Japan

1. Japan

2. Japan’s First National Anthem In 1868, Japan started to step to the modern world, and in 1888, an anthem was created! They had no anthem before 1888. They actually used the words written from a “Tanka”, which is a poem with 31 syllables. They named this anthem “Kimigayo”, which actually means “The Emperor’s Reign” in Japanese, This song was written during the Emperor’s reign over Japan. Actually, there is one line in the anthem that is a part of a prayer. This anthem is sung in schools, festivals, and holidays. This anthem was written by Hiromori Hayashi.

3. Population, Area, Etc. • First, Japan is a part of Asia, even though it looks like an island. Japan in Japanese is Nihon. Nihon means “Sun origin”, usually Japan is also called “Land of the Rising Sun”. It is called this because it is so far East. • In Japan, there are a total of about 123,800,000 people! 8.2 people live in Tokyo, 3.2 people live in Yokohama, 2.6 live in Osaka, 2.1 living in Nagoya, 1.7 living in Sapporo, 1.5 living in Kobe,1.5 living in Kyoto, 1.2 living in Fukuoka, 1.2 living in Kawasaki, 1.0 living in Hiroshima, and 1.0 living in Kitakyushu. • In America, we pay in dollars, which stands for one hundred pennies or four quarters (USD). In Japan, they use yen. If we had two dollars, in yen, it would be 200 yen. Here’s something to remember, if you have 1,000,000 yen, it is 10,000 dollars. Just take away two zeros. • Sadly, Japan is one of the places the most earthquakes happen. Actually in January 1st, they have another earthquake.

4. Kimonos • Kimono- “A thing to wear” • A Kimono is normal to wear in Japan, it wraps around their bodies. Here is a description: • Kimonos are T-shaped, have long and wide sleeves, hemmed to ankle level, and wrap from left to right. • Actually, not all Kimonos are ankle level, there are ones called “Furisode”, which goes down to the floor! • Kimonos are also worn with Tabi (Split toed socks). • The only time that people don’t wear their Kimonos left to right is in burials.

5. Cities • In the cities, it is very crowded! There are buildings everywhere, there are traffic jams because of so many cars and buses traveling throughout the city. Think of it- Almost like a mall! Many stores are around many, many people are walking around, and it can be very fun, big, and bright! Okay- a LOT more crowded than a mall. There are HUGE buildings and lots of places to go!

6. Language • First, the vowels: Our order: a, e, i, o, and u. In Japan it’s a, i, u, e, and o. The I sounds like an E, A sounds like A in Ah, E as in Upset, U sounds like two Os, and O as in Sold. • We pronounce Murasaki (Mur uh sock ee) with an R after the U, but in Japan, they pronounce Rs like Ls. • Anyway, have you ever heard of the Japanese word “Desu”? Desu can be pronounced “Des-u” or “Des”. Desu means “it is”. • We say “Hello” in Japan they say “Konichiwa”. • Now, we will say “Hello, how are you?” Well, in Japan, they say “Konichiwa, Ogenkidesu ka?” • We say “Hello, my name is _” in Japan, they will say “Konichiwa, watashi no namaewa _ desu.” • Goodbye in Japanese is “Sayonara”. • Here is how you say colors in Japanese: • Red- Aka • Blue- Ao or Aoi • Green- Midori • Pink- Pinku • Purple- Murasaki • Orange- Orenji • Yellow- Kiiroi

7. Names • In Japan, their names have a meaning. Their meanings are not just a name like “Sophia” or “Kelly”. Japanese names have many meanings. The following shown are real names used as examples: • “Sakura”- “Cherry Blossom” • “Minoru”- “Truth” • “Sora”- “Sky” • In Japan, they take on meaning and another meaning, then they put them together to make another name. Here are more examples: • “Shizuka”- “Shizu” which means “Quiet” and “Ka” which means “Summer”, So it means “Quiet Summer” in Japanese. • “Momoko”- “Momo” which means “Peach” and “Ko” meaning “Child”. It means “Peach Child” in Japanese. • Another thing is that in Japan, they pronounce English names a little differently. Here is an example: • In English: “Kayla”. In Japanese “Keira”. • Unlike in America, in Japan, they put the family name ( Last name) first. Here is a comparison: • The order in America: Marie Winston. • The order in Japan, Winston Marie.

8. Addressing People • In Japan, people will have a suffix added to their names when people are talking to address them. • San~ This suffix is used to address Ms. Mrs. Or Mr. The most common suffix. • Chan~ Something cute to call little kids. • Sama~ A suffix that means you have great respect for them. • Sensei~ A suffix to address a teacher. • Kun~ A suffix that can be used for a friend, but mostly it is used for boys, though it can be used for girls, too.

