Tenno(The Emperor)

In the Constitution of Japan, it is stipulated that "the Emperor shall be the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people."

The current tenno, Akihito, is the 125th Emperor, counting from Jinmu Tenno, who was the first to be enthroned in 660 B.C..

In this span, the role of Emperor was at times one of real power, at times only the nominal sovereign.

In the Meiji Constitution (the Great Japan Imperial Constitution) which was proclaimed in 1889 (Meiji 22),  

Emperor was made the chief of state with political and military power. but he lost that power with the Constitution of Japan which went into effect following the defeat in the Second World War.

From then until now, Emperor exists as a symbol without function in the administration of government and only carries out affairs of state as national ceremonies.

Koshitsu(Imperial Household)

The family headed by the Emperor is called koshitsu or kozoku. Koshitsu has no surname but uses the appellation miya(meaning "prince," or "princess") granted by the Emperor.

The Imperial Household Agency, an extra-ministerial bureau of the Prime Minister's Office, administers public matters involving koshitsu as a part of the affairs of state.

Gengo(Era names)

In Japan the custom of expressing the years by the Christian calendar has begun to take root, but in most scenes the original Japanese era designation is still being used.

This original era designation began in China from the notion of the Emperor as dominant even over the time period, and it happened first in Japan with the Taika designation in the year 645.

from the Meiji Period on gengo marked a single emperor's reign and were changed only upon succeeding to the throne.

Right Now , Gengo is Reiwa.

Kokka(The national anthem)

The Japanese kokka is "Kimi-ga-yo."

"Kimi" refers to the Emperor, and the words contain the prayer:

"May the Emperor's reign last forever."

This song was originally taken from one of waka, classical Japanese poems, in the "Kokinwakashu, compiled in the early tenth century, an era when the Emperor reigned over the people.

at present it is sung as kokka at national festivals, international events, schools, and on national holidays.

With sumo, the national sport, it is also sung on the last day of a tournament when the champion receives his awards, by the whole spectators standing up.

君が代は

千代に八千代に

さざれ石の

いわおとなりて

こけの生すまで

May your reign

Continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations,

Until the pebbles

Grow into boulders

Lush with moss

Kokki(The national flag)

The Japanese kokki has a red circle on a white background.

"Japan basically means "land of the rising sun," so the red circle is a symbol of the rising sun.

Just as the British flag is called "the Union Jack" and the American flag "the Stars and Stripes,"

the Japanese flag is called "hinomaru."

Kokka(The national flower)

The flower that is most beloved by the Japanese people and that symbolizes Japan is the cherry blossom.(Sakura)

From the cherry blossom which falls only within a week or so, the Japanese sense beauty, as well as transience, melancholy, and perhaps honor of graceful resignation.

The lyricism of the Japanese people has been closely connected with this flower from ancient times; since the Heian Period(794-1185), it has been often included in classical Japanese poems.

Kiku(Chrysanthemums)

Kiku were originally produced in China and were brought to Japan in the eighth century.

They underwent various improvements that appeal to Japanese tastes, and now have become the typical fall flower of Japan just as the springtime cherry blossom.

Thus, there is an extremely wide range of varieties, in white, yellow, pink, and red colors and large, middle and small sizes.

kiku is regarded as a symbol of the subtle sense of beauty held by the Japanese people.

Kokucho(The national bird)

The bird that represents Japan is the pheasant. Native to Japan, the pheasant has been a familiar bird to the people since ancient times and was designated kokucho in 1947.

It lives in wooded areas and grassy fields away from human habitation.

Geographical features

Japan is an arc-shaped archipelago that stretches a long way from northeast to southwest. The four islands Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyusyu are the main islands making up the archipelago, and, if the southwestern islands centered around Okinawa are included, the length of the archipelago comes to 3,500 km.

61 % of the land is precipitous mountains covered with forests. Meanwhile, the flat areas, including the open country and mountain valleys where people can live, amount to only 24 %. 65% of the population is centered there.

the population density on the land that is habitable is among the highest in the world.

The climate

Except their the southwestern islands belonging to the subtropical zone, the Japan Islands belong to the temperate zone.

With these characteristics of the seasons, the Japanese, who are an agricultural people, have developed a keen sense of the seasons in relation to agriculture; that has influenced their aesthetic senses and has shaped their sensibility.

Typhoons

When a subtropical low pressure zone in the South Pacific develops, and start to hit Japan, it is called taifu. 

