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Make Yourself a Mount Fuji at Home!!

8/23/2017

By Christy Wong, Social Media and Community Outreach Intern

Mount Fuji, or Fujisan, is the tallest mountain in Japan and one of the most famous mountains in the world!

Well, to be exact, it’s an active volcano. But don’t worry! It hasn’t erupted for a very long time. The last time it erupted was way back in 1707!

The mountain is located on Honshu Island of Japan, approximately 60 miles from Tokyo. Many people, from professionals to amateurs, come all the way to Japan to challenge themselves to climb Mount Fuji. The official climbing season for Mount Fuji is from Early July to mid-September (which is happening RIGHT NOWWW!!) as the weather in the mountain is free of snow and not as severe as other times throughout the year.

Given that the climbing season is soo short, Mount Fuji attracts thousands and thousands of professional and amateur climbers to challenge themselves and climb Mount Fuji. The climb maybe very long and tiring, but it is very rewarding when you see the sunrise from the summit of the mountain. Climbers become friends with one another easily as they support each other to reach their goals. In Japanese culture, Mount Fuji is associated with good luck too! So it is said that people will feel calm or even good fortune when they see the Mount Fuji!

In an effort to celebrate this special 2 month-period time of the year, why don’t we make a cute Mount Fuji origami decoration!!!

To make a Mount Fuji Origami, you will need: a piece of origami paper, some tape, and a few of your favorite watercolor pen!

Step 1: Fold the paper in half to make a triangle shape twice.

Step 2: Lift up the flap of one side of the triangle and press it down to form a trapezoid. Repeat the same step on the other side to form a sqaure.

Step 3: Fold the corners of the opposite side of the square to the mid-point of the square. This creates 2 triangles within the square. Repeat the same step on the other side to form a rhombus.

Step 4: Open up the triangle that you formed just now and press it down to make a rhombus-like shape. Repeat the same step on the 4 triangles that you made in the last step.

Step 5: Open up the flap that is between the sides you are working on. Fold it into half to make a line on the middle of the paper. Fold two opposite side corners to the middle line, just like the picture shown below. Repeat this step on the other flap to create a rhombus.

Side note! Before you proceed to step 6, make sure to check if the longest corners can be folded up like the picture on the right! This part is very important in order to make the Mount Fuji!

Step 6: Now we will work on the triangles that we folded just now in step 5! Fold the tips of the triangles down a little bit and fold the longest corner of the rhombus up to make a small triangle, just like the picture shown below. Repeat this step on the other side of the paper and the sides that are in between, which is totally 4 sides!

Step 7: Get 4 small pieces of tape and roll it up so that they are like double-sided tapes. Set it aside for now since we will use them in the next step!

Step 8: Secure the place of the small triangle using the double-sided tape you made just now! Repeat this step on the 4 small triangles you made in step 6.

Step 9: Almost done! This is probably the easiest and the most fun part :P Decorate the red circled part with your favorite water color pen as it will be the summit of Mount Fuji!

Step 10: This is the final step! Carefully open up the origami and press down the sides to make a square base.

Hooray!! You have made yourself a Mount Fuji at home! :D It can be a great decoration on your work table or a cute pen/pencil holder! :P

1 Comment

It's Game Time: Karuta, Otedama, Ohajiki, and Hana Ichi Monme

8/10/2017

2 Comments

By: Patty Hori, Nikkei Community Intern

When people think about Japanese games, people tend to think about Nintendo, Pokemon, and other popular video games. But what did Japanese children play before the invention of electricity? Well, with school about to start and new friends ready to be made, now seems like the perfect time to tell you guys some games to play with these developing friendships. Let's take a look at some of these cultural and traditional Japanese games, may of which are still played today: Karuta, Otedama, Ohajiki, and Hana Ichi Monme.

Karuta

Before there was the Nintendo franchise, there was a game called Karuta that involved players to possess the same quick reflexes, ability to memorize, and ample amount of free time. Karuta is a great way for children and adults of all ages to improve on their basic Japanese language skills, keep everyones' mind sharp, and most importantly socialize with friends and family.

Karuta is a traditional Japanese card game introduced by Portuguese traders in the 16th-century. There are two types of Karuta: Uta-Garuta and Iroha Karuta.

Uta-Garuta literally translates to "poem cards" and is made up of a deck of 200 hundred cards with half being waka poems (type of classical Japanese poetry). Half of the deck is for reading, and the other half is for grabbing. The most popular type of Uta-Garuta is Hyakunin Isshu, meaning "one-hundred people, one poem."

Iroha Karuta is the easier version of this game meant for children. "Iroha" in Japanese is synonymous to the American "ABCs." I-ro-ha demonstrates how the old Japanese kana were arranged, so "Iroha Karuta" could easily be translated as "ABC Karuta." In this version, there are only 96 cards, in which half have proverbs written on them.

Through the port of Nagasaki in the mid-1500s, Portuguese sailors introduced European playing cards to the Japanese Samurai Class. These cards were called carta, which through the ears of the Japanese, turned into karuta. Finally, during the Edo Period (1600-1868), Karuta became a distinctly recognizable Japanese custom. At first, painting these cards was a painstaking process, but eventually, they became easy to mass produce because of the invention of wood block printing, making karuta cards affordable to the average family.

