Study Overseas

Japanese culture has evolved greatly from the pre-historic Jõmon period to the hybrid culture of Asia, Europe and North America they have today. Japan is situated in northeastern Asia between the North Pacific and the Sea of Japan and is one of the cultural goldmines of the world.

There are so many elements that make the culture in Japan so unique that we would need to write a book to cover them all. Instead here are some facts about the main elements of the Japanese culture that make it so diverse and interesting to foreigners.

The Japanese Language

The Japanese language has got to be one of the most significant elements of the Japanese culture. The language is spoken throughout Japan but also in some other countries that have Japanese emigrant communities. It is an agglutinative language, meaning it glues words together, and the sound inventory of the Japanese language is quite small but has a distinct pitch accent system.

Japanese is written using a combination of three scripts: Hiragana which is from the Chinese cursive script, Katakana, which is derived as shorthand from Chinese characters, and Kanji which is imported from China. From this we can see that the Chinese language has heavily influenced the Japanese language. Most commonly used in modern Japanese is the Latin Alphabet and for numbers they use Hindu-Arabic numerals.

Japanese Artwork

Painting has been an art form in Japan for a very long time with a traditional writing tool being used for a brush. Japan is also famous for making paper with Chinese Papermaking being introduced in the 7^th century. Japan still uses its native painting technique today and this creates a very distinctive form of artwork with bold blocks of colour and distinguished lines.

The Japanese language and its flowing form is very suited to Calligraphy which in Japan is seen as an art form as well as a way of conveying information through writing. The Calligraphic writing can consist of phrases, poems, stories, or even single characters. The skilled Japanese calligrapher is able to use the style and format of the writing to mimic the subject matter, even to the point of texture and stroke speed.

Traditional sculpture in Japan is usually of Buddhist images that were originally made by the national government to try and improve its stature. Wood is the original material used to create Japanese sculpture although they were usually lacquered, gilded or painted using bright colours over the top. Now sculptures are often made from bronze or other metals.

Japanese Architecture

The architecture in Japan has a long history and was originally influenced by the Tang Dynasty in China. Throughout all the periods of Japanese architecture the traditional square roof with many layers and flicking out edges, elegant and intricate details and carvings has remained. The homes in Japan were designed around their faith in Buddha and also to show off their wealth to the world.

Modern Japanese architecture is still pioneering, as the Japanese have been leaders in the design for the modern skyscraper. Cities in Japan are very urban and dominated by large concrete infrastructure, as they have been inclined to experiment with very innovative forms of architecture. There is a real contrast between the traditional and the new architecture, the old and the new, in Japan.

Japanese Cuisine

Japanese meals are typically always based around one of their staple foods, rice or noodles, and combined with a soup and some sort of meat, vegetable, fish or tofu. The Japanese flavour their food with soy sauce, miso or dashi and are known for having cuisine that is very salty.

Okazu is a dish made from fish, meat, vegetables or tofu and a typical Japanese meal is made from rice or noodles, soup and a selection of Okazu dishes. Because of the Buddhism faith in Japan eating meat is a relatively new thing; most of their dishes used to be all seafood based. The ramen noodles that we frequently eat in the western world came from the Japanese cuisine.

Depending on the area of Japan you are in you should explore the regional cuisine, as there are differences throughout the country. Regional dishes will be made using local ingredients and traditional recipes, some of which date back hundreds and hundreds of years. The biggest difference in food across Japan is determining whether it is from the Kanto region or the Kansai region. The Kanto region foods taste very strong and use a dark soy sauce where as the Kansai region foods are more lightly seasoned and use a light soy sauce.

Japanese Clothing

The traditional clothing in Japan is different from that anywhere else in the world. The traditional garment in Japan is the Kimono which means “something one wears” and it used to refer to all clothing but now only to the long garment which is still worn on special occasions today by men, women and children. Kimonos come in a wide variety of colours, sizes and styles and men will usually wear a darker more muted colour where as women will favour bright colours. Younger women will often wear floral patterns and unique designs on their Kimono.