What Is Your Image About Japan? SUSHI, ZEN and TOTO
What Is the Image About Japan? Mention a country’s name and I bet stereotypes come to mind. When I ask Japanese friends what they think of my native Australia, they think “lots of space” followed by koalas and usually the thought that I must love beer. Try it yourself. Think of another country and we […]
Special Interview with Roland Berger on Japanese Companies
Quantitative Easing only Good for a Short Term Q: What’s your take on the quantitative easing by the Bank of Japan and resulting depreciation of Japanese yen? I think it will help Japanese industry and Japanese business, especially Japanese exports. But it helps only for the short-term, because the real issue in the end becomes […]
Food Education in Japan: Delicious School Lunch (Shokuiku)
Food Education in Japan: Delicious School Lunches The Secret of the Nation of Health and Longevity Is in Its School Lunches One of the local wards of Tokyo, Adachi City, is in the spotlight for serving school lunches that are so tasty that children ask, “Mom, the lunch I ate at school today was yummy. […]
5 Things You Shouldn't Do in Japan in Front of One's Partner
Things a wife should not do in front of others (according to husbands) Make noise while eating Pick nose Break wind Belch Leave food unfinished Things a husband should not do in front of others (according to wives) Make noise while eating Pick nose Haggle over small change when splitting the check at a restaurant […]
What is Nengajo? 年賀状 ねんがじょう
Nengajo 年賀状 ねんがじょう Nengajo is New Year’s card in Japan. The custom of sending nengajo traces back to the Meiji period (1868-1912), when postcards were first issued in Japan. Until then, people visited their relatives and acquaintances to greet them at the New Year, but nengajo enabled people to do so by sending cards. With […]
What is Menko?
めんこ Menko Menko is a children’s game which dates back to the early 17th century. The rules are simple. Players place their cards on the ground and take turns trying to flip the other players’ cards over by throwing another card at them. One of the cards may be flipped by a gust of wind […]
What is Ukiyoe?
浮世絵 うきよえ Ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a kind of woodcut print which flourished from about the 1680s to the 1850s. It depicts the everyday life of common people, and portraits of actors and beautiful women are also among its themes. Many foreign artists have been influenced by this unique style including Van Gogh. Among the most […]
What is Noren?
暖簾 のれん Noren Noren are curtains with vertical slits hung in front of restaurants, bars, and shops during business hours. The name of the shop or a symbol indicating the products sold there may be dyed into the cloth, so the noren also functions as a shop sign. Since a shop’s noren symbolizes the shop, […]
Share Houses Are Popular Among Regular Workers in Japan
Regular company staffs, Temporary workers, Part-time workers, Non-regular company staffs, Between jobs, University students, Others Source: Hitsuji Incubation Square Various reasons for choosing to live in a shared house In Japan, so-called share houses in which people live communally in order to pay less rent were once seen as the domain of short-term foreign visitors. […]
How to Pass on Japanese Wooden Building Technology to Future Generations
Izumo Taisha on the "Kojiki" The oldest written mythology and history of Japan, the Kojiki (“Record of Ancient Matters”) was completed in 712 AD. The work covers prehistoric legends about how Japan sprang forth from the gods and the origins of the imperial reign that continues to the present. In 2012, to commemorate the 1,300th […]