Japanese Culture

The second Monday in January is Seijin no Hi (Coming-of-Age Day), a special day to celebrate young p

Prisons and Patriots provides a detailed account of 41 Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans), known as the Tucsonians, who were imprisoned for resisting the draft during WWII. Cherstin Lyon parallels their courage as resisters with that of civil rights hero Gordon Hirabayashi, well known for his legal battle against curfew and internment, who also resisted the draft. These dual stories highlight the intrinsic relationship between the rights and the obligations of citizenship, particularly salient in times of war.

The Ogasawara Islands are located approximately 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo and consist of about

Iwami Ginzan is a group of ruins in Shimane Prefecture where silver used to be mined in the 16th to

The Shirakami Mountain Range is spread across Aomori and Akita Prefectures and spans over 1,000 mete

Yakushima is an island that floats in the sea off the southernmost tip of the mainland of Kyushu, ar

There was a kingdom known as Ryukyu that existed on the Nansei Islands, part of present day Okinawa

Gion, located in Kyoto's Higashiyama, serves as Kyoto's bustling downtown area.

The Yoshida Fire Festival, held in Yamanashi Prefecture's Fujiyoshida City on August 26th and 27th every year, is an autumn festival that marks the end of the Mt. Fuji climbing season.

It is said that the Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri began in the Edo period as a festival for praying for a good harvest.

Made from soybeans, tofu is a type of healthy food that has been eaten as shojin ryori (Buddhist vegetarian cuisine) for a great many years. Even now it is a very common food in Japan.

In Japan, "croquette" refers to a food that is made by mixing boiled and crushed potatoes with minced meat, covering it in bread crumbs, and frying it until the outside is crispy.

In Japan, it is customary to eat eel to prevent summer exhaustion due to its high nutritional value.

Omurice is one of the most well-known "Western foods" born in Japan between the Meiji and Taisho periods.

In the 1960s, chicken became a common food in Japan.

Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture developed as one of Japan's port towns after the ports were opened i

Tomioka Silk Mill in Gunma Prefecture was Japan's first large-scale machine-made silk factory that w

Buddhist Monuments in the Horyuji Area make up a World Heritage Site consisting of the 47 buildings

Ise Jingu is affectionately known as "O-Ise-san". Its formal name is "Jingu". 「お伊勢さん」の名で人々から親しまれている

In Kyoto, everyday side dishes made from on-hand ingredients are called "obanzai".