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Japanese culture
Japanese traditions essay
Japanese traditions essay
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Japanese Traditions
Most Japanese traditions involve every aspect of Japanese life. These traditions have also evolved over a period of thousands of years. One common tradition that may seem very visible to outsiders is the traditional Japanese dress of the kimono. A kimono is a woven cotton undergarment. This dress was the basic dress for the Japanese until more recently where it is customary to wear the kimono just for important celebrations. These celebrations make up the many traditions within Japanese culture that aren’t as visible as the kimono. It is within this part of the paper, we would like to look at the many traditions celebrated in Japan.
One popular Japanese tradition is ‘bonsai’. Bonsai is the art of growing miniature trees. These trees were introduced by China around the thirteenth century. Japanese bonsai trees have evolved into an expression of beauty consistent with the teachings of Zen Buddhism which profess an interrelationship of man and nature. Bonsai has three basic tenets. These tenets are called ‘shin-zen-bi’ which stand for truth, goodness and beauty. The miniature trees are grown in small ceramic pots. They endure a great deal of cultivation which includes systematic pruning, careful root trimming, transplanting, and watering. The trees are usually cultivated in their pots outdoors but sometimes they are brought into the home so they can be displayed on special occasions. The goal is to cultivate them to become works of art. Similarly to the wild bonsai tree, the miniatures are able to live to be hundreds of years old and it is not uncommon for family members to pass on a bonsai tree to different generations. Although there are a great variety of trees that are used in bonsai, traditionally, pi...
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...raditionally, one’s relatives and friends are invited for a celebratory feast on kanreki. The man who is celebrating his birthday is traditionally given a red hood and completes the outfit by wearing red vest. These types of cloths are usually worn by Japanese infants and therefore are used to symbolize the mans return birth.
In all Japanese traditions thousands of years of evolution has played a big part in shaping such a profound and ancient culture. Through the many traditions we discussed above we can not only see how many traditions are unique to the Japanese way of life, but how some have found their way to our lives as well.
Bibliography
Web-Japan
Barrett,Timothy . Japanese papermaking : traditions, tools, and techniques. New York: Weatherhill, 1983.
Walthall, Anne . The human tradition in modern Japan. Wilmington, Deleware: SR Books, 2002.
Ikebana is a Japanese tradition of flower arranging that was brought to Japan in the 6th century and was a part of Buddhist custom introduced to the Japanese. The origin of flower arranging in Japan is from the early use of flowers as an offering to the spirits and the dead. Buddhist priests and members of the temple practiced most of the early Ikebana flower arrangement. Through the years, the Japanese adopted the custom and built schools specifically for flower arranging courses and one that dates back 500 years ago was Ikenobo. Ikenobo is known to be the oldest sc...
customs and traditions hidden in the roots of the Japanese empire. The Tang Dynasty displayed a
In the Prologue of the tale, the Pardoner clearly admits that he preaches for nothing but for the greed of gain. His sermons revolve around the biblical idea that “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Ironically, however, the Pardoner condemns the very same vice that he lives by, as he proclaims “avarice is the theme that I employ in all my sermons, to make the people free in giving pennies—especially to me”. Thus, covetousness is both the substance of his sermons as well as the mechanism upon which he thrives. He clearly states that repentance is not the central aim of his preaching, by mentioning “my mind is fixed on what I stand to win and not upon correcting sin”. Rather, his foremost intention is to acquire as many shillings as he can in exchange for his meaningless pardons. In this regard, one can argue that although the Pardoner is evil, he is not a dissembler. His psychology is clearly not guided by hypocrisy because he does not conceal his intentions under false pretences.
A pardoner is a person that could relieve someone from their sins. In the case of the Pardoners Tale, the Pardoner expects money for relieving sinners from their sins and for telling a story. The pardoner in this tale is hypocritical, his scare tactics prove this. He says that greed over things like money is an evil thing, and his audience should give him large amounts of money so he can pardon them from their sins.
Throughout History, there have been many different groups or events that are still widely known today. Groups of people such as the Indians or Vikings are popular groups which are referenced constantly in today’s society. However, none of these groups is more known or referenced than the Japanese Samurai. Originating in 646 AD, these Japanese warriors developed from a loose organization of farmers to the dominant social class in Feudal Japan. Along with their dominant military and political standing, the samurai brought with them a unique code or moral belief that became the core of Samurai culture. Because of this, the Samurai and their principles still affect modern day Japanese society with social customs today deriving directly and indirectly from the beliefs of the Samurai.
