This May, Tokyo’s summer festival, “San-sya Matsuri” was revived for the first time in four years after having to be canceled or scaled back due to Corona. The festival combines various traditional cultures such as “mai” and “Kumiodori”, and has become one of the most representative early summer festivals in Japan. Not only in Japan, festivals are important events that strongly reflect the culture of the region.

In neighboring China, an increasing number of young people have been wearing traditional Chinese clothing during the “Lantern Festival,” which celebrates the New Year. The events help people to learn more about their own traditional culture and understand their own identity.

Traditional culture is deeply rooted in food, clothing, and shelter. As the number of Chinese restaurants in New York City has increased over the past decade, a major challenge has been to convey the “culture” of one’s own country’s cuisine, not just to have people enjoy the taste. Against this backdrop, New York’s largest Chinese food festival, “Dragon Fest,” the largest Chinese food festival in New York City, allows visitors to experience more than 100 different Chinese dishes each year.

How can we understand the cultures of other countries through the experience of their traditional cultures? In the related articles that follow, we will introduce various cultures from around the world and their communication.

Dance performances by Brazilian soccer teams are part of a rich tradition. It is common for Brazilian soccer players to dance during games to celebrate goals and enjoy playing, which is an important part of their culture and identity. These dances are said to be inspired by traditional Brazilian dance styles such as samba and capoeira. This article shows how dance has taken root as part of Brazilian soccer culture.

Nordic Countries Scale Back Midsummer Festivities Due to Drought Midsummer festivities in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and other Nordic countries celebrate summer after a long winter with great fanfare as an annual tradition, but this year the drought has limited festive activities such as fireworks and bonfires. This is said to be a measure to minimize the risk of water shortages and fires. The festival is important to the people of the Nordic countries, and while this curtailment causes cultural grief, there is also a growing awareness that environmental concerns and safety must be prioritized.

In Morocco, a festival called “Festival Fantasia” is held annually to honor Berber culture. Inspired by the historical battles between the Berbers and the Knights of the Desert during the war, the festival features representatives from each village riding on horseback and firing traditional muskets over their heads as they take turns riding across the plains. The Festival Fantasia is a centuries-old Moroccan culture that combines history and storytelling to celebrate the North African tradition of masculinity, horses, and its close relationship to war.

During the Songkran Festival held every April~May in Thailand, people sprinkle water on each other everywhere with the aim of purifying all the sins and bad luck of the past year. In Thailand, there is a belief that the water used for bathing and washing clothes removes all sins, and this festival has long been a Thai tradition to celebrate the New Year. Thai natives traditionally celebrate this festival by cleaning their houses and visiting temples, but in recent years, more and more people seem to enjoy spending time with family and friends.