Post by Hatsuharu Souma on Jul 12, 2005 21:43:42 GMT -5
Summer Greeting Cards
Summers in Japan are very hot and humid and tend to wear people out. So during the hottest period, Japanese people send postcards to inquire after the health of friends and acquaintances. These summer greeting cards are called shochu mimai. People write shochu mimai cards to say, "Are you all right? I hope you're surviving this hot weather." Shochu mimai cards give people an opportunity to contact friends they have not spoken with for a while. For example, kids send them to school friends they don't get to see during summer vacation.
An impressive variety of shochu mimai cards can be found in both post offices and stationery shops.
According to the old Japanese calendar, the first day of autumn comes in early August; this year, it falls on August 8. Of course, it's still hot then, and so once this day arrives, people send each other greeting cards that say, "The hot weather still seems to be with us. Are you feeling all right?" These cards are called zansho mimai - "asking after someone's health in the lingering heat."
Final Exams
By the time July rolls around, Japanese students are really looking forward to summer vacation. But before school ends, junior- and senior-high-school students have to do something they're not looking forward to. They have to take their final exams. These exams are harder than midterm exams, because they test the students on everything they have learned so far during the school term.
While students are taking their midterm exams and final exams, no regular classes are held. This is a concentrated period of test-taking. The students have to take tests in several different subjects.
Elementary-school students don't have to take midterms or final exams. It's not until seventh grade that students have to start worrying about them.
The students take their midterm exams at the end of May. Since the finals are given in July, that means the students only have a month and a half between midterms and final exams. Some seventh-graders are taken by surprise when the finals come around. "What?" they say, "More tests?!"
Usually, students take midterm exams in five subjects: English, math, Japanese, science, and social studies. During final exams, the students are tested on those five subjects, plus four more: health and physical fitness, home economics, music, and art. While midterm exams go on for two days, final exams last three days. For a week before both midterms and finals, school club meetings and other after-school activities are canceled. Students are also not allowed in the teacher's workroom or the copying room.
For students, there is one very big difference between midterms and finals. About two weeks after finals are over, school ends and the students are free for the summer. For those two weeks between the end of finals and the beginning of summer vacation, the students probably have trouble concentrating on their classes. They're too busy daydreaming about their summer plans!
Tanabata
Tanabata, or the Star Festival, is held on the evening of July 7. The festival traces its origins to a legend that the Cowherd Star (Altair) and Weaver Star (Vega), lovers separated by the Milky Way, are allowed to meet just once a year - on the seventh day of the seventh month.
Children and adults write their wishes on narrow strips of colored paper and hang them, along with other paper ornaments, on bamboo branches placed in the backyards or entrances of their homes. They then pray hard that their wishes will come true.
The Tanabata festival is thought to have started in China. It was transmitted to Japan during the feudal period and combined with traditional local customs to become an official event at the Imperial court. Commoners soon began observing this festival, with different localities developed their own distinctive ways of celebrating.
In Tokyo, most people now decorate bamboo branches with just the narrow strips of paper that carry their wishes. At some elementary schools, pupils attach their wishes to a huge bamboo branch, and others put on skits about the legend of the Cowherd and Weaver Stars.
Some areas of Japan celebrate Tanabata a month later, on August 7, since this is closer to the seventh day of the seventh month on the traditional lunar calendar. Such communities frequently perform the services for Bon, a period in mid-August when deceased relatives are thought to return, together with the ceremonies for Tanabata.
As Tanabata approaches, decorated bamboo branches can be seen all around the neighborhood, signaling that summer has finally arrived and that summer vacation is just around the corner.
Gion Festival
The Gion Festival is a spectacular event held at Yasaka Shrine in Japan's ancient city of Kyoto. Many people visit Kyoto each year just to attend this famous festival. The Gion festival and the Aoi festival are two of Kyoto's most famous festivals. The Gion Festival got started in the year 896, when a serious illness was sweeping through Kyoto. To stop the epidemic, the people offered prayers to the god of good health. They also erected 66 tall spears, representing the 66 provinces of Japan.
The Gion Festival is huge. The festivities go on for about a month. The high point of the Gion Festival is the parade of floats that takes place on July 17. There are two kinds of floats: yama and hoko. Hoko are giant floats on wheels. These are up to 25 meters long and weigh up to 12 tons. Some hoko are two stories high, with people standing on each level and even on the roof! Although the hoko are huge, they have no engines. Instead, they are pulled by people! Yama are smaller floats carried on the shoulders of several people. There are 32 floats in the parade: 25 yama floats and 7 hoko floats.
The streets are lit up with lanterns.
When the big floats have to turn at an intersection, the float pullers gear up for the turn by chanting loudly, "Yoi, yoi, yoi-toh-say! " Their energetic shouts are accompanied by traditional Japanese music. This music is played by musicians who are on the second story of the two-story floats. The shouting and the music are the best part of the Gion Festival.
The order of the floats in the parade is determined by a drawing held on July 2. But there are eight special floats that don't participate in the drawing. That's because these floats always go in the same order every year. One of these floats is the hoko that leads the parade. The head float is special because it's the only one that a kid gets to ride on alone. The one who gets to ride on it is the child who has been chosen to represent the shrine god.
All of the floats are beautifully decorated with patterned fabrics. Many of these fabrics come from Nishijin, a long-established merchant in Kyoto. Nishijin is known for its traditional Japanese dyed fabrics. But some of the fabrics decorating the floats are produced using techniques imported from Korea, China, India, Persia, and Belgium. Some of the patterns even depict figures from Western myths and legends. This gives the parade an international flavor.
Start of Summer Vacation
Summer vacation at most Japanese public elementary and middle schools now starts on Marine Day on July 20 and usually lasts for around six weeks through the end of August. In some regions like Hokkaido, though, where winters are very cold, summer vacations are sometimes a little shorter and winter breaks longer.
The Japanese school year begins in April, so summer vacation comes between the first and second terms. Homework is often given so kids won't forget what they learned in the first term. While the homework given to middle school students is focused on exercises and drills in Japanese, math, and English, they're also asked to write essays and create artworks.
In elementary school, younger pupils often keep a picture diary, with drawings accompanying the entries, while older students generally choose a theme of their own liking to conduct research into and perform experiments in.
Summer vacation is the longest break kids have from school during the year. It is a chance to do things they don't normally get to do and see things they don't often see. A lot of kids go on trips with their families, attend school-organized programs in the mountains or by the sea, and go camping.
A lot of time is spent outdoors, so it's not surprising for kids come back to school in the fall with a dark suntan.
Not all is play during the summer if you have entrance exams coming up. For sixth graders who want to attend a national or private middle school and ninth graders who plan to go on to high school, the summer before graduation is a very hectic time as they prepare for the exams, usually held in February. A lot of them brave the sweltering heat to attend summer cramming sessions and to take mock exams to gauge their academic skills.
