The Ashikaga Fireworks Festival, held on the first Saturday of August, is one of my favorite firework festivals. Firework makers each get about 5 minutes to show off their best creations. The festival starts from 7 pm and finishes at about 9 pm. This is one of the longer firework festivals. 20,000 fireworks in total, light up [...]
31st Kanagawa Shimbun Fireworks Festival. August 2, 2016. I recently went to a famous summer firework festival in Yokohama city. Here, I will share my experience. The Kanagawa Shimbun Fireworks Festival is an annual festival where more than 20 thousand people from around Japan gather to Yokohama. From the ocean, a total of 15000 fireworks [...]
Every country or culture values sleep in different ways. Japan’s concept of sleep is very unique and interesting. The average amount of sleep that Japanese people get per day is 6 hours and 15 minutes. This is ranked second lowest in the world. The countries that sleep the most are France and the Netherlands, with [...]
If you live in Japan, you will recognize that there are a number of distinct manners and customs. This is due to the fact that language and culture is strongly connected with respect and politeness. Bowing may be the first thing that pops into your mind when you think about manners. Japanese people bow a [...]
Opinions on Japan's compulsory education system differs greatly between Japanese people. Some say the system is putting too much pressure on students, while others say students should be studying for longer hours. For the past two decades, the Japanese education system saw change from the strict, jam-packed curriculum that had been dominating both public and private schools for [...]
Now that the tsuyu season has ended and the thick clouds have been blown away from Japan’s skies, summer has finally come. Summer is a time for long vacations with friends and families, as students get their longest holiday of the year and workers get their one-week O-bon holidays. Office workers have five days off during the [...]
Summer festivals are an important summer event in Japan. There are hundreds of small festivals for the local community, and many famous festivals that invite people from all over the world. During the summer, Japan celebrates O-bon, the period to celebrate the dead. In order to calm the spirits, people sang and danced together outside [...]
Japanese people do not wear shoes inside their homes. This unique shoe culture has been a part of Japanese culture for many centuries, and Japanese homes, both traditional and modern, are designed in certain ways because of it. The most noticeable design is the genkan. When you open the front door, you will immediately find a [...]
Mount Fuji, the most famous volcanic mountain in Japan, has been a national symbol for hundreds of years. It has been often depicted in various types of artwork. The famous ukiyoe paintings, the "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji," by Katsushika Hokusai, shows the famous mountain from different viewpoints. “Fine Breezy Day,” illustrates a red Mount Fuji [...]
Japan is a narrow island country with diverse geographic features. Its land is surrounded by the ocean, with plains, mountains, and volcanoes all down the middle. However, big cities that are popular tourist attractions like Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, do not have a lot of beautiful nature. The plains, mountains, and natural oceans that once dominated the land, have [...]