Japanese Culture

Culture of Japan

Japanese culture may vary from island to island as Japan itself is made up of 6888 islands and 4 main islands but only 430 of the islands are inhabited. Japan is in just off the East coast of Asia and is surrounded by sea.

Food:

Most meals in Japan consist of rice and seafood. This is because Japan is surrounded by the ocean filled with many kinds of unique sea creatures. The food in Japan has very low calories and has many kinds of preserved vegetables in it. The food is left to be plain or bland in flavour in order to for the food’s natural flavours to fully be released.

Clothing:

Clothing in modern-day Japan is much like what people from western cultures wear as most of the people in Japan work similar jobs to us. However traditional Japanese clothing is very unique. Japanese clothing is incredibly soft due to it being made out of soft materials such as silk and traditional Japanese clothing is made up of many bright colours and floral patterns.

Values, Attributes and Beliefs:

The values and beliefs of Japan are very similar to surrounding Asian countries. Those similarities are the respecting elders, honouring the dead and honouring gods and other deities. In Japanese culture respecting your surroundings is one of the most common values as in Japans two most popular religions believe that every and all of the things on earth possesses kame (God). In modern Japan, it is considered rude to make one's self-stand out while in public.

Dancing and Music:

In traditional Japanese culture dancing and music goes hand in hand. The traditional Japanese music uses many wind intruments and drums. However in traditional Japanese dancing varies a lot depeneding on the history of the tradition. For example kagura dancing is a dance preformed to please and praise the Gods where as many other forms of dancing are used as ways of telling stories from the past.