next issue:south korea

this month magazine have to many research and we dont know what have to put in here and what didn’t have to. thank to our writer, editor and other staff who make this magazine succes-fully. hopefully, next issue is south korea will be success too.

suddently, almost unconsciously, it hit me that KULTURA has been published for three issue now. Perhaps, this figure is nothing special at a glance. I want to thanks the colleagues in all departments who have al-ways worked hard to complete the job on time and also extend my thanks for all of you who are reading KULTURA. Arigato gozaimasu :)

this is my first issue in KULTURA, I’m really excited to be a part of this magazine even if my initial effort is miniscule compared to the rest of the team. But I am glad to be given this chance to broaden my scope. Being involved in KULTURA allows a refreshing perspectiveto view the ongoing process of Asia country and see the growth of asia culture.

JAPANESEsnack

onigiri

also known as rice ball, is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into trian-gular shapes and wrapped in (seaweed).

takoyakiis a popular ball-shaped Japanese dumpling or more like a savory pancake made of batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan.

Korokke

Korokke is the Japanese name for a deep-fried dish originally related to a French dish, the croquette.

Korokke is the Japanese name for a deep-fried dish originally related to a French dish, the croquette.

okonomiyaki

MOCHI is a Japanese rice cake made of glu-tinous rice. traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time

HOT SPRINGthe best bath tub

HOT SPRINGAn onsen is a term for hot springs in the Japanese lan-guage, though the term is often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. As a volcanically active coun-try, Japan has thousands of onsen scattered along its length and breadth. Onsen were traditionally used as public bathing places and today play a central role in directing Japanese domes-tic tourism. Onsen come in many types and shapes, in-cluding outdoor and indoor baths. Baths may be either public run by a municipality or private often run as part of a hotel, ryokan or bed and breakfast. Onsen are a central feature of Japanese tourism often found out in the countryside but there are a number of popular establishments still found within major cities. They are a major tourist attraction drawing Japanese couples, families or company groups who want to get away from the hectic life of the city to relax.Japanese television channels often feature spe-cial programs about local onsens.Traditionally,onsen were located outdoors, al-though a large number of inns have now built indoor bathing facilities as well. Onsen by definition use naturally hot water from ge-othermally heated springs. Onsen should be differenti-ated from sentō, indoor pub-lic bath houses where the baths are filled with heated

tap water. The legal defini-tion of an onsen includes that its water must contain at least one of 19 designated chemical elements, including radon and metabolic acid and be 25 °C or warmer before being reheated. Stratifications exist for wa-ters of different temperatures. Major onsen resort hotels of-ten feature a wide variety of themed spa baths and artificial waterfalls in the bathing area utaseyu. Onsen water is be-lieved to have healing powers derived from its mineral con-tent. A particular onsen may feature several different baths, each with water with a differ-ent mineral composition. The outdoor bath tubs are most often made from Japanese cy-press, marble or granite, while indoor tubs may be made with tile, acrylic glass or stainless steel. Different onsen also boast about their different waters or mineral compositions, plus what healing properties these may contain. Other services like massages may be offered. People often travel to onsen with work colleagues, friends, couples or their families.

Japanese macaque enjoying a bath at Jigokudani hotspring in Nagano,Japan

Geisha are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include per forming various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance. Another name for geisha in is geiko, which is usually used to refer to geisha from western Japan, which includes Kyoto. Apprenti haku liter-ally “one who pours (alcohol)”. The white make-up and elaborate kimono and hair of a maiko is the popular image held of geisha. A woman entering the geisha community does not have to begin as a maiko, having the opportunity to begin her ca-reer as a full geisha. Either way, however, usu-ally a year’s training is involved before debut-ing either as a maiko or as a geisha. A woman above 21 is considered too old to be a maiko and becomes a full geisha upon her initiation into the geisha community. However, those who do go through the maiko stage upon her initiation into the geisha community. However, those who do go through the maiko stage can enjoy more prestige later in their professional lives.

AppearanceA geisha’s appearance changes

throughout her career, from the girlish,

heavily made-up maiko, to the more sombre appearance of an older established geisha. Different hairstyles and hairpins signify dif-ferent stages of a young girl’s of an older established geisha. Different hairstyles and hairpins signify differ-ent stages of a young girl’s develop-ment and even a detail as minute as the length of one’s eyebrows is significant. Short eyebrows are for the young and long eyebrows display maturity.

