Japanese culture

Fermented Brown Rice Nanakusagayu

Nanakusagayu is salt taste rice porridge made by what we call spring seven wild herbs. It is supposed to cleanse our stomach which has been filled with heavy meals during the new year’s holiday. If we have Nanakusagayu for breakfast on the 7th, we are said to have good health for the rest of the year.

Joya no Kane, the New Year’s Eve Bell

In Japan, we have a tradition called Joya no Kane which means the New Year’s Eve Bell. The bells are rung 108 times at Buddhist temples throughout the country.

Praying at Benzaiten on a Day of Financial Fortune

It was a day of financial fortune today according to the Japanese lunar calendar, so I went to a Benzaiten shrine in our town. Benzaiten is Sarasvati in Sanskrit, and is said to give you wealth, and it is good to visit a Benzaiten shrine on a day like today.

>