Tham khảo tài liệu 'japanese beyond words how to walk and talk like a native speaker phần 4', ngoại ngữ, nhật - pháp - hoa- others phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | JAPANESE BEYOND WORDS bottles of sake and a small packet containing a white handkerchief and some salt. All of these are traditional symbols of purification. Incidentally at every florist in Japan there is a section set aside for a variety of inexpensive but lovely wildflowers. You may admire them even buy them for yourself but under no circumstance should you give them to a Japanese friend. I once did so and got a frown in return. It was only months later that I discovered that such flowers are intended only for the dead. They are for placing before the family altar. Japan s secret holidays Talking about holidays may seem a bit odd in a book devoted to language study but there is hardly a Japanese textbook that does not make some mention of what Japanese call nenjuu gyooji events that take place regularly throughout the year. While words such as nenmatsu nenshi the end of one year the beginning of the next shvwasu early December but literally a time when even Buddhist priests are so busy they must run and Obon fall off Japanese Ups they are never marked clearly on Japanese calendars. It is just assumed that everyone knows how to behave at such times. And everyone does except foreign visitors. The executive of a successful Canadian parlor game company showed up in Tokyo one December 26 thinking he could squeeze in a few business meetings before New Year s Eve. Although calendars make no mention of it the last working day at most Japanese companies with the sole exception of banks is December 27. From that day on to the last hours of the year Japanese will be cleaning desks polish ing cars vacuuming rooms and tying traditional ropes shimenawa to welcome the new year. An increasingly large number however do very little of the above choosing instead to go to Australia Hawaii South east Asia or anywhere else warm. The Canadian executive started off on the wrong foot and Japan became the only country where his firm was unable to conclude a fruit hl licensing agreement.
