A LITTLE ABOUT CAGURA
The Japanese term "Kagura" consists of two characters, the first of which means "Divine", "sparkling", and the second - in this context - "music". This is the name of cult…

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THEORIES OF "NIHONDZINRON" IN JAPANESE BILLS
In the near future, the Japanese government plans to put into circulation new-type banknotes with new "faces." Gradually, such money will supersede the existing banknotes of the 1984 model. An…

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How to celebrate New Year in Japan
New Year in Japan: holiday history, traditions and customs, Japanese analogues of Santa Claus, Christmas tree, greetings and postcards, feast and festivities. New Year is the most famous holiday celebrated…

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carefree vagabond

BORN EARLIER, Sensei

Who do you think this is? “Born before” preserves the wisdom of generations and transfers it to others. They go to him for advice. He is respected and loved. This is as important a person as parents, and sometimes more important. Guessed?

Of course, this is a teacher, and in Japanese – sensei.

By default, we translate this word as “teacher, teacher,” but for the Japanese it contains a whole world of relationships built on respect, reverence and love. Parents give life, and Sensei teaches us how to live. Even in the fairly recent past, many noble Japanese tried to give their children to teachers and mentors early, so that children could learn the wisdom of life earlier. The mentor became the second father. If there weren’t those who were “born earlier”, then there wouldn’t be all that we have now, that’s why the Japanese treat Sensei with reverence, catch Continue reading

BONSAI: UNIVERSE IN TREE

In the East, trees, herbs, and flowers are worshiped as living beings. They conduct confidential conversations with them, as with close friends. They are idolized. Monuments are erected to beloved plants when their life suddenly ends. It has been so since ancient times. Previously, they asked for wind and rain not to break trees. In ancient chants they prayed for an extension of the instant of flowering.

Trees in the East are perceived as beings standing on a par with humans, and they tend to experience the same feelings. The Buddhist idea that everything has a soul and can be reincarnated into anything it attracts to contributes to this understanding of the world.

A man is connected with trees by family ties. All these are phenomena of a single essence, as Zentika tells about it in the play “Basho”, or “Banana Tree”:

The East, permeated with symbolism associated with plants, sometimes well-known, never ceases to Continue reading

HISTORY OF CERAMICS OF JAPAN

The discovery of archaeological sites with ceramics of about 13 thousand years old on the Japanese islands in the early 60s was at that time a real world sensation, refuting the popular belief that the Middle East was the center of the earliest pottery. Today, ceramic complexes aged 13-10 thousand years are known not only in Japan, but also in the south of the Russian Far East, in eastern and southeastern China, in Korea.

1. ANCIENT CERAMICS. The oldest pottery in the world was first discovered on the Japanese archipelago. In 1960, during the excavation of a primitive site in Fukui Cave (Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu Island), fragments of clay vessels were discovered whose age, according to radiocarbon analysis, is about 13 thousand years. Most of the monuments are open in the central and southern parts of the island. Honshu, in the north of Fr. Kyushu. The oldest ceramic complexes of the most northern island of Hokkaido date back to about 9 thousand years. Samples of ancient Japanese ceramics Continue reading

CLOTHES IN TRADITIONAL JAPANESE ARTS
In today's world, traditional clothing naturally gives way to a European dress. Kimono is also subject to change. Now it is made using modern dyeing and weaving technologies. Its decoration…

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Christians versus Samurai: What caused the bloodiest rebellion in Japanese history
Japan is traditionally associated with two religions - Shintoism and Buddhism. But in fact, Christianity has existed in it for several centuries. True, the relations between Japan and Christianity are…

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JAPANESE GARDENS WITH THE EYES OF A JOURNALIST
The famous rock garden of the Ryoanji Monastery in Kyoto. Japanese gardens do not bear material fruit. Their purpose in another is to awaken the work of thought. Divine emptiness…

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