Every year from summer into autumn, taifu cause the Japan Islands great storm and flood damage.

There are destruction of buildings and reduction of crops from storm damage and breakdown of power lines from the salt winds, and there is damage from torrential rain such as floods, things being swept away, mudslides, landslides, and rock slides.

Earthquakes

The Japanese humorously express the ranking of things to be feared in this world as: "earthquakes, thunder, fires, fathers."

Jishin produce so much damage and occur so frequently in every region of the Japan Islands that they are ranked as the number one phenomenon to be feared.

When one looks at jishin on a global scale, the Japan Islands are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire .

Kazan(Volcanoes)

Volcanoes regions run along the Japan Islands, almost overlaying the earthquake belts, and together they form the world's most active earthquake and kazan region. Kazan in some regions occasionally have major eruptions causing damage at the foot of the mountains. Mt. Fuji has had large eruptions a number of times in the past, and it is believed to erupt again.

These kazan not only cause damage to the Japan Islands, they also cause hot springs to gush out in various parts of the country and so are conducive to the good health of the people.

Known for a long time to be effective against various illnesses, there are hot springs all over Japan.

Forests

67％ of the land in Japan is forests. The reason why there are so many forests is, first of all, that there is a lot of precipitation that prepares the conditions for nurturing forests.

The fact that mountainous regions comprise 61% of the land is a further reason why shinrin areas are plentiful.

Oceans

Japan is an island nation surrounded by oceans.

On the Pacific side, the warm Black Current flows from the south and the Kurile Current comes down from the north, meeting almost at the center of the archipelago, forming the world's three "big catch" fishing spots.

The sea of Okinawa, on the south of Japan, is famous worldwide for the clear water and one of the world's most noted coral reefs 

Snow country

In winter, a chilly seasonal wind blows from Siberia, striking the mountain range that runs through the central part of Honshu from the northeast to the southwest and causing heavy snowfall on the Japan Sea side.

There is not much snowfall on the Pacific Ocean side of the mountain range.

 Rivers, Lakes

Because the Japan Islands are 61% composed of steep mountainous regions and have a lot of rainfall, naturally there are many of both kawa(River) and mizuumi(Lake). Reflecting those geographical features, kawa have rapid currents and abundant amounts of water. In addition, forests in the mountainous regions preserve water well: because this turns into underground water, there is a lot of spring water and clean water flows into kawa and mizuumi.

Japan is beautiful thanks to the volcanoes!

Japan has a number of volcanic zones, so volcanic activity is common and earthquakes tend to occur very often.

On the other hand, thanks to the volcanoes, the geography is varied;

you can see deep canyons in the mountains and elaborate coast lines, along with many beautiful scenic views

and hot springs. Rivers are relatively narrow and rapid, and flat plains surround the areas

where rivers run into the sea.

Onsen are popular resorts on the volcanic island of Japan

Most Japanese people love bathing in hot springs, called onsen.

The custom of soaking in a bathtub is also very common at home and,

in addition to that, Japan is a volcanic island with more than 2,000 hot spring resorts.

An onsen resort is a place we love, and also a place to cure disease and promote health at the same time.

Onsen water is said to be good for the treatment of neuralgia and skin disease,

and is also said to be able to cure visceral diseases such as gastroenteritis, respiratory diseases and so on.

Fuji-san(Mount Fuji)

Fuji-san is Japan's highest mountain, known throughout the world for its beauty. It is 3,776 meters high, located almost in the middle of Japan, and in the past erupted frequently. Since 1707 volcanic activity has ceased, but geologically it is a dormant volcano.

Nihongo (Japanese)

There is no established theory as to which language family Nihongo linguistically belongs to. Its structure is completely different from that of the Indo-European languages, to which English and French belong, so as seen from the West it is a language difficult to acquire.

Nihongo was formed within a comparatively stable community for a long time.

Thus, the Japanese, as members of the community, could have understood each other without utterance, on matters already well-known to them; so the form of abbreviating certain part of utterance was developed.

In addition, because it is expected that the other person will realize what one wants to say, strong assertions are avoided.

On this point, Western people sometimes are tied into the misunderstanding that Japanese do not clearly express their opinions.

 Moji(Characters)

Modern Japanese consists of three kinds of moji: the ideographic Chinese characters known as kanji and the phonetic characters known as hiragana and katakana. Originally, Japanese had no moji, but in the fifth century documents came to be recorded using Chinese characters.

