Cultural Exchange- Japan

Today we received an absolutely wonderful package from Japan. I loved how it was all  packed in a nice folder. And inside we found some beautiful childrens´ drawings, information about Japan, some leaflets, play money, playing cards and some really yummy sweets.

Lil Mermaid was so excited looking through everything:).

We also found a soup  recipe in the package and after a quick look I thought I would make it straight away! And written on the recipe I found a new  interesting blog. Have a look!

But the Tokusima Style Buckwheat soup is delicious! I  love chicken and I love buckwheat but I had never thought of putting them together!

And this is the package:

I love how many nice festivals they have over there in Japan. Doll Festival, Cherry Blossom Festival, Star Festival, Snow Festival…. But in this package we found some interesting  information about the Dance Festival- Awa Odori.

The Awa Dance Festival (Awa Odori) is held from 12 to 15 August as part of the Obon festival in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku in Japan. Awa Odori is the largest dance festival in Japan, attracting over 1.3 million tourists every year. Groups of choreographed dancers and musicians known as ren dance through the streets, typically accompanied by the shamisen lute, taiko drums, shinobue flute and the kane bell. Performers wear traditional obon dance costumes, and chant and sing as they parade through the streets. “Awa” is the old feudal administration name for Tokushima prefecture, and “odori” means dance.

The Festival dates back 100s of years. The dance itself dates back almost 100 years, and the festival has its roots in harvest festivals (as this is the time when rice is harvested, a very important time in Japan) and also obon festivals (a festival where people remember their dead ancestors).

And again- thanks a lot for the lovely package!

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Linking this post up to: “Around The World In 12 Dishes“