Saturday 18 December 2021
Thursday 25 November 2021
Wednesday 17 November 2021
Owls as lucky charms in Japan
Owl ornaments on sale at Japanya |
Wednesday 20 October 2021
Vintage Kimono available on our Etsy shop
This fantastic furisode kimono would make a stunning wall display. Available on our etsy vintage kimono shop, JapaneseKimonoShop
Sunday 19 September 2021
Different types of Traditional Kokeshi
There are 11 types of traditional kokeshi named after the different hot spring areas where they are made (Tsugaru, Nanbu, Zao, Sakunami, Tsuchiyu, Hijori, Yajiro, Togatta, Naruko, Yamagata and Kijiyama). Each type have distinctive styles with their own motifs, body styles, and facial features. They are all highy collectable!
Friday 20 August 2021
Dating your vintage kokeshi doll
Be careful when reading the date written on a vintage kokeshi doll's base! If the doll is vintage this will generally have been written using the Japanse nengo calendar and not the Western Gregorian calendar. The Japanese nengo calendar uses years based on the reigns of the Japanese emporers. For example, Naruhito, the current emperor, started his reign (known as the Reiwa era*) in 2019 hence the year 2021 is known as Reiwa 3. His father Akihito started his reign in 1989 the year of the death of his own father (Hirohito) hence 1989 is known as Showa 64 or Heisei 1 and 1990 is known as Heisei 2.
* each emperor's reign /era is allocated a name the last three being Showa (Hirohito) Heisei (Akihito) and Reiwa (Naruhito)
Thursday 24 June 2021
Tuesday 11 May 2021
Great ideas for Motivational / Inspirational Japanese Kanji Pendants
We can customise a Japanese Pendant for you. Please make a request from our Etsy Orinique shop. Here are some pendants that we have made for customers recently:
"Believe in Yourself" - the Japanese is 自分を信じる which reads "jibun o shinjiru". |
Thursday 15 April 2021
Wednesday 24 March 2021
Sunday 21 March 2021
Hanami, "flower viewing", is an important part of the Japanese calendar. Originally referring to the viewing of plum (ume) hanami now mainly refers to cherry blossom viewing. During the cherry blossom season In Japan many people take picnics and drink sake under the cherry blossom trees.
Click to find some of our Spring-related products