March 20th/21st is “Shunbun No Hi” or spring equinox and it marks the beginning of spring! (It's the 20th in the US but 21st in Japan because of time difference.)

“春” (shun) is kanji for spring and “分” (bun) is kanji for “to divide”. In other words, "shunbun" describes the official divide of winter and spring. It's not celebrated as much here in LA because do we even have seasons? But it's nice to know that it's getting warmer and it's that time of year again where pretty flowers are blooming! ...Unless you have allergies of course.

So how is this holiday celebrated in Japan?

During the Meiji Era (1868-1912) it became a national holiday derived from Buddhist belief of a river (Sanzu no Kawa) that divides life from the afterlife or the world of enlightenment. It is believed that when night and day are equal length (during both spring and fall equinox), Buddha helps stray souls cross to the other side of the river.

Since it's a public holiday, everyone gets school and work off. (Lucky!!) It's traditional for families to reunite on this day and visit burial sites of their ancestors to clean gravestones, replant flowers, offer incense, and pray as a way to honor them. Ohagi and botamochi are often left to give nourishment to ancestors in their journey.

Ohagi and botamochi are yummy Japanese sweets that is made with sweet rice and azuki paste. Ohagi comes from the autumn flower "hagi" (bush clover) and botamochi comes from the spring flower "botan" (peony).

Hope you enjoyed the super moon last night! 

By: Nicole Sato, GVJCI Program Manager 

March 14th is infamously known in the US as Pi Day. The punny holiday has taken a good commercialism with pie stores and pizza places celebrating Pi Day with their own pies.  

But in Japan, March 14th is known for a completely different holiday - White Day.  White Day??  If it weren't for this holiday, Japan may be celebrating Pi Day too. After all, they too like their pun holidays (November 11 is known as Pocky day because the 11/11 look like Pocky sticks.) 

aSo what's White Day? Let's back up a little. In the US, traditionally, chocolates, flowers, and gifts are given from a man to a woman. However, in Japan, the tradition's been reversed. Girls and women of all ages stay up the night before crafting their best handmade chocolate sweets to give to men, whether it be friends (tomo-choko), someone they want to confess their love to or someone they love (honmei-choko), or just someone as a polite V-Day gesture (giri-choko).  Different, right? 

Now, White Day. March 14th? Does the date seem kinda familiar? That's right, it's exactly a month after Valentine's Day. There are several theories on how and why this holiday actually started, but the most popular theory is that in the 70s, the confectionery industry started it up as "return day" for men to say thank you to the women that gave them chocolates (and their hearts, maybe) a month before. Hallmark Holiday, much? Totally.  

Their plan worked though, because White Day is still a thing now. Originally, it was called "White Day" because it was marketed to sell marshmallows. From there, it evolved to white chocolate, and now today, there's everything from regular chocolate to jewelry as a return gift. Now, White Day is celebrated not only in Japan, but in many Asian countries, including South Korea, Vietnam, and China. 

Speaking of South Korea...Didn't receive anything on either days? Don't worry, there's always Black Day next month on the 14th where singles who didn't receive anything on the past two months eat jajangmyeon (I'll give you a hint - it's black-ish looking) in misery ​😉