Mango Languages

Marines and Happy Mondays

Happy… Wednesday, everyone!

July 18th of this year in Japan is Umi no Hi (海の日), which translates roughly in English to “Marine Day” or “Ocean Day.” Being Japan’s newest holiday, only adopted in 1996, this holiday is still finding its sea legs (bad joke) among people in Japan. They generally spend the holiday, coincidentally, at the beach.

Although the holiday is fairly new on a national scale, it actually dates back pretty far. Marine Memorial Day, Umi no Kinen Bi (海の記念日) was originally designated in 1942 to commemorate the Meiji Emperor’s 1876 voyage in a steam ship around the country. It took until 1995 for the holiday to be declared national, and in 1996, it was first celebrated as part of the Happy Monday System (ハッピーマンデー制度) and renamed Marine Day.

What’s the Happy Monday System, you ask? Aside from finding its initial support with Garfield the Cat–that’s a lie–the system, which moved a number of national holidays to Mondays, was enacted by the Japanese government to give workers who normally work five day workweeks a three day weekend.

Do you know of any beach or water related holidays in other countries? Tell us about it!

Greenery Day

Today is　Midori no Hi (みどりの日) in Japan, part of a week long string of holidays known as “Golden Week”, in which most of the country is given time off from work and take the opportunity to travel or spend time with family.

Midori no hi itself is, as you might expect, a celebration of all things green. Parks and gardens in Tokyo and other cities have events to honor nature and some places plant trees, but all around the country there is a general initiative to clean up parks, beaches, and other areas.

Greenery Day finds its roots in the celebration of the Emperor Showa’s birthday on April 29th during the Showa era in Japan (1925-1989). In 1989, the name of the holiday was changed from “Birthday of the Emperor” to “Greenery Day”, but was still observed on April 29th. In 2007, Greenery Day was moved to May 4th.

Celebrate Greenery Day wherever you are! Plant a tree, pick up some litter. Have you ever celebrated a holiday like this?

Christmas Around the World

According to Andy Williams, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. In recent history, it may also be the most sensationalized holiday as well. Countries all over the world from the U.S. to Italy, or even to Japan celebrate this holiday every year, even if only a small portion of their populations are Christian. It’s really quite amazing.

For instance, every year in Russia, the holiday of Christmas is observed on January 7^th through the church. This is because the Russian Orthodox Church uses the Julian Calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar used in most Western Countries. More and more these days, Christmas is being celebrated on the 25^th of December in Russia, though Church celebrations are generally still on the 7^th.

By contrast, Japan celebrates Christmas one day early, on the 24^th of December. This is an example of a country where Christmas is generally observed mostly as a commercial holiday. Stores begin having sales around the beginning of December, donned with Christmas trees, Santa Clauses, gifts and decorations, but only about 1% of the population of Japan is actually Christian. Christmas cake with strawberries and whipped cream is the general Christmas food, along with fried chicken. Wild!

It’s so interesting to think about all the different ways Christmas is celebrated throughout the world. Whether it has mostly religious undertones, or commercial undertones, Christmas is a genuinely recognized time of good will and gift giving around the world.
Tell us about how you’ve seen or heard of Christmas being celebrated! Do you and your loved ones celebrate it any certain way?

Culture Day!

Every year in Japan on November 3rd, Culture Day (文化の日) is held across the country.

The holiday was originally held to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Meiji from 1868 until 1912. Culture Day eventually evolved from this to celebrate Japanese arts, culture, and scholarly accomplishments.

The different prefectures of Japan often host things like art exhibits, martial arts demonstrations, and parades. Some have certain themes, like traditional clothing or artwork, and others are more generic in nature.

Along with all of the regional festivities, the award ceremony for the Order of Culture is also held in Tokyo’s Imperial Palace. This involves the emperor doling out an extremely prestigious award to someone who has advanced or contributed to science, the arts, or culture in a significant way, though the recipient does not necessarily have to be Japanese. This is one of the most honored awards that can be bestowed by the Imperial Family.

Do you think the United States should begin celebrating culture with a national holiday? What do you think it would be like?

I Always Thought The Equinox Was A Spaceship

In the States, not much attention is paid to the autumn or vernal (spring) equinoxes. It’s a bit astounding, though, that in other countries, this is actually a most traditional and celebrated holiday.

Take Japan for instance. There, they call the Autumnal Equinox Shubun no Hi. This day holds two significant meanings for the Japanese. One stems from their agricultural society, celebrating the season change and the time when day and night are both equal.

Aside from its agrarian origins, the autumnal equinox is also called Higan no Chu-Nichi. Higan is a seven day period in Japan in which many Japanese will visit their family members who have passed away and clean the area where they were buried. This is related to the Japanese festival Obon, in which it believed that  relatives and loved ones return in spirit to visit, but during Shubun no Hi, it is our turn to pay respect.

A very typical food to see during Shubun no Hi is a sticky rice ball called “ohagi.” Though it’s a sweet, it’s relatively healthy, so don’t be bashful!

Do you know any other special celebrations for the Autumn Equinox, or autumn in general?

