Japanese Culture

Nihonshu (Japanese sake) is a type of alcohol made by fermenting rice. It has been produced in Japan for more than 1,000 years.

Rakugo is an art of humorous storytelling that has been around for 400 years, since the Edo period. It is performed in an entertainment hall known as a "yose".

Kimonos are Japan's traditional national dress.

At first, castles were defensive bases, but later shoguns and samurai started living in them.

When sumo wrestling first became popular in Japan 1500 years ago, it was a ritual used to predict the outcome of crop harvests.

Kabuki is a traditional Japanese performing art that features music, dance, and drama.

Zazen is a practice found in Zen, one kind of Buddhism.

The Ninjas that often appear in Japanese period dramas were undercover fighters who were active from the Sengoku period to the Edo period.

An ingredient that is always used in making dishes like clear soup, broths for soba and udon, and in cooking vegetables and fish is dashi.

Kappabashi Dogugai is a wholesale district located between Asakusa and Ueno that mainly sells cooking utensils.

Although Ginza has numerous sushi restaurants, Ginza Kyubey is one of the most famous.

A cat cafe is a place where you can spend time around cats while drinking coffee or tea.

They say that there are about five million vending machines in Japan.

An estimated 500,000 people will cross the intersection each day in Shibuya.

100 yen shops are shops in which all the products, such as foodstuffs and daily goods, are 100 yen.

Completed in 2012 at a height of 634 meters, Tokyo Skytree is the tallest building in Japan.

Maid cafés are cafés in which the waitresses dress in maid uniforms and treat the customers as if they were their "masters".

Who knew the path to enlightenment could start with a cup of tea? Learn the hidden significance behind the deceptively simple Zen tea ceremony - one which can lead directly to Buddhahood and its absolute truth. D.T. Suzuki, once Japan's leading authority on Zen Buddhism, describes the tearoom and the tea ceremony and explains the guiding principles of harmony, reverence, purity, and tranquility.

During World War II a community called Manzanar was hastily created in the high mountain desert country of California, east of the Sierras. Its purpose was to house thousands of Japanese-American internees. One of the first families to arrive was the Wakatsukis, who were ordered to leave their fishing business in Long Beach and take with them only the belongings they could carry. For Jeanne Wakatsuki, a seven-year-old child, Manzanar became a way of life in which she struggled and adapted, observed and grew. For her father it was essentially the end of his life.

En Japón, durante todo el año se celebran numerosos festivales y otros eventos. Aquí damos a conocer sus encantos y su historia.