What’s the Year of the Wild Boar about? Furthermore, NION Community Member Birgit Severin and NION co-founder, Naho got to experience New Year traditions in Japan.
There is another calendar system called “Eto-Jūnishi” in Japan. It’s a cycle of 12 years, each of which is represented by a different animal. The 12th one, Wild Boar, is a symbol of persistency, diligence, stubbornness, straightforwardness, recklessness, and bullheadedness. It’s a year to charge up and dash into your goals.
For NION Community, 2018 was a year of the beginning. We opened NION Base a year ago, kicked off our weekly community meeting in February, and slowly formed a team to design and operate our biggest community outreach so far, NION Week. It was held last September and showcased multiple aspects of NION’s vision: learning to reconnect to our own body for city life, listening to Berliner’s voice for a desired Kiez, brainstorming a new opportunity for multi-lingual kids, introducing Japanese food culture, to mention a few. We are delighted to have met amazing community members thanks to NION Week and looking forward to dive into more tangible actions together in 2019.
New Year Traditions in Japan
A few of us got to experience New Year traditions in Japan. Berlin-based designer duo, Birgit and Guillaume, are going to start their artist in residence program in Kyoto hosted by the Goethe Institute. Beforehand, they stopped by at NION co-founder, Naho’s home, smacked their lips over Osechi (new year feast), visited a local shrine for Hatsu-Moude (first prayer of the year), pounded sticky rice in a mortar to make Mochi (rice cake), and went hiking in woods for Shinrin-yoku (forest bathing).
NION and our partners in Kyoto fully support them in their art project, which is about a spirited way of cleaning in Japan. Soon, they will share their experiences here on our website.
