Tamaki SAITO（西東たまき）

It is said that in Edo era, everything was recycled in the metropolitan city of Edo. The idea has been nurtured until now being aware that Japan is a natural-resource-poor country. Though there were some times that the idea of overheat consumption was appreciated as seen in the late 80's. But people are basically very keen to live frugally. A lot of saving ideas are shared via books, magazines and internet etc. and people don’t wait to bring those ideas into practice.   It is a common tip to use bath water for washing clothes Pump up the remaining bath ...

Have you seen Japanese calligraphy? They are an art of black and white, which turns writing or characters to worth appreciation as an art. It's called 'Shodo'. All children are given Shodo class from 10 years old until the end of the compulsory education. Competition takes place annually. The works are ranked and awarded. It is also one of the popular extracurricular activities. Therefore, every student owns a set of Shodo utensils. The major components are; ●　Fude － a brush. It has a large variation of the diameter size. School students are normally equipped with three sizes; a fat size ...

It is quite common for kids from 6 years old under age 12, i.e. children of primary school age, to enrol the activity club called ‘Kodomo-kai’. ‘Kodomo’ means children and ‘Kai’ means society, club or gatherings in Japanese. The purpose of the kodomo-kai is to provide children with a chance to communicate and cooperate with younger and elders in the community and give them variety of experiences outside of the family and school life, with the backup of their parents.   Funding source of "Kodomo-kai" A few coins of the fee are collected from every member monthly to keep up ...

Do you have any idea how Japanese crockery could look like? If the bowls and plates you know are the ones with smooth surface and round shape, you shall be betrayed. To suit with Japanese dishes whose nature is principally simple by singling out the spirit of the ingredient, crockery has got a chance to flourish itself. Japanese table is consisted of many plates and bowls whose material and shape are varied. They are chosen according to the image of the dishes and also four of the seasons of Japan. For instance, the cool and handsome look of glassware and ...

Whenever and wherever Japanese people travel, what they always have in mind is about souvenir (Omiyage). Souvenir for them is sharing of the memory and experience with friends, co-workers and neighbours not to mention own family and relatives. Actually, it might be almost impossible to come back without any souvenir to share once you have announced that you were travelling. You could even feel embarrassed if you are found you had travelled but came back with no souvenirs.   Local products are Best Kyoto: Yatuhashi Mie: Akafuku-Mochi They can be anything but shall be something to display where you travelled, ...

Antique aficionado would always in search of the antique markets everywhere they go. There are a number of antique markets as well in Japan that would satisfy them quite well. One of the loveliness of those markets is the place Often the antique markets are held at the precincts of the shrines. Exceptionally serene: divine shrine precincts are the perfect setting for these time-travelling events. There are many of such antique markets held monthly or bi-weeks basis. Early in the morning of the day of the market, many venders will be arriving the venue one after another to secure their ...

Is it because Japanese culture value minimalism and simplicity? Japanese people seem to be very enthusiastic in shortening the words. For instance, we call a remote controller ‘Remo-Con’ and a smart phone is usually called ‘Sma-Pho’ in Japan. Even the world’s big names have been converted into Staba (Starbucks) and Bana-Ripa (Banana Republic). Will Mr Brad Pitt ever know that he is most commonly called ‘Bra-Pi’ in Japan?! Often the words are abbreviated paying no attention to English syllables so it would sound quite peculiar for the people who speak English; they are rather created much depends on the sound ...

If the spices are the base of Indian cuisine, Soy sauce is undoubtedly the base of Japanese cuisine. Soy sauce which is called ‘Shoyu’ in Japanese is made from nothing but soybeans, salt and wheat. No any additives.     There are 5 main categories in Japanese shoyu.   Koikuchi which means thick taste -- type is the mainstream. It develops mainly in the Kanto area, and it is characterized by excellent balance of scent, color and taste.   Usukuchi "Usukuchi" means "color is pale". Salt is 18 ~ 19% and it is about 2% higher than Koikuchi soy sauce. ...

Every school classes or group of certain members would like to organise ‘Renrakumou’. Renrakumou is a list on which the member’s name and contact details are written. With renrakumou, you won’t need to collect member’s contact by asking individually. Especially, renrakumou made in schools has a purpose of emergency network When school has got some notices that they want to spread to the students/guardians urgently is when the renrakumou will play its roll. It is usually arranged in the tree-form network, starting from the teacher at the top then it comes down to the 2nd layers downwards. The teacher passes ...

In many countries, people’s name is written the first name first and the last name at last. In many cases, Japanese also follow the order when they spell in alphabet. But infact, Japanese name never comes that way. Japanese name starts from the last name then first name. Japanese name is consisted of only those two unlike some people in other culture have middle name or any other kind.   When they get married, they have to share one family name either husband’s or wife’s. Whichever is fine as the law stipulates equality of both sex. However, most of the ...