Tag: Japanese

The Essence of Japanese Culture: An Intense Obsession with Form?

Oscar Wilde wrote in 1889, “In fact the whole of Japan is a pure invention. There is no such country, there are no such people.” Japanese culture has been Orientalized, romanticized, and exoticized for over a hundred years. The result? Much of the (Western?) world has come to think th...

The Essence of Japanese Culture: An Intense Obsession with Form?

Why Japanese Websites Look So Different

Over the years, I have had many encounters with Japanese websites — be it researching visa requirements, planning trips, or simply ordering something online. And it took me a loooong while to get used to the walls of text, lavish use of bright colors & 10+ dif...

The Surprising Reason Why Japanese Women Look Beautiful

Clear skin, elegant makeup, and stylish fashion are trademarks of Japanese women. If you’ve traveled to Japan, you’ll have encountered impeccably dressed women on the street and in convenience stores at all hours of the day. They’re living proof that beauty requires hard work―...

This is the Most Critical Skill to Becoming a Better Japanese Speaker

You’ve heard the usual complaints about the Japanese language. It’s a very difficult language to learn — even if ads promise to make you fluent in just two months. The writing system is convoluted. There are too many kanji and too many ways of reading them. Japanese...

The Surprising Reason Why Japanese Women Look Beautiful

How To Use the Japanese Concept of Kintsugi to Rebuild Your Self-Worth

If you are a regular reader of my posts, you probably already know that a few years ago, I found myself entangled in an emotionally abusive relationship that left deep imprints on my self-esteem and self-worth. The relationship left me shattered, my spirit and identity fragmented like a ceramic plat...

3 Enchanting Japanese Words That Will Brighten Your Day

As a native Japanese speaker, I get annoyed when I come across English articles that tout Japanese buzzwords like ikigai. They’re not commonly used in our day-to-day conversations. Ikigai is more like a stock word thrown in job interviews or autobiographies. Instead of those fancy word...

Seven Free Japanese Illustration Sites for Your Next Article

How many times did you see this photo in an article or blog post? Actually, I used it once. Then I discovered that I was not the only one. Are you looking for unique images? Free Japanese illustrations are available for your next article. But if you can’t read the terms of usage in J...

The greatest Japanese painter you’ve never heard of

Hasui Kawase was an influential 20th century Japanese landscape painter. Born in 1883, Kawase travelled extensively throughout Japan and produced hundreds of woodblock prints of cities and the countryside. In particular, he’s famous for his paintings of snow and rain. His art also often includ...

Japanese Artist Tenmyouya Hisashi is Taking Traditions into the Future

Avortex appears on the wood: the intersection of past and present react with a boom. Now, we are in the future. Here, now, samurais battle robots, they play football, and the Japanese Spirit has tinted the sky gold. A New Japanese Spirit Nihonga is what the most famous type of Japanese art ...

Tapping into Top Tier Japanese Media: Our Indie Game’s Unprecedented Success

Hi, I’m Sissi, the marketing manager at SIGONO. While there’s no shortage of advice on pitching to Western media, insight into working with Japanese media remains scarce. Media exposure is crucial for games venturing into overseas markets, and Japan’s gaming industry is no exceptio...

The anime world bringing the Turkish and the Japanese communities together

Being a foreigner in Turkey, I cannot tell what other cultures are favoured to them, or more correctly said, close to the new generations in this world of globalization. Finding Japanese events or anime/manga events is like heaven to me, but as much as I’m glad, I’m surprised by the resp...

When a Japanese Travels from London to Pisa

Although I majored in French at university, I also fell in love with the neighbouring country of Italy. At that time though, few people understood English or French in smaller Italian cities. In many cases, I had to depend on my gestures. Even when I merely asked for ‘one single room for two n...

“Let Me Tell You About These Japanese Salarymen…”

Out of all the places to live, I settled in Taipei. I really liked binging on Terrace House after work. After punching the dumb card, i’d gleefully rush out the door, anticipating the bus ride home, one of the singular times I get ‘alone time.’ No, really. Have you taken the ...

A Guide to Daikoku PA: Heaven on Earth for Fans of Japanese Car Culture

I’ve been a stalwart fan of Japanese sports cars since I was a teenager. So naturally, one of the first things I did upon arriving in Tokyo in 2009 was to seek out the local car scene. It was easy enough to attend car shows or visit Fuji Speedway for a track day, but living in a city where car...

