straw or hemp which is braided before being bound with string. A wood or wire insert is often used to cause the shimenawa to preserve its shape.

The Shimenawa for decorations Japanese New Year (OShogatsu or shogatsu), used for ritual purification in the Shinto Religion. These are usually hung from the shrine gate (torii) and before above entrance of houses or a shrine precinct, the inner sanctuary of a shrines or a ritual site, to ward off evil spirits. Japanese people used to mark trees that are believed to be inhabited by spirits called Kodama. Cutting down these trees is thought to bring misfortune.

Izumo Taisha Shrine, also called as Izumo Ōyashiro (出雲大社) has the giant a sacred rope (shimenawa), lengths and weights of 13 meters, 5 tons, and 8 meters, 1.5 tons respectively. They change it every three years.

The Eel Eating Day (Doyou no ushi no hi, 土用の牛の日)

Doyo means “the end of the season”,are the days which mark the 18 days before the beginning of each season in the lunar calendar and Ushi no Hi, literally means day of the ox, from of old Japanese believed that each part of the day follows the 12 animals of zodiac signs for designation cycles of time, They are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig, animals were used to represent certain text about “Doyo Ushi no Hi”(the Ox day of the hottest period).

Doyo no Ushi no Hi on July 20th as known as the hottest day of the year(temperature about 35-36°C and high humidity in summer),is a special mid-summer day dedicated to eating eels(Unagi, 鰻)because eels are very nutritious foods and can restore people’s vitality and then beat the summer heat, a great source of high quality protein, calcium, vitamin A, B1, B2, D, E, high in EPA (which lowers blood cholesterol) and DHA (sometimes called “brain food,” it is thought to enhance mental acumen), which is popular summertime fare. On Doyo ushi no hi, you will find eels sold at every supermarkets, the shopping arcade, restaurants, convenience stores and Long advertisement flags (nobori) are often around to promote sales. And then you can see a salesman or fishmonger with some freshly grilled eel for sale.

There are many types of eel dishes:

•Kabayaki(蒲焼) – grilled eel on skewers and grilled with sweet soy sauce-base sauce (kabayaki sauce) before broiled on a grill.

•Unagi-don orUnagi-donburi (鰻丼)- Bowl of rice topped with grilled eel.

•Kimosui(肝吸い) – A small bowl of clear soup made from eel livers, often served as part of a set, whose vitamin D content is reputed to be good for the eyesight.

•Shirayaki(白焼き)- plain grilled eel without basting sauce for flavourings. This is usually eaten with a dip of plain soy sauce (shoyu) with wasabi.

•Unagi sushi (鰻寿司)- finger pieces of eel on rice sushi style.

•Uzaku(鰻ざく) – grilled eel with sliced cucumber in a sanbaizu (vinegar sauce) dressing.