Japan History and Culture

The opening of New Year’s rice cakes (Kagami biraki,鏡開き)

Kagami Biraki also known as the “Rice Cutting Ceremony”, literally “Mirror opening “or” Breaking of the Mochi.” means “to break the image of ourselves and our actions of the previous year. Many martial arts dojos hold such ceremonies to mark the beginning of the New Year. It traditionally celebrated on the January 11 (odd numbers are associated with being good luck in Japan).It refers to the opening of a Kagami mochi was offered to the Gods. Kagami biraki not cut with a knife, and instead the mochi(a round cake made of rice) was broken with one’s hands , wooden hammer or a wooden Taru (sake barrel) and to the opening of a cask of Sake at a party, wedding banquets, sporting events, starting a new company, ceremony, etc. People bake mochi into smaller pieces are roasted and put in zenzai or shiruko (sweet soup of boiled beans) or zoni (vegetable and meat soup) or eat it with salt or soy sauce.

Donburi (丼ぶり)
The Donburi is basically known as a fast-food lunch, literally means “bowl”. Sometimes this dish is called simply “don” may be added as a suffix to indicate a donburi dish.

The Donburi is a Japanese dish of boiled rice with topped (meat, fish, eggs or vegetables).Donburi meals are served over rice in big bowls. The various Donburi choices vary largely in their toppings. The topping served on each donburi is reflected by its name in the menu, topping preferences vary by region, even by town, and by season.

Variety of donburi

Tamagodon or Tamagodonburi (玉子丼) is  a scrambled egg mixed with sweet donburi sauce on rice.

Oyakodon or Oyako Donburi(親子丼)The name of this popular donburi dish comes from its two main ingredients, literally “parent-and-child rice bowl “, the bowl with simmered chicken together with egg and green onion or other on rice. a good simmering sauce often based on dashi, flavoured with soy sauce and mirin(Japanese rice wine) then all is poured on top of both of rice .The parent-and-child rice bowl is a poetic reflection of the fact that both chicken and egg are used in the dish. In Japan, oyakodon is often served in soba restaurants and the shop can add Japanese pickles (tsukemono) by free.

Katsudon (カツ丼),Tonkatsu donburi or Pork cutlet rice bowl , is a popular Japanese dish consisting of a deep fried breaded pork cutlet (Tonkatsu) with onions and egg on top of rice. The dish has become a modern ritual tradition for Japanese students to eat katsudon the night before taking a major test or school entrance exam because The Japanese word “katsu” is a homophone of the verb katsu (勝つ) ,literally meaning “to win”.

Tenshindon (天津丼) is a Chinese-Japanese specialty, consisting of a crabmeat omelette on rice, this is called天津飯 tenshinhan, named for Tianjin, China.

Tekkadon or Tekka Domburi (鉄火丼) is basically thin sliced raw tuna served on rice with seaweed(nori), wasabi and ginger. Many Japanese restaurants serve chirashi, which is the same thing with assorted seafood in place of the tuna, but very few seem to have tekkadon.

Negitorodon (ネギトロ丼, ねぎとろ丼) is a green onion and diced toro (fatty tuna or raw tuna fish) and negi (spring onions) over a bowl of rice.

Tendon or Tempura Donburi (天丼) is tempura shrimp are deep fried pieces of battered seafood and vegetables, dipped in soy sauce, served on top of the rice. Various tempura pieces are dipped into based sauce before served on top of the rice.

Gyudon or Gyuniku Donburi (牛丼),literally “beef bowl” is a Japanese dish consisting  broiled beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavoured with soy sauce, mirin, salty flavour and sake giving the dish a sweet on top of the meat, it is commonly served with beni shoga (pickled ginger),shichimi(red chilli mix), and a side dish of miso soup. Other side dishes are salad and kimchi. Tea and water are offered for free with refill jugs available on the table for customers to serve themselves. Many chain restaurants (gyudonya) specialize in gyudon making it an informal, inexpensive dining option frequented by students, ideally suited to travellers on a budget and often open 24 hours.

Unadon or Unagi Donburi (鰻丼), literally “eel bowl”, this combo is popular in the summer, because the Japanese believe eating eel is good for you in the hot weather,this is also the time of year when the eel fishing is at its peak.Unadon is a rice topped with pieces of grilled eel(unagi no kabayaki,鰻の蒲焼) coated with a thick glaze of soy sauce and  sweet sauce(soya), sprinkled with sansho.

Chukadon (中華丼) or gomoku-chukadon (五目中華丼),literally meaning “Chinese rice bowl”, is a popular Japanese fast food dish. It consists of stir fried assorted vegetables, onions, mushrooms with some meat over rice in a big bowl. not traditionally Japanese or Chinese, the hybrid dish indicates the popularity of donburi in Japan.

Golden Dolphins ( shachihoko,鯱)

The shachihoko is a symbol of Nagoya. “shachihoko”, it refers to the mystical animal, it is a kind of tiger fish, an animal with the head of a tiger and the body of a carp or dolphins. In Japanese mythology, it was believed that this animal could cause the rain to fall, and as such, temples and castles were often shibi adorned with in this shape, in order to protect them from fire. You can see a pair of shachihoko on the top of the roof of Nagoya castle.They was put there mainly for the purpose to show the power of the lord of the
castle.

Health and Sports Day  , Undokai or taiiku no hi

Health and Sports Day or Sports Day is a national holiday in Japan held annually on the second Monday of October. It was established to commemorate the opening of the 1964 Summer Olympics  Games being held in Tokyo (October 10-24). It has been a public holiday since 1966. Until 1999 the holiday was on October 10, but beginning in 2000 it has been moved to the second Monday of the month. It’s a day to promote physical and mental health of the people through the enjoyment of sports and one of the best opportunities in Japan to see children and their families up close.

This day annual events staged by many elementary schools in which elementary children participate in competitive, often with the aim of winning prizes. Usually their parents, grandparents and many people from the neighbourhoods go along to watch and enjoy a community experience.

Many sports events and fun games are held on this day. In this sports day typically consist of a range of physical events ranging from more traditional track-and-field events such as the 100 metres , 200m running, 4 x 100 metres relay match, rope pulling (tsunahiki), and a lot of recreation games competing two or three groups. as the tug of war and the mock cavalry battle (kibasen???,) and a lot of recreation games competing two or three groups,the reversible red and white caps which allow pupils to play for either side. As the autumn weather is particularly conducive to sport, a number of other national and regional contests are held at this time. The winning team is decided based on the efforts of the team as a whole. Individuals are not specifically identified.

Lunch is a traditional handmade bento (lunchbox) and the children eat with their relatives on a picnic blanket.

Candy apple  or Ringoame

Candy apples, also known as toffee or jelly     apples (about 5 cm in diameter) are whole apples covered in a hard sugar syrup coated with hot red thick syrup gravy, usually tinted red and sometimes flavoured with cinnamon. The sugar syrup is heated to the “hard crack” stage before coating the apple to make a hard coating when the syrup cools. Other variations include caramel or toffee apples, and chocolate apples.