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February 3
Once a year in Japan, the land of order and politeness, it is considered perfectly acceptable behavior for children to hurl beans and peanuts at their classmates without reprimand. That day is today, Setsubun, or Lunar New Year, and understandably, kids more than anyone carry …Read more [published January 26, 2009] Year of the Ox: Ox: You are a born leader, and you inspire confidence in those around you. You speak little, but are quite eloquent. You are steadfast, solid, hard-working, goal-oriented, mentally and physically alert and generally easy-going, but remarkably stubborn. Be careful about being too demanding. You are also methodical and good with your hands. You will make a good surgeon, general or hairdresser. – ancient Chinese Fortune Cookie Actually …Read more Feb. 7, 2008 Jan. 26, 2009 Feb. 14, 2010 Feb. 3, 2011 Jan. 23, 2012 The Chinese Calendar is one of the oldest calendars in the world, dating back thousands of years, though it has undergone many changes in that time. The Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar. New Year usually begins on the second new moon following the winter solstice, or the first new moon after lichun. (Lichun is one of 24 markers that chart the solar …Read more 
2nd Monday in January Almost every society has a coming-of-age rite, be it confirmation, bar mitzvah, high school graduation, or my favorite: passing your driver’s test. In Japan that rite is one’s 20th birthday. However, it’s not an individual celebration. The entire nation of 20 year olds celebrate their birthdays on the same day. That’s today, the second Monday of the New Year, Seijin no Hi…aka, Coming of Age Day. 20 is the legal age of voting, …Read more 
January 7 When Cambodia has a holiday it does not mess around with names. Victory Over the Genocidal Regime Day, or Commemoration of the Fall of the Khmer Rouge, marks the end of the Pol Pot led genocide of 1.7 million Cambodians during the 1970s, out of a population of 7 million. “We will always remember the most horrific events of three years, eight months and 20 days under the regime of Democratic Kampuchea, which carried out the …Read more 
January 1
Countries all around the world celebrate New Year’s Day. But nowhere do they celebrate it like they do in Japan. Think Christmas on steroids, and you’re halfway there. Shogatsu, named after the first month of the Japanese calendar, lasts three full days. It’s the biggest holiday of the year, barnone. The Japanese hold special “bonekai” New Year’s parties, or “year-forgetting” parties. (These differ from American New Year’s parties where attendees hope to forget what …Read more 
December 30 Polyglot: 1. A person having a speaking, reading, or writing knowledge of several languages. 2. A book, especially a Bible, containing several versions of the the same text in different languages. 3. A mixture or confusion of languages.
Today the people of the Philippines mourn the death and celebrate the life of their national hero Jose Rizal. “I die without seeing the sun rise on my country. You who are to see the …Read more 
November 15
Shichi-Go-San means 7-5-3. The holiday celebrates the transition of Japanese boys and girls to the next stages of childhood. The tradition centers around five year-old boys, seven year-old girls, and three year-olds of both genders. In olden days, Japanese babies’ heads were routinely shaven for the first two to three years of their life. At age three, children of warrior families (age two for children of the court) would observe kamioki, aka “leaving …Read more |
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