When I was the 3rd grade,I went to the castle with my family for OHANAMI, a party under the cherry blossoms. I was playing on one of the gatesﾕ thresholds, and I saw a sign saying "Donﾕt Step on the thresholds." But I didnﾕt know what 'threshold' was and I neglected. Then a building keeper approached me and scolded me for playing on them. And I didn't understand what I did and why I should be blamed by the keeper. I was a just little kid.

I have heard people saying "Don't step on thresholds!" for several times. But I didn't know why we should not do that, and I didn't even care.

When I was asked by my English teacher to do the research on Matsuyama Castle and write a report in English on the web page, things has changed a little bit. By looking at the history of the castle, and combining with my personal experience at the castle, I have started to realize what kind of culture we have, and how we related to them.

In Japan, we take off our shoes at the door. It is a very natural thing for us. When I come home from my school, I take off my shoes and socks, and then I go into my house. The shoes are left on the floor at the door or in the shoe-box. I take off my socks in the house because I want to relax. But if there is any dirt on the tatami-mat I brought with me form outside, and sitting on the mat would make me feel very uncomfortable, and I wouldnﾕt feel relaxed at all. To feel myself at home, it's got to be clean. So it would be so weird to wear my shoes in our house.

But why do we wear our shoes inside of our house? I have asked some people, but almost nobody couldn't answer my question. So I and my English teacher used the Internet to find out our cultural background.

Japanese people started to...