There are a great number of wonderful areas of the Japanese Culture. Its so vast that it takes a great amount of time and dedication to get a good study/education of the culture/language. But I want to share a few more areas of interest that I believe will help in gaining education and confidence in your study of Japanese. Lets look at the traditional Japanese home. Western style furniture, including beds, tables, chairs and sofas, are found in most Japanese households today. In addition, uniquely Japanese style furniture and household devices have survived or been introduced into the Japanese home. Japanese households often consist of both Japanese style rooms with tatami floors, and modern rooms with wooden or tiled floors. Tatami mats are made of straw and measure roughly 180 cm x 90 cm. You should always take off your slippers when stepping on tatami mats in order to protect them from damage. Traditional tatami rooms have an alcove (tokonoma) in which a hanging scroll (kakejiku) and a flower arrangement (ikebana) or piece of pottery is displayed. The room entrances are sliding paper doors (fusuma) and sliding paper screens (shoji) which can be removed completely. Tatami mats Most Japanese kitchens are equipped with a gas stove, rice cooker, microwave oven, and refrigerator. The traditional Japanese bed is a futon which is laid on the floor only during the night and kept in a closet (oshiire) during the daytime. Consequently, the bedroom can then also function as a living or dining room. Gas stove Futon Most houses in Japan do not have central heating. Instead, gas, oil and electric ovens and air conditioners are used to heat single rooms. The heating devices are turned off during the night and when nobody is in the room. In addition, heated tables (kotatsu) are a popular piece of furniture during the winter. Ok now lets discuss the traditional Japanese Kitchen Traditional Japanese kitchens and cooking centered around the stove and the hearth. Food was cooked in pots over a kamado, a stove made of earth or clay. It functions much like a modern stove, except that it is heated by an open fire instead of gas or electricity. The hearth or irori was another important place for cooking, eating, and entertaining and is the image that often comes to mind when thinking of traditional Japanese folk houses. It consisted of a square pit in the floor filled with earth or ashes. Over the pit is a hook which is used to hang pots and kettles over the fire. While the irori was used for cooking, it also provided heat and light to the home. Traditional Japanese cooking involves a lot of boiling, broiling, steaming, grilling, and frying, and while the modern kitchen is very similar to its western counterpart, it has developed in a way that centers around these techniques. The centerpiece of the traditional kitchen, the kamado, has been replaced by the gas stove which often has an integrated broiler. Typical homes will also have a refrigerator, a microwave oven, a rice cooker, and a toaster oven. Less common are dishwashers and ovens. Many of these appliances have been adapted for the Japanese kitchen. For example, until recently it was not common for appliances to be built into the cabinets, so dishwashers and ovens have been available as countertop models. However, newer homes often have a system kitchen in which appliances such as the stove, broiler, and dishwasher are integrated into the cabinets. While baking is popular, most people do not have a dedicated oven. Instead, hybrid microwave ovens have been developed that have special modes for baking and toasting as well as modes for heating rice, sake, and bento (lunch box). Here are a few vocabulary words that will aid you in your study and conversation. Futotta= fat kinsen= money miki= trunk foudo= hood zaseki= seat taida na= lazy denchi= battery sharin=tires keeburu= cable kooto=coat jaketto= jacket doraibu= drive kumo=spider beekon=bacon tamago=egg
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 23:38:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015