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ALC Newsletter No. 063 07/04/07
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By the International Marketing Team at ALC Press
http://www.alc.co.jp/international
Contents:
1) The "Dear Readers" Column: Messages from the International Marketing Team at ALC Press
2) Topics in Japan #23: Wish upon the stars ─ the tale of Tanabata
3) Quiz on Japan #2: What is done at a Japanese-style funeral?
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Dear Readers,
Greetings from hot Tokyo!
Independence Day was last Sunday, July 1 in Canada and is today,
July 4 in the USA. Many people must be taking a summer vacation
now and sightseeing spots around the world should be full of tourists.
In Japan, summer vacation at schools starts around July 20 and ends
at the end of August. So, working people usually take their summer
vacation late July or in August (if they can!)
Anyway, we wish you a great summer vacation!
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Topics in Japan #23: Wish upon the stars ─ the tale of Tanabata
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Have you heard of the Japanese Tanabata festival? The festival is
usually held on July 7, and celebrates the meeting of two stars,
Orihime (Vega of the constellation Lyra) and Hikoboshi (Altair of
the constellation Aquila). The festival is said to originate from the
middle of 8th century, when the ancient Chinese festival to pray for
good needlework skills was joined to the Japanese festival to pray
for a good harvest. The Tanabata festival was first only held within
the imperial court, but had spread among the ordinary citizens by
the Edo period (around the 17th and 18th centuries).
The story behind Tanabata is quite romantic. Once upon a time in
the universe, the stars Orihime (the weaving princess) and Hikoboshi
(cow herde star) met and fell in love with each other. However,
they were so much in love that, after the marriage, Orihime would
no longer weave cloth and Hikoboshi would no longer herd cows.
The god of the universe became mad, and separated the two by
laying the huge Milky Way river between them. Ever since then,
Orihime and Hikoboshi are allowed to see each other only once a
year on Tanabata, the night of July 7.
The form of the Tanabata festival has changed as time has passed,
and now people celebrate it by writing their wishes on small pieces
of paper and hanging them on bamboo branches, sometimes with
other decorations. Not many people practice the custom within
their families any more, but we can still find bamboo trees in public
places such as schools, local shopping arcades, or inside large retail
stores.
The fun part of Tanabata is not only making a wish and writing it
on a piece of paper, but also taking a look at other people's wishes
that are hanging on the bamboo branches. Here are just a few
examples of the fun wishes that I've found for this year: "I want
my new car to be delivered as soon as possible." (Maybe you
should call your dealer and ask for that wish!), "I hope my wife
gets back home every night." (uh-oh, maybe it's a bit too serious
for Tanabata festival), "I want to marry someone from abroad."
(Hmm, this wish may come true). As you see, you can find a wide
variety of wishes on Tanabata bamboo trees.
So, what wish will YOU make upon the stars on the night of July 7?
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Quiz on Japan #2: What is done at a Japanese-style funeral?
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How much do you know about Japan? We'll give you a quiz in each
issue, so try to find the right answer!
［Answer to last week's quiz］
Last week's quiz question was "How many kanji (Chinese characters)
do we use?" The answer is: (b) 2,000. Children have to learn 1945
kanji characters through elementary and junior high school. And
actually, these 1945 characters are very basic ones so we need to
know a lot more to be able to read and write kanji fluently ─ probably
about 5000 characters!
［Quiz for this week］
Quiz #2: Among the four alternatives below, which one is actually
true of a typical Japanese-style funeral?
(a) The bereaved family cannot eat any meat or fish for 7 days after the funeral
(b) Each attendee sprinkles salt over the body to ward off evil spirits
(c) After the body is cremated, relatives collect the bones with chopsticks
(d) There is a big karaoke party after the ceremony
Check out the correct answer in the next issue!
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Thank you for reading!
*Back issues of the ALC Newsletter are available at:
http://www.alc.co.jp/international/Newsletter.html
*If you wish to be removed from this newsletter or change the e-mail
address to which it is sent, please let us know by e-mailing us at:
intl-mag@alc.co.jp
Publisher: ALC Press, Inc.
2-54-12 Eifuku, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 168-8611 Japan
Writers: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press / Ayako Ishimoto
Editor: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press
Copyright (c) 2007 ALC Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
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