Temasek Polytechnic Japanese Cultural Group

Fact of the week 
Credit to Research Team: Muhd Efan
Prefecture: Whole of Japan

Japanese Drifting

Hi guys! Hope you guys are having a hard-earned rest. Speaking of resting, do you know what sports that can fuel your adrenaline while watching? Drifting!

Drifting is a different driving technique where the one who drives will intentionally oversteer which will cause a loss of traction in the rear wheels or in some cases all tires.

Did you know that Japan was the birthplace of drifting? The famous motorcyclist turned driver, Kunimitsu Takahashi was the foremost creator of drifting techniques in the 1970s. He is considered the “father of drifting”.

Drifting has evolved into a competitive sport where drivers compete (almost exclusively in rear-wheel-drive cars) to earn points from judges based on various factors. At the top levels of competition, the D1 Grand Prix in Japan pioneered the sport.

Drifting Competitions

Drifting competitions are judged based on line, angle, speed, style and show factor. Line involves taking the correct line, which is usually announced beforehand by judges. The show factor is based on many things, such as the amount of smoke, how close the car is to the wall or designated clipping point, giving the crowd’s reaction. Angle is the angle of a car and more importantly the turned wheels in a drift, speed is the speed entering a turn, the speed through a turn, and the speed exiting the turn; faster is better.

Touge

There is another type of drifting however. It is known as Tōge, literally translates as “pass”. It refers to a mountain pass or any of the narrow, winding roads that can be found in and around the mountains of Japan and other geographically similar areas. This is popular with street racers and motorsport enthusiasts, because they provide a challenging – albeit dangerous – course. It is also not for drifting only, but aiming to be the fastest on a particular stretch of road; but that’s on for another day.

Reference:
http://www.msvtrackdays.com/media/28781/snettertondrift.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=960&height=375&rnd=131438298330000000
https://cdn.allwallpaper.in/wallpapers/1920×1080/4499/jdm-japanese-domestic-market-automobiles-cars-drifting-vehicles-1920×1080-wallpaper.jpg
http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/blog/2008/11/30/msc-drift-at-odaiba-amazing-japanese-drift-photography-inside/
https://garglinggas.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/touge-pass.jpeg?w=634
https://garglinggas.com/2013/08/13/racing-japanese-style-touge-%E5%B3%A0/
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2017/10/04/more-sports/auto-racing/drifting-japan-born-street-sport-roars-onto-global-stage/

Fact of the week 
Credit to Research Team: Mendel Lim
Prefecture: Whole of Japan

Showa Day

Hello everyone, it is the month where JCG is an year older, this year JCG is 17 years old. Next week is the Term Test week, so I wish you good luck. For those who are at internship, I wish you all the best. And for those who have just graduated, congratulations, I wish you the best in the next phase in life.

Well back to the fact of the week, today I’m going to share with you all about the Showa Day on April 29.

It marks the birthday of Emperor Showa, the emperor of pre and post-World war II. Showa Day is a national holiday and part of the Golden Week which includes Constitution Day (May 3rd ), Greenery Day (May 4th ) and Children’s Day (May 5th ). The longest holiday in the whole of Japan.

A lot of big factories don’t open for a week or even up to 12 days because it’s inefficient to keep shutting machines down and starting them back up when holidays and weekends are clustered together. Although offices tend to be open on days that are not holidays, many workers use their paid vacations to take an extended break from their daily routine.

Showa Day is a day for remembering the Showa Era (1926 to 1989), when the Japanese people worked hard to rebuild a country and wishing for a bright future ahead. Until 1988, it was celebrated for Emperor Showa till he passed away in January 1989 and it was changed to Greenery day because of the emperor love for nature.

Reference:
https://cotoacademy.com/japan-national-holiday-showa-day/
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/calendar/april/goldenweek.html
http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/calendar/april/showaday.html

 

Fact of the week 
Credit to Research Team: Nurul Husna
Prefecture: Tokyo

Asakusa Kagetsudo Honten, Melon Pan!

First of all, time to get our facts straight: “melon pan” are melon in appearance only! The chinese, who are more familiar with pineapples, call them “pineapple-bun” with the Mexicans call them “concha” because to them it looks more like a shell. Even though some places in Japan have started add melon flavour to them, the original recipe contains only milk and butter, and this is what Kagetsudo’s jumbo melon pan tastes like.

For many years, Kagetsudo was a small place located near Sensoji Temple. Recently, it moved to four different locations all over Asakusa in the Tokyo prefecture. All of the shops have a 1950s atmosphere of the old place, with originals advertisements and using the same appliances from the olden days.

The price of Kagetsudo’s melon pan is slightly expensive than the melon pan you can get in any konbini (Japanese convenience stores). The shop sells their melon pan at 200 yen a piece, or 3 pieces for 500 yen. Even though it is pricey, it will be worth your money. There is a perfect balance between sakusaku (Japanese word for crispy) and funwari (Japanese word for fluffy), the explosion of butter and milk aroma and the way the crystallized sugar on the surface disappears after you bite into it, leaving the exact amount of sweetness that cannot be found in any konbini melon pan.

So next time when you head down to Tokyo, make sure you try Kagetsudo’s melon pan!

Reference:
https://tokyocheapo.com/food-and-drink/melon-pan-asakusa-kagetsudo/

Fact of the week
Credit to Research Team: Haziq
Prefecture: Aomori

Nebuta Matsuri
The Aomori Nebuta Matsuri is considered to be one of the three biggest festivals in the Tohoku region. Nobody is quite certain how Nebuta Matsuri came about other than mentions of a widely known explanation of a folk tale legend that the Matsuri originated from the shogun Sakanoue no Tamuramaro used flutes and taikos to attract enemy attention in the battle of Mutsu Province which later made him the festivals most popular festival and was later renamed to Nebuta Taisho. However, this explanation is very unlikely, and this festival is the evolution of the traditional Shinto ceremonies such as the Tanabata. Whatever its origins may be the Nebuta Matsuri is one of the most popular festival in Aomori.

The festival is held in Aomori City annually from August 2 to 7 non-stop and features many large lantern floats made primarily of paper for the sculptures. The parade is held at every night during the six day event except for the last day where the event is held in the afternoon. Previous iterations of the floats had many fire hazards such as using candles for the lights which are now fluorescent light bulbs and the bamboo frame were replaced with metal wires.

The construction of the floats which usually take around a year to build are built by teams of around 40 some workers just to build one float as the complex design and the fragile washi paper that is painstaking hand painted and are built to be as big as possible but are usually limited by the surrounding buildings and overpasses that the parade route takes place in, even so the floats can be up to nine meters wide and five meters tall and are usually in the same of gods, historical or mythical figures from Japanese and Chinese culture, kabuki actors as well as characters from NHK’s Taiga Drama.

The floats are not moved by any motors, instead they are hand pushed by 10 to 15 people depending on the size of the float and it will have to be pushed around a three-kilometre route. The floats are pushed and spun around all while being accompanied by teams of taiko drummers, flute and hand cymbals players making that iconic electrifying atmosphere unique to the Nebuta Matsuri. The chanting of “Rassera, Rassera” of the hundreds of people taking part in the procession dancing all while wearing the traditional haneto dancing costume which is needed in order to dance along and participate in the float parade. Without one that doesn’t mean that you cannot enjoy the festival. The event has free seating on the ground all along the three-kilometre-long route.

References:
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3755.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aomori_Nebuta_Matsuri