Learning Culture

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.

The Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori Prefecture is one of the summer festivals that represents Japan's Tohoku region.

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.

There are two main religions in Japan: Shintoism and Buddhism.

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

Lacquerware that uses Japanese lacquer is known as shitsugei (lacquer art).

For shops, kanban (signboards) are an important landmark. Other objects that serve the same purpose that Japanese people are familiar with are noren (shop curtains with emblems), nobori (flags), and chochin (lanterns).

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.