Culture Why Japanese is so difficult
Do a search for the most difficult language to learn and, especially for English speakers, Japanese is at the top. I'm s...
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Culture Kyushu Rainbow Pride
About 25 years ago a gay friend visited Fukuoka and we couldn't find any gay, well, anything; no clubs, no events, no in...
Culture Prank Store ???
So it's not really a store ? or maybe the staff always tricks the customers ?or if you want to pull a prank on someone t...
Culture Japanese White Weddings
Some people lose their heads over weddings, and no more so than in Japan, where the average ceremony costs around $30,000 U.S.,
Culture blood types
There are four blood types, A, B, O, and AB. If you don't know what your blood type is, you're probably not Japanese. Bl...
Culture A Shinto priest talks about the power of words.
Oharai are rituals of purification and the chants the priest uses to purify are called Oharaekotoba. Kotoba is the Japanese word for "words."
Culture Story from a former Shinto priest: About the wedding ceremony.
Chouzuya is the area of a shrine where you wash your hands and rinse your mouth. It is an abbreviated act of Misogi; the practice of ritual purification by washing the entire body in the river, ocean or a waterfall.
Culture No Ninjas Needed
Like countries everywhere, there has long been a migration of people in Japan from the rural areas to the big cities. Es...
Culture Things You Can Do In Japan
... that you wouldn't do in North America.
There are things you can do in Japan that you can't do in North America. It n...
Culture Fortune
It’s always hard to separate suspicion from religion and ritual and to know how seriously people take them. In Japan, it...