Modern GeishaModern geisha still live in traditional geisha houses

called okiya in areas called hanamachi (“flower towns”), particularly during their apprenticeship. Many experi-enced geisha are successful enough to choose to live in-dependently. The elegant, high-culture world that geisha are a part of is called karyūkai (“the flower and willow world”).Before the twentieth century, geisha training began when a girl was around the age of four. Now, girls usually go to school until they are teenagers and then make the personal decision to train broidered with intricate designs which is held together by a sash at the waist which is called an obi. Kyoto is considered by many to be where the geisha tradition is the strongest today, including Gion Kobu. The geisha in these dis-tricts are known as geiko. The Tokyo hanamachi of Shimbashi, Asakusa and Kagurazaka are also well known. Geisha are often hired to attend parties and gatherings, traditionally at “tea houses”or at tradi-tional Japanese restaurants. The charge for a gei-sha’s time (measured by burning incense stick) is called senkōdai, “incense stick fee”) or gyokudai (“jewel fee”). The customer makes arrangements through the geisha union office, which keeps each geisha’s schedule and makes her appoint-ments both for entertaining and for training.

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Top Destinations Japan

Tourist Guide Tokyo Tokyo, Japan’s capital and the country’s largest city, is one of 47 prefectures, with 23 city wards, Tokyo’s centre where live nearly 12 million people, 26 cities, 5 towns and 8 villages. Before 1868, Tokyo was known as Edo owing its name to a small castle town in the 16th century, that became Japan’s political centre. Little by little, Edo changed into one of the world’s most populous cities in the world.

Tourist Guide Osaka 2.5 million people live in Osaka, Japan’s third largest and second most important city. It was previously known as Naniwa, once Japan’s capital city. In the 16th century, it could become Japan’s capital, but later government was movedto the far Edo, the present Tokyo.

Tourist Guide Kyoto Kyoto is a city in Honshu Island, Japan. Initially,the administrative capital of Japan, it is now the capital of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area. With an estimated population of about 1.5 million inhabitants, Kyoto has a host of Buddhisttemples, palaces, gardens and museums, many of which are World Heritage Sites.Surrounded by mountains on three sides, Kyoto has hot, humid summers and cold winters. Spring and autumn are the most pleasant seasons to visit.Today, Kyoto economy ismainly based upontourism, electronics and handicrafts.

Tourist Guide sapporo Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido and Japan’sfifth largest city. Sapporo is also one of the nation’s youngest major cities. In 1857, the city’s population stood at just seven people. Sapporo was chosen as the islands administrative. Most popular in Sapporo is chocolate at Hokkaido.

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Kinkaku, or the golden pavilion, stands facing Kyoko-chi(mirrorlake) pond.Though the pavilion is not huge in size, people would be impressed at the first sight of brilliant golden walls of the build-ing. The pavilion and its reflection on the water as well as islets and trees weave into a beautyand create a peaceful atmosphere. This Zen temple, Rokuon-ji, being frequently called Kinkaku-ji be-cause of the golden pavilion, attracts many visitors all the year round.

Tokyo, Japan’s capital and the country’s largestcity, is one of 47 prefectures, with 23 city wards, Tokyo’s centre where live nearly 12 million people, 26 cities, 5 towns and 8 villages. Before 1868, Tokyo was known asEdo owing its name to a small castle town in the 16th century, that became Japan’s political centre. Little by little, Edo changed into one ofthe world’s most populous cities. In 1868, the emperor and the capital were moved from Kyoto to Edo, later called Tokyo or eastern capital. Tokyo was partly destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and the air raids of 1945.

Shiroi Koibito Park is a theme park by Ishiya,a local chocolate company. The company’s flagship product is the Shiroi Koibito cookie most famous souvenirs from Hokaido Sapporo. The park consists of a free area witha shop, cafe and restaurant and a paid areawith various chocolate. It is also possible to create yourown cookies in hands-on workshops.

The castle is one of the most famous in Japan and is a symbol of Osaka, as well as the man who originally had the castle built, HideyoshiToyotomi The castle now seen jutting into the sky is not the original; in fact, the castle is sitting in a historically hot zone and has been burned and destroyed several times, only to be rebuilt. In 1955, it was recognized as Special Historical Site by the Japanese government. The surrounding park is also very popular with tourists and locals. Each season brings a showcase of colors.

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Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions. Some festivals have their roots in Chinese festivals but have undergone dramatic changes as they mixed with local customs.Some are so different that they do not even remotely resemble the original festival despite sharing the same name and date. There are also various local festivals (e.g. Tobata Gion) that are mostly unknown outside a given prefecture. It is com-monly said that you will always find a festival somewhere in Japan. Here some of the festival in Japan.NEW YEARDate: 1–3 of January (related celebra-tions take place throughout January)The Japanese New Year is an an-nual festival with its own customs. The preceding days are quite busy, particularly the day before, known as Ōmisoka. The Japanese New Year has been celebrated since 1873 accord-ing to the Gregorian calendar, on January 1 of each year (New Year’s Day where the Gregorian calendar is used). In Okinawa, the cultural New Year is still celebrated as the contemporary Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese New Years.On New Year’s Day, Japanese people

