welcome

Welcome to edokko’s blog

aikido

Aikido (合気道, aikidō), translated as “the way of harmonious spirit”, is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Ueshiba’s goal was to create an art practitioners could use to defend themselves without injuring their attacker.

Aikido emphasizes joining with an attack and redirecting the attacker’s energy, as opposed to meeting force with force, and consists primarily of body throws and joint-locking techniques. In addition to physical fitness and technique, mental training, controlled relaxation, and development of “spirit” (ki) are emphasized in aikido training.

The word aikido is formed of three Japanese characters :

• 合 – ai – joining

• 気 – ki – spirit

• 道 – dō – way

Aiki is a martial arts principle or tactic. It describes an idea of joining together in the midst of combat. This principle finds expressions in such lethal concepts as the “mutual strike/kill” (相撃ち, ai-uchi), but in aikido it generally describes the elevated notion of moving together rather than clashing. Emphasis is upon unifying with the rhythm and intent of the opponent in order to find the optimal position and timing with which to apply the technique.

The techniques of aikido can, when applied judiciously, divert or immobilize rather than damage or kill. As a result, some consider aikido to be a practical symbol of meeting aggression (physical, verbal, etc.) with an effective but merciful response, and finding harmony in conflict. Ueshiba declared, “To control aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace.”

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aikido

yakuza

Yakuza (やくざ or ヤクザ), also known as gokudō (極道), are members of traditional organized crime groups in Japan. Today, the yakuza are one of the largest organized crime phenomena in the world. In Japanese legal terminology, yakuza organizations are referred to as bōryokudan, literally “violence groups”. Yakuza members consider this an insult, as bōryokudan is a term which can be applied to any violent criminal.

There is no single origin for all Japanese yakuza. But it is usually said that Yakuza organizations developed from different elements of traditional Japanese society like retainers samurais of the Edo period (1603-1837) who began to be paid with rice, which they sold to markets for cash, instead of being paid a direct salary.

The term “Yakuza” comes from a Japanese card game, Oicho-Kabu (played with hanafuda or kabufuda cards), and means “good for nothing”. Similar to baccarat, the values of the cards are added together and the last digit of the sum is taken as the score.

The worst hand in the game is a set of eight, nine and three, which gives a sum of 20 and a score of 0. In traditional Japanese forms of counting, these numbers are called Ya, Ku and Sa respectively, thus the origin of the word “Yakuza”. In modern Japanese counting, eight, nine and three could be pronounced “hachi-kyu-san,” a name by which the yakuza are sometimes called in Japan today.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuza

samurai

Samurai (侍or, more rarely, 士) was a term for the military nobility in ancient Japan. The word “samurai” is derived from the Japanese verb “samorau”, meaning “to serve”. Whilst there are many romanticised characterisations of samurai behaviour, studies of Kobudo and traditional Budo indicate that the samurai were as practical on the battlefield as any other warrior.

 

 

Most samurai (during the Edo period) were bound by a strict code of honor called Bushido (武士道,), and were expected to set an example for those below them. A notable part of the Bushido code is seppuku (切腹,), which allowed a disgraced samurai to regain his honor by passing into death, where samurai were still beholden to the rules of Bushido.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai

bansaï

Bonsai (Japanese : 盆栽, “tray gardening”) is the art of growing miniature trees and plants, kept small by being grown in a pot and by the use of skilled pruning, formed to create an aesthetic shape and the illusion of age, although many bonsai trees are quite old and simply show their age in miniature form. The Chinese art of penjing is very similar to and is the precursor of the Japanese art of bonsai.

The modern-day art of bonsai originates from China over two thousand years ago, where it has been called penzai (盆栽) and written in the same Hanzi that gave rise to the Kanji above. It was brought to Japan by imperial embassies to Tang China (the 7th – 9th century). In the Kamakura period, penjing that recalled customs from the Heian period came to be drawn in some picture scrolls and documents.

In the Muromachi period, penjing developed into various directions in Japan. Just like a Japanese garden, it came to assume the artistry of “Wabi-sabi”. However, the bonsai was still the enjoyment of people of the chosen hierarchy in the period.

In the Edo period, it became possible to enjoy the bonsai for many daimyos, samurais, merchants, townsmen, and others. In addition, the bonsai pot became popular among daimyos, employing the pottery master who belonged exclusively to the bonsai pot. It is said that the name “Bonsai” started being used around this time. Indeed, a lot of bonsais were drawn in many an “Ukiyo-e (浮世絵)”.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonsai

ukiyo-e

Ukiyo-e (浮世絵, Ukiyo-e, meaning “Pictures of the floating world”) is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th century, featuring motifs of landscapes, the theater and pleasure quarters.

Ukiyo-e (浮世 and 憂世) or the Floating World is a term used to describe many aspects of life, including – but not limited to – the pleasure-seeking lifestyle and culture of Edo Period Japan (1600–1867).

Ukiyo refers to the impetuous young culture that bloomed in the urban centers of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), Osaka, and Kyoto that were a world unto themselves. It is an ironic allusion to the homophone term “Sorrowful World” (憂き世), the earthly plane of death and rebirth from which Buddhists sought release.

The art form rose to great popularity in the metropolitan culture of Edo during the second half of the 17th century, originating with the single-color works of Hishikawa Moronobu in the 1670s. At first, only Indian ink was used, then some prints were manually colored with a brush, but in the 18th century Suzuki Harunobu developed the technique of polychrome printing to produce nishiki-e.

Ukiyo-e are still produced today and are influential in many ways, inspiring, for example, manga and anime.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukiyo-e

origami

Origami (折り紙 ori, to fold, and kami, paper lit. “folding paper”) is the art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create a given result using geometric folds and crease patterns.

Origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper, whose sides may be different colors, and usually proceed without cutting the paper.

Contrary to most popular belief, traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the Edo era (1603-1867), has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes cutting the paper during the creation of the design (Kirigami 切り紙) or starting with a rectangular, circular, triangular or other non-square sheets of paper.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origami

cuisine

A standard Japanese meal nearly always consists of a bowl of white Japanese rice (hakumai, 白米) with accompanying tsukemono (pickles),

what does Nihon mean?

Nihon (日本) is the Japanese word for Japan. It is formed by the kanji “sun” (日) and the kanji “origin” (本). This is why Japan is called the “Land of the rising sun”.