Japan celebrates Hinamatsuri on March 3, a festival dedicated to girls’ growth and happiness. Among the traditional dishes that accompany the Hina dolls, the Hina-arares occupy a special place. These small sweets made from sticky, coloured and sweet rice or slightly salty depending on the region, symbolize health and health.
Gorō Nyūdō Masamune, a Japanese blacksmith from the 13th to the 14th century, is renowned for his katanas symbolizing technical excellence and refined aesthetics. Its blades, including the famous Honjō Masamune, enrich samurai culture. Explore your universe on a trip to Japan offers a unique historical and artistic depth.
The Tonbokiri is a legendary Japanese lance associated with the Samurai Honda Tadakatsu, forged by Sengo Masazane. Symbolizing precision and courage, it is recognized among Japan’s three great spears. Visible at the Sano Art Museum and Tokyo National Museum, it enriches the cultural routes dedicated to the history of the samurai.
The cheap dagashi treats of Japan are symbols of nostalgia and popular culture, especially during the Shôwa era. Dagashiya, dedicated stores, have always been places of sociability. Today, some are reinventing themselves, such as the Dagashiya Game Museum, which preserves the history of arcade games while offering a fun cultural experience.
The kamon, a Japanese family emblem, is an identity symbol dating back to Heian times. Used by all social classes, it illustrates Japan’s history and culture through rich motifs. Today, it persists in ceremonies and influences modern design, demonstrating a valuable cultural heritage.
The suikinkutsu, a discrete sound element of Japanese gardens, produces a crystalline sound by drops of water falling into a buried jar. His practice, rooted in wabi-sabi aesthetics, invites contemplation and soothing listening. Present in traditional temples and gardens, it enriches the visitor’s sensory experience.
Japan has over 80,000 Shinto shrines and 75,000 Buddhist temples. Behind these figures, a living spiritual reality: purification rituals, pilgrimages to the mountains, protective deities, unusual places dedicated to cats or frogs. This guide brings together 26 articles to understand how Japanese people practice, visit and live in these places at …
The Edo period (1603-1868) has been a long-term shaping of Japanese culture: social organization, performing arts, dress codes, relationship to time and the sacred. This guide brings together 16 articles to understand this living heritage — from Iran courtesans to jidaigeki cinema sets, family emblems, geishas houses and teething.
Japan is populated by creatures, stories and haunted places that fascinate as much as they worry. From the yokai of Kasane to the contemporary haunted houses, to the kappa of the rivers, Nasu’s killer stone and the folklorists who saved these stories from oblivion, this guide brings together 15 articles to understand how to …
From paper cut from Ise to taiko drums, traditional carpentry, tsutsugaki dyeing and kariyushi shirts from Okinawa, crafts and Japanese arts cover a huge spectrum. This guide brings together 20 articles to understand the know-how, meet the artists and discover the museums that showcase them — whether you are …
