Tag: Japan

Japan is a country that believes in getting along harmoniously -- a good idea, considering that they have half the ...

For whatever reason, one of the themes of Japanese society is that its citizens don't show much in the way ...

One of the invisible pillars of Japanese society is tatemae (tah-tay-MAH-eh), literally meaning façade but in actual use, "the way ...

When I first got to Japan, I was determined to get out and see the country, but it was difficult ...

Bowing is an important form of social communication in Japan. Whether it's a short sumimasen accompanied by a brief lowering ...

Japan has two health insurance systems: shakai hoken (best translatable as "society-person insurance") which covers employees in larger companies, and ...

Sometimes there are some interesting differences between East and West that can surprise you. I wrote recently that you're actually ...

Last night my son needed a hand with an English essay he was writing about the different kinds of engineering ...

There's a wacky trick that Japanese sometimes do with money: fold a 1000 yen bill so that Hideyo Noguchi, the ...

Japanese TV never fails to entertain, although some shows might seem a little mundane on the surface. The Japanese care ...

Like all things, Japanese society is constantly moving in new directions, and it's interesting to see the terms that are ...

One of the themes I write about a lot is how people in Japan are sensitive to how they're viewed ...

Japan's judicial world is undergoing big changes as the country prepares to introduce a "citizen juror" system in which guilt ...

For some reason, the Japanese love rankingu (ranking), and there are TV shows that go out of their way to ...

Tokyo is the sprawling capital of Japan, so large that it's more like a prefecture than a unified entity, made ...

J-List's plan to re-populate Japan is going well, and J-List employee Jun (the guy who brings you such great toys, ...

The other day I noticed a bag of rice sitting on the table. Something about the way the grains were ...

The Japanese do like English, and use it to add a little je ne sais quoi to their language, but ...

Japan is doing its best to deal with the outbreak of the "new-type influenza virus" that has taken hold here, ...

One of the most pleasant aspects of living in Japan is getting excellent service wherever you go, whether it's at ...

Like many others, I'm a big fan of Lost. Unfortunately my wife has gotten into it, too, which means I ...

Google is an amazing tool that allows us to find information in seconds, and I swear by it. When searching ...

Japan is often said to be a "vertical" society, in which a given person has a higher or lower social ...

Japan is home to many interesting foods, only a small number of which are generally known to the outside world. ...