Japanese Culture and Traditions– category –

Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's day, etc. These events are very popular in Japan, though the percentage of the Christian population in Japan is only 1%. You can see many different cultures are mixed up and changed into Japanese culture.

【Respect for nature, the core spirit of Japanese food】 UNESCO listed washoku (Japanese traditional cuisine) as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013. I think many Japanese people seem to misunderstand the key point of the event. They...

【Taiyaki in NYC】 Have you ever seen the above ice cream (in the thumbnail image)? It's Tayiyaki ice cream from TAIYAKI NYC. I've heard it's extremely popular in NY now. When seeing the image, some Japanese people would have mixed feeli...

【Make life happy without money】 Do you believe money can't buy you love? I may be too old to believe in such a naive world as the Beatles song went. According to Daniel Kahneman, a genius winning a Nobel Prize in 2002, money can buy yo...

We, Japanese people take off shoes inside the house to keep the floor clean because we sleep on the floor, which arises another question: why we sleep on the floor? The answer was very simple, as is common with everlasting truth.

Japanese school lunch (Kyushoku) is the biggest thing I want to be proud of in the Japanese social system. In most elementary and junior high schools in Japan, lunch is served fresh off each school kitchen. Of course, professional dietitians prepare the menu. It's good not only in taste and nourishment but also as a learning opportunity.

【Necessity is the mother of geographical characteristics】 As you can see it in the image below, Japan is a country of backward parking. Even speeding drivers follow the rule. Do you know why that is? Some people outside Japan may think...

【Can we free ourselves from other people's values?】 Martin Luther said "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." The words first reminded me of wall paintings in Lascaux Cave where ...

Japanese people are growing under strong peer pressure. It's like a dystopia created by George Orwell. Let's see the bright and dark sides of the Japanese society.

Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, is well known for its rich history and culture. The language of Kyoto people is sometimes difficult to understand even for Japanese people living outside Kyoto. Let's see the points we have to be careful about in communication in Kyoto.