March 5, 2015 was the 105º bithday of Momofuku Ando (March 5, 1910 – January 5, 2007).
The Taiwanese-Japanese businessman was known for being the creator of the ramen instant noodles as we know it nowadays .
Google made a beautiful Doodle as a homage, and it has more info about how amazing and inspiring he was (and still is).
You can check it out in here.
"Peace will come to the world when all its people have enough to eat."
– Momofuku Ando
Also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day, Hinamatsuri is celebrated on March 3. Platforms covered with a red carpet display a set of ornamental dolls representing the Emperor, Empress, attendants and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period (last division of classical Japanese history, from 794 to 1159).
Hinamatsuri traces its origins to an ancient custom called hina-nagashi ("doll floating"), in which paper dolls are set afloat on a boat and sent down a river to the sea, supposedly taking troubles and bad spirits away with them.
Families generally start to display the dolls in February and take them down immediately after the festival. Superstition says that leaving the dolls past March 4 will result in a late marriage for their daughters.
Since the conception of the Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1956, Japan has submitted seventeen films for the Academy.
However, before that, Japan won three honorary awards: for Rashomon, by the famous Akira Kurosawa (1951); Gate of Hell, by Teinosuke Kinugasa, in 1954; and Samurai: The Legend of Musashi, by Hiroshi Inagaki (1955).
Since then, Japan has won only a single Oscar - in 2009, with Departures (Okuribito in the original), by Yojiro Takita.
Besides that, the loved Hayao Miyazaki has received an Oscar for Best Animation in 2003 for Spirited Away and received an honorary award in 2014 for his contribution for the cinematographic industry. The only other Japanese director to ever receive the Governors Awards was Akira Kurosawa, back in 1990.
「バカは風邪ひかない」- Baka wa kaze hikanai
"Stupids can't catch colds"
It may sound weird, but if you catch a cold in Japan and someone tells you that, you should thank them. They are saying in a polite way that you're wise/smart.
Also, when someone sneezes, there is no expression such as "God bless you" in Japanese - in fact, it's considered a bit embarrassing to sneeze in public and people will often pretend they didn't see it. And the one who sneezed is supposed to say "shitsureishimashita" (a close translation would be something like "I'm sorry for my rudeness").
The world kimono literally means "clothing", and is the most recognizable garment from the Japanese culture - even not being the most used anymore.
During the Meiji period (September 8, 1868 - July 30, 1912; when Japan moved out from being a feudal society), the western culture and fashion started to get imported and became more popular; kimonos now are more expensive and used only in special occasions.
Due to this, many people nowadays won't know how to properly put and tie a kimono (since it's a complicated procedure), having to ask help for their mothers or take a course at a kimono school.
A kimono has a lot of different parts:
Front
Rear
(picture and info taken from Japan Zone)
In Japan, the Valentine's Day is a holiday where women give gifts (the most common being cookies and chocolates) for men.
To be seen as something special and heartfelt, it has to be handmade. This one is usually made only for your loved one, and it's called the honmei chocolate (which translates to "true feelings chocolate"). And although it's not confirmed if it was only a hoax or not, it was trendy in Japan to talk about girls who wanted to feel more connected to their loved ones and to make them fall in love back, so they would make chocolates and mix their own hair, spit or even blood in the process.
Giri-choco (giving chocolates out of duty rather than love) is widespread, and girls will usually give chocolates not only for their loved ones, but for their fathers, friends, co-workers and so. (Some will do this for ulterior motives, but I'll talk more about it on White's Day).
With all the giri-choco pressure and the romantic ambience in the air, a guy who doesn't get any on this day is entitled to think that something's wrong with his social life as well with his workplace.
