Japanese culture takes root deep in seasonal blessings and in traditional concepts

of valuing humanity and a sense of duty above all else.

Japan is an arc-shaped island country which stretches a long way from northeast

to southwest. The Japanese island has only 24 percent of flat areas, and 61 percent of the

island is steep mountains covered in forests.

Because of the geographic features, ancient Japanese people adapted their lives

by having nature worship. The ancient customs of respecting nature and loving natural

beauty formed present seasonal events and remained in Japanese cultural aspects.

When spring comes, all parks with cherry trees become crowded with people day

and night for cherry blossom viewing parties. Since the blossoming period is only about a week, the Japanese love cherry blossoms and enjoy singing, eating and drinking

under the blossom trees.

Cherry blossom is a symbol of spring since cherry trees begin to bloom in

March or April. “I love the moment when I go through the street lined with cherry

blossoms,” said Makito Shirasaka, a sophomore majoring in kinesiology.

One of a good-luck charms which relate to cherry blossom is catching a pink leaf

before it falls on the ground. If a person successfully catches a landing leaf, his/her wish

will come true.

Since spring is the season in which nature starts growing, schools and work begin in April.

Summer is the time for festivals. Japanese summer is very muggy, but festivals

energize people with its attractions.

There are two kinds of festivals. One is the traditional festival, which has an

official celebration date. The other is the regional festival, similar to traditional

festivals but on a much smaller scale, with more local events taking precedence.

The traditional festival values celebratory activities, and sometimes feature fireworks. Young people carry ‘Omioshi’, or a portable shine, a carriage of the god used

when the god travels somewhere from his home shrine. An Omikoshi is heavy, so several

people carry it out and call out, gathering their power.

Regional festivals are on a much smaller scale, as they are more localized. Each town association determines the best date to

hold their festival on. People enjoy dancing around a drum performance, eating food and

playing games.

“I liked buying a small gudgety toy,” said Dr. Kumagai, Akihiko, a mechanical

engineering assistant professor at CSUS. “I enjoyed rather eating and buying things, like

golden fishes, than dancing.”

Fireworks are very popular during summer. People enjoy setting off small fireworks themselves

or viewing large fireworks at festivals.

Fall is the harvest time. When fall comes, the climate becomes comfortable.

The Japanese say that fall is a season for sports, study and eating. Schools hold

many events during the fall.

For the school sports day, students team up with their peers.One of the teams will win sport competitions based on the sum of winning scores

on different games. Students will learn how to cooperate with each other in order to succeed as a team.

The school cultural festival takes place on the day schools are opened to the community. Each class

has a program and a whole school becomes a small amusement park. Students plan and

prepare for programs, like making a horror house and managing a restaurant. Some

colleges have a beauty pageant to determine who the most beautiful girl is in a college.

In winter, hot spring water, like a natural Jacuzzi, is very popular. Japan has more

than 2,800 hot spring water sites. Hot spring water has effects like smoothing skin with its

scientific elements and controlling the nervous system and internal secretions.

Not only do people love hot spring water, but also Japanese monkeys love the feeling

of soaking in it.

As the most important event in winter, people celebrate New Year. On New

Year’s Day, many women wear kimonos, which are Japanese-style garments. Many famous shrines, become crowded by people who pray for happiness

and health in the new year.

Many people make a wish by throwing small changes into an offertory in shrines.

Going to a fortuneteller is a popular traditional custom. People chose one from six kinds

of fortune-telling, from the great luck to the worst luck. If a person picks a type of bad luck, he or she ties

the fortunetelling to trees and exorcises his or her bad luck.

In schools, students show respect not only to the teachers but also to the seniors, because they are in a position where they can learn a lot from teachers and seniors.

Japanese society developed the sense of duty like returning kindness. Many

companies took lifetime employment systems until the long depression dulled the economy.

In the long eras of feudalism, vassals promised loyalty to a monarch for getting

lands. Before the depression, the social ideal was getting high wages by working for a

company for a long time.

Now, Japanese business systems are quickly changing by adapting western styles.

Many employees now search for better opportunities and a change of occupation.

“Japanese culture has new and traditional mixtures,” said Yumi Ikeda, a senior

finance major. “We have advanced new technologies, but we can still find many old

customs and traditions in our lives.”