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International Day of the Book

The 23rd of April was chosen by UNESCO for the

World Book and Copyright Day.

The holiday originated in Catalonia-Spain, where each customer who bought a book on St George's Day, received a rose as an additional gift.
The other sources inform, that it was a medieval kind of Valentine's day. On that day men were giving roses to their women, and since the beginnings of the XXth century women started giving them books instead.

A great coincidence is the fact, that the 23rd of April is also a date of such anniversaries as birthday of Shakespeare and Nabokov, or death of Cervantes and... Shakespeare as well.

Different countries celebrate it in many different ways. The most common one is probably making discounts like the one in Polish Empik (the most famous commercial chain selling books, press and media in Poland) - buy 3 books for the price of 2. Fnac, that originated in France and spreaded around the Western Europe, offers 10% discounts in its Spanish stores too. What is more, Portuguese Fnac announced its one month long, annual holiday "Festa do livro" that includes discounts up to 40% or books of the week.

A guide to recognizing Shrines and Temples

The two main religions practiced in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism. Most of the Japanese people don't identify themselves with one particular religion and participate in all kinds of rituals. The presence of those coexisting religions is visible in every Japanese city, town, village, district or even street. The places for practising Shinto are Shrines, while Buddhist rituals take place in Buddhist temples and are easy to distinguish just like a church and a mosque.

Shinto is a religion that originated in Japan in ancient times. Its main beliefs consider the spirits called kami, to be present in such elements of nature as stones, mountains, trees, waterfalls. The most famous object of this kind is the Fuji mountain. Shinto traditions are usually cultivated in shrines when it comes to blessing children, weddings or success in business.

Buddhism, which has its beginnings in India, was brought to Japan from China and Korea around the 6th century. Japanese people, usually meditate or pray in Buddhist temples. What is more, funeral ceremonies in Japan are held mostly in Buddhist temples.

The main features of Shinto shrines:

* overload of red color, which expels demons and illnesses

* most often, small shrines are collected in a big complex

* torii - one large red gate, usually followed by many more similar gates

* komainu - a couple of dogs or lions by the entrance gate

* temizuya - ablution place at the entrance for washing mouth and hands

* kami - statues representing particular spirits and holy animals

* ema- wooden plaques with people's prayers hanging on the wall


The main features of Buddhist temples in Japan:

* larger than shrines

* always containing a statue of Buddha and a place to burn incense or candles

* paper lanterns and paper decoration at the entrance

* a pagoda - a kind of reliquary for storing sacred elements

* zen garden

* nearby cemetery

Things that shrines and temples in Japan have in common:

* omikuji - small fortune telling papers, tied over tree branches after reading to make the fortune come true (if good) or to avert it (if bad).


The most recognizable shrines and temples of Japan:

Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, famous for the countless torii - red gates, that cover the hiking trails of the mountain InariSan.

Todaiji ("Great Eastern Temple") in Nara, the world's largest wooden building. Reconstructed in 1692 is only two thirds of the original temple's size.

Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) is a Buddhist Zen temple in Kyoto.

My Easter Holidays in Japan

My Easter Holidays 2010 were the 3rd that I've spent outside Poland.
Each of those 3 times I was missing the part of my family that was not with me but on the other hand it was also great experience to try and discover new things.

This year, I've spent Easter Sunday with Daniel at hanami, which is a Japanese kind of spring picnic and it's main aim is to admire the Sakura - Cherry Blossom. At the time of Sakura, Japanese people gather in the parks, bring loads of food and drinks, blankets, music instruments, cameras and enjoy their hanamis.

Probably, the most spectacular and enjoyable parts of Easter Holidays in Poland are egg painting and Easter bunny's presents. And that's a part of things that appeared on that day.
Accidentally, just before going to the Meijo Kohen park in Nagoya, we got toys from gashapon machines - vending machines distributing toys in plastic balls, capsules. As soon as we got them we thought that it's a funny Easter coincidence that they resemble eggs.

We waited with opening them until getting to the park. It turned out that Daniel's capsule was hiding stickers with different kinds of beetles (not the Beatles!), while my toy was a kind of keyring, which after pushing the button sounds more less like "Ai shiteruyo baby" (jap. "I love you baby").
In the park, we did egg painting. Actually Daniel did most of the job but my cherry blossom egg pattern also wasn't bad. I should mention here, that originally the eggs that I bought were called Onsen Eggs and we didn't realize what does it mean. After making a small research I discovered that there is a special recipe for Onsen Tamago - Hot Spring Egg.

During our Easter Hanami we've tried some new food.
The most interesting looking one, was a roll with some green tea dough on the top of it. It was rather sweet and tasted great with chocolate bunny.

Another thing was Strawberry Pocky. To describe it I should use a comparison with something that exists in Poland and usually goes with a beer as a snack - słone paluszki (pol. salt fingers/sticks). Both of them, Polish salty and Japanese sweet version, are sticks made of crunchy dough. Japanese ones, are covered with different flavours such as: chocolate, banana, strawberry and many more. Yummmyyy!!!
By the way, did you notice unbelievable Japanese packaging??? The box contains 12 sticks and each 3 of them are wrapped separately!

Last but not least, Takoyaki - the dish which was worth waiting in a queue for a while. As you may see, or not, it is baked and round shaped, served few pieces in a little wooden boat. Each of those round pieces contains butter, dough, vegetables, mayonnaise and a piece of octopus. The most funny part of it are the flakes called aonori, which cover the dish from the top. You may believe or not but, as long as the dish is warm, the flakes are moving. It gives an impression as if your dish was alive!

If you'd like to find out how do the Easter celebrations in Japan look like, check out Daniel San's last year post about his visit in Japanese and Korean churches.

Sakura Matsuri at Koshoji Temple

As spring in Japan is the time of cherry blossom, most of the temples organise Sakura Matsuri - spring festival, which lasts for a few days.


One morning, at the end of March I went to the Koshoji temple nearby Daniel's flat. The Koshoji buddhist temple isn't widely known so it is really calm during working days. The temple is located on the hills of Yagoto district of Nagoya, surrounded by a forest. It was founded in XVIIth century and one of its most impressive building is 5-storey pagoda.

At the end of March it helds the Sakura Matsuri. It was a very nice cultural event to attend, especially for a foreign person like me.

Not only most of the people present there was dressed in traditional Japanese wears, but also they were performing many different celebrations such as the tea ceremony.

It was also great to watch the Japanese ladies dancing, singing and playing shamisen. What I liked the most, was music spreading all around the temple's surroundings.

At the night time, the temple and trees in its surrounding have very nice illumination. There are even special pink lights for the Sakura trees.