White Day 2014

White Day is a special day held in Japan on March 14, exactly a month after Valentine’s Day. White Day is a time in Japan for the boys to return the favour of gifts received earlier from the girls on Valentine’s Day. Why is it called “White Day”? It is simple really, white is the colour of sugar, which is the main ingredient of candy traditionally given as a gift on White Day.

Popular traditional gifts on White Day include white chocolate, cookies, jewelry, white lingerie, and marshmallows. These days anything goes, so the gifts can be pretty much anything.

Gifu Ukai 2013

Ukai or Cormorant Fishing has taken place along the famous Nagara River in Gifu for more than 1300 years. It is a major summer attraction in Japan with the season running from May 11 to October 15. With the season winding down for another year, Japan Australia took the chance to head down to the river bank and see this spectacular event.

We started off at the Cormorant Fishing Viewing Boat Office, where you can check in if you are going on one of the viewing boats. There is also an Ukai Boat Waiting Area where you can see a video of the famous ukai and pick up a souvenir from the gift shop.

Ukai Boat Waiting Area

The boats are boarded around 6:30 pm and will head off one by one to cruise down to the watching point. They anchor by the side of the river and wait for the ukai to start. While you wait you can enjoy the beautiful view of the river and mountains while enjoying a Japanese bento dinner and drinks. Typically ukai will start at around 7:45 pm. The start is signaled by a small fireworks display. The fishing boats head back downstream and you can see them approaching with their flames in the distant. They pass the viewing boats which are lined up along the river before making a u-turn and heading back towards the viewing boats. They end up parking on the shore before returning home. Ukai usually ends around 8:00 pm and most people get off the boat by around 8:30 pm.

Cormorant Fishing Viewing Boat

Cormorant Fishing Boat

Cormorant Fishing Master at Work

Gifu Ukai Cormorant Fishing

The best place to view ukai from the river bank is on the Gifu Park side of the river opposite Usyounoie Sugiyama (see the Google Map below). I recommend getting there for around 7:30 pm. The fishing boats will pass the viewing boats and then turn back and park on the shore. This means you can get up close and personal with them which is quite an experience.

Usyounoie Sugiyama

Ukai Up Close and Personal

 
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Events in the Gifu Area for March / April 2013

March 2-3: Gifu Ume Matsuri at Bairin Koen in Gifu City. Featuring 50 different types of ume blossoms and 1300 trees this is a must see for any ume blossom fan. There will be a kids event on the 2nd while the 3rd will have music and dancing. Lots of food vendors will be there as well for all your favourite festival food.

March 16: Istanbul / Turkey New Attraction at Little World Inuyama in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture. Featuring Turkish food, culture, goods and exhibitions. You can also try on some traditional Turkish costumes. Visit the website for more details http://www.littleworld.jp/english

April 6-7: Inuyama Matsuri at Inuyama-jo Castle in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture. This festival first started in 1635 and features 13 parade floats, lavishly decorated and dating from the 17th century. They are paraded under the beautiful cherry blossoms. At night they are decorated with 365 paper lanterns (chochin).

April 6-7: Gifu Matsuri in the center of Gifu City. Kashimori Shrine, Inaba Shrine and Kogane Shrine host the festival, which features parade floats and street food vendors.

April 6-21: Tulip Festival at Kiso Sansen Koen in Kaizu City Gifu. The park is a blaze of colour with beautiful tulips that can be seen next to the cherry blossoms. There are also many events happening on the weekend. Open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday - Friday, and 800 am to 6:00 pm Saturday - Sunday. http://www.kisosansenkoen.go.jp/e/

April 14-15: Takayama Festival – one of the most spectacular festivals in Japan, featuring elaborate festival floats. The spring festival is also known as Sanno Festival. There are about a dozen festival floats or yatai as they are known in Japan, and each float is lit with 100 paper lanterns.

For more information on what is happening in Japan, you should check out the following travel guide books: (click on the image for more information)

JCV Japan Festival

The Japan Club of Victoria Japan Festival in support of the Japan Tsunami Appeal is on Sunday, 20th May, 2012 at the Box Hill Town Hall and TAFE.

The Japan Festival will features special events such as Cosplay Contest and Sumo Show as well as various performances, which will include Japanese drumming, traditional dance, shamisen and martial arts. The exhibits on the day will include tea ceremony, ikebana, go, shogi, bonsai and origami. Don’t miss the fabulous stalls selling sushi, takoyaki, yakitori and Japanese sweets.

Spring Equinox Day (shunbun no hi)

Today March 20th is Spring Equinox Day or Shunbun no hi (春分の日) in Japan. This national holiday was first established in 1948 as a day to admire nature and the love of living things. The holiday occurs on the date of the vernal equinox in Japan Standard Time and usually falls on March 20 or 21.

The three days immediately before and after Shunbun no hi is a seven day period called the spring equinoctial week or higan in Japanese. It is a boundary marking the end of winter coldness.

White Day in Japan

Image from andrene_morris

March 14th is White Day in Japan. What is White Day you ask? White Day is exactly one month after Valentines’s Day, and is where boys have to return the favour of gifts received from girls on Valentine’s Day.

On Valentine’s Day in Japan girls present the boys with gifts usually chocolate. White Day is where the boys have to return the favour. Why call it White Day? It is pretty simple really. White is the colour of sugar the main ingredient in candy which is traditionally given on White Day.