9. Festivals During the Summer time, Japan holds festivals, they watch fireworks, eat chocolate covered bananas, and play festival games. Usually, they will walk around and look at the sights and meet with their friends and family. They play very interesting games, like Goldfish Scooping. Yes, Goldfish Scooping. What they do is they take a little net, then they get like a bag or a glass bowl and scoop as many Goldfish as they can. Lots of them are also like Prize-Winning games, like in America. They can even buy different masks and walk around in them. Though, when they are at festivals, they wear something that is called a “Yukata”. They look like they have long, baggy sleeves, a long dress-like torso which is wrapped around their bodies, a small belt that wraps around the torso part of the Yukata, and there are different patterns on a Yukata. When people go to these festivals, they may put their hair up, or get their hair done.

10. School • In school, the students wear uniforms. They have winter uniforms, and summer uniforms. Every year during school, They wear uniforms- almost like sailor uniforms, the difference is they may sometimes either a bow or a tie. In the Winter, They wear long sleeved shirts and the rest of their clothing whether which gender they are, then in the Summer, They wear shorter sleeved shirts, sometimes, they are a different color. It actually depends on the school, it may be blue in the winter, and purple in the summer. • During school in Japan, students have two pairs of shoes. Indoor shoes and Outdoor shoes. They must change their shoes when they go outdoors and change back when they are indoors. • During lunch, there is a cart that goes around and delivers the student’s lunch boxes. They eat at their desks.

11. Japanese Art • In Japan, Many people who are into art may paint on silk or paper with ink, though this was a long time ago. Now, people are more into Anime or Manga. • Manga is a Japanese book filled with pictures and most of the time have a storyline, Or some may be very random. Manga is just like comics or a graphic novel. Be careful though! Some Mangas can have a lot of gore and violence (Some have so much, it’s ridiculous!) or some Mangas have little bit of gore. • Anime is the animated version, it may not have as much detail, or even more detail than the Manga. Since Mangas have black and white pages, The Anime has to choose the color.

12. Food • About 100 years ago, Japan was filled with farmers. Many farmers worked to grow rice! Rice was one of the most popular crops in Japan at the time. Now, Japan doesn’t eat rice as much but eats Western food like bread, meat, and more! Did you know that less rice was sold as much as there were grown? It’s true! • In Japan, they are now eating meat. In the past, They used to forbid meat because they followed Buddhist precepts. They have sukiyaki made of beef now. • In Japan since it is a country that is an island, they eat a lot of fish! What do you think sushi is made out of? They have also eaten seaweed and octopus. At first, the Japanese considered rice and fish to be vegetables!

13. Snacks • There are many Japanese candies, cookies and sodas that are so amazing! I will list the snacks! • Pocky- A Japanese cookie that takes the shape of a line. ¾ of it is covered in a flavoring. It could be chocolate, strawberry, almond and more! • Gummies- A squishy candy that is chewy and takes the shape of a fruit depending on its flavor. There are so many flavors! • Sodas- They kind of remind me of Sprite, but it doesn’t exactly have the Sprite flavor. There can be fruit flavored sodas like Strawberry, Watermelon, and Grape!

14. Mount Fuji Mount Fuji is the Biggest mountain in Japan by 3776 meters! It is actually a dormant volcano which it last erupted in 1708! Also, it is a sacred place! It is popular with artists and more people! You can view it on a train! People even sometimes climb it! Can you believe climbing 3776 meters of mountain? That seems very risky!

15. Sakura • In Japan, there are trees that are celebrated in the Spring time! They have beautiful Sakura petals. They are one of the most beautiful, celebrated trees in Japan!!!! During these festivals for Sakura, people have Hatamis under the Sakura trees. A Hatami is a picnic under the Sakura trees. Hatamis were there for centuries! Usually, people will go to view these cherry blossom trees, they come only in the Spring time!

16. Funerals • In Japan, When a person dies, The shrine closes and white paper is over the shrine to keep out the impure spirits of the dead. Inside, flowers and an incense is kept next to the person’s bed. There may be a dagger placed on the deceased person’s chest to drive away evil spirits. • Now, 99.81% of the people in Japan are cremated.

17. Weddings • In Japan, The couple must fill out a form like paper at the office of their government, Then they must produce the documentation for the ceremony. They hold the ceremonies at a Shinto Shrine. • There are two sets of headgear, The Wataboshi, a pure white one, And a Tsunokakushi, which means that the bride will be an obedient bride. • At first, They will rehearse the wedding. The father will walk the bride to the groom, then the bride’s father and the groom bow to each other. • The celebrant of the wedding will wear a cross with two rings attached together to show that the couple will commit to sharing a life in the bond of holy matrimony. Then they will be announced as a new couple.

18. Quiz Time! :D • 1- How many people live in Japan? • A- 46,000 B- 123,800,000 C- 80,000,000 • 2- What does Nihon-koku mean? • A- Land of the Rising Sun B- Candyland C- The Eastern Island • 3- What was the food people in Japan were not allowed to eat back then? • A- Meat B- Fish C- Rice • 4- If I had 4,000 dollars, how much would it be in Japan? • A- 400,000 yen B- 5 yen C- 500,000 yen • 5- What do people wear at Japanese festivals? • A- A Yukata B- Sweat pants and a striped shirt C- A Kimono

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