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 […]
What Is Division System?
Konosuke Matsushita: Vitalizing the Division System (divisional system) By M. Emi The Konosuke Matsushita Museum (Osaka, Japan) is currently presenting a special exhibition entitled "Konosuke Matsushita: Vitalizing the Division System", which will be available to the public until June 29, 2013. “This is one of the major exhibitions at the Konosuke Matsushita Museum in 2013. […]
Business Training in Japan Is Not Popular. OJT Is Popular. Why?
By R. Kopp Allow me to share three recent incidents related to training that took place at Japanese companies in the U.S.: An American discovered that his Japanese colleague wasn’t happy for him leaving the factory floor to come attend a training session. A training session was scheduled that seven Japanese were supposed to attend, […]
Nitobe Inazo and "Bushido"
Who is Nitobe Inazo? The author of "Bushido" Inazo Nitobe, author of “Bushido, The Soul of Japan”, which was published in 1899 and became a worldwide best-seller, was an important figure who represented Japan. Although this book, which was the first English-language text to systematize Bushido1, was originally written to explain the moral framework of […]
Japanese Go Online More and More
Online Percentage of Japanese People By D. McCaughan So how connected are you? In the previous column, I introduced the results of the “Truth about Connected You,” -- a global study into the way people use and think about their mobile and digital connections and how these things are changing and forming their personalities – […]
Natto: the Most Popular Fermented Food in Japan
Produced 12 million packages a day in Japan Perhaps every country has some kind of fermented food, whether it is popular in that country or not. There is Vegemite in Australia and Marmite in the UK and New Zealand, as well as surströmming in Sweden, which is rarely found in other countries but nonetheless famous […]
Haruki Murakami: Resonating Under
“Resonating Under”: Haruki Murakami Speaks in Public After 18-year Hiatus By Ryoji Shimada, staff writer “I rarely put myself in the public eye,” Haruki Murakami explained. “I don’t show myself on TV or radio. Nor do I give lectures. But for I have appeared at this event, to commemorate my mentor.” So saying, world-renowned novelist […]
What Is Shakuhachi?: The Blue-eyed Shakuhachi Player Who Continues to Create New Musical Instruments
Shakuhachi player and maker John Kaizan Neptune In a house surrounded by bamboo forest in Kamogawa City, which is located in the southeast corner of the Boso Peninsula, Chiba Prefecture, lives a foreigner who unduly suits an outfit of samue robes paired with a tenugui towel. John Kaizan Neptune, who came to Japan 40 years […]
Japan’s Eco Busines: Saving the Earth and Saving Money
From Solar Panels to Spaghetti Noodles, the Color of Japanese Business Is GREEN By Tom Baker When you get behind the wheel of your car, turn up the air conditioner at home, or pop open a cold drink, are you destroying the environment? Many people worry about the impact of such activities, but most of […]
What is the Most Popular Sports in Japan?
DO HOUSE conducted a survey of 1,198 people above age 20 at the end of February, in which it asked people which sport they wanted their children to engage in. The three most popular responses were 1) swimming (replied by both sexes); 2) soccer replied by males and martial arts (such as karate, judo, kendo […]