One thing I love about Japan is the way that when we embrace the uniqueness and mystery of the place, we’re magically connected to every other foreigner who has done so in the past. No matter where you’re from, when you first arrive in Japan you’re faced with a myriad of strange but wonderful things, from the Narita Hot Dog Man who greets you at the airport to bizarre flavors of Japanese Kit Kat on sale in shops. If you visit Japan’s ancient capital of Nara and feed the deer that live there, you’re following in the footsteps of none other than Albert Einstein, who spent 40 days in Japan in 1922, giving lectures in several cities. I love the thought of him feeding the deer in Nara then trying to get his yukata on back at the hotel. If you visit a Japanese Seven-Elevan and are amazed at the products being sold there, you’re in good company: the Dalai Lama has done the exact same thing. Recently the eminently cool Samuel L. Jackson did an interview for Wired in which he revealed, “Do I like anime? Yes I do. Hentai, too!” What a cool club to belong to!
I like the J-List Facebook page and Twitter and Instagram feeds because they allow me to interact with J-List customers, and sometimes get requests on things to write about. Recently someone asked if I’d talk about the different regions of Japan, and what each is known for. Since I know how hard it is get to know a country unless you can “zoom in” a bit, so here we go with the eight regions of Japan, from south to north.
- Kyushu: Japan’s southernmost island is where the first contact with Westerners occurred, including exposure to firearms and Christianity. It was the site of the sad 2016 Kumamoto earthquake.
- Chugoku: Location of Hiroshima and Japan’s famous Miyajima shrine. Written with the same kanji for China, causing confusion for gaijin like me.
- Shikoku: Japan’s 4th largest island. Famous for a certain kind of traditional dance and network of 88 Buddhist temples that politicians make pilgrimages to when they get caught doing something wrong.
- Kansai: The location of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, and home of good food. Apparently all Japanese comedians are required to come from this region, for the same reason there are so many comics from New York.
- Chubu: The middle of Japan’s main island, home to Nagoya and the pleasant Shirakawa-go village seen in Higurashi When they Cry.
- Kanto: Where Tokyo and Yokohama are, plus J-List’s home prefecture of Gunma.
- Tohoku: Sadly known for the 3.11.11 earthquake and tsunamis, Tohoku has a rich culture. There was a legendary battle in 1868 in which 19 young samurai, fearing their battle lost, committed seppuku. Famous as a place where people talk funny.
- Hokkaido: Japan’s northernmost island is the Wisconsin and Idaho of Japan, being where dairy products and potatoes come from.
Hope you enjoyed learning a little more about Japan!
J-List bring you fun and exciting products every months with our new J-List Box monthly boxes, filled with Japanese snacks and rare seasonal items hand-picked by our staff every month. We have a limited “H” box too, and this month it has a Ram and Rem toy you might want to see.