The Japanese devised the way of reading those Chinese characters in a Japanese way and, based on Chinese characters, created the phonetic characters.

The basis for phonetic moji was established in the Heian Period(794-1185), and it is with such moji that MURASAKI Shikibu completed the world's oldest novel, "Genji Monogatari"(The Tale of Genji).

Chinese characters for everyday use

It is a shame that most Japanese do not have little knowledge of Japanese cultures such as the origin of Kanji

and cannot expain them in English.

One of the goals of Asatore class is to foster many Japanese who can express ourselves

and our culture very well in English.

Nihongo-kyoiku(Japanese-language education)

At present in many countries around the world, especially in Pacific rim regions, Japanese-language education is flourishing. The reason is nothing but the increased necessity to contact and converse with the Japanese.

Because in the late 1980s students of Japanese language increased abruptly, the number of instructors and the amount of instructional material are insufficient.

Keigo(Honorific language)

In Japanese, keigo is remarkably developed and is counted as a key characteristic of the language.

However, keigo has developed not only in Japanese but also in most Asian languages, such as Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese and Javanese.

Common among these is using exalted terms for others and humble terms for oneself.

Hogen(Dialects)

Various regions in Japan are separated by mountains, so communities, unable to come and go easily, developed their own respective hogen. Among Latin-based languages, for example, French and Spanish are quite similar and it is possible to call them hogen of Latin; similarly Japanese dialects in some cases also have close differences.

Sumo

This is traditional Japanese wrestling and in 1909 was established as the national sport.

In ancient times, it was practiced as agricultural and Shinto rituals, so it still today includes many ceremonial elements.

Shiko (Stamp)

When sumo wrestlers enter the ring, they repeat an action of stamping down the dirt. This is an important, basic action for wrestlers to train the lower half of the body. It is called shiko and is done repeatedly before and after practice. However, shiko is not simply a preparatory exercise. Since ancient times in Japan, there was the belief that stamping the earth swept away evil spirit and summoned right spirit; sumo wrestlers doing shiko also derived from a Shinto ritual of stamping underfoot evil spirits that lurk in the ground.

Shikiri (Toeing the mark)

Shikiri refers to the fighting posture taken by the wrestlers as they face each other in the ring, just prior to the start of the match. In sumo, the brief instant of standing up to wrestle decides the match, so, when the wrestlers are not in sync with each other, they repeat their toeing the mark any number of times.

Judo

Judo is one of Japan's representative techniques of hand-to-hand combat.

The key point of judo is to overwhelm an opponent by taking advantage of his force and weight. Judo techniques can be roughly divided into two categories:

Kendo (Japanese fencing)

Kendo is somewhat similar to fencing. It originally was propagated as a discipline for warriors and took its current form from around the middle of the Edo Period(1603-1867). In a kendo match, the two combatants wear protective outfits resembling armor(yoroi) and attack with bamboo swords. They score points by hitting their opponent's head, trunk, forearms or charging at their throat with the bamboo sword.

Karate

Karate was formed by combining Chinese kung-fu(kenpo) with Okinawan martial arts and developed as the art of self-defense. One fights not with weapons but with fists, elbows and feet. Basic tactics include the forward fist thrust, defense, kicking and the backward elbow thrust.

Aikido

Aikido is a martia art founded in the Taisho Period(1912-26) by Ueshiba Morihei(1883-1969), who had studied a number of the classical martial arts. Aikido emphasizes mental discipline and aimes not at felling one's opponent but at harmonizing with him. At first Ueshiba taught only some disciples and aristocrats, but after the war he taught the general public and the art spread throughout Japan.

Kenpo(The constitution)

In Japan during the Meiji Period(1868-1912), the Freedom and People's Right Movement arose calling for the enactment of a constitution and the establishment of the Diet, and in 1889 the Constitution of the Empire of Japan was enacted. However, sovereignty in this constitution rested with the Emperor, so it was not a modern constitution respecting human rights. The present Constitution of Japan was enacted at the request of the United States in 1946 immediately after Japan lost the war. Sovereignty rested with the people, its chief characteristics being the Emperor as symbol, by which the Emperor stands as a symbol of the nation of Japan, and permanent pacifism, which does not approve maintaining an army or the right of the nation to wage war. However, the constitution is conveniently interpreted depending on political conditions, and in fact it contains the contradiction of having military forces called the Self-Defense Forces; there is an emerging movement to take another look at the constitution itself.

