Coloring pages of Japan

Coloring pages of Japan. Traditional places and customs that characterize Japan. Traditional costumes in Japan. Setsubun is a Japanese holiday (Japanese: 節 分) that symbolizes the day before the start of every season.

On February 3, the Setsubun of the beginning of spring, called Risshun (Japanese: 立春), is celebrated. On this holiday the Japanese remove the bad luck from their homes and welcome the good luck that will enter them.The holiday is celebrated in a ceremony where the head of the family or the landlord stands in the doorway and throws hot soybeans out of a pan as he says aloud: "Oni and Soto, Foucault and Ochi" (鬼 は 外! 福 は 内!) - "Demons out, Good luck inside. " The source of the custom is the Buddhist belief that demons can be smuggled out by hot soybeans. Even in Buddhist temples and Shinto temples, ceremonies are held in which worshipers throw soybeans.

Near the temples there are people dressed as demons (oni) on whom people throw soybeans to get rid of them and bring themselves good luck. Japanese soybeans are also eaten for good luck and health.

Another custom in honor of the first day of spring is to put fish heads or decorations on the door of the house on which fish heads are painted in order to ward off evil spirits.

PS- To save paper and help our planet, you can print on used pages, on the blank side ♥

Japanese house

Japanese boy

Japanese girl

Japanese girl

Japanese girl

Japanese house

Japanese sumo wrestler

Japanese sumo wrestler

Japanese girl

Japanese woman

Japanese house

Japanese meal 

Cherry blossom tree

Cherry blossom

Japanese girl stands near Pagoda

Pagoda coloring page

Origami Day - November 11

Do you also have the childhood memories of making small paper boats that sail on puddles, creating a hat to wear on your head or a paper airplane flying home from the living room to the kitchen and back? This nice childhood hobby is called origami and is part of a whole art where amazing things are made from paper folds.

Origami, the famous Japanese art of folding paper, began to develop in the 1600s (or earlier) and became popular around the world in the mid-twentieth century. Origami traditionally does not involve any cutting or gluing, it is simply folds that create a variety of shapes, simple and complex. The art of cutting paper is called Kirigami.

Although there are only a few basic origami folds, they can be combined to create lots of things, like birds and flowers, dragons and dinosaurs, elephants, castles, steamers and even spaceships! Papers can be combined in different colors to make the origami creation colorful and rich.

The origin of the name "origami" is from the Japanese phrase "uri", folding 折 り and "gami", a piece of paper 紙.

Origami began in Japanese and Chinese culture, as part of various rituals in the Shinto religion common in Japan. From there it spread to the whole world and became part of the leisure culture.

In Japanese culture paper symbolizes purity. In the Shinto religion, people especially like to fold crane-shaped paper. The crane symbolizes health, success and fulfillment of wishes. Folding 1000 cranes allows fulfillment of a wish.

In 1955, Sadako Sasaki, a 12-year-old girl from Hiroshima who survived the U.S.-led atomic bombing of World War II, contracted leukemia and decided to fold 1,000 cranes to fulfill a wish for world peace. Of peace movements around the world.

Origami crane

Over the years, origami began to be used not only in art but also in other fields.

At the end of the 20th century origami also began to be used in the fields of science, technology and mathematics. The complexity of the paper folds allowed for the learning and development of various technological and nanotechnological models.

Origami is used as a tool for occupational therapy in psychiatric hospitals, special education and as a tool for the rehabilitation of fine motor skills among accident victims, because it combines planning and thinking and gentle work with the hands.

How to celebrate Origami Day?

There are lots of origami projects that you can see and learn how to make them, for example on the Origami Club website where there are animations and charts of traditional paper folds.

If you already know or have just learned how to make origami, today is the time to upload your creations to the social network so that everyone can enjoy the delicate beauty of this art!

Japan Origami Museum, Narita Airport, Tokyo

Want to learn how to make paper rings? Link to tutorial 

November 11 is also Singles' Day  and Veterans Day

International Sushi Day - June 18

International Sushi Day is celebrated on June 18. The reason for choosing this date is unknown. But what does it matter. The idea is great. 

International Sushi Day was first celebrated in 2009. 

How to celebrate this day? by eating sushi of course!

