Last Saturday, I visited the Kumano Kodo in the rain; do you know the kumano kodo? Let me give you some brief introductions about the Kumano kodo.
Due to its historical importance, Kumano Kodo has recently been named a “World Heritage Site.�
According to my guidebook:

Kumano kodo is the general name for the ancient pilgrimage trails linking Kumano Sanzan, the three grand shrines of Kumano: Hongu-taisha, Nachi-taisha and Hayatama-taisha. There were many routes starting from Ise,Yoshino,Koya-san,Kyoto and others. Of which the two of the most popular trails were Kii-ji, the western route in the Kii Peninsula, and Ise-ji the eastern route in the Kii Peninsula.
Kumano kodo surivived development because of its steepslopes, and was revived into a pleasant hiking path. Walking on the moss covered stone path through thick forests, hikers can feel the atmosphere of the ancient pilgrimage; listen to the sound of crystal-clear streams, and view historical monuments and stone images of Buddha.—

I went to the Nisaka-toge（��峠）and the Uomachi（魚町） the fishery area in Kii-Nagashima district in Kihoku town. For centuries, the Nisaka-toge Pass Route is the gateway to Kishu. Province was Tsuzurato-toge Pass. However, since the time of the Kishu-han Fief of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Nisaka-toge Pass route lying to the east became the formal entry to the Province. At Uomachi, I visited the Nagashima Shrine. This shrine is dedicated to three gods, including Susanoo-no-Mikoto.

There is a camphor tree that is more than one thousand years olds. It’s about thirty meters tall, and more than ten meters around. It has been designated as a special protected species by the prefecture of the authorities. Shimenawa, made of twisted strands of rice straw, is hung around the tree. It is believed to have the special power to ward off evil spirits as well as disease.
From this region, there are five famous folk stories. They are The Tale about a Kappa and Jirozaemon , Takabosan, The Mambo and the Lord, Lips of a Mermaid, Syorai’s Family. Here is one of the five stories:

Syorai’s Family
The Somlin family had two brothers. The older one was named Syorai. He was a warm-hearted person who lived in extreme poverty. However, his younger brother was quite opposite. One time, in the middle of the night, a dirty looking man asked the brothers if they would put him up for the night. Although the younger brother firmly refused, Syorai accepted him willingly. But who do you think this traveler was? He turned out to be the god of well being, in return for this hospitality, the god gave him a lucky charm. Despite a series of plagues, only Syorai’s family was protected from disease. This story is the origin of a custom that is still practiced in this region. Even today many people still hang wooden charms above their doors that read, “We are descendants of Syorai.�
By Hajimu Ogura

The New Year has come, in Japan, this is one of the biggest festivals, and all family member will get together to celebrate it. And at the same time they cook delicious food for the family and call it osechi (御節). But what about my hometown? Do you known something about the Mongolians New Year? Let me give you a brief introduction to it.

For Mongolians the New Year begins with the Lunar New Year. And the Lunar New Year always is one month later than the Gregorian calendar (new style/the solar calendar). So in my hometown, for the Mongolians the New Year has not came yet. In this year, it will be on the 29th of this month. It is our custom to clean the room on the 23rd of December in Lunar Calendar. In other words, it does just one week before the Lunar New Year. In Japan they also have the same habit, and they call it oosoujio (大掃除). On that day, we will take all the day to clean the house; I was so tired but we like it. Because we have very delicious dinner waiting for us cooked by my mum. The dinner consists of mutton and amsu (in Mongolian), it is like rice porridge, we put the pieces of meat in it, and some cheese, peanuts, sometimes we also put some vegetables in it.

After the dinner, the very important thing for us to do is worship kitchen god. In other words it means we offer sacrifices to the fire gods. In the ancient times, Mongolians lived a nomadic life. The fire is so important for them. Without the fire, I think the Mongolian culture will not be spread generation by generation.

Put the fire bowl in the open air, and light the burnable materials that were put in the fire bowl. Put the meet, foods and a little alcohol on the fire. This means we made sacrifices to the fire god to bless and protect us. We will kowtow in turn; form the elder to the younger. After all of this, the adults will come back to home, and the fire bowl belongs to the children. We play games around the fire and fire the fireworks. Although it’s cold outside and so late, nobody wants to go back home. At last, the fire is burning out, and we hate to let go of the fire bowl.

I think this kind of happiness only belongs to the children, and when I grew up, I couldn’t find it again, only it is left deeply impressed on my memory.

What about in Japan? Can you give me some image about the New Year? Because I found the New Year is so silent here in Japan. And this is totally different with us.

In Japan in the beginning of the year, they are going to the shrine to pray for the whole year. They call this hastumoude (�詣).
For my hastumoude, I went to the tadotaisya（多度大社） in Kuwana (æ¡‘å??).

At the festival, the people ride the horse goes up a slight slope at a high speed. If it succeed, fortune of this year is good. People go to there to pray a good year. And the horse is one of the gods in there.

At the end of the year, every one seems very busy in Japan, and they called the December siwasu, because long time ago, they think teacher must finish the work before the New Year, and teacher always have lots of work to do. So the teacher must walk quickly to save times.

