Customs & Traditions Why Did People in Old Japan Send the God of Colds to the Village Boundary?
In old Japan, people did not always look only to the body for the cause of a cold.Some people believed that a “god of co...
Customs & Traditions
Customs & Traditions 
Customs & Traditions How Did People in the Past “Bring Home” Autumn Leaves?
When we hear the Japanese expression momiji-gari, or “autumn leaf hunting,” it may sound a little strange.Are autumn lea...
Customs & Traditions What Do Japanese Autumn Festivals Celebrate? Festivals Held in the Season of Harvest
When autumn arrives, festivals begin at shrines in my neighborhood.In the area where I live, several shrine festivals ar...
Customs & Traditions Shichi-Go-San in the Meiji Era — Celebrating a Child’s Growth
Today, Shichi-Go-San is a familiar autumn tradition in Japan. Children dress up in beautiful clothes, visit a shrine wit...
Customs & Traditions What Did People Do for Tsukimi in the Past?
The Moon, Susuki, and the Autumn HarvestOn an autumn evening, I sometimes look up at the moon when it is especially beau...
Customs & Traditions What Was Choyo Festival in the Meiji Era?
Enjoying Japan’s Autumn “Chrysanthemum Festival”September 9 is known as Choyo Festival (Choyo no Sekku), one of Japan’s ...