Easter and Chocolate
Wednesday March 19, 2008
Japan has adopted many Western events (Christmas, Valentine’s, Halloween etc.), but Easter is still unfamiliar to most Japanese and I too didn’t know much about Easter. Easter egg hunting seems to be fun for kids. I noticed that the treats kids get in North America are mainly chocolates. I am not sure if chocolate is as popular for Japanese kids. Maybe it is another culture difference. I know there are many chocoholics out there, but I will choose Japanese sweets over chocolates.
Japanese Translation
Japanese Translation
Comments
I think the choice for chocolate came out of the fact that chocolate can very easily be molded into all types of forms. Like Bunnies and Santa Clause
But there is no NEED or real tradition that you have to make chocolate presents.
Well, I’ve always assimilated Easter to chocolate (not necessarily eggs). So I do think it’s a tradition.
You could write about japanese sweets someday, Abe-san!
I have to agree, I absolutely love chocolate, but when I have a choice, id pick おかし。
Hi, first time I visit your blog, but I found it very interesting, special all the explanations about culture, it’s very clear, I’d love to hear more from you, so, talk to you later… read you too *.*.
-Aza-
can you pls. translate these… i really can’t understand… i want to learn japanese, i hope someday it would happen…
pls. tanslate this to english….
>お名前
> 男性
>年齢
>才
>職業
>郵便番号
>住所
>Eメール
>Eメール(確認)
thanks… Godbless….
Hi, it is interesting how the whole point of Easter has been shifted from Jesus Christ to Easter bunnies and chocolates! Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Christ on Easter Day which is after Good Friday. (Where did the chocolates come from???) Hope this snippet has been helpful.
Hi, 1st time on your blog, I was looking for somewhere to get some japanese basics and ended up here. I think it is very interesting to get to learn about other cultures.
As for chocolate and easter, I also think it is related to chocolate because of it being a sweet, and easy to mold into anything you’d like.
The fact that easter is nowadays more related to eggs and bunnies than to jesus ressurection is that easter was once a pagan holiday about spring and the “ressurrection” of life itself from the cold and snow of winter and the eggs were a symbol of life and fertility =)
Later on, the holiday has been adapted by the christians, who are believed to have changed the dates of the different stages and events of Christ’s life to fit the pagan calendars better, so they would be converted more easily. (I never read the bible, but the Jeova’s say there are indications that christ wasn’s born on the day we celebrate christmas, just for an example)
*I hope I didn’t offend anyone by saying this, I’m an agnostic but never intended to insult anyones beliefs.*
Translation for query above
> Name
> Men
> Age
> Talent
> Employment
> Postcode
> Address
> E-Mail
> E-mail (check)
This is a great website and very useful. The phrases with the explanations are especially interesting. Regarding chocolate, I am surprised that its popularity is not equal in Japan, although I am a fan of Morinaga candies and they seem to have caramels (like green tea) instead of chocolate. Hi Chews are also very tasty.
Namiko’s blog’s are always informative an easy to understand. I wished they offered half of what they have aviable in the Japan in the US.
Also, I hear a lot about Japanese girl’s going out to eat all sorts of sweets that aren’t here in the US. Plus they have these green softdrinks, I’ve always wanted to try one of those.
Actually, Easter is a pagan holiday adopted by the Christian church to convert pagans. Easter egg hunting comes from the Germanic tribes where they painted the eggs and had kids find them on the sping equinox(sp?). Easter “bunnies” come from the Celtic people where their goddess of fertility animal symbol was a rabbit. In an attempt to convert the pagan people the church adopted these practices so that the pagans could still “practice” their ancient beliefs/rituals. So, easter bunnies and eggs have been around since the Christian holiday of Easter was celebrated. It just wasn’t called Easter by these various people.
I hope this gives some explaination of the origins. Hope everyone had a good Easter, btw.
To Tom about the green soda…
You can find a lot of different sodas at most FYE’s(For Your Entertainment). A lot of those places have a whole selection of Anime and Japanese treats like soda(like Ramune)and chocolates like Pocky and depending on the location things like ChocoBalls and MeltyKiss. Hope that helps some.
hi..i found your blog very interesting..i love japanese shows since i was i think elemetary grade..the very first anime i watch was ghost fighter and until now i still watch and even buy japanese movies and animes..please help me how to speak japanese i really want to learn please..
hi!
nomiko-san…
what about ‘Hari Raya Aidilfitri’ Celebration,
still rare in Japan?
Hello, I was going to clear up your confusion about Easter (don’t worry, there are many christians that don’t understand the correlation either) but, Jesse summed it up nicely. I would, however, like to thank you for the work you’ve done on your website. I’m new here but, i have already found it extremely informative. I was wondering though, If there was a link to some vocab words. I think I’ve grasped some of the basics and would like to get some practice on sentence building. Again, I thank you.
Easter is a Christian Holiday. It is to celebrate and remember the day Christ came back from death after being beaten and then hung on a cross. When he died he stayed in a tomb for three days, on the third day he came out a the grave and revealed himself. This event had several hundred eye witnesses. The western world has pretty much taken substance out of all our celebrations. Christmas- Celebrate his birth. Halloween - All Hollows Eve to celebrate the Saints. Easter - to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection Non-believer’s distort the truth and some Christians run right along after them just to amuse themselves and their children. If we are going to celebrate, celebrate in truth or find another reason to have some chocolate and a party.