Today, I realized a little connection of my late mother's name and Thanksgiving Day for the first time. And brought back memories with her again :-)
When I first learned about this Harvest Festival, I remember thinking about the importance of having gratitude towards God.
In Japan, coming Monday is Labor Thanksgiving Day which is the modern name for an ancient cereals (rice, barley/wheat, etc) known as Niiname-sai (新嘗祭).
Traditionally, it celebrated the year's hard work; during the Niiname-sai ceremony, the Emperor would dedicate the year's harvest to kami (God in the religion of Shinto), and taste the rice for the first time. My late mother's name is "嘗代・Namiyo". As you might notice, the same kanji-character is used. Named after this festival by my grandparents. This is the link page about this.
This finding was kind of fascinated me, because it seemed as if I found a connection with friends in western culture. I know it is a little early and don't have much idea how you celebrate family gathering. But especially to my Friends in America;
Hope you have wonderful Thanksgiving day with your family next Thur.
(No post about this topic next week. Thank you SO much for reading and wishing you a wonderful weekend and preparation for your holiday season goes smoothly.)
Hello Miyako, Happy Labor Thanksgiving Day to you!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend!
Also to you we have that day here not ..Greetings,Joan
ReplyDeleteMiyako, Thanksgiving here becomes all about the food, with a prayer of thanksgiving before the meal. I'm having a large group of people, some friends who don't have family nearby, and neighbors. We have on the menu ham, turkey with stuffing (either bread or cornbread), sweet potatoes (yams), mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, scalloped corn, and salads. Dessert will be apple pie and pecan pie. So we really stuff ourselves! Many churches have a Thanksgiving Eve service instead of on the day of Thanksgiving. I do love hearing about your celebrations as well. Hugs from Texas.
ReplyDeleteDearest Miyako,
ReplyDeleteWhat a valuable discovery about your Mother's meaningful name about 'Thanksgiving'. She must have been such a special Blessing to your Grandparents!
Wishing you on Monday a meaningful Labor Thanksgiving Day, even more so now you know about your Mother's special name.
We celebrate it here in the USA. Yes, all of us in the Western world have so much to be thankful for and let's pray that the younger generation will also learn to appreciate that.
Hugs and love to you.
Mariette
Thank you for the Thanksgiving wishes and Happy Labor Thanksgiving Day to you. It is so important to recognize where our food comes from and the work involved in getting it to us; this is a great reason for a festival and it is lovely your Mother was named for it.
ReplyDeletehow sweet.
ReplyDelete