My dream vacation-Japan

Japan is one of the most attractive vacation destinations to me. I am extremely interested in Japanese culture, traditions, fashion, people and landscapes, etc. One day, I am definitely going to Japan to experience everything special and wonderful about Japan.

Japan is in the Continent of Asia. It's country is made up of many islands. Since the sun rises in the east, Japan is of tern called "The Land of The Rising Sun." The Japanese refer to their country as "Nippon" or "Nihon" which means "source of the sun". The Japanese flag represents a red sun on a white background.

The capital of Japan is Tokyo. In fact it is one of the biggest cities in the world. It is modern, very busy, and extremely crowded. Moreover, Japanese technology, economy are all considerably at the top ones in the world.

To me, Japan is a nation that you can experience old traditional elements and modern high-technology factors both in one. Japan is full of mysteries and I am going to find them out. This blog is particularly designed for my Japan tour dream. I choose some of the most interesting and representative features of Japan in the blog. Hope you will enjoy it and maybe you will find yourself fall in love with Japan just like I am...

Japanese festivals

The Japanese Seijin No Hi-Coming of Age Day(January 8th)

Seijin No Hi is the first holiday of the year after New Year's is all over. It is for all the women who have just become legal adults(age 20), and most families buy a kimono(Japanese traditional costume) for their daughter. The typical kimono is 300-400 thousand yen each. On the day the young lady will typically go to a nearby Shinto Shrine and pray for health, success, money, etc. It's one of the few times you will see anyone wear a kimono-except for the grannies running around going to study or teach tea ceremony. The other occasions are graduation from a college, and once in a while at a wedding.

The Hina Matsuri-Doll festival( March 3rd)

Its origins go back to China which had the custom of making a doll for the transferral of bad luck and impurities from the person, and then putting the doll ina river and forever ridding oneself of them.March 3rd celebrated Girls; Day in Japan, and from mid to late February families with daughters put out the dolls with the hopes their daughters will grow happy and healthy. One superstition associated with this is that if they are late in putting away the dolls when the festivalis over, their daughters will become old maids. Most consist of just a prince( Odairi-sama) and a princess(Ohina-sama).

The Shichi Go San Matsuri( 7-5-3 Festival)

The Shichi Go San or 7-5-3 Festival is one of the uniquely Japanese festivals. Boys who are 3 and 5 years old, and girls who are 3 and 7 are taken to a Shinto shrine, often in their first kimono, and the parents pray for their continuing good health and prosperity. The numbers, especially 3 and 7, are lucky numbers in Japan, and until the 20th century Japan was a thoroughly feudal nation with a higher childhood mortality rates. A sweet candy called chitose-ame is also often bought for them, in a bag with cranes and turtles, 2 more symbols of long life.

Japanese cuisine

The modern term "Japanese cuisine" (nihon ryōri, 日本料理 or washoku, 和食) means traditional-style Japanese food, similar to that already existing before the end of national seclusion in 1868. In a broader sense of the word, it could also include foods whose ingredients or cooking methods were subsequently introduced from abroad, but which have been developed by Japanese who made them their own. Japanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on seasonality of food (旬, shun),quality of ingredients and presentation.

Traditional Japanese food is undoubtedly one of the healthiest and most delicious in the world and fortunately for most of us, foods like tofu, sushi, tempura, miso, soba, and even green tea are now familiar and freely available to people outside Japan. As a national cuisine, Japanese food has greatly evolved over the past few centuries due to many social as well as political changes. Right from the ancient eras, wherein much of the traditional cuisine was largely influenced by the Korean and Chinese cultures, the Japanese cuisine gradually transformed with the onset of the Medieval period, which brought along with it new tastes and flavors.

With the advent of the Modern ages, massive changes took place and the Japanese cuisine would then be influenced greatly by the Western culture. However, the traditional Japanese food of today is still very similar to what existed towards the end of the 19th century. This would mean that a large portion of the Japanese cuisine includes those foods whose cooking methods and ingredients have been introduced by other cultures, but which have since then been experimented with and developed by the Japanese themselves.

The thing about Japanese food is that you either will love it or you will downright despise it. With traditional Japanese food, there is no such thing as an in-between. However, chances are that if you hate Japanese food, then you probably haven't even tasted authentic Japanese food or you simply haven't given yourself the chance to like it. Unlike other cuisines, Japanese food is not something that you will appreciate after having only a bite. Like wines and cigars, Japanese food is an acquired taste.

Japanese Onsen Spa (Hot Springs)

Japanese spa is called onsen. Since Japan is well-known for its many volcanoes, there are a lot of onsen all over the country. It is very relaxing to soak in Japanese onsen spas. Japanese people like to spend holidays in onsen. Open-air spas(roten buro) are very popular and are wonder. Onsen is very good for health as well.

There are different kinds of onsen, depending on the amount and kinds of minerals in the water. Some spas can be smelly and very hot. Most of Japan's 2000 hot springs originated from the rainwater and melted snow that flows down from mountains,seeps into the ground, is naturally heated by the many volcanic zones of the nation, and springs back out.

The curative effects of hot springs have been extolled since times of old. Their secret lies in the minerals and other medical substances that are dissolved into the groundwater as it makes its long journey from deep underground up to earth's surface.

It is useful to know how to use Japanese spas before going there. Japanese spa are usually separated foe women and men. People are suppose to take all their clothes off.

Japanese Fashion

One thing that I am crazy about Japan the most is its special Japanese style of fashion. I constantly review and collect Japanese fashion information. I believe that Japanese has their own unique sense of style which cannot be found elsewhere in the world. You never know what kind of novel ideas they are going to come up with, you never know what they are going to put on as their clothing, you never know what kind of hair style they are going to set up, etc.

"Japanese Style" blends Japanese traditional elements with most trendy fabs together to create distinctive looks that can only been seen across Japan streets. Their ideas are always unpredictable and imaginative. How I want to walk on the streets of Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya and Tokyo to experience the Japanese air of fashion!