culture

May 24, 2022
October 14, 2022

Japan Travel in the Know: What Is Good about Travel by Train?

Trains are still the king of transportation for tourism Which transportation do you think is best for your trip? By air, sea, or road? According to a report by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the share of travel by train is highest in the domestic market in Japan. The number-based share of travel by train was about 70% in 2020, and has been increasing year by year, along with a trend that young people turn away from driving. It’s not only about the Japanese people. Almost the same thing can be said about tourists from overseas. The share of rail transportation for such tourists to move around Japan is about 55%. For your information, the second is public bus service with a share of about 30%. The advantages of train transportation over other means I don’t know if it’s the same in your countries, but there are […]

February 1, 2022
October 12, 2022

Japanese Culture and Traditions: A Hero or Villain? The Truth of Godzilla

Godzilla becomes an academic research subject in Japan In my childhood, I memorized even the height and weight of many monsters in Godzilla movies, let alone their names. I’m sure I would have annoyed many people around me by proudly showing off the knowledge, and also my parents would have wanted me to apply the same level of passion to study. Godzilla is a super movie content known to everyone in Japan and many people even outside Japan. It can be said the most popular Japanese movie series especially outside Japan. Mmany people, like film critics, marketing professionals, and even university professors have published study on it. The explanation that sounds most feasible to me is “Godzilla is the metaphor of nature.” Indeed, it has destroyed many cities many times, but has shown no animosity or hatred to humans, though making no apologies as well. Godzilla makes us remember a […]

July 16, 2021
October 21, 2022

Business Tips: Counterfeit Production Is Really a Good Business?

Impossible to copy our products cheaply The structure of a chair consists of a backrest, seat, arm rests, and legs, just simple and easy to copy. As it’s so simple, every time launching a new product, we are concerned if there are any other similar products. I’ve sometimes seen some copies of our chairs at furniture exhibitions. Were we mad? Not really. Of course, we’re not happy at all with such copies but believe it’s almost impossible to copy our products with the same quality in the same price range. In fact, the copies I’ve seen so far were cheaper, and their quality was worth the cheap price. Difference between innovation and imitation There are pros and cons on the subject of imitation. It seems difficult to simply condemn that imitation is bad. Even a genius scientist, Einstein said “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” […]

July 13, 2021
January 28, 2023

Japanese History Guide: The Differences between Japanese and European Castles

Differences of Japanese and European castles I believe many of you have seen the above image. It’s the fortress of Carcassonne, one of UNESCO world heritage sites. According to what I learned on the Internet, it is now the second most popular sightseeing spot in France after Mont Saint-Michel. It becomes more popular in Japan nowadays because the fortress city serves as the stage of a big-hit Japanese film. I’m ashamed to say, but I had not seen European fortresses and castles much (including Carcassonne). The film made me interested (though I’ve not watched it), and I found some differences from Japanese castles. I imagine anyone would immediately notice the difference in material: stone in Europe and wood in Japan, but that is not what attracted my attention most. The fortress of Carcassonne has a residence area inside and high walls, different from Japanese castles. The reasons of the differences […]

July 9, 2021
October 6, 2022

Japanese History Guide: The Quality of Nails in the Best Samurai Period

Kamakura samurais, strongest and bravest Samurai governed Japan for about 700 years, from 1185 to 1867. The age of samurai is divided into some periods. According to a popular theory, samurais in the first period (the Kamakura period, from 1185 to 1333) are believed to be strongest and bravest. It is said that “You look like a Kamakura samurai” was the best praising words for samurais even in the last days of the samurai age. The same as samurais, the quality of nails in the Kamakura period is said to be best. In the age of samurai, the best quality steel (high-carbon steel) was used for sword crafting as I wrote before. In the Kamakura period, nails were made of the second best quality steel. Building structures and nails in the Kamakura period Japanese old buildings, like temples and shrines built several hundred years ago, didn’t use any nails. This […]

June 8, 2021
October 13, 2022

Why Is Camping So Popular? What’s the Point of Camping?

