Home Sweet Home

To the right is a picture of a pit dwelling house. In ancient Japan was two popular types of houses. A pit dwelling house and a raised house.
A pit dwelling house is a house in the ground. It is started by digging a hole, and then columns are insterted inside of it. A roof is made out of poles and mud. It is then covered with a type of earthy covering. A typical enterance would be through the roof. A ladder would come from the opening and onto the floor. During the winter these homes were warm, and during the summer they were cool. The pit houses were rather comfortable, but were only lived in for around 10 years before they became unsafe, at this point they would have to be abandoned.

The main purposed of a raised house was to store food so that the food wouldn't be spoiled from the heat and humidity. Yes, they were raised off of the ground.

We get dressed in the morning...So did they!

In ancient japan they didn't necessarily wear komonos. They wore a dress that resembled something of the Chinese culture. Women used to wear a dress type thing called a Hakema. They soon went to an ankle length robe. During this time the woman also experimented with wearing things on their heads...ie a viel or a hat.
Most of the clothes in Ancient clothes were robe type things with patterns. These patterns would often symbolize religion.
Heavier clothing (robes) were often worn only by the emporer. THey would be embroidered with dragons.
Another common outfit for the woman was the cheongsam. The cheongsam was a tight fitting dress that had a high neck. It had slits all the way up the sides and a closed collar.

Way Back When...

Not many people in Japan were still using stone tools and getting there food by hunting. This was before 200s BC. Once the 200s BC arrived, things changed a wee bit more. Kyushu, Japan's major island,a new culture started. The Japanese began to use iron, bronze, tool-making, and wet-rice agriculture. This new culture brought people with it. These people were migrating to Japan. It is thought they probabaly came from Korea.
This was happening about the time of Augustus Caesar. During this time they reached a plain called the Kanto Plain. They raised horses and cows, as well as hunting fish and growing rice. Due to the amount of food being produced, many people started to come to Japan.

Hungry? Let's discuss food!

Even to today, a very popular Japenese dish has been rice. yum.
Some popular rice dishes are: Sushi, Domburi, Onigiri, Kare Raisu, Fried Rice, Chazuke, and Kayu.

Fish (or other types of sea creatures turned into food) were also commonly used. Two main dishes were/are: Sashimi and Yakizakana.

Ok, let's keep going. Now, noodles. Those were popular too. Especially the traditional kind. Soba, Udon, Ramen, Somen, and Yakisoba are all noodle dishes.

Ok, Nabe dishes (quick translation here, I had no idea what Nabe is so I dont really expect anybody else to either. Nabe is also known as a hotpot dish. It's normally prepared right at the table inside a hot pot.This includes vegetables, mushrooms, seafood, and/or meat.)The common Nabe dishes are: Oden, Sukiyaki, Shabu-Shabu, and Chanko Nabe.

Meat dishes (there are only 2 in this category..don't even worry about it!)
Yakitori and Tonkatsu. Whoops, sorry, I lied, there are 3. Nikujaga is the 3rd.

Soya Beans (here's a fun fact for you and completly un-related...I don't drink milk. Instead, I drink soy, rice, and almond milk. I first started drinking soy and I had no idea there was such thing as soy beans...not really sure where I thought the soy came from..just kinda thought it existed. ANYWAY)..dishes for soy beans: Yudofu, Agedashi Tofu, and Miso Soup.

OKAY TWO MORE:
SECOND LAST:
Yoshoku Dishes...these are dishes that had once started out as more so a western dish, and Japan completely Japanized it. Korokee, Omuraisu, Hayashi Raisu, and Hamubagu (yes, Hamubagu does have to do with a hamburger)

OKAY LAST ONE!!
Random dishes that just aren't special enough to fit into a category...(kidding dishes...don't feel heartbroken...)
Tempura, Okonomiyaki, Monjayaki, Gyoza, Chawanmushi,and Tsukemono!
DONE :D

(btw, I can't guarantee that all of these were in Ancient Japan...but some were for sure...)

Creation-STORY TIME

So, Everyone seems to have a different idea on creation. I'm slowly learning that.

Once upon a time, there were deities (that means a god by the way) Izanagi and Izanami. They took care of the land, sea, herbs, plants, and everything else! So one day, these two deities decided they wanted to have children. Their first born, Owatatsumi-no-Kami, was god of the sea. Their second born was a son, Kamihaya-akitsu-hiko, he was god of the harbours. In the end they had given birth to a total of 10 gods. So there was also:Kami-Shinatsuhiko-no-Mikoto (god of wind), Kukunochi-no-Kami (deity of trees), Oyamatsumi-no-Kami (deity of mountains), and Kayanuhime-no-Kami (goddess of plains).So everyone was happy, the world was being created, there were gods and goddess' ruling, and everything was good.
THEN Kagutsuchi-no-Kami was born (deity of fire). Izanami never saw it coming! She had no idea! She was burned by her own child, and it shocked her so much that she passed out.
So she decided to puke out her next two. They were Kanayama- biko and Kanayama-hime (I'm thinking they might have been twins). They were the god and goddess of metal. So next came Haniyasu-hiko and Haniyasu-hime...don't really know what body part they came from. They were the god and goddess of earth. Her last born was a daughter, Mizuhame-no-Mikoto.
So then, Izanami died. Her spouse was rather devesatated. Her death was what brought death into the world.
So like I said, Izanagi was very upset. So he started to cry. Hard hot tears of sorrow. And when these tears hit the ground, he had another child, her name was Nakisawame-no-Mikoto. and she was very beautiful. There were some more children born.

So when they die, they go to the land of Hades. Currently, that is where Izanami is.

Time to Learn.

Japan is first found in history in 57AD. It was known as “Wa”

Japan is islands. Sorta like Vancouver Island I guess...just more. Ya. A lot more. Around 3000, only about 600 have people actually living on them though. Between the full 3000 there are 4 main ones, the names of these islands are: Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido.

There are lots of mountains. Japan also seems to like to have earthquakes and tsunamis, you know, the natural disasters.

Really, I would like to base this entire blog all on art. Drawings, photos, paintings, and such. But...I can't see my teacher buying that one. So I guess I'll have to put some more information up. Something I would really like to base this off of, is what people want to know. I'll put information up, but feel free to ask any other questions!