Learning Culture

The seven days around the equinoxes are called ohigan. 春分の日、または秋分の日を中心とした前後7日間を、お彼岸といいます。

Hakata Dontaku is a festival celebrated by the citizens of Fukuoka City in Fukuoka Prefecture.

There are now around 55,000 convenience stores throughout Japan.

They say that there are about five million vending machines in Japan.

The gourmet floor tends to be underground, and is known as a "depachika". It is almost always the m

An estimated 500,000 people will cross the intersection each day in Shibuya.

Karaoke is one of the most well-known national pastimes of Japan.

Capsule hotels are a type of cheap and simple accommodation that offers guests a small capsule in wh

The Robot Restaurant opened in Kabukicho, Shinjuku in 2012. ロボットレストランは、新宿の歌舞伎町に2012年にオープンしたレストランです。

Founded in 1904, Itoya is a long-established stationery shop and a landmark in Ginza.

Completed in 1958, Tokyo Tower is a multi-purpose broadcasting tower.

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

To make shabu-shabu, you cook vegetables and tofu in a hotpot filled with flavored broth, and dip thinly sliced pieces of meat into the broth. The meat and vegetables are eaten with ponzu or sesame sauce.

Today, though, there are a lot of stylish yakitori places that are like café bars, and it is not unusual for women to dine alone, or for couples to come on dates.

Although now sushi is a gourmet cuisine, it was first mainly eaten at food stands and considered as a simple fast food.

Like udon, soba noodles, made from buckwheat flour, are the typical Japanese noodles.

Yakiniku is a type of Japanese barbecue. In the US(United States), this type of cooking is sometimes called "Korean barbecue".

Oden is a dish made by simmering daikon, chikuwa, konnyaku, and a variety of other ingredients in a pot with soup.

Kimonos are Japan's traditional national dress.

At first, castles were defensive bases, but later shoguns and samurai started living in them.