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Spring begins to show its hand!
We are now properly in 2024, and the frost and chills from the winter are slowly thawing out. Nevertheless, the temperatures are still rather low, but seeing the sun set later and later each and every day gives sign that soon we'll be back home with plenty of daylight. All around town there are trees and flowers beginning to sprout and grow anew. It will soon be time to say goodbye to winter!
In Japan, people who had their fill of winter adventure are beginning to turn their eyes to the next adventure - sakura! The Izu Peninsula and the Kawazu area were lit up with Kawazuzakura in February, one of the earlier blooming cherry blossom varieties in the country. Plum blossoms also got their time to shine, lighting up the parks such as Kairauken in Ibaraki Prefecture with their colourful flowers. Japan celebrated a few holidays, including National Foundation Day, The Emperor's Birthday, and Setsubun, which involves lots of bean throwing and warding off evil! There is also an ongoing sumo tournament, the Haru Basho in Osaka, give it a check if you've never seen sumo before!
The Valley of Witches, a new section at the Ghibli Park in Aichi Prefecture, opened on the 16th of March. In addition, at Universal Studios Japan, the Donkey Kong Country area is slated for a spring 2024 open!
Additionally, we saw a plethora of wonderful festivals - Sapporo held its famous Yukimatsuri, or snow festival, alongside hosting the Sapporo International Art Festival. In Shizuoka there was the Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival, celebrating the beautiful cherry blossoms lining the Kawazu River. Akita Prefecture also held the Yokote Snow Festival, a historical occasion marked by the creation of igloos that act as small shrines.
Director Hirokazu Kore-eda's new film 'MONSTER' has also just recently been released in the UK! For anyone interested in film, this is a must see!
This month around we have travel ideas from Toyama to Nagano, and features on torii gates and sauna life, let's get into it!
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Kaitlyn Ugoretz, an instructor and associate editor at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, takes you on a journey through the many different torii gates you can find in Japan!
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Follow Lia from Ryokan Wanderings as she adventures through Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture!
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Travel Toyama Prefecture and discover the magical sights to see in this mountainous and seaside area!
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Learn about the sauna lifestyle with an interview with Eetu-Antti Hartikainen, a sauna researcher at Hokkaido University!
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Participate in our quick survey by 5th April for a chance to win one of 2 copies of Japan by Rail by Anna Udagawa!
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Hokuriku's Ishikawa Prefecture gives opportunities to see some of Japan's most famous and historic places!
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Experience Japan with some exciting tours!
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Nature begins to come to life!
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It's the changing of the seasons, and that means it is time to think about some new seasonal words that we can use in a haiku!
This month in the Kigo Corner we move onto more springlike words. Seasonal words for March vary from words about the sky to chores, let's see what cool word comes up this time!
Our word for this month is 残雪! Read as 'zansetsu', this word means the 'remaining snow'. As the snow begins to melt at the end of winter, there are always a few stubborn patches you may see scattered around in parks or yards. A prime indicator of the warming temperatures and strong sunlight, let's try to make another haiku with this kigo.
Remember that haikus are made with a 17 mora combination in 5-7-5 style, with additional 'kireji' punctuation.
Our first line has our seasonal word - 残雪や (zansetsu ya)
The we move on to a line with 7 mora - 春の準備は (haru no junbi ha)
And lastly a line with 5 mora - 今からだ (ima kara da)
Completed, our haiku reads as -
残雪や
春の準備は
今からだ
The lingering snow,
The preparations for spring,
Now set to begin.
Haiku writing can be challenging yet rewarding, have you written one before?
Send a haiku you've made to our Instagram account @visitjapan_uk and we may feature them in future newsletters!
Here's some highlights of what we've learned over the past few months:
1) Ishikawa and Toyama Prefectures are a charming and unforgettable region of Japan, and very much worth a long stay at!
2) There are so many different types of torii gates out in Japan, what is the coolest one that you have seen?
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There's plenty of Japan related exhibitions, releases, and writing currently happening and coming up in the UK - Let's take a look at some! |
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- Hirokazu Kore-eda's new film 'MONSTER' was recently released. The director of Broker and Shoplifters, this new movie is bound to surprise you!
- The TV shows 'Shogun' and 'Tokyo Vice' (season 2) have both been released to critical acclaim, make sure to check them out!
- The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme is still on, running throughout the UK until the 31st of March
- Japan made a splash at the Oscars, with Studio Ghibli's 'The Boy and the Heron' winning the Academy Award for best Animated Feature Film, and 'Godzilla Minus One' winning for Visual Effects
- 'The Rough Guide to Japan', a guidebook focusing on all aspects of Japan, was released on the 1st of February
- Read a review of the Azumi Setoda, a luxury ryokan made by the creator of the Aman hotel brand
- JAL has been running a clothing rental service for visitors to Japan, read a review here
- Zenbo Seinei, a luxury wellness accommodation located on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture, was also recently featured in an article
- 'Lonely Planet Japan', a new guidebook was also recently released, find it at your nearby bookstore!
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Learn more about the newly opened Hokuriku Shinkansen extension, connecting Tokyo to Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture and more!
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Learn more about the many ways you can travel Japan by train, from author Anna Udagawa!
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That’s it from us for this month!
Keep up with all this and much, much more by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
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