The winter holiday will begin next week, all of my friend were so excited, and they are talking about their holiday travel. Some one will go to the shrine, for example the Ise shrine, the Ise shrine is very famous in Japan, and it is in the mie prefecture. Japanese usually go to shrine at the last day of the year and waiting for the first bell ringing at the midnight. After that they enter the shrine to prayer for the New Year. At this time the train and the bus are work for 24 hours, and you could see people come from every parts of Japan. In Japan, they called this Hatsumoude.

Before the New Year, the Christmas also one of the biggest festival in Japan, and at the end of November, the super markets and the restaurants were decorated with the Christmas trees and the shining lights. The Christmas carol also could be heard at the same time. Christmas is filling in air and spread everywhere. In the west, At Christmas, people look forward to family gatherings, delicious dinners and presents wrapped in colorful paper. Christmas sweets are another thing many people love; all of this has merged into the Japanese culture.

Sitting beside the window, although it’s very cold outside and the wind is so strong, I am enjoying the sunshine; and it makes me feel at ease. Look back the whole year; everything goes to fast, sometime I thought it must be in my dream; and when I got up, I will come back to my hometown, find that I still in my room, and I could smell the breakfast cooked by my mother.

The New Year is coming; I wish all friends of mine merry Christmas and happy New Year. Please take care.

As a foreign student in Japan, I usually talk with Japanese friends, and I could get much information about Japan. But sometimes, Japanese also did not know their country very well. Today I read the overview of Japan, on BBC news.

Japan has the world’s second-biggest economy, but it remains a traditional society with strong social and employment hierarchies – Japanese men have always tended to work for the same employer for the whole of their life.

But this and other traditions are under pressure as a young generation more in tune with western culture and ideas grows up.

Japan’s relations with its neighbours are still heavily influenced by the legacy of Japanese actions before and during World War II. Japan has found it difficult to accept and atone for its treatment of the citizens of countries it occupied.

… … …

 

Last  week i visited the Nagoya city, to experience the history and modern of the city.

Nagoya City is the fourth largest (third largest metropolitan region) and the third most prosperous city in Japan. It is the capital of Aichi Prefecture. There are many famous sight seeing spots in Nagaya, but i want to introduce the Nagaya Castle to you.

Nagoya Castle was built in 1612. Although a large part of it was burned down by the fires of World War II, the castle was restored to its original condition in 1959. Today the castle is a modern concrete building with airconditioning and elevators. Nagoya Castle is very famous for two magnificent Kin no Shachi (金�鯱, Golden Orca) on the roof. They are often used as the symbol of Nagoya.

When i entered the castle, i paied 500 yen for the entrance fee, and i got a handbook, it is just like a map, show you where you are, because it is so big that you are always lost in it ,and guide you to the different place where you want to visit in the cadtle, and tell you some brief information about the sight seeing spots. I took almost  four hours in the castle, so you could imagine how large it is. I suggest you if you want to visite here, the Castle is closed at half past 4 o`clock. make sure you have enough time to visite it. 

last, wish you also have a good tour,and enjoy the  feeling!

Both in China or Japan, some people when they application for a mail address, they usually make a mistake that is they use the Chinese characters or Japanese character instend of  alphabet. For the foreigen people they could not read it,and it always as garbage words on the screen. So i suggest you to change it! If you are the user of hotmail, i’m so glad to tell you how to change it.

You first have to log into hotmail. Then you can see Options (in Chinese 选项, in Japanese オプション) at the upper corner of your right hand. Log in it and on the next page, you should click my profile(in Chinese 个人档案, in Japanese 個人情報).　Than You should see your name at the top of the entry field. At this point, all you need is to delete your name, re-type your name in Roman letters.At last please turn to the bottom of the screen and push the save button. That`s all, hurry up, to change your name into alphabet.

I am a foreign student of Mie University, Japan, and i came from China. I found that the noodles here are very delicious. So I want to talk about the noodles. In Japan, they call noodles ramen, I think it comes from China, because in ancient times, many Japanese went to China, they studied the newest technology, and the Chinese words. They took them to Japan, so today you can find much common ground between the Chinese and the Japanese.

In the restaurant, there are two kinds of noodles, one is made of wheat, they call it udon, and the other is made of buckwheat, they call it soba. The Japanese like to eat noodles, and they put different kinds of soup on the noodle, and make it taste better. In summer, they eat cold noodles called hiyasisoba, but in winter, there are also some people who like to eat hiyasisoba because they like the taste. I usually go to a restaurant to eat noodles, because it’s inexpensive and it’s delicious. Here I want to introduce the kind of noodle called yakisoba.

First of all, prepare the materials; the consist of vegetables and dried noodles which are sold in supermarkets!

Secondly, put the dried noodles in the boiling water, after two minutes, put the noodles in a flat pan, with some oil, one minute later, put the noodles in the dish.

Third, to stir-fry the vegetables, choose the vegetable you like, and put some shrimp in it to make it tastier. Finally, put the fried dish on the noodles. OK, it’s finished, if you have time, try to do it. Then tell me how you liked it. I’m looking forward to your comments!

Everything is going on it`s own way, maybe you never care about it, but it is very important part of your life. OK. Lat`s go to wikipedia find something around you!

hi i’m guoping. how are you? I am so gland to meet you here, if you have more informations about this courses, please tell me. because you know i am a newcomer, so i need your help! thank you!