Just interesting notes and pictures from our travels.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Holiday Preparations/Подготовка к празднику

Obon, a big Japanese holiday began this Saturday (August 13) and will last five days through Thursday. It is the time when people get back to the family to honor the ancestors and take a couple days off to spend with each other. Entire country slows down: businesses have limited staffing, it's hard to get train tickets, and so on. It is nice though -- this is probably the hottest time of the year in Japan and school is about to start back up, so it is a great chance to go back home for a week and visit. 

The chain supermarket stores make it easy for the families by offering their seasonal special trays of food for sale. The trays have bigger food variety, most of it is already cooked so that the family can spend more time with each other rather than doing chores.

Обон, традиционный японский праздник, начался в субботу (13-го августа) и продлится пять дней до четверга. Обычно в это время люди возвращаются домой к истокам чтобы провести несколько дней с семьей и вспомнить предков. Деятельность в стране как будто замирает: в компаниях присутствует только ограниченный круг лиц которые по каким-то причинам не уехали домой; в это время трудно достать билеты на поезд, и так далее. Тем не менее, это затишье перед бурей, потому что скоро закончатся летние каникулы для школьников, и эта пора, самый жаркий период в Японии, прекрасный повод чтоб немного передохнуть в кругу семьи перед началом нового учебного и рабочего года.

Магазины сетей супермаркетов облегчают работу домохозяйкам предлагая сезонные особые наборы еды. В наборе бывает либо много разных закусок, то есть уже подается все готовое, либо на подносе красиво разложены кусочки мяса, которые обычно готовятся за неспешной беседой.






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