The Pardoner’s Prologue/Tale begins with a sort of introduction, hence the title “Prologue”. It is here that we learn of the reaction that the Host gives after hearing the Physician’s Tale previously. The Host seems to be so shocked at the death of the young Roman girl in the tale that he asks the Pardoner to tell the group a merrier, more farcical tale. After some time, the Pardoner is ready to present his tale, including both moral interjection and a merrier tone. The Pardoner begins by describing a group of young Flemish people who spend their time drinking and indulging themselves in all forms of excess. He continues to tell the tale, in which the people eventually end up drinking posioned wine and all die. As is, there are more details in the tale that we did not go over there are some key elements that help us to better understand the Pardoner upon hearing his tale. First of all, we know from The General Prologue that the Pardoner is just as bad or corrupt as others in his “profession”. However, after hearing his tale it is quite shocking about his frankness about his own hypocrisy. We know that he bluntly accuses himself of fraud, avarice, and gluttony all things that he preaches against throughout this tale. It is in lines, 432-433 that the Pardoner states, “But that is nat my principal entente;/ I preche nothyng but for coveitise.” It is here that we truly begin to learn that The Pardoner’s Tale is merely an example of a story that is often used by preachers to emphasize a moral point to their audience. That is why, this tale in particular helps to comprehend Chaucer’s own opinions, and how he used satire to display
...irony, the corruption he believes can be found in the Church, pointing at its common tendency in this time to take advantage of the people through its power. He also shows through the Pardoner that perhaps immoral people cannot guide people to morality, through subtle lines such as “For though myself be a ful vicious man,/ A moral tale yit I you telle can” (GP 171-172). Through Chaucer’s portrayal of the Pardoner in this tale, the audience is able to see that the Pardoner is a self-absorbed, greedy man that mirrors what the author thinks of the Church, and that the Pardoner is the exact opposite of what he preaches, which also points towards the supposed corruption of the Church. The irony found throughout this work serves the important purpose of bringing attention to the dishonesty and fraud Chaucer believes can be found in the Roman Catholic Church at this time.
The pardoner tells the readers that money and greed is root of all evil throughout this tale. In his tale, there are three drunken men, one day, decide to find Death and annihilate it. They ask one old man where the death is and he points at the tree where a lot of gold are. When they find gold they only think of getting gold as many as possible and end up planning to kill each other. Three men are unaware of their own evil and as a result, three all die. By story-telling this tale which comprehends no interaction with his behavior, the pardoner negate his own moral and advises other people how should they live their life in order to avoid sins.
Most American citizens remember December 7, 1941 and the significance that the incidents of that day had. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a shock to the United States of America and it engaged our country in the Second World War of that century (Pearl, 2009). Unfortunately, due to that incident, many Americans harbor many negative feelings and attitudes towards the country of Japan. While this is an understandable sentiment, it is unnecessary, because Japan is an influence on not on the United States but the entire world. Throughout this paper, we will look at the country of Japan as many have never viewed them before. Their actions of the past are just that, the past. Japan is a thriving and successful country within our environment and it is in our best interest to understand that country better. Japan, as a culture, is the
Similar to other works by Shakespeare, such as The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream embellishes the pressures that arise between genders dealing with complicated family and romantic situations. The plot includes a duke who is going to marry a woman he conquered in battle, the king and queen of the fairies embroiled in a fight so fierce that it unbalances the natural world, and a daughter fighting with her father for her right to marry the man she chooses. The girl’s father selects Demetrius to marry his daughter, but she is in love with another man, Lysander, who loves her in return, and her friend Helena is in love Demetrius, but he wants nothing to do with her. Considering the fact that males were dominant during that era, whereas, men chased women, and women remained submissive, Shakespeare dallies with those traditional roles and there are several possible reasons why. Perhaps he made women a stronger force in his plays because he wanted to give his audience a break fr...
In the Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale written by George Chaucer, we can see how the pardoner turns to his advantage the need of people to seek forgiveness from God. To forgive was the pardoner’s job and he would do so for a price, he would give people the absolution needed in order to feel at peace with God and all the people that listened to him had to do was pay a price. The pardoner was very aware of the importance that absolution had for people and during his many presentations he would use his knowledge of the bible because of his religion to make them bel...
Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool” (written in 1959 and published in 1960) is a lyric poem that shows a glimpse into the life of seven, young African-American men who have chosen to abandon the social norm of searching for the “American Dream” and, instead, venture into the uncertainty of life roaming the streets (slang for unsavory areas where criminal activity is frequent), where the only certainty is an early death. In a time already plagued with racial hostility, life was guaranteed to come with adversities for young, African-Americans, but to freely choose a life without a formal education or employment was adding unnecessary hardships. “We Real Cool” utilizes a unique combination of literary vices like point of view, rhythm, and syntax to provide social commentary on the reckless lifestyle of some of the youth in the black community at the time.
should have lost her temper and didn’t. For instance, when I was around 12 years old I was bored
From the interactive oral presentation on the Japanese vs. Western Social norms, I have learned a tremendous amount on how Mishima incorporated traditional Japanese and western influences in the novel to portray the loss of traditional Japanese culture within the Japanese society.
Stories about war and implements of such can be observed throughout the course of Japanese history. This shows the prevalence of martial training and the profession of arms as a tradition that has not faded since ancient times (Friday and Humitake 13).