Japan is a country with a rich cultural heritage amongst the other East Asian countries it lies with. Today the Japanese are a well-established and successful group of people present in all major countries of the world hence, they carry with them their rich, cultural heritage and customs. London, today, is a hub of all cultural activities, and almost every event is celebrated with equal importance in the city. Similarly, the Japanese community gets their share to display their cultural heritage and in London, every year, Trafalgar Square holds events that celebrate Japan’s cultural festivals. Not only that but different cities in the U.K residing the Japanese community also hold these festivals with much honor and pomp. (Luckhurst, 2013).
The famous Japanese festivals termed as ‘Matsuri’ literally meaning holiday or festival are a series of events that are celebrated all year round in the form of processions and parades. There is the Sapporo Snow festival, the Aomori Nebuta Festival, Nango Summer Jazz Festival, Cherry blossom festivals and other holidays that are celebrated on fixed days. The Japanese Diaspora living in the U.K celebrate their events on fixed days whereby they hold events in the various cities and celebrate all of Japan’s cultural traditions in the same zeal and spirit. Along with the various activities that are characteristic of the festivals, there are other aspects of Japanese culture such as Japanese street food, music, dragons and lanterns, processions, the cherry blossom festivals held in the season of the cherry blossom. The Japanese New Year is also the same as the Christian New Year and is celebrated from the 1st to the 3rd of January. There is the exchange of greeting cards, celebrations involving traditional food and also pine tree décor. Overall, the country embraces and celebrates the Japanese culture and traditions in quite a similar spirit as it is celebrated in the homeland. (Luckhurst, 2013).
References
Luckhurst, Phoebe. (2013). “Ten Japanese cultural highlights in Japan.” Evening Standard.
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