In the past, it was common for respected people or relatives with longevity to be godparents, or for fathers and grandfathers to name their babies, but these days, with the trend toward nuclear families, parents are more likely to name their babies.
How Parents Decide The Name?
In the past, people often used the family name as a reference for naming their children, but nowadays people tend to focus more on the ease of calling (sound) and the image of the Chinese characters.
However, there are cases where grandparents or relatives place great importance on the family name judgment and cannot be ignored. Since surname and name determination is based on the balance of characters with the family name, the range of names is limited. (My mother, for example, bought books and did careful research.)
Once a potential name is chosen, the parents check the name from various angles for any flaws. It is important to note that some kanji cannot be used for names. The only kanji that can be used are the Joyo Kanji and Kanji for personal names. Since the reading is free, some parents give a reading that is somewhat close in sound and meaning to the kanji.
Recent Name Trends
The most popular names in 2021 were “蓮”(REN) for a boy and “陽葵”(HIMARI) for a girl. REN was the 1st for 4 consecutive years and HIMARI was 1st for 6 consecutive years!!!
As the effects of the COVID situation continue to be felt, there seems to be a growing trend among both men and women to choose names that are more solid and reassuring than those that are varied and novel.
Another name, “AOI,” ranked first in the common reading for both boy and girl, is a popular gender-free name.
Meimei Shiki (Naming Ceremony)
Parents usually decide their newborn’s name until the 7th day after the birth. This is because they used to invite their family and relatives and hold special dinner gathering/party. At this event, parents announce their baby’s name for the first time and put the paper with their baby’s name on the wall to show everyone.
Nowadays, parents and their family (including relatives) live apart because of lifestyle and also for work situation. So, it’s not so easy to coordinate this gathering after the child birth. Modern parents usually celebrate this event only for themselves these days. Same as this situation, my husband and I had casual lunch with my parents on the day I came back home from hospital. (After lunch, I went asleep to get recovered…zzz) Read More
In spring, edible wild plants called “Sansai” (山菜) appear in supermarkets. Sansai are considered very precious because they can be picked in mountains or fields for a short period of time, only a few weeks.
It is said that there are more than 200 varieties of Sansai, including sprouts, greens, and small, tender young grasses.
Although some Sansai have a bitter taste, they are used in a variety of dishes such as soba noodles, cooked rice, branched vegetables, and salads.
Tempurais a must for those who enjoy the taste of Sansai. When I was a child, my grandparents who lived in the countryside would send us wild vegetables from the mountains when it was time to harvest them. I still remember how my father used to happily eat them as tempura on the same day they were sent to us. (And I used to pick them up and eat them!) At the time, I ate them without really understanding how delicious they were, but now I realize that it was a luxurious time.
Some popular Sansai include:
Asatsuki (あさつき) : Chives Fuki (ふき) : Japanese butterbur Fuki no to(ふきのとう) : Unopened bud of Japanese butterbur Katakuri(かたくり) : Dog’s-tooth violet Nobiru(のびる) : Red garlic Seri(せり) : Water dropwort Tara no me(たらのめ) : Shoot of the Angelica tree Tsukushi(つくし) : Field horsetail shoot Udo(うど) : Japanese spikenard Warabi(わらび) : Bracken Yomogi(よもぎ) : Mugwort Zenmai(ぜんまい) : Royal fern
It is the season for fresh onions. Because of their high water content, they are crispy and have a nice texture when cut into thin slices and eaten in salads. Fresh onions are easily damaged, and if stored at room temperature, their skins will soon become slimy. To prevent moisture damage, it is recommended to wrap them in newspaper or kitchen paper, place them in a plastic bag, and keep them refrigerated.They will still be crisp after a week.
Hijiki no nimono is an essential side dish for Japanese breakfast and bento box. A simple recipe is a combination of hijiki, carrots, and deep-fried tofu, but chikuwa, konnyaku, shiitake mushrooms, and edamame beans are sometimes added for volume.
Hijiki is a healhty food rich in iron and calcium and is said to be effective for healthy hair and prevention of anemia. If you make a lot of it, you can freeze it, put it together with cooked rice or egg rolls, or use it as a garnish for fried rice.
In Japan, when a woman reaches the fifth month of pregnancy, she wears an abdominal belt called an “Iwata Obi” (岩田帯) in hopes of an easy delivery.
It was worn every day until the day the baby was born, but these days few people actually wear one, even though some buy one for celebratory purposes.
Nowadays, instead of belly bands, people wear girdles or belly wraps, which are convenient for taking off the belt.
And the first day to wrap the girdle is called the Obi Celebration, which is the day of the dog in the fifth month of pregnancy.
(In the lunar calendar, each of the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac is distributed on a different day of the month, so there are two or three Dog Days in a month.)
Dogs are said to be fertile and to have an easy delivery, so the dog day is probably because of the desire to be named after them.
In the past, belly bands were usually sent with dried bonito flakes and sake from the family of the expectant mother, after prayers for safe delivery had been offered at a nearby shrine or temple.
It may also be given by a matchmaker or a close couple blessed with a child.
The gift varies from region to region, such as a bleached cotton with the words Kotobuki or Inu (dog) written in red, or a talisman tucked into the obi.
Since it is a lucky charm, it may be appropriated in the form of a token, which can then be purchased at shrines or department stores that offer prayers for easy childbirth.
In my case, there is a famous shrine called Kishimojin in my neighborhood, so I went there to pray for a safe delivery. At that time, I bought a belly band.
During my pregnancy, I wore a girdle-style one, both with my first son and when I gave birth to my first daughter.
Memo : 1. Are you looking for baby food making items? Visit our shop!
2. To make Japanese baby foods, please check recipe tutorials!
3. To know more about Japanese culture, please check Events & Food Culture.
Do you all like to spend time relaxing in a cafe? While there are many Western coffee chain stores in Japan, there are also traditional coffee shops called “Kissaten”(喫茶店). Kissaten is essentially a store that serves tea or coffee. However, Kissaten in Japan may be a little different.
First, Kissaten are places to relax and quietly enjoy drinks and food.Some Kissaten have newspapers or magazines as well as TVs in the store, which may serve as background music in the store.
And, as is increasingly the case with Western coffee chains these days, Kissaten brew coffee one cup at a time, so it takes a little longer to be served. Still, it is worth the wait as a quality drink is served.
The best way to store ginger is to wrap it in kitchen paper or newspaper and store it at room temperature in a cool, well-ventilated dark place. If it is kept refrigerated, it will be too cold and the surface will become slimy even if it is wrapped in paper. If stored at room temperature, the skin will remain shiny even after two weeks. Even if the outer skin is a little dry, the ginger itself is fine.
Menu:
– Japanese rice
– Egg soup with tofu and Chinese cabbage
– Simmered Hijiki seaweed
– Ginger pork
– Salad with bean sprouts, carrot and Chinese cabbage
– Natto
