Japanese Culture

Ochazuke is a quick and easy dish made simply by pouring Japanese tea over rice.

The onigiri (rice ball) is a simple dish consisting of a compacted ball of rice with some ingredients placed inside.

Takayama City, sometimes known as Hida Takayama, is located in the Hida region in northern Gifu Prefecture.

Jutting out into the Sea of Okhotsk, Shiretoko is the southernmost place in the world where drift ice can be seen.

Osaka is said to be Japan's number two city, after Tokyo.

Ginza is the most prestigious area in Japan. Many people aspire to open a shop, have a meal, or drink in an exclusive club here.

Sukiyaki is a dish made from beef, tofu, spring onions, and other vegetables simmered in a sweet and salty sauce made with sugar and soy sauce as a base.

Sashimi is raw seafood served in thin slices. It is also called otsukuri.

Today, though, there are a lot of stylish yakitori places that are like café bars, and it is not unusual for women to dine alone, or for couples to come on dates.

Like udon, soba noodles, made from buckwheat flour, are the typical Japanese noodles.

Yakiniku is a type of Japanese barbecue. In the US(United States), this type of cooking is sometimes called "Korean barbecue".

Dumplings can be fried, steamed, or boiled, but in Japan fried dumplings are the most common.

Oden is a dish made by simmering daikon, chikuwa, konnyaku, and a variety of other ingredients in a pot with soup.

Basic tempura is fish, shellfish and vegetables fried in a batter made from eggs, water, and flour.

You can experience both modern and Edo -period Japan here.

Akihabara is one part of Tokyo that has really changed a lot these days. 秋葉原は東京において、近年、その性格が劇的に変化した

In early February every year, the Sapporo Snow Festival is held for one week in the city of Sapporo,

In 1980 Cathy N. Davidson traveled to Japan to teach English at a leading all-women’s university. It was the first of many journeys and the beginning of a deep and abiding fascination. In this extraordinary book, Davidson depicts a series of intimate moments and small epiphanies that together make up a panoramic view of Japan.

Zenji Wgraduates from high school in Hawaii and is recruited into the army as a translator because he speaks perfect Japanese. He is sent to Manila undercover as a civilian to gather information on the Japanese in the Philippines. If they discover his identity, he’ll be executed as a traitor. When captured, he maintains that he is an American civilian despite unthinkable torture. He also survives being lost in the jungle for months.

Twelve-year-old Sumiko feels her life has been made up of two parts: before Pearl Harbor and after it. The good part and the bad part. Raised on a flower farm in California, Sumiko is used to being the only Japanese girl in her class. Even when the other kids tease her, she always has had her flowers and family to go home to. That all changes after the horrific events of Pearl Harbor.