Sanken-bunritsu(Separation of the three powers [of administration, legislation, and judicature])

The system of sanken-bunritsu, which is calculated to prevent the abuse of power by dividing the power of the State into legislative, judicial and administrative functions and allowing mutual checks, has also been adopted in Japan.

Naikaku(The Cabinet)

Naikaku is in charge of all aspects of administering the country. Its principal work involves domestic affairs, diplomacy, concluding treaties, drafting legislative proposals and budgets, and appointing the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

In Japan, adopting the parliamentary system, the Diet designates the prime minister from within its members, and the prime minister appoints the other State ministers. Among the State ministers, limited to 20 or less in number, the majority must be Diet members.

Kokkai(The Diet)

Kokkai consists of two chambers, the House of Representatives and House of Councillors, and is the highest organ of state and the only legislative one.  

Compulsory education

Compulsory education time period in Japan is nine years, six in elementary school and three in junior high, and the new school year begins in April. The three-term system is adopted, each term marked respectively by the summer, winter and spring vacations.

Every class has its own fixed classroom where its students take all the courses, except for ones in which practical training and laboratory works are carried out.  

The Ministry of Education closely supervises curriculum and textbooks, and classes with much the same content are taught throughout the country. As a result, through uniformity and homogeneity, a high standard of education becomes possible.

KOKO

High schools are usually referred to by the shortened form of koko. An entrance exam is required to enter a school and, in addition to the exam score, successful students are determined by considering junior high grades.

Today, the rate of students advancing to high school is 95%, with an increasing dropout rate of about 2%.

Daigaku(University)

Japanese daigaku are usually four years, but medical and dental schools are six years and junior college two.

Specialized schools

Specialized schools, as distinct from schools with regular curricula, are schools that cultivate the necessary knowledge and skills for special vocations. There are miscellaneous schools for professional education in all sorts of fields, such as language, fashion, nursing and cooking. Cram schools too are included among these schools. 

 Kabuki

This is one of the representative traditional theater forms of Japan, said to have begun around 1603 when Okuni, a female attendant of the Izumo Shrine performed "Nenbutsu folk dances" in Kyoto. Later, those performances gradually became to put emphasis on artistry, and was perfected as composite art that brought together theater, classical Japanese dance, and music.

Noh  

Noh is a performing art with plot and is Japan's oldest form of musical theater. It has flourished since the fourteenth century.

Kyogen 

Kyogen is classical Japanese comic theater and, like Noh, was established in the Muromachi Period(1392-1573) by the father and son pair, Kan'ami and Zeami. At first, Kyogen plays were performed in the intervals between Noh plays, but now they are staged independently and sometimes Kyogen actors take roles in Noh plays.

Nihonbuyo (Classical Japanese danc)

Nihonbuyo was born in the fifteenth century bringing together dance called odori that is the elements of mainly jumping movements with another dance called mai that principally involves circling movements and poses called furi that give a strong dramatic impression.

Gagaku (Ancient court music)

Gagaku is Japanese musical composition modeled on the music and dance brought from China and Korea in ancient times. Unique instruments are used such as a reed instrument, Shinto flute, thirteen-stringed koto, Japanese lute and drum.

Koto

Koto is a traditional Japanese stringed instrument, made of wood. It's about 180 centimeters in length, about 30 centimeters in width, and it is played with plectrums attached to the thumb, index and middle fingers of the right hand.

Shamisen

This is a stringed instrument shaped like a banjo, but its outstanding feature is that it has no frets. It is played by striking its three strings with a plectrum and is used as accompaniment for Kabuki and bunraku plays and for folk songs. It came from China through Okinawa and spread throughout Japan, in which it developed independently from the original style. It became the representative instrument of Japan since the Edo Period(1603-1867).

Shakuhachi (Five-holed bamboo clarinet)

Shakuhachi is a wind instrument made of bamboo.

Nihonga (Japanese paintings)

The paintings of Japan developed under the influence of techniques brought from China.

From the Nara Period(710-784) to the Heian Period(794-1185), the particular quality of Japanese-style painting gradually began to appear and was established as classical Japanese painting.