Some interesting facts about sushi: 

The source of the sushi is not in Japan - the sushi actually came from Southeast Asia, from the Mekong River in China, from fermented fish dishes wrapped in sour rice. The concept of modern sushi was invented in Japan by Hanaya Yohei around the end of the Edo period in Japan, a period in Japanese history that began in 1603 and ended in 1868 with the transformation of Japan into a modern one. 

The sushi started as a quick and cheap snack, something you eat with your hands, like when you watch a movie at a movie theater.

The wasabi we eat is probably not real wasabi - the real wasabi comes from the root of the wasabia japonica plant, not horse radish. The authentic Wasabi is expensive. The wasabi is usually served in sushi restaurants made of mustard and mustard powder, and a green color with artificial colors makes it look like the real wasabi.

The sushi became popular in Western countries in the 1960s.

Sushi animated gifs

June 18 is also International Sushi Day, Autistic Pride Day and International Picnic Day

Pokemon Day - February 27

On February 27, 1996, Pokemon - the video game of the Japanese company Nintendo - went live.

Pokemon are pocket monsters that first appeared in green and red. The green Pokemon came out only in Japan, and the red one came out outside Japan as well. It was designed by Satoshi Tajiri, a Japanese computer game designer who grew up in Tokyo and was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.

At first there were 150 Pokemon and "Mew", number 151 which was unknown or achievable. Today, in 2020, there are 890 Pokemon divided into eight generations.

Pokemon are creatures of different sizes with different traits and abilities. Many of them are based on living creatures like dinosaur, mouse, fish, bird and more, and some are on plants like coconut tree, stills like mug, teapot, keychain and more.

Pokemon are divided into eighteen types according to their traits and fighting abilities: In the first generation the types were presented: normal, fire, wind, water, earth, grass, poison, dragon, electricity, compression, ice, rock, supersensible, insect, flying and metal. The second generation also featured the dark and the sixth generation the fairy (which was already introduced in the first generation but without meaning).

Pokemon have spectacular and natural fighting abilities with each type of different ability such as: blowing fire, shooting water, generating electricity, freezing, telekinesis and more.

Anyone who plays Pokemon is called a Pokemon Trainer. The trainer gets the Pokemon among the Pokemon where he captures them by Pokémon. After the Pokemon are in the hands of the trainer, he trains them and strengthens them so that they can fight the Pokemon of other Pokemon trainers. To train fight in institutes, places where coaches fight against opponents' Pokemon.

Following the game's great popularity, a TV anime series was released in 1997 that followed a 10-year-old boy named Ash Katcham from the city of Palt on his adventures on his way to fulfilling his life dream of becoming the greatest Pokemon trainer of all time.

In 2016 came out the game Pokemon Go, an augmented reality video game designed for smartphones, where players would search for the Pokemon in the actual space where they are, capture them and train them in real places where the battles took place in augmented reality.

How to celebrate Pokemon Day?

Today is your day to become Pokemon trainers. If you do not have the game on your smartphone, download the app (for free) and start capturing Pokemon everywhere you go. If you are already a Pokemon trainer, you can participate in the Pokemon Day celebrations that start today and last until March 2 at 21:00 according to Pacific Time (PST).

Learn more about Pokemon Day celebrations

Pokemon Coloring Pages

 

 

Japan's Lucky Man Race - January 10th

Every year on January 10, early in the morning, thousands of people in western Japan participate in a race where whoever runs the fastest will become the person with the most luck of the year. The race was held at the Nishinomiya Shrine in Hyogo District in Japan, at the Temple of Ebisu,  the Japanese god of fishermen and luck.

Before dawn, about 5,000 people waited outside the temple this year. When the gate opened to the sound of drums at six o’clock, they burst into a sprint towards the main hall, about 230 meters away, to become the first “lucky man” of the Reiwa era, the era of the new Japanese emperor Naruhito, who acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne in May 2019.

In the race that took place last year, in 2020, 33-year-old Yusuka Korogi, a physical education teacher at a high school in the city of Sakai, Osaka province, won.

The runners who came in second and third place were also crowned as "lucky men".

Aside from the happy title of lucky man of the year (fuku-otoko), Yosuka also won a barrel of rice. The winner said he was surprised by the achievement and he looks forward to a successful year and hopes to share his good fortune with other people.

Source

Photo: KYODO

January 10th is also Bittersweet Chocolate Day and Peculiar People Day

Landscape view of the Yogo district in Japan

Tempura Day - January 7

Tempura (Japanese: 天 ぷ ら, Tempura, pronounced "tenpura") is a Japanese dish, a coating of vegetables, fish and seafood in a batter made from flour and cold water deep-fried in vegetable oil that gives them crispiness.

