Japanese Culture Reading: Festivals, Manners, and Daily Life

Reading About Japanese Culture

Cultural topics give you a double benefit: you practice reading while learning about Japan. This article covers three key cultural topics — seasonal festivals, dining manners, and social customs — with reading texts and vocabulary at the intermediate beginner level.

Reading 1: Obon Festival

おぼんは まいとし はちがつに おこなわれる にほんの でんとうてきな まつりです。ご せんぞの たましいを むかえ、おくるという いみが あります。かぞくが あつまり、おはかまいりを します。よるは ぼんおどりという だんすが おどられます。おぼんの じきは、にほんじゅうで おおくの ひとが じっかに かえります。

(Obon is a traditional Japanese festival held in August every year. It has the meaning of welcoming and sending off the spirits of ancestors. Families gather and visit graves. In the evening, a dance called Bon-odori is danced. During the Obon period, many people across Japan return to their hometown.)

Reading 2: Japanese Dining Manners

にほんの しょくじには いくつかの マナーが あります。たべる まえには「いただきます」と いいます。はしの つかいかたにも きまりが あります。たとえば、はしを たてに さすのは いけません。また、たべながら あるくのは マナーが わるいと かんがえられています。たべたあとは「ごちそうさまでした」と いいます。

(Japanese dining has several manners. Before eating, you say “itadakimasu.” There are also rules for how to use chopsticks. For example, sticking chopsticks vertically into food is not allowed. Also, eating while walking is considered bad manners. After eating, you say “gochisousama deshita.”)

Reading 3: Removing Shoes Indoors

にほんでは いえに はいるとき、くつを ぬぐのが しゅうかんです。げんかんと いう にゅうぐちの ばしょで くつを ぬぎ、スリッパに はきかえます。これは いえの なかを きれいに たもつための なら わしです。おきゃくさんが きたときも、げんかんで くつを ぬいで もらいます。

(In Japan, it is customary to remove shoes when entering a home. You remove your shoes at the entrance area called the genkan and change into slippers. This is a practice to keep the inside of the house clean. When guests come, you also have them remove their shoes at the genkan.)

Key Cultural Vocabulary

Comprehension Questions

1. When is Obon held?
2. What is it considered bad manners to do while eating?
3. What is a genkan?

Answers: 1. August. / 2. Eating while walking. / 3. The entryway of a Japanese home where you remove shoes.

Yuka & Rei Explore Japanese Cultural Texts

Reading and listening get better when you also reflect and discuss. Here is how Yuka and Rei unpack the key ideas from this topic — notice the questions Yuka asks, because they’re probably the same ones you had.

Yuka

Rei, I read about Japanese onsen culture and the text mentioned はだかのつきあい. What does it mean?

Rei

はだかのつきあい literally means ‘naked association’ — it refers to the openness and trust that develops when people bathe together in an onsen. In business and social contexts, it expresses the idea of dropping all pretence and connecting as equals. A beautiful cultural concept!

Yuka

And the text mentioned たてまえとほんね — another one I’ve heard but couldn’t quite define?

Rei

たてまえ = the public face / what you say. ほんね = true feelings. Japanese social culture often maintains a gap between these — you say what’s expected (たてまえ) while feeling something different (ほんね). Understanding this concept is essential for reading Japanese social situations correctly.

5 Practice Sentences — Read These Aloud

These sentences use core vocabulary from this article. Read each one aloud at least three times to lock in the sound pattern.

1. にほんのぶんかにきょうみがあります。
   I’m interested in Japanese culture.
2. おもてなしはにほんのおもいやりのこころです。
   Omotenashi is Japan’s spirit of wholehearted hospitality.
3. わびさびはにほんのびいしきをあらわすことばです。
   Wabi-sabi is a word that expresses Japan’s sense of beauty.
4. たてまえとほんねのちがいをりかいするのはたいへんです。
   Understanding the difference between tatemae and honne is challenging.
5. にほんのまつりはちいきによってちがいます。
   Japanese festivals vary by region.

Your Turn! Leave Your Answer in the Comments

Reading and listening improve fastest when you also produce. Try writing 2–3 sentences summarising what you read, or create your own short text on the same topic using vocabulary from this article.

Post it in the comments — other learners will read it and it helps everyone. Log in to save your comment history and join the Top Commenters ranking in the sidebar!

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