Japan

What Japanese cultural things are well known in the world?

Most people usually answer Ninja, Samurai, Geisha, or Sushi. Yes, those are some parts of Japanese culture. However, many people do not know that Japan also has many ruins of ancient Japanese cultures, such as castles.

Moreover, sometimes people believe that most people in Japan are still wearing the Japanese traditional clothing in every day life! A few people may be in Japanese traditional clothes everyday, but the majority of people do not wear those clothes except for traditional events such as weddings or funeral ceremonies.

The country consists of 4 big islands and many small islands. Each island is surrounded by the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. This environment has had an effect on Japanese culture, food, and climate.

When Japanese culture is explained in history books, the books usually show Japan as a "Borrowed Culture". However, not every idea or cultural trait is borrowed from other cultures. Interestingly enough, throughout history, many people from other countries visited Japan and brought parts of their culture with them. Japanese people like to adopt cultural elements that are good and sometimes create new things from them. For example, Japanese people celebrate Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Christmas, even though those holidays were not originally from Japan. Likewise, Buddhism was brought to Japan via India and China. Don't you think it's an interesting country?

(Photos by (c)Tomoyuki.U )