Japanese Culture and Traditions– category –

Japanese giant hornets sit at the top of the insect food chain and are feared even by humans as giant killer hornets. In fact, about 20 people are stung and killed every year in Japan. Are they just a useless nuisance? I personally don't like giant hornets, but I'm trying to re-evaluate their role from the viewpoint of the environment.

A noble class still exists in Japan. They are not crazy rich, like being depicted as making a mess by power of money in some movies probably. Most of them look modest and behave modestly, and so, it's very difficult to spot them out.

【Tragic inflation will attack Japanese school kids】 Are bananas categorized as snacks for a trip? I ensure this phrase never fails to make Japanese people laugh. Give it a try if you have any Japanese friends. Japanese elementary schoo...

Godzilla is a super movie content known to everyone in Japan and many people even outside Japan. Many people, not only film critics but also marketing professionals and even university professors have published study on it. The explanation about Godzilla that sounds most feasible to me is "Godzilla is the metaphor of nature."

【We come to need hotels for another reason】 The COVID destroyed the bright future of the Japanese tourism industry. The number of foreign tourists to Japan was increasing year by year and exceeded 30 million in 2018, when the nationwid...

Snow has already been used as a renewable energy source here. Hokkaido, the northernmost part of Japan, is the largest producer of potato, onion, and rice in Japan, and snow is used to refrigerate those crops during storage.

【What we do for Christmas in Japan】 Almost all the cities are filled with Christmas decorations in this season, though the percentage of the Christian population is only 1% in Japan. As I wrote before, we are good at cream-skimming oth...

【What is done cannot be undone】 More than 30 years ago, Japanese main railway operations were run by the government. Since the full privatization, many rail lines have been abandoned especially in rural areas like here in Hokkaido. If ...

Why Japanese people sit on the floor not on a chair or a sofa? It's for making full use of a limited space in a house smaller than the global standard. Even if you live in a huge house, it's not that bad to stay on the floor for more relax. Let me share one of the Japanese wisdoms of life.

【Craftsmanship commonly seen in Japanese swords and rifles】 In 1543, Portuguese merchants introduced rifles to Japan. They expected firearms to be one of their hot exports to Japan in the future but soon found that their plan had faile...