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General Information
.....Japan -- In Japanese "Nihon,"
pronounced: 'knee - hone.'
.....Japan was founded in 660 BC
by Emperor Jimmu, pronounced "gee - mm - moo"
.....Population: 126,974,628 (July
2002).
.....Capitol: Tokyo
.....There are 47 prefectures in
Japan: Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima,
Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa,
Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto,
Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita,
Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka,
Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata,
Yamaguchi, Yamanashi
.....Mt.
Fuji (Fujiyama "fuh - gee - yah - mah") is 3,776 miles
above sea level.
.....Japan is filled with many
dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences--IE
earthquakes (mostly tremors) every year. As well as tsunamis
and typhoons.
(( Information attained from CIA
- The World Factbook 2002 ))
Music
(Two-Mix; Popular J-pop Group) |
(Crazy J-Rocker) |
.....In
Japan there is a wide variety of music. The current youngsters
enjoy pop, rock, and rap -- by Japanese, Korean, Chinese, British,
and especially American bands and singers (currently the pre-teens
and young teens are keen on Aaron Carter, Britany Spears, and
Christina Agulara). Idol stars are also popular, like one-hit-wonders
they usually come in big (usually because they're cute and on
T.V., not because they can sing) and go out quiet. Enka, 'ehn
- kah,' is "modern folk music," but nothing like our
country western singers. It is slow paced and "traditional"
sounding, and popular with an older audience. Also there is
"new music" which is a half-and-half pop and enka,
this music apeals more to older audiences but is still very
popular.
Anime
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.....Anime,
'ah-knee-meh,' is actually more popular in America than it is
in Japan (in Japan you would not find a crazed anime fan older
than 20, in America, there are crazed anime fans as old as 50).
This fact may be because they do not see it as 'foreign' as
we do, and they are also very used to seeing anime as it is
everywhere.
.....Anime is the newest artstyle
to emerge since abstract. Starting in the 70's it is purely
Japanese. The basis behind it is large eyes, smooth movement,
and strong facial features. Many people start their studies
about Japan because of anime (as I did), thus anime is a window
into other worlds and cultures. Anime was, however, orrigionally
inspired by the works of Walt Disney, and was firstly designed
by the mastermind Osamu Tezuka (who wrote "Astro Boy"
[called "Tetsuwan Atomu" in Japan]). Online, anime
is the second largest subject for pages--in other words there
is more anime pages than any other types of pages, except for
one, online.
Yoko Kanno is a popular and incredibally tallented producer,
singer, songwriter, composer, and musition who specializes in
Anime music. |
Music in Anime
.....Music soundtracks from anime
are popular in Japan (though more popular for the American Otaku*)
and sometimes anime songs even play on their radios.
.....Also, some artists get recognized
and rise to fame after creating a song or two for an anime.
Anime producers will also pay a lot of money to have a certain
band or song be included in their anime.
*Otaku means "obsessed fan," somewhere
the meaning changing from a general obsession to a specifically
anime obsession. |
Related Links:
Anime
in the Northwest
Anime
University
School
.....Japanese schools are year-round.
The school year starts in April --when the cherry blossoms fall,
making for a majestic return-- and ends in early March. They
have a Spring, Winter, and Summer break which extends about
2 or 3 weeks each and their school day is much the same as our
8 hour day. In most Japanese schools, however, the students
stay in the same classroom all day while the teachers move from
room to room. After school many students go to "cram schools"
(jyuku, 'jew - ku') to learn more and to help them be top students
for their many, many exams.
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.....In
Japan there are entrance exams for nearly every school. Depending
on your score you can either be excepted or declined. Many students
do extra studying to make sure they can get into a top school.
In Japan there are public, private, and specialty schools.
.....Most Japanese schools have
school uniforms. These vary in color and fabric but overall
look very much the same. Girls are required to wear skirts,
and boys pants. However during the hot, humid summers of southern
Japan both boys and girls are allowed to wear shorts.
Related Links:
Seirei Christopher Highschool
Language
.....The Japanese language is incredibally
beautiful and stunning. The kanji ('kahn - gee') on the right
hand of this page are "ni" ('knee') and "hon"
('hone'), "ni" meaning Sun, and "hon" meaning
Origion. Roughly translated this means "Origion of the
Sun," the reason why Japan is called the "land of
the rising sun." This reasoning also falls in line with
a ledgend speaking of a Japanese Goddess, Amaterasu, who was
Goddess of the Sun and Guardian of Japan.
Related Links:
Learn a Little Japanese
CHS
Japanese Class Page
KanjiSite Dot
Com
Customs
.....Japan is traditionally a very
polite place, however more and more these days the current generation
is taking onto "Americanism" -- the "I don't
care anymore" mentality. However there are many, many Japanese
customs that are still alive today.
..........Festivals
.....There are quite a bit of festivals
in Japan, some national, some local, and some depending upon
the weather of the area. A nationwide and most practiced festival
is that of Hanami ( 'hah - nah - me' )--or Flower Viewing. In
the spring, slowly spreading across the country as the weather
changes, the Cherry Blossom Trees flower. They stay vibrabt
and beautiful on the trees and fall for about a week. The orrigional
meaning behind the cherry blossoms was to respect and mourn
the Samurai. The cherry blossom's short but beautiful life symbolizes
the short and beautiful lives of the samurai. During the spring
people would go outside with a small bottle of "sake"
( 'sah - keh' ), Japanese rice wine, and think about life. These
days, however, the cherry blossoms sybolize to students the
beginning of the new school year, and are found to be an excuse
for adults to go on picknicks and get drunk.
..........Table Manners
.....Before eating a meal the Japanese
say "itadakimasu" ( 'i - tahdah - key - maus' ), and
after finishing they say "gochisosama" ( 'go - chee
- so - sahmah' ).
Food
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.....Japanese
food is an aquired taste. Sushi ( 'sue - she' ) is for some
people a delicious delicacy, but others find it very repulsive.
Sushi is, in essence, rice, raw crab or fish, and some sort
of vegetable wrapped in seaweed. Japanese food almost always
includes a helping of rice, as it has been their native foodsource.
Related Links:
Japanese
Cuisine at About Dotcom
Japanese Recipes
at Midori Mart Dotcom
Recipe
Source Japan
Tokyo Food Page
Clothes
.....Japans
clothes these days are exactly like our westernized clothes.
The youth of Japan wears much the same styles and fashions as
the youth of Europe and America, as well as a few fashions of
their own.
.....However, in Japan there is
a devoted sense to their history that they hold. The kimono
is a popular garment for the Japanese to wear. It is commenly
seen on Japanese citizens on off hours as they rest in their
home, on older more traditional Japanese persons, on children
during school festivals, on temple workers and persons on vacation
at temples or hotsprings, as well as during the many, many national
and local holidays and festivals. The kimono is a beutiful outfit
that varies in style and composition from male to female to
the occasion at which it is being worn.
Related Links:
A History
of Kimono
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