Being a country that has retained much of its culture from the past, as well as operating as a modern first world nation, examples of the past and present abound in everyday life in Japan. Within this context, Japan is a country of well accepted and adhered to customs, rituals and modes of behaviour in all aspects of daily life. Having an awareness of these is a key part of knowing and understanding Japan. Consequently, explaining them is an important and integral part of this publication - they are the minutiae and building blocks of daily life and form the crux of what is the real … [Read more...]
Climate and Seasons
Having a length of about 3,000 km, weather patterns vary considerably, from the sub-tropical southern Kyushu (even more so in Okinawa) to the sub-arctic northern Hokkaido. Ocean currents and the mountain ranges running through much of the country also influence the weather. Whilst the further south you go the longer is the warm part of the year, and the further north the longer the cold part, Japan is mostly a land of four clearly defined seasons. A case can be made for a fifth, the rainy season (tsuyu). As most of Japan’s rivers are short, the longest 370 km, and its lakes fairly small, … [Read more...]
The Landscape
What meets the eye when first arriving in Japan is a jumble of unattractive low rise office and apartment buildings, electricity poles and wires, neon signs and box shaped houses stretching to usually a mountainous horizon in an overwhelmingly grey colour. It isn’t a pretty sight. Yet, in one of the paradoxes that is modern day Japan, among and beyond can be found scenes of exquisite oriental beauty: tiny garden settings, ornate temples and their ancient grounds, old wooden farmhouses flanked by neatly tended rice paddies, impenetrable forests and mist-enshrouded distant mountain ranges. … [Read more...]
English, Japanese and the Art of Communication
The ability to communicate and make oneself understood in English when travelling is often taken for granted, whether negotiating at a street stall or checking in at a five star hotel. The use of English in Japan thus warrants some comment at the outset. Written English, on billboards, shop windows, even clothes, is ubiquitous in Japan and very fashionable, easily leading visitors to expect its use in spoken form is equally common. However, even though every student who completes high school has received at least six years of painstaking English tuition, this is far from the truth. The … [Read more...]
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