Japanese Food and Celebrations Essay

Japanese Celebrations Organizational Pattern: Topical I. Introduction A. Attention Getter: The Japanese have a very unique and interesting culture. B. Statistic: 90% of Japanese people celebrate on New Year's Day. C. Thesis Statement: Like the United States, the Japanese celebrate various holidays with lavish festivities. D. Importance: As more and more Japanese people immigrate to the United States, knowledge of the Japanese culture becomes increasingly important and necessary.

It is clear that cultural tradition delivers set foundations into a person’s lifetime, giving identity and sense of belonging to a person and their social group. It allows individuals to feel part of something and understand their ancestral values and customs. Several people believe that it is very important to preserve cultural traditions because they feel as if tradition is the main enabler to a shared identity and to a construction of social consistency and unity. People also believe that conservancy of cultural traditions forms exclusive bonds within members of the community, holding people with the same background together to pass on cultural values, and excluding those who aren’t part of the culture. They think that the actual preservation of traditions means not to change the customs and traditions, to not grow from our culture, for example not learning another language because you already know your mother tongue. It is a way to group up and tag everyone in a form of an alliance, and to have better organization and awareness of where everyone comes from.

In my culture traditions are very important in your life. For example, one tradition that has been in my family for many years is going to the park and celebrating Easter with the family. We barbecue, play sports, and then at the end of the day we have an Easter egg hunt for the young children. Another tradition of ours is to do a Christmas Eve dinner at my great grandma’s house. During this event you are with your relatives and close friends for dinner and for a social gathering until the early morning of Christmas day. Many of our traditions revolve around getting all of our family together and spending time with them.

Traditions are common part of culture and religion in the world today; almost everyone has a tradition that they follow. The traditions you practice can be new and only just have started with your generation or the generation before yours. The traditions could also have been old, spanning many generations before your generation and your parents’ generation. Some traditions could be small and last for a few generations; an example of this would be like a yearly family cookout. One would invite their families to their house or local park to have fun and eat. It could be something small

Japanese people show great pride in their heritage and they use their food as a form of expression in order to show their cultural heritage. The Japanese focus on the small things in their cuisine that helps make such a large impact in the quality of the food. The country takes pride in their food and uses it for various symbolic reasons. Sushi and pride both have a large correlation in Japanese culture. Their attention to detail is also used as an advantage in order to show people all around the world as to why they are known for their wonderful cuisine. Sushi is pivotal in showing the identity of the Japanese people. Various factors play a role in sushi, such as; the geographical location of

Tradition; the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation by word of mouth, or the fact of being passed on in this way. Every person has some type of tradition in their life. For example, one note worthy tradition I have along with my family and my community was a fundraiser every year during the West Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parade. We would rent a stage and speakers for bands and Irish step dancers. There would be a small charge to get in and there would be food and drinks for everyone. All of the money made from this fundraiser was donated to designated foundation. This experience has taught me to always see the greater good in everything and that I should my gift and virtues to help those less fortunate than me.

Traditions are events that happen every year, or at a certain age. Most traditions are celebrated by culture. Cultural traditions could be a holiday, a yearly festival, or a milestone at a certain age. Families have also made traditions through different time periods or holidays. For example, some families on Christmas have the youngest member place a star, angel, or family ornament on the tree. Tradition must be kept so that other generations can experience them. I know that to have a good holiday, you got to have a great tradition. I can guarantee there isn’t a single person, who is never done

Cultural traditions represent a conceptual piece of our culture; tradition is passed down from generation to generation which brings families and communities together for holidays, birthdays, and many other celebrations; sharing a tradition with different people give them an insight of how others live. As Lisa Rathje mentioned in her article Shaping Community, she stated: “The role of tradition in fostering one’s own cultural identity and in strengthening the networks of our many communities is demonstrated throughout Making It Better”(Shaping Community, Pg.3). Without tradition within a culture, society wouldn’t be able to separate themselves from the norms. Society wouldn’t be able to identify themselves and show people how they are different

4) in our daily lives. In more prominent ways, Japanese culture can be noticed through cuisine and religion. “Buddhism” and “Shintoism” are the two significant religions of Japan, though in Hawaii more buddhist temples are seen rather than shinto shrines. Besides the majority of the Japanese population in Hawaii, buddhism is also practiced by a great amount of Hawaii locals. The only set back being, “The only temple activities that cater to non- Japanese…are taiko drumming and meditation.” (Borup

This is completely different from US religious beliefs in many ways. For one, all the religions practiced in the United States worship a specific god or gods. Another thing that’s completely different in Japan than in the US is that they are more accepting of different religions. The other religion that is widely practiced in Japan is Buddhism. Brought over by missionaries in 552 AD and emphasizes simplicity to beauty, devotion to study and severe self-discipline. All the concepts of both of these religions are not concepts that American religions emphasize. Religion is huge for the Japanese and in most houses Shintoism and Buddhism are both practiced and shrines are usually done of both religions. There are many other cultural customs in Japan that are different from those in the US.

Pocky, Anime, manga, kanji. Have you heard of any of these? If not… where have you been? All around us teenagers, children, and even adults are being drawn into Japanese culture through TV, books, and even food. Japanese comics, called manga, take up more and more space on American bookshelves, and they've infused new life into the publishing industry. Japanese animation, anime, is on more and more movies and TV screens and influencing popular toys and games.

Many religions are popular within the Japanese culture. Two of the most influential religions, Shinto and Buddhism that help shaped a lot of Japanese values are Shinto and Buddhism, played a large role in shaping Japanese values. Numerous similarities and differences run between these two religions; nonetheless, the Japanese often believe in more than one religion at the same time. This is possible due to the polytheistic nature of most popular religions in Japan. It is not hard to say that religion is a big part of Japanese culture because a lot of religious beliefs can still be seen in their everyday lives.

All around the world, religion is a dominant idea for many cultures; exemplifying a certain way of life, serving as a basis for faith, and bringing charity to the world, religion is a extensive concept. For several cultures and countries religion may vary according to demographics, socio-economical class, and ethnicity. Main concepts of religion in Japan are natural and superstitious based. The leading religion in Japan remains Shinto, while other religions have come and go, interweaving themselves among the Japanese society.

Japanese cuisine is an appetizing art form brought to us by an ancient food culture. Japan’s cuisine reflects their traditionally-shaped and evolutionary food culture. Normally, food in any other country is just a sustenance for the body, but in Japan there is a deeper meaning. Japanese cuisine is very authentic in terms of the type of food served and the manner of which it is served. The art has been influenced by numerous countries only to perfect their cooking style and eating habits.

In this essay in I would be presenting the wondrous world of Japanese gourmet food,it will contain the world best beef or the most expensive beef, the weird yet refreshing raw fish which is called sashimi and how one of the worlds most famous /popular dishes came to existence, and last but not least the reason and effect of how the non -meat period effected the current japan.