Learning Culture

The fundamental components of Japanese meals are rice, soup, and side dishes, with the soup providing both water and salt.

Chirashi-zushi is a type of sushi made by combining various ingredients with vinegared rice.

Rice has been an important part of the lives of Japanese people since ancient times.

Chawanmushi is a dish made by mixing various ingredients along with a beaten egg and dashi stock in a small bowl.

As well as okonomiyaki and takoyaki, there is another type of well-known "flour-based food" called monjayaki.

Sweet foods, such as Japanese and Western confectionaries, are known as kanmi (sweets).

Menchi katsu is a popular side dish on par with croquette.

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

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

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

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).

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

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.

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

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).

An ingredient that is always used in making dishes like clear soup, broths for soba and udon, and in cooking vegetables and fish is dashi.

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

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

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

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