The Japanese have been making tempura for centuries. The tempura came to the West in the 16th century (around 1549) when the recipe for tempura was introduced to Portuguese Christian missionaries by the first shogun (military ruler) of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who loved tempura. During this period the dish was very popular in Japan and sold by street vendors (the food stalls on the street are called Yatai- 屋 台).

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Today tempura has become a popular dish that chefs have invented many different versions of. The traditional tempura was fried in sesame oil. The various recipes today use additional ingredients like eggs, cornflour, oil, baking powder, salt and spices. The water is sometimes replaced with soda water. The tempura-coated foods have also changed. Today, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, cheeses, chicken and even dried fruits are expected in tempura. Sushi also has a tempura-coated version.

The word "tempura" comes from Latin meaning "times" or "time period" used by Spanish and Portuguese missionaries to describe the pre-Easter fasting period in which animal based food is forbidden.

How to celebrate Tempura Day?

Find a dish you like that you can expect. Prepare on a night of tempura and dip the food in it. After coating, deep fry in oil.

Tempura vegetables (source) 

January 7 is also I Can't Take It Anymore Day And Pass Gas Day

Pearl Harbor Day- 7 December

Pearl Harbor National Memorial Day, also known as Pearl Harbor Day, falls every year in the United States on December 7 to remember and honor the 2,403 US citizens killed in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.
On August 23, 1994, the US Congress determined that December 7 of each year would be the National Memorial Day of Pearl Harbor. On Pearl Harbor, the American flag is lowered to half-mast until sunset to honor those who died as a result of the attack on US Navy forces in Hawaii.

Pearl Harbor Day is not a federal holiday - government offices, schools and businesses are not closes. Some organizations may hold special events in memory of those killed or injured in Pearl Harbor.

The attack on Pearl Harbor took place on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941, during World War II. Imperial Japanese aircraft attacked the American base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which was the main base of the US Navy in the Pacific Ocean. At 7:55 am Mitsu Poshida, the leading Japanese pilot, gave the signal for the attack when he called "Tora, Torre, Torre".

The attack on Pearl Harbor was seared into the American consciousness as an event of national disgrace, remembered to be a disgrace, and is considered the greatest intelligence failure in the history of the United States, until the terror attack on the Twin Towers in New York. The attack on Pearl Harbor caused the United States to enter World War II and, in retrospect, defeat Japan.  

 

Read more about the attack on Pearl Harbor

December 7 is also Cotton Candy Day

World Ninja Day- 5 December

December 5 each year is the International Ninja Day. 

Who were the ninjas? It is thought the first ninja was a fighter against the rich feudal samurai. Then came the Chinese monks and established schools ninja - and were taught the Ninja Theory and its fighting techniques. They fought in wars for several centuries until peace came to Japan and then left the ninja reality and into movies and comic books instead.  

Ninja (in kanji: 忍者) is a late concept from the late 17th century that was coined in retrospect to describe diverse groups of regular guerrillas or mercenaries from the Sengoku period in Japan.

The ninjas, as portrayed in popular culture, are masked black-clad guerrillas who exploit martial arts knowledge for espionage and assassinations. They specialize in camouflage, quiet and covert movement, disappearance and evasion. Typical ninja weapons in Western cinema are the ninja sword (which has not historically existed), the Sai daggers, the shuriken ("ninja star") and the yumi (Japanese archery). They are also aided by bombs and smoke bombs.

Ninja often appears in action movies and martial arts movies, mostly American.

How to celebrate International Ninja day?

On this day, every ordinary people can become a ninja one day. On this day, dress in black clothes and black masks and sneak friends and work as ninjas. Dress as Ninja and upload your photos to Facebook or Instagram or Twitter.

If you want to feel like a ninja, do not forget it's just a costume and be careful not to do dangerous things.

December 5 is also World Soil Day and Repeal Day

Hello Kitty coloring pages

Hello Kitty known by her full name Kitty White is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio. According to her backstory, she is a perpetual 3rd-grade student who lives outside London. Sanrio announced in 2018 that Hello Kitty's birthday is March 5th.

Choose the coloring page of Hello Kitty you want to paint, print and paint for your enjoyment. To print the page you would like to color, click on page and then click Ctrl+P.