Japanese Activities: Outings


Figure 1.--Here we see a Japanese family in 2003 celebrating at shrine in Kyoto. Notice the traditional clothes. I am not sure what they are called.

Japan has some lovely urban parks. We do not yet have much information as to when these parks were created or conventions about their use. We note families using them for recreation. Some photographs show families wearing suits and other formal clothes rather than casual clothes when visitging these parks. We also notice a number of interesting traditional activities. One such tradition is a children's theater somewhat similar to Punch and Judy in the West. This is called "kamishibai", kind of theater in a box. There are also many revered temples and shrines scattered around the country. Some times the families or some of the members wear tradition clothes when visiting the shrines. We also notice beach resorts.

Beach Resorts

We know very little about Japanese beach resorts at this time. We do not know the names of the major resorts or when the beach became a popular vacation activity. We do note such images provided by a Japanese reader which show Japanese children enjoying the beach in the early 20th century. We do not, however, habe any written sources describing Japanese beach resorts and the history the seaside as a popular vacation destimation. We know that bathing in home and public facilities is very important to the Japanese. We are unsure how this has affected attitides toward sea bathing.

Children's Theater

We also notice a number of interesting traditional activities. One such tradition is a children's theater somewhat similar to Punch and Judy in the West. This is called "kamishibai", kind of theater in a box.

Parks

Japan has some lovely urban parks. Japan is heavily urbanized and these parks offer some badly needed green spaces for the peopleofthe cities. We do not have a lot of information about these parks. I recall visiting Japan in the 1970s. I did not see aot of small comminity parks. Rather I noted a small number of large parks. Often a temple complek or other important attractin wasat the center of the Japanese parks. Several are very famous in Japan. We do not yet have much information as to when these parks were created or conventions about their use. We note families using them for recreation. Some photographs show families wearing suits and other formal clothes rather than casual clothes when visitging these parks. We also notice school groupsvisiting these parks. This was often to visit the templel or other attraction, but we noticed recrearional events organized for younger children at the parks.

Shrines and Temples

There are also many revered temples and shrines scattered around the country. These include both Buddhist and Shinto sites. Some times the families or some of the members wear tradition clothes when visiting the shrines.







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Created: 10:01 PM 10/29/2005
Last updated: 6:03 PM 3/28/2009