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-21

• PHOTOS: World’s Most Stunning Cathedrals http://huff.to/dAyPvN #
• SURPRISE! The Top 10 Countries On Facebook http://huff.to/dxwa6j (via @beverlycornell) #
• 10 Sayings and their Strange Origins http://goo.gl/fb/827cP (via @MarkClayson) #
• RT @erwinheiser: @matthewbennett As my Spanish professor would say: “El monolinguismo es una enfermedad curable.” (via @matthewbennett) #
• To speak another language isn’t just cultured, it’s a blow against stupidity http://bit.ly/a3f87Y (via @matthewbennett) #
• How social media is changing the way we travel http://bit.ly/bMWq3C (via @SadieMHarris) #
• Ten things to do in Beirut for under ten dollars http://tiny.sm/jw via @globalvoices (via @pocketcultures) #
• What’s Popular Around the World? http://goo.gl/fb/GWR4l http://bit.ly/6vyuJy (via @MarkClayson) #
• @JimmyA7X18 yippee! in reply to JimmyA7X18 #
• @MetroLibraryOK Glad you like! We really appreciate all the extra stuff you have done to market Mango. You Rock! in reply to MetroLibraryOK #
• @MetroLibraryOK Cool! Just so you know, we do have an Educator’s edition that allows teachers to track student’s progress and offers testing. in reply to MetroLibraryOK #
• Lots of ideas floating around the Mango office today. Big things happening here! #
• @RachelReardon Merci! in reply to RachelReardon #
• Why did ancient Egyptian men wear cosmetics? http://tinyurl.com/28bnlz7 (via @GuyKawasaki) #
• Which #Islam Exploring the Word’s Many Meanings http://huff.to/bvr9Lt #muslim #culture (via @LCWllc) #
• New from Detroit Moxie: The Colorful Artist Village in Detroit http://bit.ly/c3u9TC #Detroit (via @becksdavis) #
• 11 Free Tools for #SocialMedia Optimization http://ow.ly/2q4VS (via @TopRank) (via @SocialNetDaily) #
• My new blog post: “A travelers thoughts on checking-in.” http://bit.ly/9pu0fP #socialmedia #4sq #travel (via @elatlboy) #
• @chatlibraries Woot! Thanks for the shout out! in reply to chatlibraries #
• @elatlboy Pleasure is ours! in reply to elatlboy #
• Big debate here in the office! Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Why do you think so (not just scientific reason) #
• @grpl Mango languages!! lol in reply to grpl #
• We are so excited about launching Complete 2.0, we have been busy testing the product here and found a few minor… http://fb.me/E4l08aQy #
• @EstrellaBella10 True. We have some teachers and families who have used our SM channels for cust svc. #tweetea (via @OKE_News) –we do too! #
• We are all jamming to this song today! http://fb.me/H8X42v2T #
• What kinds of general library questions do our library friends always get at the reference desk? #
• 10 Tips for Taking Your Best Ever Vacation Photos http://bit.ly/auuJU9 (via @DemoWell) #
• NYTimes: Looking for Baby Sitters: Foreign Language a Must http://nyti.ms/bXzi28 #
• Japanese pork chop in downtown Osaka http://su.pr/4Qn5pi #travel tip #Japan by @Shelley__Lee (via @traveldudes) #
• @Larryferlazzo thanks for the RT! in reply to Larryferlazzo #
• @moretips4u thanks for passing our tweet along! in reply to moretips4u #
• @DemoWell thanks for spreading the word! in reply to DemoWell #
• 5 Most Unique Places to Visit Around the World http://ht.ly/2rNNV #travel #lp (via @PatriciaVance) #
• [PSLBlog] Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices (British Library): http://bit.ly/bgOSCT (via @twittbraries) #
• @laurasolomon lol in reply to laurasolomon #
• 66% of Public Libraries in US offering eBooks http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NoShelfRequired/~3/sbfbHll4k5I/ (via @pintini) #
• Are you coming to the @mangolanguages Open House next week? if so please RSVP! http://ow.ly/2rQic #
• Interesting article! http://fb.me/Eiz6uZg1 #
• What is your favorite ethnic food – if unusual please tell us about it. #
• @TJList we enjoyed you all visiting for the #drupal meeting in reply to TJList #
• We’re now subscribing to Mango Languages, a neat way to learn a language. The link from the databases page is: (cont) http://tl.gd/382589 #
• @BvilleTweets yippee!!! in reply to BvilleTweets #
• @faabo_blogging thank you for the write up! in reply to faabo_blogging #
• @missoulalibrary great job! in reply to missoulalibrary #
• RT @johnsonwhitney @vpynchon Does Language Influence Culture? http://bit.ly/dhIdzj @aliciamorga @ckburgess @kbrandall (via @MeghanMBiro) #
• Lots of innovative ideas being presented today! Lots of office references which is keeping the staff laughing! #
• @carlyatto Oh no – don’t tell the outside about Franco! He will scare customers away. in reply to carlyatto #
• @LCWllc Muchas Gracias! in reply to LCWllc #
• @ksue29 We are ready to go….are you? in reply to ksue29 #
• LUVING the submissions for this month’s JW Newsletter contest. If you could live somewhere else for the next 7 (cont) http://tl.gd/38rofn #