Quick and Easy Way to Convert from Japanese Yen to U.S. Dollars

Japan will re-open for tourism at some point. I suspect it will be sometime toward early fall of 2022, but we will see in the coming months. When Japan does re-open and tourists start traveling visiting the country again, visitors are in for a treat if they’re coming from the U.S. That&r...

Japanese Beautiful Expressions: Ittekimasu, Itterasshai, Tadaima, Okaerinasai

If you are about to leave somewhere, mainly home or the office, a Japanese will say “ittekimasu” to the remaining people. The closest literal translation is “I’ll go and I come back” but a more natural translation would be “see you later”. People remainin...

Japanese Massage in Shinjuku

Shinjuku is a district located in the western part of Tokyo, Japan. It is a bustling commercial and entertainment hub that is known for its vibrant nightlife, shopping, and dining scenes. Shinjuku is home to some of Tokyo’s most iconic landmarks, including the Tok...

Business Japanese Phrase for work: Osaki ni shitsureishimasu

Try to translate the expression in your mother tongue and you will end up very confused. Yes. One more Japanese phrase that loses all meaning if you dare to translate it literally. This is how Japanese workers say goodbye to others when they are leaving the office for the day. But more than saying g...

Japanese Street Fashion 2017 — 15 Things You Need To Know

It’s been over a year since our Japanese Street Fashion 2016 article. Considering the speed at which trends, brands, shops, and people come and go in the Japanese street fashion scene, an update is past due. Harajuku — Tokyo’s one-of-a-kind youth culture neighborhood &...

Embracing Japanese UX in Everyday Things

I’ve been in Japan for five months, surrounded by a culture that values thoughtful design and meticulous attention to detail. As a product designer, my passion for user experiences goes beyond the pixels on the screen. Some Japanese products are renowned for their exceptional UX, blending form...

Why do Japanese Disneyland people love visiting?

Ah! Disneyland? The Happiest Place on Earth! But did you know there’s a particular sparkle to Disneyland in Japan that makes it a must-visit? Here’s why every traveler, be it an ardent Disney fan or a casual tourist, should consider making a beeline for this magical kingdom. ...

Do Japanese people care about what foreigners think about them or their country?

The question is complex, and the answer has to be general. I must say Japan is foreign-friendly. Foreigners are safe in Japan, but the Japanese are obedient to the law and don’t break easily. On the other hand, my tourists violate some rules and cultural values of the Japanese people. Bu...

The Secrets of Japanese Animation Here: A Tour of Tokyo’s Sacred Sites Japan Tokyo shirin Suehiro Shrine

There is a reason why Japan is able to create so many high-quality anime and manga. It is because, since ancient times, we have found spirits and worshipped them as gods. We have made gods of the mountains, gods of the water, gods of the sea, heroes, and humans — even the dead. As we con...

Fan-Cooled Workwear, Or the Latest in Japanese Fashion?

Interestingly, the fan-equipped clothing technology isn’t actually anything very new in Japan. On the hottest days of summer, when everyone is trying to wear as little fabric as possible, Japanese construction sites can be a bit of a surprise — many of the workers are not only wearing lo...

The Turn Of A Millenium For Japanese Toshiba

Toshiba has no cash to invest in its future, so it offers itself for a buyout. It receives offers from a group of investors led by Japanese Investment Corp for $14bn. There is ongoing discussion about whether to split the company into many operations and treat each as a profit centre. However, it...

Happy New Year!

I’d like to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. The Japanese greet each other in the new year by saying “Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu,” which means, literally, “Congratulations, it started [or opened],” but is usually translated as “Happy ...

7 Japanese Sayings That Will Change the Way You See the World

Japanese — the culture and language that spring to life a rich linguistic and diverse semantic world of acceptance, fullness, poignance, poetic expression and paradox. Beyond the utterance of a single word or expression lies a deep and complex labyrinth of majestic meanings; most of which are ...

The Obedient Japanese

The concept of obedience in Japan is as ancient as its people. Up until the mainstream introduction of Confucianism and Buddhism into Japanese society by the scholarly Japanese Regent Shotoku within the Seventh Century AD the Japanese people made up an isolated and primitive agrarian society. Japan&...

Japanese way of ‘life in a complete harmony and peacefulness’

Anshin (安心) means tranquility or harmony. For example when you had something scared happened to you, and your loved one hugs you and reassures that everything is fine, you feel the stress to melt away. Your body relaxes and you feel tranquility and a sense of “I am safe and everything will...