Camp memories Soon after graduating from college, I joined the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Even though it’s an air force, new recruits are trained in a field exercise. I still clearly remember how it was. The strong smell of grass and trees that clung to me when ambushing in a thick forest, excitement when making a fire (mainly because of hunger pains), the sound of rain on the tent, beautiful sunrise in morning mist (after not sleeping a wink all night, though), etc. I imagine they are probably what many people expect for a camp. Camping becomes more and more popular in Japan. Me? No way. I was already camped out but am interested in why people do camping, going so far as spending a lot of money for camping gear. Return to nature We human beings have been keeping on making new inventions for convenience, in order to make […]

May 6, 2021
October 14, 2022

Remember We Are Dwarfs Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Things going down to posterity Hokkaido, this northernmost island of Japan, is getting deserted. In rural areas (Hokkaido itself can be said a rural area in Japan, though), you can see abandoned and collapsing houses everywhere. Houses with a roof and walls deformed by the weight of snow, like ones in Tim Burton’s movies. Rusty bicycles, snow shovels, etc. are partly seen in the grass around such houses. They are returning to the earth. Generally, such sceneries may just look sad, but (as writing before) I personally like to see them. They remind me of the fact that we are also a part of nature. At the same time, I’ve been interested in the difference between such things returning to the earth and the other things passed down to the next generation. Too dificult decision: What should be passed to the next generation I once attributed the differences to the […]

April 30, 2021
January 28, 2023

Japanese Culture and Traditions: The Characteristics of Hokkaido People

It’s shown in the national high school baseball championship The most popular sport in Japan is still baseball. A good example is the national high school baseball championship. Every summer, high school teams join it after going through the elimination tournaments held in all the 47 prefectures. Hokkaido, a prefecture located in the northernmost island of Japan, is covered with snow for almost half a year. Maybe because of the bad practice environment, our prefectural representative teams were always weak and lost in the first round of the championship in most cases. When I was a kid, I never believed I would live to see the championship flag in Hokkaido. One summer day in 2004, I was just transferred from the mainland of Japan back to Hokkaido. When I was buying daily necessities for a new home at some shopping mall, the background music suddenly stopped, and the news broke […]

April 19, 2021
December 24, 2022

Japanese Culture and Traditions: The Core Meaning of Japanese Zen

Sado, the Japanese tea ceremony Have you ever experienced a Japanese tea ceremony? The most notable feature is its beauty of style. In a nutshell, it’s just a ceremony where a host makes matcha green tea and guests drink it. What makes the ceremony unique is it prescribes every single move of making and drinking tea. As far as I know, it already started in the 15th century; a major merchant developed the basic style in the 16th century. I’ve not yet experienced it but am so amazed by the creativity of the merchant. Let me reiterate: It’s just making and drinking tea. The merchant must be a genius to raise such a daily routine up to a stylized ceremony. For example, I have munchies very often but have never thought to stylize snacking. The origin of mindfulness The Japanese tea ceremony is always associated with Zen Spirit. These days, […]

April 13, 2021
October 25, 2022

Marketing Tips: We Realize the Importance of Order Only After Losing It

Nirvana, a god or a devil I grew up with the songs of the Beatles because my mother is a big fan of them. As writing this, I just remember her face like a demon crawling out of hell when I shot some of her LPs with my airsoft gun. When most of my elementary school classmates were obsessed with Japanese pop idols, I listened to British heavy metal, LA metal, etc. Especially if you’re from the same generation and have the same taste in music as me, I believe you would understand how big impact the band left. Their influence far-reached to not only the world music scene but also the whole society. It’s about Nirvana. Their advent is exactly destructive creation, though I personally think it was too powerful and destructive. Anti-establishment stance to the anti-establishment icon In the previous era of Nirvana, rock musicians were supposed to […]