Here's how to play:
First of all, you need to get your hands on a Karuta Deck; this can mean borrowing them from a friend or going out to buy them. You need one caller and at least two players (the more players, the more competitive). In Karuta, there are two types of cards:
Yomifuda: "reading cards" that have written information on them
Torifuda: "grabbing cards" that have pictures and/or a written language on them
**each yomifuda has a corresponding torifuda**

Alright, now you're ready to play and this is how it goes:

Spread all the torifuda cards in front of the Players, face up.
The Reader then pulls out a card from the yomifuda deck and reads it out loud.
The Players race one another to find the corresponding torifuda card based upon the yomifuda clue; when the player finds it, they grab it.
Repeat steps 2 & 3 until there are no cards remaining.
When there are no cards left, the person with the most cards wins!

If you need a visual, here is a great Youtube video of school children playing Karuta and absolutely killing it!!! Have a fun time with this game you can play with family and friends!

Otedama

Otedama was traditionally played by girls, but it is now enjoyed by girls and boys, children and adults. It is usually played with five ojami (small bean bags) and used to be made out of the scraps of kimonos and filled with uncooked azuki beans. This game reached its peak popularity right after WWII when other games were not available. How can we enjoy this game today? Well, this is how.

How to play Basic Otedama:

Scatter the five ojami on the ground.
Grab and throw one ojami straight up in the air and with the same hand, grab another ojami and transfer it to the other hand.
Keep repeating this process until four ojami are in your opposite throwing hand.

If this is too easy for you, try grabbing two ojami at a time. After you've mastered this, you can also check out this link for more difficult variations of Otedama.

Ohajiki

Ohajiki is played with flattened coin-shaped pieces, and closely resembles the American Game Marbles. These small playing pieces are called ohajiki and the players take turns flicking them at other pieces. Ohajiki come in many forms; they can look very plain, or they can even have cute characters and intricate patterns on them. In the old days, children would play with flat stones or pebbles, but today, they play with flattened glass pieces. When playing, make a circle with your thumb and index finger (or middle finger), then flick one ohajiki with your thumb.

How to Play:

All the players lay down their ohajiki pieces on a flat surface and play janken (rock, paper, scissors) to decide the order.
The first person of the order picks up all the pieces and throws them down to scatter the pieces.
The player (whose ever turn it is) draws an imaginary line between two pieces to indicate which pieces he or she is going to hit.
If the player hits the indicated piece and no other surrounding ones, then they get to continue their turn. Otherwise, the next person goes.
At the end of the game, the person with the most ohajiki wins!!!

Hana Ichi Monme

Now, for those of you who really don’t have the time to buy supplies or make pieces, Hana Ichi Monme is the perfect game for you!!! In Japanese, "Hana Ichi Monme" means "a flower is one Monme" (a monme is a Japanese Edo Period coin). Hana Ichi Monme is very similar to the Western game Red Rover; and like Red Rover, Hana Ichi Monme is mainly played by elementary and middle school students, but it's fun for everyone.

How to Play:

The group of kids split themselves into two groups and line up parallel to one another with each person holding their teammate's hand.
The Leader from each group steps up and plays janken (rock, paper, scissors). The winning team sings (1) while stepping forward, and the losing team sings (2) while stepping back. When "monme" is said, the team kicks the air as if kicking dirt.

Lyrics:
(1) Katte ureshii hana ichi monme
(2) Makete kuyashii hana ichi monme
(1) Ano ko ga hoshii
(2) Ano ko ja wakaran
(1) Sodan shiyo
(2) So shiyo

Translation:
(1) We're so happy we won, hana ichi monme
(2) We're so upset we lost, hana ichi monme
(1) We want that kid
(2) We don't understand which kid you mean
(1) Let's talk about it
(2) Yes, let's

3. Each team then huddles together and chooses a person from the opposing team to come over. When they decide, they stand back in line and sing the following verse:

Lyrics:
(1) Yoshi-chan (the name of player) ga hoshii
(2) Keiko-chan (the name of player) ga hoshii

Translation:
(1) We want (insert name)
(2) We want (insert name)

4. The two members of the team whose names were called step up and play janken. The loser then joins the winning team's line.
5. The games ends when one team loses all of their members.

With only a few weeks of summer left and school just about to kick off, these games are awesome ways to kill free time for the remainder of the summer and a phenomenal way to meet new friends when you get back to school!!! Try them out and tag us on social media or leave a comment down below!

2 Comments

GVJCI Blog
ガーデナ平原日本文化会館ブログ

Make Yourself a Mount Fuji at Home!!

It's Game Time: Karuta, Otedama, Ohajiki, and Hana Ichi Monme

Karuta

Otedama

Ohajiki

Hana Ichi Monme

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Categories

GVJCI Blogガーデナ平原日本文化会館ブログ

Make Yourself a Mount Fuji at Home!!

It's Game Time: Karuta, Otedama, Ohajiki, and Hana Ichi Monme

Karuta

Otedama

Ohajiki

Hana Ichi Monme

Archives

Categories

GVJCI Blog
ガーデナ平原日本文化会館ブログ