In the Kamakura Period(1185-1333), ink painting was introduced, again from China, and its uniquely Japanese style was perfected in the Muromachi Period(1392-1573). In the Edo Period(1603-1867), Ukiyoe flourished.

Suibokuga (Ink painting)

Suibokuga are pictures painted in India ink. Their special characteristic is the method of shading the India ink and making strong and weak strokes, and the atmosphere changes with the quality of the paper on which they are painted. After being brought over from China in the Kamakura Period(1185-1333), ink painting was at the height of its popularity in the Muromachi Period(1392-1573). At first, there were mostly religious paintings connected with teaching of the Zen sect, but, by the fifteenth century, it started to deal with subjects such as landscapes, flowers and birds. Suibokuga in Japan came to perfection with the painter priest Sesshu. After learning the art of suibokuga at its source in China, he created his own particular style of painting.

Ukiyoe (Pictures of the floating world)

Ukiyoe are paintings developed in the Edo Period(1603-1867), most of which became widespread as woodblock prints.

ukiyoe art is known for its influence on Van Gogh and the Impressionists.

Tojiki (Ceramics and porcelain)

Vessels made of earth, coated with a glaze and baked are ceramics and are not permeable by light. Meanwhile, porcelain are very hard and are permeable by light. These are all generally called tojiki.

Japanese tojiki are not only for practical use but are often works appreciated for their high art.

In the art of flower arrangement and the tea ceremony, the very appreciation of the flower vases and tea cups as vessels for their own sake is regarded as important; those arts, therefore, were connected all the more to the development of tojiki.

Shikki (Lacquerware)

Shikki is craftwork coated with lacquer, and it has been in general use in all over Southeast Asia for more than 2,000 years. Bamboo, wood and cloth materials are painted with a mixture of paints and concentrated lacquer tree sap. In Japan there was a strong influence from China in the sixth century when Buddhism was introduced, and the techniques of making shikki improved rapidly. Subsequently, shikki was used widely in daily life for furniture and tableware and before long it even came to be made for industrial art objects.

In the trade with Portugal and Holland in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it was widely introduced into Europe.

Kado, Ikebana (Flower arrangement)

Kado is a traditional Japanese art that has flourished since the sixteenth century. Also called ikebana, its origin is said to date from the sixth century when Buddhist priests offered up flowers before Buddha. Its fundamental concept is to express the three elements of heaven, earth, and mankind in a balanced composition,using natural flowers.

Sado (Tea ceremony)

Sado, also called chado or cha no yu, is the traditional etiquette of preparing and drinking tea when one has guests.

In the sixteenth century, Sen-no-Rikyu brought sado to perfection by incorporating the simple aesthetic values known as wabi(subtle taste) and sabi(elegant simplicity) and the concept that every single encounter never repeats in a life time(ichigo ichie). 

Shodo (Calligraphy)

Shodo is the art of drawing characters with a brush and India ink to express spiritual depth and beauty. Shodo originally came from China, but in Japan Chinese characters(kanji) were combined with the Japanese syllabary(kana), devised in Japan, to create this unique character art. With a brush soaked in India ink one can freely control, unlike with a pen, the thickness and the tone of the characters. That is how the calligraphers are able to express their spirits and ideas.

Haiku (Poems in seventeen syllables)

Haiku is poetry structured in the set form of 17 syllables, arranged in groups of 5, 7,and 5. It derives from the first line of the linked verse which alternately repeats a line in groups of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, and a line in groups of 7 and 7 syllables; in the Edo Period(1603-1867), MATSUO Basho established its present form. The designation haiku became widespread with the work of MASAOKA Shiki in the Meiji Period(1868-1912).

Tanka (Poems in thirty-one syllables)

Tanka is short, lyrical poetry structured in 31 syllables arranged in groups of 5, 7, 5, 7 and 7, syllables, in a two-part form with the first part in 5, 7, 5, and the second part in 7 and 7. Even in the "Man'yoshu,"(the Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) which is the Japan's oldest anthology of poetry, compiled in the eighth century, many of the poems were already composed in this form.

Geisha(Geisha)

Geisha are women who make a profession of providing entertainment for banquets. They do up their hair in the Japanese coiffure, go out to traditional inns and traditional Japanese-style restaurants wearing kimonos, sing traditional songs, play the shamisen and perform classical Japanese dance. There was a time when they were also prostitutes, so the sexual image is strong, but now the tendency is rather to regard them as working for a valuable profession that inherits traditional arts.