Chuseok: Korea’s harvest festival
Chuseok is a Korean harvest festival centred on family gatherings, seasonal food and, in some households, remembering ancestors.
Korean and Japanese culture, one postcard at a time
Explore Korean and Japanese festivals, food and everyday customs, with their dates and words to know. Each culture postcard includes questions and a sample message for a pen pal.
Seollal: Korean Lunar New Year traditions
Seollal is Korean Lunar New Year, a holiday associated with family gatherings, New Year greetings and foods such as tteokguk.
Hanbok: traditional Korean clothing
Hanbok is traditional Korean clothing, with many styles whose familiar forms include a jeogori jacket worn with a skirt or trousers.
Bingsu: Korean shaved ice and patbingsu
Bingsu is a Korean shaved-ice dessert served with toppings such as sweet red beans, fruit or rice cakes.
Hotteok: Korea’s filled pancake
Hotteok is a Korean filled pancake, commonly made by pressing a ball of dough on a hot griddle until it is flat and browned.
Jjimjilbang: Korean bathhouse etiquette
A jjimjilbang is a Korean bathhouse complex that may combine bathing facilities with clothed heated rooms and shared spaces for resting.
Noraebang: Korean private-room karaoke
Noraebang means “singing room” in Korean: it is a private room where people choose songs and sing along with recorded backing music.
Korean age: the three counting systems
“Korean age” usually means counting one year at birth and adding a year each New Year, rather than on a birthday.
Hangul Day: Korea’s alphabet holiday
Hangul Day celebrates the Korean alphabet and the publication of Hunminjeongeum, the document that introduced it to the public in 1446.
Black Day in Korea: the 14 April custom
Black Day is an informal Korean custom on 14 April associated with single people eating jajangmyeon, noodles with a dark bean-paste sauce.
K-pop photocards: collecting and pocas
A K-pop photocard is a small printed photo card that fans may keep in sleeves or binders, display or trade.
Hanami: Japan’s cherry-blossom tradition
Hanami is the Japanese custom of enjoying flowers, especially cherry blossoms, with a walk, a picnic or a quiet look at the trees.
Tanabata: Japan’s star festival and wishes
Tanabata is a Japanese star festival associated with the story of Orihime and Hikoboshi, when people write wishes on paper strips and hang them on bamboo.
Obon festival: dates and Japanese customs
Obon is a Japanese season of remembering ancestors, with customs that can include family visits, tending graves and Bon Odori dancing.
Setsubun: dates, beans and Japanese customs
Setsubun is the day before Risshun, the traditional beginning of spring, associated with scattering beans to send misfortune away and welcome good fortune.
Golden Week Japan: dates and holidays
Golden Week is the Japanese holiday cluster from late April to early May, built around Shōwa Day, Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day and Children’s Day.
Onsen etiquette: Japanese hot-spring bath rules
Onsen are baths using natural hot-spring water, and their etiquette keeps shared bathing spaces clean and comfortable.
Kotatsu: Japan’s heated winter table
A kotatsu is a table with a heat source underneath, a blanket around it and a tabletop above, creating a warm space for the lower body.
Omamori: Japanese shrine and temple charms
Omamori are Japanese charms offered at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, often carried as a small pouch associated with a particular hope or protection.
Taiyaki: Japan’s fish-shaped cake and fillings
Taiyaki is a Japanese fish-shaped cake made by cooking batter and a filling in a mould shaped like a sea bream.