Culture
By: Emmy
Culture
In Nagoya the culture there is quite like any other place in Japan. One thing that is quite similar to the rest of Japan would have to be the food they have. However, Nagoya is quite known for their cochin (local chicken) or unagi (eel). The restaurants there tend to mix the traditional Japanese food and combine it with the flavors of the western culture. One famous restaurant in Nagoya, called Aikyou, is well known for their wild turtle dish served as a hot pot. This restaurant is quite well-known and attracts a lot of tourists. Some other dishes that can be found there would be rice balls more commonly known as onigiri, sushi, sashimi (raw seafood, usually fish), ramen, and many more unique dishes that we won’t find here in America.
Many of the art culture in Nagoya is based on the history it had. During the Edo period, the Tokugawa family had so much prosperity they brought human and material resources for Nagoya. This developed the Tokaido road which led to the merchants learning about the tea ceremony, Noh and Kabuki, waka ( a 31 syllable poem) and the well known type of poem, haiku. With all of these cultures, it has made Nagoya called the city of artistic culture. Other arts people in Nagoya created were ceramics, tie-dyeing, and Japanese paper art (like origami) which has been passed down for many generations. This is why even now, these arts are well known and thriving. Like most of Japan, the main religion in Nagoya is Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto is part of the old Japanese culture and Buddhism was carried to Japan during the 6th century. Usually in daily life, religion is not a big part their lives. Most events where religion does take place in will be during weddings, funerals and festivals like matsuri. Shinto does not really have a founder or a sacred scripture like the Bible. It was formed over the course of many years based on the Japanese culture. Weddings are usually Shinto styled. The other main religion is Buddhism. Buddhism is based on the teachings of Prince Siddhartha from India. His teachings were imported to Japan from Korea, which got it from China. Usually Buddhism does not affect your everyday life, unless you have a funeral coming up. If you want to learn about a quite popular Buddhist temple found in Nagoya, please click here. Shinto and Buddhism are the two main religions, but there are other religions like Christianity. The flag of Japan was based on their myths. The flag’s layout is quite simple. There is just a white background with a red circle in the center. Officially the flag is called, Nisshōki. This means the “sun-mark flag” in Japanese. Although that is the official name, its more common name is Hinomaru which means the sun disk. The red circle in the center represents the sun goddess, Amaterasu, which is what the Japanese believed was the creator of Japan. It symbolizes the future success it will bring in. As for the white background, the white shows the honesty, integrity, and purity of the Japanese. Lastly in the Nagoyan culture would be music. There are seven main types of traditional Japanese music. They include, Gagaku, Biwagaku, Nohgaku, Sokyoku, Shakuhachi, Shamisenongaku, and Minyo. Gagaku is the oldest type of music in Japan. Biwagaku is played with the Biwa which is a four stringed guitar. Nohgaku is the music they play in Noh performances which is a traditional Japanese play. The music is usually accompanied with the hayashi flute and the Shamisen and Shakuhachi. Shakuhachi is the type of music played with a 55 centimeter long flute. Shamisenongaku is the music played with a three stringed guitar called the shamisen and minyo is basically just old Japanese folklore. Now in the modern days, usually the music they have is called J-pop which is just Japanese pop music. Although it may just be pop music, it can be metal or have an uplifting beat. One thing that could’ve made J-pop quite popular is the fact the western culture doesn’t really like J-pop since it sounds quite different than what you would usually hear on the radio. Even one group of J-pop singers called Babymetal that have members ranging from 14-16 years old that make metal music. If you would like to learn more about Babymetal please click here. |