# Korean and Japanese culture, one postcard at a time [Sea Pals](https://seapals.app/) › [Culture](https://seapals.app/culture) Updated 11 October 2026 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. ## [Chuseok: Korea’s harvest festival](https://seapals.app/culture/chuseok) Chuseok is a Korean harvest festival centred on family gatherings, seasonal food and, in some households, remembering ancestors. ## [Seollal: Korean Lunar New Year traditions](https://seapals.app/culture/seollal) Seollal is Korean Lunar New Year, a holiday associated with family gatherings, New Year greetings and foods such as tteokguk. ## [Hanbok: traditional Korean clothing](https://seapals.app/culture/hanbok) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/bingsu) Bingsu is a Korean shaved-ice dessert served with toppings such as sweet red beans, fruit or rice cakes. ## [Hotteok: Korea’s filled pancake](https://seapals.app/culture/hotteok) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/jjimjilbang) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/noraebang) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/korean-age) “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](https://seapals.app/culture/hangul-day) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/black-day) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/photocard) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/hanami) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/tanabata) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/obon) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/setsubun) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/golden-week) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/onsen) Onsen are baths using natural hot-spring water, and their etiquette keeps shared bathing spaces clean and comfortable. ## [Kotatsu: Japan’s heated winter table](https://seapals.app/culture/kotatsu) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/omamori) 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](https://seapals.app/culture/taiyaki) Taiyaki is a Japanese fish-shaped cake made by cooking batter and a filling in a mould shaped like a sea bream. 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