Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
Tokyo Landscape Diorama!

Looking down Like a Bird “Urban planning requires a ‘man’s-eye view’ and a ‘bird’s-eye view,’” says Minoru Mori, president of MORI Building. So the team of 20 corporate staff started making an exquisitely detailed 1:1000 scale model of Tokyo in 2002. This model was later enlarged in 2009 and used to designate potential sites for […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
What Qualities Are Looked for in New Company Entrants This Year?

Humble Cheerful Adaptable Hardworking  Modest Has drive to get ahead  Has the power of endurance  Dedicated Has guts  Willingly takes on new challenges   Looked at overall, an attitude of being flexible and listening to other people’s opinions is reflected in the top-placed rankings. Qualities such as “being calm,” “expressing one’s individuality,” and “innovation” seem […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
Lives of Coal Miners in Japan

Lives of Coal Miners in Japan On May 25, the paintings and diaries of Sakubei Yamamoto (1892 to 1984) who depicted the lives of coal miners in Fukuoka Prefecture were inscribed to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program, which aims to preserve and promote accessibility to the documentary heritage of humanity.  The Director General of […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
Japanese Youth Compared with Youth in Other Countries, the US, India and China

Recognizing the Facts About the Youth It’s a question every parent and every marketer ask: “What motivates young people today?”In Japan there has been a great deal of angst in the last two decades about the growth of “freeters (young part-timers),” of talk of a lost generation of youth, of young people who are no […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
What is wabi-sabi in Japanese?

わび・さび “wabi-sabi” Wabi is an aesthetic principle originating in the lifestyle and thoughts of hermits in medieval times. It emphasizes mental serenity and austere beauty. The concept plays a substantial role in waka (classical Japanese poetry), haiku and the tea ceremony in conjunction with sabi. Sabi is the tranquil and restrained aesthetic sensibility which is also […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
International Students Flock to Japan's Only School of Sushi

International Students Flock to Japan's Only Sushi School By Ryoji Shimada, staff writer "Now prepare and arrange the platter (14 sushi pieces and 2 hosomaki rolls) in 15 minutes!"  At the sound of the cheerful order from senior instructor Ken Kawasumi, the 5 students set to work at once.  Ian Valdivieso (age 27) is from […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
Business of Commercial Public Bath House in Japan

Public Bath Business in Japan Commercial public bath houses, called sento, are common in Japan. In recent years, however, the number of sento have gradually declined in number, mainly because more people now have bathing facilities at home. Nonetheless sento are indispensable to those who do not have baths at home, and they still play […]

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Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
What is "mottainai"?

The “MOTTAINAI” Campaign and Prof.Wangari Maathai The MOTTAINAI Campaign is an environmental project initiated by Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Maathai. She was highly impressed by the Japanese word “MOTTAINAI” when she first visited Japan in February 2005 and proposed that “MOTTAINAI” should be used as an icon and keyword for environmental protection activities […]

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Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
Elements necessary for fully functioning members of society in Japan

The people working to resolve the problems caused by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, as a result of the huge earthquake and tsunami on March 11, are people who work for a company in the private sector. Without a strong sense of responsibility, they would be unable to continue to do […]

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Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
Necessary things in order to enjoy life in Japan

Japanese people tend to have gloomy expectations for the future. According to a poll done by Japanese Trade Union Confederation, 90 percent of respondents said they had misgivings about their current life and future, with only 8.5 percent replying that Japan will be better off in one year's time. Similar trends can be seen in […]

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