As you can see, Dorayaki is a type of Japanese confection. "Dora" menas gong in Japanese because of the similarity of the shape. It is said that the first dorayaki was made when a samurai named Benkei fried pancake in order to thank a private home whose people was kind enough to give him medical treatment.
3rd of Feb, called Setsubun is the day before the beginning of spring according to the lunisolar calendar. On the evening of this day, people throw beans and shout "Demons out! Good luck in!" in order to drive the demons out of their homes.
Do you know that Japanese say "Itadakimasu" before having meals? "Itadakimasu" could be translated as "Let's eat!", however, there are deeper meaning. "Itadakimasu" literally means "I will take something" and it originally came from a sentence, meaning "I am going to eat the life of living things for my own life." Now "Itadakimasu" is said with the sense of respect to the food and the gratitude to the person who prepared. I like this culture a lot. :)
Bubu zuke (Chazuke:rice with green tea) Bubu zuke is a word used in Kyoto and means Chazuke (rice with tea poured over it), however, it is said that it has another way of using. If a hostess recommend a guest to have a bowl of "Bubu zuke", she implies "please leave soon". Though it is an extreme example, this custom in Kyoto illustrates well how Japanese communicate with each other.
