JAPANESE VALUES AND TRADITION

The Japanese Tea Ceremony

The Japanese tea ceremony is called Chanoyu, Sado or simply Ocha in Japanese.
It is a choreographic ritual of preparing and serving Japanese green tea,
called Matcha, together with traditional Japanese sweets to balance with the
bitter taste of the tea. Preparing tea in this ceremony means pouring all one's
attention into the predefined movements. The whole process is not about drinking
tea, but is about aesthetics, preparing a bowl of tea from one's heart. The host of
the ceremony always considers the guests with every movement and gesture.
Even the placement of the tea utensils is considered from the guests view point
(angle), especially the main guests called the Shokyaku.

KIMONO
The kimono () (?)[1] is a Japanese traditional garment. The word "kimono",
which actually means a "thing to wear" (ki "wear" and mono"thing"),[2] has come to
denote these full-length robes. The standard plural of the word kimono in English
is kimonos,[3] but the unmarked Japanese plural kimono is also sometimes used.
Kimono is always used in important festival or formal moments, it is the
representative of polite and a very formal clothing.

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SUMO
Sumo ( sum?) or sumo wrestling is a competitive full-contact wrestling sport
where a rikishi (wrestler) attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring
(dohy) or into touching the ground with anything other than the soles of his feet.
The characters, literally mean "striking one another".

TATAMI
A tatami (?) is a type of mat used as a
flooring material in traditional Japanesestyle rooms. Traditionally made
using rice straw to form the core, the
cores of contemporary tatami are
sometimes composed of
compressed wood chip boards
or polystyrene foam. With a covering of
woven soft rush (igusa ) straw, tatami are made in standard sizes, with the
length exactly twice the width, an aspect ratioof 2:1. Usually, on the long sides, they
have edging (heri ) of brocade or plain cloth, although some tatami have no
edging.

HAIKU
Haiku (,
poetry.

listen (helpinfo)?) (plural haiku) is a very short form of Japanese

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MATSUO BASHO
Matsuo Bash ( ?, 1644 1694), born , then Matsuo Chemon
Munefusa ( ?),[2][3] was the most famous poet of the Edo
period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bash was recognized for his works in the
collaborative haikai no renga form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is
recognized as the greatest master of haiku (then called hokku). Matsuo Bash's
poetry is internationally renowned; and, in Japan, many of his poems are reproduced
on monuments and traditional sites.

MASAOKA KISHI
Masaoka Shiki ( ?, October 14, 1867 September 19, 1902), pen-name
of Masaoka Noboru ( ),[2] was a Japanese poet, author, and literary

JAPANESE VALUES AND TRADITION

critic in Meiji period Japan. Shiki is regarded as a major figure in the development of
modernhaiku poetry.[3] He also wrote on reform of tanka poetry.

NEW YEAR
The Japanese New Year ( Shgatsu?) is an annual festival with its own
customs. Since 1873, the official Japanese New Year has been celebrated according
to the Gregorian calendar, on January 1 of each year, New Year's Day (
Ganjitsu?). However, the celebration of the traditional Japanese New Year is still
marked on the same day as the contemporary Chinese, Korean, andVietnamese
New Years.