have a custom of giving money to children. This is known as oto-

shidama. It is handed out in small decorated envelopes

called ‘pochibukuro,’ similar to Goshugi

bukuro or

Chinese red envelopes and to the Scottish handsel. In the Edo period large stores and wealthy families gave out a small bag of mochi and a Mandarin orange to spread hap-piness all around. The amount of money given depends on the age of the child but is usually the same if there is more than one child so that no one feels slighted. It is not uncommon for amounts greater than 10,000¥($120) to be given.DOLL FESTIVALDate: March 3This is the day families pray for the happiness and prosperity of their girls and to help ensure that they grow up healthy and beautiful. The celebration takes place both inside the home and at the seashore. Both parts are meant to ward off evil spirits from girls. Young girls put on their best kimonos and visit their friends’ homes. Tiered platforms for hina ningyō (hina dolls; a set of dolls representing the emperor, empress, attendants, and musicians in ancient court dress) are set up in the home, and the family celebrates with a special meal of hishimochi (diamond-shaped rice cakes) and shirozake (rice malt with sake).HANAMIDate: AprilVarious flower festivals are held at Shinto shrines during the month of April. Excursions and picnics for enjoying flowers, particularly cherry blossoms are also common,

as well as many drinking parties often to be seen in and around auspicious parks and buildings. In some areas the peach blossom, the traditional flower of Japan (the Cherry being a symbol from the Edo period symbolising the Samurai culture), is viewed as well though this flowers earlier than the Cherry. In some places flower viewing parties are held on tradi-tionally fixed dates. This is one of the most popular events during spring. The subject of flower view-ing has long held an important place in literature, dance and the fine arts. Ikebana (flower arrange-ment) is also a popular part of Jap-anese culture and is still practiced by many people today. Some main things people do during this event are: games, folk songs, folk dance, flower displays, rides, parades, concerts, kimono shows, booths with food and other things, beauty pageant, and religious ceremonies. Families go out during weekends to see the cherry blossoms, and participate in the many festivals and activities.TANABATADate: July 7It originated from a Chinese folk legend concerning two stars-the Weaver Star (Vega) and the Cowherd Star (Altair)-who were said to be lovers who could meet only once a year on the\\ 7th night of the 7th month provided it didn’t rain and flood the Milky Way. It

was named Tanabata after a weaving maiden from a Japanese legend, named Orihime who was believed to make clothes for the gods. People often write wishes and romantic aspirations on long, narrow strips of coloured paper and hang them on bamboo branches along with other smal ornaments.CHILDREN’S DAYDate: May 5May is the month of the Iris Festival. The tall-stemmed Japanese iris is a symbolic flower. Its long, narrow leaves resemble the sharp blades off a sword, and for many centuries it has been the custom to place iris leaves in a boy’s bath to give him a martial spirit. Originally May 5 was a festival for boys corresponding to the Doll Festival, for girls, but in 1948 it was renamed Children’s Day, and made a national holiday. However, this might be a misnomer; the symbols of courage and strength mainly honor boys. It is custom-ary on this day for families with male children to fly koinobori (carp streamers, a symbol of success) outside the house, display warrior dolls (musha ningyō) inside, and eat chimaki (rice cakes wrapped in cogan grass or bamboo leaves) and kashiwamochi (rice cakes filled with bean paste and wrapped in oak leaves).

ANIME, is the Japanese ab-breviated pronuncia-tion of “animation.” In English-speaking countries, anime refers to a style of ani-mation originating in Japan, characterized by colorful graphics and often featuring themes intended for an adult audience. While the earliest known Japanese ani-mation dates to 1917, and many original Japanese cartoons were produced in the ensuing decades, the characteristic anime style developed in the 1960s notably with the work of Osamu Tezuka and became known outside Ja-pan in the 1980s. By the 1930s animation became an alternative format of storytelling to the live-action in-dustry in Japan. In the 1960s, manga artist and animator Osamu Tezuka adapted and

simplified many Disney animation-tech-niques to reduce costs and to limit the number of frames in produc-tions. He intended this as a temporary measure to allow him to pro-duce material on a tight schedule with inexperi-enced animation-staff. is the Japanese word for “comics/cartoons” and consists of com-ics and print cartoons (sometimes also called komikku.) In the West, the term “manga” has been appropriated to re-fer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th century. In Japan, people of all ages read manga. The me-dium includes works in a broad range of genres:

action-adventure, romance, sports and games, historical drama, comedy, science fiction and fantasy, horror, sexuality, and business among oth-ers. Manga have also gained a significant worldwide audi-ence. Manga stories are typically printed in black-and-white although some full-color manga exist. In Japan, manga are usually serialized in large manga maga-zines, often contain-ing many stories, each presented in a single episode to be continued in the next issue. A manga

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artist typically works with a few assistants in a small studio and is associated with a crea-tive editor from a com-mercial publishing company. If a manga series is popular enough, it may be animated after or even during its run, although sometimes manga are drawn centering on previously existing live-action or animated films.

ANIMEANDMANGA

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