Mekong Friendship Festival, 15-17 January

This festival is held in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It is a festival to bring together the people of the the four countries the boarder the northern part of the Mekong River; Laos, Thailand, Burma(also known as Myanmar) and China.

The festival includes foods, dancing and what would a festival be without being able to buy things. According to one blog I found you could get many different things from artisan items to fake Prada.

They even have games similar to what I remember playing when I was a child at school festivals.  The fishing game where they have a kiddy pool with plastic eggs and you get a one with a number that corresponds to a prize.  The idea of having a fishing game in reference to a festival about the Mekong seems pretty appropriate to me considering how important the river is to those of this area.

The Mekong is the heart an soul of the area, I have a friend whose family is from Laos and the number of times I have heard her say that if you want to heal something you just need to swim in the Mekong I don't think I could count.  Her mother apparently says this all the time. I know that this is how many people left Laos after the United States left Vietnam after the war. They crossed the river to find safty in Thailand on their way to live in other parts of the world.

Links: http://www.thailand.com/travel/festival/festivals_chiangrai_mekong%20friendship.htm

Coming of Age Day, 2nd Monday in January, Japan

In Japan the 2nd Monday in January is set aside as the day to celebrate becoming an adult.  When a person reaches the age of 20 in Japan they come to the age that they are now seen as an adult.

While it seems the ceremonies are becoming less frequently attended, there are still those who turned 20 in the last year (or more correctly now those who will be 20 between April 2 of the last year and April 1 of this year).  The government offices hold ceremonies to usher the young people into there standing as full citizens. Many women take this as an opportunity to dress up in very formal traditional clothing and going to the beauty salon to get done up.  Some men will also dress in traditional outfits but many are choosing to wear western style suite and ties.

After the ceremony the newly minted adults go out and party with one another of course.  It is a time of celebration after all.

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming_of_Age_Day

http://www.pelican-travel.net/en/newsPage.php?frCd=japan&seqNo=11

St. Knut's Day, January 13, Sweden

While not celebrated much any more today is the Saints Day of Knut in Sweden and Norway.  This used to be considered the end of the Christmas season in these countries and would be the day when the tree was taken down and the cookies and candies on the tree eaten. 

Why would today be the end? Well, from what I can gather it is due to the change in from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian. Originally, (and I think officially by the churches recognizing) the 7th of January was St. Knut's Day.  This is the day after the Epiphany, the official end of Christmas.  So while you would celebrate until the last day the day after would be the day to take down all the decorations.  This tradition stuck when the calendar changed.  I did find a really good write up on a lot of the holiday here (if you are interesed in reading more take a look, very interesting write up) and she does not seem to have found the change in the calendars to be the cause or does not agree with it, not sure which.

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Knut%27s_Day

National Youth Day, January 12, India

Today marks the anniversary of a very important teacher and philosopher in India, Swami Vivekananda. Recognizing the contributions contributions he made as well as continuing his work of bringing everyone together, breaking down the differences to separate people in society, the government of India declared this day to be National Youth Day.

The National Youth Festival is held during this week to bring people from all over India together. Getting people to learn about and enjoy the history and culture from though out the country.

Links:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Day_(India)

http://www.festivalsofindia.in//National_Youth_Day/index.aspx

Kagami Biraki, January 11, Japan

Part of the New Years celebration, today is when you should perform the Kagami Biraki ceremony.  Had a little bit of trouble finding out the whole deal but this is what I have gathered.

Over the holidays an arrangement is set up in a house shrine with a mirror, floral agreement, cask of sake and two mochi.  The mochi is sweet rice that hardens during the holidays and on the 11th a hammer is used to break apart the rice cake to then eat.  Though I did see where the cask is broken open as well or instead, not sure which is right.  The reason you put this in a shine is as an offering to the creator and then the breaking is to break our of your old self and hopefully get to the more true you.

There seems to be a lot of symbolism (not surprisingly) in the whole agreement. An orange is supposed to sit on the top of the mochi and when breaking it you must use a hammer as a knife signifies the cutting off of oneself to others.

This ceremony is also done at weddings, opening of businesses and many dojos do it as well for the new year wether they are in the east or west.

Links:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kagami_Biraki

http://www.aikidoda.org/aikidowebpages/seminarpdf/kagamidoc.pdf