Term+2+Japan

This web site will help you learn a lot about Japan, the Japanese people and the culture of Japan.

http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/index.html

The Japanese Doll's Festival is celebrated in Japan on March 5th. Watch these videos for more information. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=7kQQcc0_SZM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J34IslppqQQ

Read this story about Yoko and find out about her doll.

**__ Hina Matsuri __****__ ( __****__雛祭り __****__, Doll Festival), or Girls’ Day __**

** Hina Matsuri ** ( 雛祭り, Doll Festival), or Girls’ Day, is a traditional Japanese festival held each year on March 3rd, to celebrate girls growing up healthy. The festival started a long time ago in history. People would put dolls into rivers. They believed that the dolls would take away the bad spirits and get rid of evil. Some people still follow the custom these days by tossing paper dolls into rivers. Japanese parents would give a set of Hina Ningyo to their baby girl on her first Hina Matsuri. Each year they would show the dolls on a red carpet. The reason they showed them was to celebrate their child growing up healthy. These beautiful dolls are often passed on from family to family over many years. The Hina Ningyo set has 15 dolls, which are copies of the olden days emperor, empress and their servants. The dolls are put in order on a seven level platform. They also add food to the display.

Hina Matsuri is also called **Momo no sekku**, the Festival of Peach Blossoms. Peaches, rice wine and Hishi Mochi (//pic//) are some of the normal food for the day.

Hishi Mochi are diamond shaped coloured rice cakes. The pink colour represents peach flowers, white is for snow or being clean and green is for the earth or health. The Hina dolls are normally left on display at home from the middle of February. After the festival is over, the dolls are put away straight away or they believe that the girls will have trouble getting married in the future. 1.When is the Hina Matsuri or Girls’ Day festival held and why is it celebrated?

2.Why did people put dolls in the river a long time ago? 3.Where did they put the dolls? Describe the display. 4.Besides the dolls, what else is added to the display? What do the colours mean? 5.In your book, write 3 other facts you found out about the Japanese doll’s Festival.

JAPANESE MASKS in the JAPANESE THEATRE [|Nôgaku Theatre - masks YouTube] Can you guess what type of character would wear each of these masks? ||  || circa 1900 Japan ||||  || Japan "Ko" means cuteness, youth and beauty. "Omote" means face. This mask represents a young woman. ||  || Japan This mask represents a "laughing country woman." ||||||||||  ||   || Japan Tengu is a demon in Japanese mythology. Why do you think he has such a long nose? His nose represents a beak. Tengu is also the bird form of a mischievous character that caused trouble for people in Japanese villages. ||||  ||   || Japan Look at the horns and sharp fangs on this mask. Who do you think it represents? Believe it or not, it represents a furious woman who has turned into a demon to avenge her jealousy and anger. ||
 * In some types of theatre, actors wear masks to play certain roles. In Japanese Noh theatre, only male actors play the characters in a play. In order to look like the many different roles that they play, they wear masks. Noh masks represent women, old men, and supernatural beings with different moods and personalities.
 * [[image:http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/theatre/images/collections/Japan6_s.jpg width="100" height="100" caption="Ko-jo (old man) Noh mask" link="@http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/theatre/collection_Japan6.htm"]] |||||| **//Ko-jo// (old man) Noh mask**
 * |||||||| **Miniature //Ko-omote// Noh theatre mask**
 * [[image:http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/theatre/images/collections/Japan4_s.jpg width="100" height="100" caption="Miniature Ko-omote Noh theatre mask" link="@http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/theatre/collection_Japan4.htm"]] ||||||||^  ||^   ||
 * || [[image:http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/theatre/images/collections/Japan3_s.jpg width="100" height="100" caption="Shitadashioto Noh theatre mask" link="@http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/theatre/collection_Japan3.htm"]] ||  |||||| <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">**//Shitadashioto// Noh theatre mask**
 * ^  ||^   ||^   |||||||||||| <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">**//Tengu// Noh theatre mask**
 * ^  || [[image:http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/theatre/images/collections/Japan5_s.jpg width="100" height="100" caption="Tengu Noh theatre mask" link="@http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/theatre/collection_Japan5.htm"]] ||^   ||||||||||||^   ||||^   ||   ||
 * |||| [[image:http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/theatre/images/collections/Japan7_s.jpg width="100" height="100" caption="Hannya Noh theatre mask" link="@http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/theatre/collection_Japan7.htm"]] ||^  |||||||||| <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular;">**Hannya Noh theatre mask**

= Japanese Namahage Devils Scare Lazy Kids on New Years  = [|Japanese Namahage Devils Scare Lazy Kids on New Years - YouTube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cJWkyVtBzQ&feature=relmfu Here you can watch the Namahage Devils scaring more children.

Here are some pictures of theatre masks.

[|Noh mask Up date 2010]

[|The lion dance (獅子舞) Shishimai - YouTube]