Period+7+Japan+Culture

Merissa Morgan, Kelly Ponchione May 13, 2010 World Cultures Academic, Period 7 **__ Japanese Culture __** There are many holidays in the Japanese Culture. One in particular is New Year’s. To prepare for this huge holiday, all of the families send off greeting cards in mid- December. They are not delivered until New Year’s day, though. In the evening, many people travel to a Buddhist temple to ring the temple bell 108 times. 108 is a special number in the Buddhist religion because it starts the year off free of evil. On New Year’s day, most families go to a shrine or temple and pray for good luck and health. At night on New Year’s day, people play traditional card games like karuta and kyakunin isshu. A popular piece of clothing located in all of Japan is the world famous Kimono dress. It is a traditional Japanese dress that all woman and young girls wear in various special occasions. There are different kinds of kimono dresses. Some include the tomesode, which is a formal dress, homongi which is a semi-formal dress and the komon, which is a casual dress. Kimono dresses should be wrapped around the body with the left side over the right side. Kimono dresses come in many different colors and patterns. Many women wear wooden sandals, known as geta, or cloth sandals which are called zori. Thin layer of sock is worn with them, which are called tabi.

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Isebu. "Alien Times." //Alien Times//. Tsukuba Expo '85 Memorial Foundation, 14 May 2010. Web. 13 May 2010. .