Insights into comparison of traditional culture between/among the chosen countries?

Hello, so we chose a project about traditions and cultures of different countries. We wanted to do this
to compare our own countries traditions to other countries and cultures to learn from them. That is why
we decided to choose Lithuania Japan and United States of America. These countries would allow us to
compare cultures and traditionsfrom almost every corner of the world.

To compare cultures and traditions we need to first learn about each of them and realize why they differ
in other areas of the world. We distinguished three reasons why traditions form.

Nature has a tremendous influence on traditions. Since the dawn of Man nature has given humans gifts
like food and other necessities. We have became dependant on these handouts and don't want to invoke
nature's wrath, thus weshow their thankfulness in different means. That's how traditions are molded.

The difference between different climates causes drastic changes in traditions. In Lithuania we have
winter. This time of the year hurts animals and different plants and destroys the potential of farming. The
resentment towards winter by farmers caused different holidays to appear. One of those holidays is
shrovetide a Lithuanian holiday where people get together and make sure Winter leaves.

In Japan , the blooming of the cherry blossom trees symbolizes human life, transience and nobleness.
The Japanese love to celebrate and cherish the cherry blossoms trees during the limited flowering period
and many people hold 'flower watching' parties known as hanamiWhile the climate of Japan is pretty
simillar to the climate of Lithuania, Japans spring brings one notable difference - Cherry blossom or
sakura trees. These are cherished trees, and we see how much people value them during the celebration
of Hanami, this time-honored tradition symbolizes the welcoming of spring and the appreciation and
admiration of natural beauty.

On the other hand, we have a country that has some traditions that are related to nature like Mardi Gras
and Easter which symbolizes spring as the time of the rebirth but even these traditions are more linked
with religion. The lack of nature related traditions in United States is probably due to the fact that United
States is a new country and formed in the 18th century. This was a time when people didn't have to rely
on nature as much and led to there being less traditions that come from nature and more traditions
came from religion and history. So how does religion and history influence traditions?

Another two reasons that influence traditions are history and religion. They are severely associated with
each other. People want to remember specific events in their religions or countries history by
commemerating them. This causes many traditions form from history and religion. Lets look into the
history and religions of these countries and see what traditions come from them.

Lithuania and The United States of America are very similiar in terms of religion as both countries are
christian, thus the people of these countries celebrate equivalent holidays like Midsummer (Joninės) ,
Christmas, Easter. These holidays include a large variety of traditions like the Easter bunny, decorating
the Christmas tree. In terms of history, both countries had to fight for their freedom and it is the reason
both countries celebrate Independance day on different dates. In America, it is prevelant to launch
fireworks in to the sky to celebrate the independance while we, Lithuanians celebrate independance by
raising our flag. Lithuanians as well celebrate other historical events by raising the flag such as the
coronation of the king Mindaugas. We can see USA and Lithuania have similiar traditions that come from
holidays, but how are things in Japan?

Well, Firstly The two most popular religions in Japan Budhism and Shinto. The differences in religion
cause differences in holidays and traditions. For example, Bon festival originates from the ancient
Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's
ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to
ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors graves. It has been celebrated in Japan for
more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon Odori. Although this celebration
stems from Budhism we can see glaring similarities to All Souls Day which is celebrated in Lithuania and
in the USA. That means all three countries can have similiar yet so different traditions which makes them
unique but reletable to everyone.

Unlike Lithuania and USA, Japan is a constitutional monarchy and has an Emperor. the Imperial House of
Japan is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world, this caused people to grow
accustomed to the Emperor and is the reason why The Emperor's birthday is an annual public holiday in
Japan celebrating the birthday of the reigning Emperor, which is currently 23 February as Emperor
Naruhito was born on that day in 1960. The tradition every Emperor's Birthday is to have a public
ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where the gates are opened to everyone. This tradition would not
happen in Lithuania or United States and shows the difference in the cultures of these countries: Japan
has traditions and holidays for individual leaders while Lithuania and United States more celebrated the
country and not the leaders.

Now that we examined traditions of different countries we can talk about the future of them. Traditions
from around the world are being talked about on the internet, people share the joy they experienced
celebrating them with others. This can influence the adaptation of traditions from othesr. After all if they
can enjoy these celebrations why can't we? Globalization causes the world's traditions to mix into one
thing. We can see this phenomenon happening even in the countries we talked about earlier. In
Lithuania it is getting more and more common to celebrate Halloween by carving pumpkins, dressing up
with costumes or partying with friends. The same concept is happening in Japan: Christmas has been
widely celebrated in Japan for the last few decades. It's still not seen as a religious holiday or celebration
as there aren't many Christians in Japan.

But is this proccess a problem? In our opinion, no it is not. Although we believe that all countries should
be unique, we think celebrating a holiday doesn't automatically make every country the same, it just
creates more opportunity for people to have fun and enjoy themselves.

In conclusion.