Culture of Japan
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After several waves of immigration from the Asian continent and nearby Pacific islands, followed by a heavy importation of culture from China and Korea, the inhabitants of Japan experienced a long period of relative isolation from the outside world under the Tokugawa shogunate until the arrival of the "Black Ships" and the Meiji era. As a result, a culture distinctively different from other Asian cultures developed, and echoes of this persist in contemporary Japan.
For example, as Ruth Benedict analysed in her classic study The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, Japan has a shame culture (external reference standard) rather than the guilt culture (internal reference standard) that is more familiar in the West. In Japan, inter-relationships between people are heavily influenced by concepts of "honor", "obligation", and "duty" in a way that is no longer true in the more individualistic and free-wheeling West. Finally, generalized conceptions of morality and desirable behavior are less developed in Japan, where particular and situational obligations to family, school, and friends tend to guide behavior. See: Japanese values.
The Japanese language has always played a significant role in Japanese culture. Nemawashi, for example, indicates consensus achieved through careful preparation. It reflects the harmony that is desired and respected within Japanese culture.
Although the Japanese are better known for their physical comedy outside of Japan, they have intricate humor and jokes. Because this humor relies so heavily on Japanese language, culture, religion, and ethics, it is generally considered to be very difficult to translate.
Clothing
Kimonos (Japanese: 着物 literally "something one wears") are the traditional garments of Japan. Originally, the word "kimono" was used for all types of clothing, but eventually, it came to refer specifically to the full-length garment also known as "naga-gi" (長着, literally "long-wear"), that is still worn today on special occasions by women, men, and children.
Creative Arts
Food
Through a long culinary past, the Japanese have developed a sophisticated and refined cuisine highly sensitive to the change of seasons. Modern Japanese enjoy a variety of traditional Japanese food, including many seafood dishes (sushi and sashimi for instance), as well as a multitude of foreign dishes. One can easily find Chinese, Korean, and Thai dishes as well as non-regional American, French, and Italian foods. Japanese cuisine is a product of its environment and people. The ease of acquiring fresh ingredients led to sushi, high temperature and humidity led to varieties of pickled and fermented food like natto and soy sauce, and an adaptation of foreign cuisines led to ramen.
Language
Understanding the Japanese language is essential to understanding Japanese culture. Both traditional Japanese culture as well as the modern popular culture is based on spoken and written Japanese language.
Japanese is known to be related to the nearby Ryukyuan languages, forming the Japonic language family. An earlier theory that it is a language isolate related to no surviving tongues is generally deprecated by scholars. However, beyond that, its classification remains controversial. The most widespread theory is that the Japonic languages are not related to any other language family; however, other controversial theories have tied it to extinct languages from Manchuria and the Korean peninsula, to a Ural-Altaic super family (along with Korean and the Uralic languages such as Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, and Samoyedic), or to the Austronesian languages of the South Pacific.
Although it is not thought to share a common linguistic ancestor in Chinese, it has borrowed a great deal of vocabulary from that language. The Japanese writing system itself was developed from transmittance of Chinese classical writing from Korea in 400 CE.
The habit of modifying Chinese symbols to better fit in with Japanese symbols, has resulted in what the Japanese call wasei kanji, and continues today as they modify English (or words from European languages in general) words, which they refer to as wasei eigo.
The Japanese writing system is actually four writing systems used in tandem: kanji, which are logograms adopted from Chinese writing; the two kana syllabaries, hiragana and katakana, which developed from kanji; and the Latin alphabet, called romaji when used to write Japanese, is also common.
Media
In Japan, about 100 million television sets are in use, and television is the main form of home entertainment and information for most of the population. The Japanese have a wide variety of programs to choose from, including the various dramas (police, crime, home, and jidaigeki — historical dramas), anime, news, game, quiz, and sports shows provided by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Nippon Hoso Kyokai--NHK) general station, the NHK educational station, and numerous commercial and independent stations. The violence of samurai and police dramas, and the satirical humor of the cartoons as well as many depictions of sexuality have drawn criticism from mothers and commentators.
Popular culture
Japanese popular culture not only reflects the attitudes and concerns of the present but also provides a link to the past. Popular films, television programs, comics, and music all developed from older artistic and literary traditions, and many of their themes and styles of presentation can be traced to traditional art forms. Contemporary forms of popular culture, much like the traditional forms, provide not only entertainment but also an escape for the contemporary Japanese from the problems of an industrial world. When asked how they spent their leisure time, 80 percent of a sample of men and women surveyed by the government in 1986 said they averaged about two and one-half hours per weekday watching television, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers or magazines. Some 16 percent spent an average of two and one-quarter hours a day engaged in hobbies or amusements. Others spent leisure time participating in sports, socializing, and personal study. Teenagers and retired people reported more time spent on all of these activities than did other groups.
In the late 1980s, the family was the focus of leisure activities, such as excursions to parks or shopping districts. Although Japan is often thought of as a hard-working society with little time for pleasure, the Japanese seek entertainment wherever they can. It is common to see Japanese commuters riding the train to work, enjoying their favorite manga or listening through earphones to the latest in popular music on portable music players.
A wide variety of types of popular entertainment are available. There is a large selection of music, films, and the products of a huge comic book industry, among other forms of entertainment, from which to choose. Game centers, bowling alleys, and karaoke are popular hangout places for teens while older people may play shogi or go in specialized parlors.
Kawaii
Kawaii (可愛い) is a Japanese term which means "cute". Cuteness seems to be a highly valued aesthetic quality in Japanese society and particularly Japanese pop culture, and overpowering cuteness seems to carry less of the stigma of infantilization as it does in many other cultures. Kawaii' is pronounced /ka.w̜a.ii/ (not to be confused with "kowai", /ko.w̜a.i/ the Japanese term for "scary"). "Kawaii" can be used to describe animals and people, including fully grown adults; while attractive women are usually described as "kawaii," young men are more likely to be described as kakkō-ii, meaning "good looking" or "cool". "Kawaii" is also used to describe some men who are considered to have "cute" personalities.
Geinōkai
The Geinōkai (芸能界) is the world of Japanese entertainment, encompassing everything from movies and television (including talk shows, music shows, variety shows, etc.) to radio and now the Internet. Geinojin (芸能人) is a term, often used interchangeably with tarento, which refers to members of the Geinōkai. Tarento is an adaptation of the English word 'talent' and refers to a rather large group of people who appear on television from night to night, but cannot be quite classified as actors, singers, or models (and are thus given the more vague appellation of "talent" instead). Tarento usually appear on variety shows and talk shows and may later move into acting or singing if they are successful and become popular.
Many non-Japanese tarento have also appeared on Japanese programs. Notable non-Japanese tarento are Patrick Harlan (United States), Dave Spector (United States), Thane Camus (United States), Bobby Ologun (Nigeria), Adogony Baudouin Euloge (Benin), Zomahoun Idossou Rufin (Benin), Osuman Youla Sankhon (Guinea), Kent Gilbert (United States), Kent Derricott (United States) and Peter Barakan (United Kingdom) Panzetta Girolamo (Italy) Yinling, ( Taiwan), etc.
Sports
Popular professional sports in Japan can be categorized into either traditional sports like Sumo wrestling or imported sports like baseball and football (soccer). In addition, many amateur sports are popular in Japan, such as table tennis, tennis, volleyball, basketball, golf and rugby. Popular amateur sports native to Japan include martial arts like kendo and judo. Professional wrestling is also very popular in Japan.