Japanese Americans In Hawaii Were Treated Unjustly During World War II

There were some Japanese Americans in Hawaii who did lose their homes. A new documentary film called “Removed By Force: The Eviction of Hawaii’s Japanese Americans During WWII” tells about this part of history. The documentary covers the story of people of Japanese des...

Japanese-Inuit Connections

Inmy native homeland of Canada, there are about 70,000 Inuit, with thousands more living in Greenland and Alaska and a few in Russia. Prior to moving to the United States when I was a child, I had spent time living in cities such as Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, exploring the fascinating commun...

MA — The Japanese Concept of Space and Time

The Japanese concept of Ma is something that relates to all aspects of life. It has been described as a pause in time, an interval or emptiness in space. Ma is the fundamental time and space from which life needs to grow. Space for the Japanese psyche directly impacts the individ...

Can You Solve This Japanese Sangaku Problem?

Today’s puzzle is a Japanese Sangaku. Sangakus are geometrical problems on wooden tablets which were placed as offerings at Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples during the Edo period by members of all social classes. I am going to post a number of these in t...

A Japanese Sangaku Problem at the Tokuraji Temple

Today’s Sangaku is of the first figure on a tablet hung in the Tokuraji Temple in the Miyagi Prefecture in 1909. (on the right) Two congruent intersecting circles pass through the center of the other. A blue circle is constructed to touch both circles internally and two smaller ...

Could Anarchy Save Japanese Communities? — An Interview With Ko Hayakawa

This image is not wrong. Most of the cultural anthropologists go to other countries to study the local people: what they eat, their familial values, how they view gender, etc. Anthropology is divided into two main fields: biological anthropology and cultural anthropology. The first one studies co...

How To Make Your Business Thrive In A Rural Japanese Way

Happy New Year of Dragon! I just started my business yesterday, so my new year’s resolution is related to it. I hope my new business as an anthropology consultant survives and thrives in its first year! Our fellow freelancers might have similar resolutions or wishes for the new year. In thi...

Examining Basque and Japanese Roots

Although Basque is an ergative-absolutive language (similar to Tibetan or the Inuit-Aleut languages), the word order generally follows the subject-object-verb pattern found in Japanese. This will sound foreign to native speakers of subject-verb-object languages such as English, C...

‘Daisugi’ — Japanese Art of Forestry

Inthe dense mountain forests surrounding the ancient city of Kyoto, Japan, rows of red Kitayama cedar trees tower silently over the sloping valleys and hillsides below. Their serene presence nods to the fast-fading practice of daisugi (台杉), a remarkable forestry tradition steeped in cu...

The Uniqueness of Japanese Time

Isolated for centuries while the rest of the world was industrializing, Japan developed many unique ways of living. One of the strangest to our modern thinking was a system for counting time where the length of an hour changed daily. The way of counting time used everywhere now is called a &ldquo...

6 Secrets: Why Japanese Skincare is Perfect for Indian Skin

Skincare routines have become an integral part of our self-care regimens, aiming to enhance and maintain the health and radiance of our skin. In recent years, Japanese skincare has gained immense popularity worldwide, including in countries like India. This article aims to shed light on the rea...

How to apply white makeup in Japanese Kabuki

Japanese Kabuki, a traditional form of classical theater, is renowned for its vibrant performances, intricate costumes, and striking makeup. One of the distinctive features of Kabuki makeup is the use of stark white foundation, which symbolizes the otherworldly and supernatural elements of the chara...

Japanese Skincare: Kose Medicated Sekkisei Emulsion Excellent Review

My skin type and concerns I thought I should preface this review with relevant information about my skin type and concerns. Skin type: normal/combination but slightly oily-combo during the evenings Relevant skin concerns: redness, pigmentation, skin scars What is Kose Medicated Sekki...

15 facts about Japan and japanese people

Once you visit this amazing country of the rising sun, you won’t forget it. I must admit that Japan is really another world, special, unique and unbelievable. People in Japan are living in peace and have many rules, apart from that they are the most polite people I’ve ever met. After 14 ...

English as the Official Language in Japanese Businesses

An increasing number of Japanese businesses are adopting English as their official language within specialized departments, marking a significant shift from the past when it was implemented company-wide. Fast Retailing Co., the operator of the Uniqlo clothing store chain, and e-commerce marketplace ...

What is Pitch Accent in Japanese and is it Important?

Basically, every word in Japanese is said with a certain intonation. For example, in 機能 (きのう), the first syllable is loud and then the pitch drops off. Whereas in 昨日 (きのう), it starts low pitch, goes high on the second syllable and then drops back down. There are basically 4 su...