GoFindAdventure

Last week we were invited to join a group of gals for Friendship Day.  It was a luncheon put on by a group of Japanese ladies. We arrived and were greeted by Kimono clad women who handed each of us an origami crane.  The color of your crane determined which table you were seated at. The get together started with a welcome speech and a lady playing a crazy instrument, called a Koto. Then they had an Ikabana demonstration, where they arranged different branches and flowers in order to symbolize the New Year. The three main plants they feature for the New Year are pine trees, bamboo, and plum blossoms.  The pine branches represent long life, are though to be sacred, and stand for eternal prosperity (hmm, glad I picked the pine and lemon scented deodorant this month!) Bamboo is also thought to be sacred, it grows fast, and has vitality. Plum blossoms just make them feel happy and represent spring coming soon.  I was surprised by how attentive they were to ...

Last Saturday was Setsubun. It's not considered a holiday, though in America it probably would be. Setsubun is a day where the Japanese throw dried soybeans at a person dressed up as a demon in order to get "evil out" and bring "luck in." So they usually do this in their houses, but you also see it near shopping centers or train stations. We came across it at a shopping center outside the train station and our neighbor also invited us over to celebrate.  The cub was NOT into it when we came across it in public.  He isn't sure about people dressed up in costumes still (Santa, the Tokyo Tower mascot, etc). When we threw the dried soybeans at our neighbor or his dad though, he was all about it! I'm afraid to give him beans anytime soon or I think he'll just chuck them at the first person that comes near him.