Learning Culture

November 23rd is a public holiday in Japan called "Labor Thanksgiving Day".

Friend Me! takes listeners through the amazing history of social networking in the United States, from early Native American councils to California's Allen Telescope Array (ATA), where researchers are hoping to interact with extraterrestrial beings. Learn how Americans have been connecting in imaginative ways throughout history, and you'll see social networking in a whole new light.

This teppanyaki style of cooking involves cooking meat, vegetables, seafoods, and the like on top of an iron hot plate called a "teppan".

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

Furoshiki are square cloths for storing, wrapping, and carrying items. They are also used to cover things that are important to protect from dust.

Origami is a traditional form of Japanese entertainment in which you make various shapes such as cranes, boats, and helmets by folding colored paper.

Copying Buddhist sutras is called shakyo and in Japan it typically refers to copying the Hannya Shingyo (The Great Heart of Wisdom Sutra).

Gagaku is a traditional Japanese art form which combines singing and dancing elements from classical Japanese styles such as kagura (shinto music and dancing) with elements from the ancient Asian continent such as from China.

Japan is the only country in the world that uses a seal registration system.

The Emperor and some of his relatives, the imperial family, are referred to as the imperial household.

In contrast to the type of paper that originated in the West, there is also a type of paper made through a traditional Japanese manufacturing method called washi(Japanese paper).

It is said that donburimono—rice served in a dish with its side dish placed on top—was created in the Edo period and originated with unadon, rice topped with eel.

Natto is a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans.

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.

Tsukudani is a dish that boils foods like seafood, seaweed, or vegetables in a salty-sweet seasoning made from ingredients such as sugar, soy sauce, and mirin.

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.

Takoyaki is a specialty of Osaka that is just as famous as okonomiyaki.

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.