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Japan

Introduction
Japan is an Island country in East Asia in the Pacific Ocean, East of China, Korea and Russa.
Japan is known by “The Land of the Rising Sun”
The culture of Japan has evolved a lot, the last few years seens the original Jamon culture.
Nowadays Japanese culture its combined by a certain number of influences for example, Brazil,
Europe and North America. This resulted on several wave of immigration from the Asian
mainland, the Pacific islands, followed by a big influence from China.
Japan became an isolated country until the end of the 19 th century. After the Second World
War Japan received a strong foreign cultural influence, as this result, Asia developed a
distinctly different culture from the rest of Asia.
Despite all the influences from all this country’s Japan build up their own system of arts, craft
techniques, entertainment, music, traditions and of curse is’ wondaful cuisine.

Customs and traditions

Traditional Japanese Wedding

Wedding ceremony in Japan can be western style and Japanese traditional style “Shinzen
Shiki”
Western Style is conducted by a Christian Church, in the other side “Shinzen Shiki” is held at a
Shinto shrine or Buddhsit temple
Wedding ceremony starts with the purification, and the priest offering prayers to the gods. The
bride and groom share three nuptial cups of sake. This is called “san-san-kudo”. The bride and
groom take three sips of sake from the small, medium, and large cups.
And then the groom reads words of commitment, and then the ceremony ends with symbolic
offerings to the gods. Many couples now exchange wedding rings, which is one of the new
traditions borrowed from the West.

Traditional Tea Ceremony

This ritual is organized in a tea house (what Chinese call Garden) and has the intention of
purifying the soul and becoming synced with the nature.
In this ceremony there are two main concepts Water “yin” and fire in the hearth “yang”, when
putting the two the words combined “ying-yang” symbolising heaven and earth.

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Religion
In this Asian country, 96% of the population are Buddhist. This religion was created by the
Indian populations and it’s based on a series of original teaching attributed to Gautama
Buddha, beliefs and spiritual practices.

Artes and Craft

ABURAE - One of many forms of Japanese painting, ‘aburae’ refers to oil painting, in
contrast to other styles.

ANIME - Encompasses both hand-drawn and computer-generated animation

BONSAI - Involves the studied cultivation of plants into miniature forms, trained and
sculpted to mimic a fully-grown tree.

DARUMA - Often made from papier mache and then hand-painted, the dolls are named
after an Indian monk who transmitted Zen Buddhist practices to China.

MANEKI-NEKO - Beckoning cats are believed to bring good luck to their owners.

Celebrations
 New year Festival - January 1st
 Season Change - Febuary 3rd or 4th
 Doll Festival - March 3rd
 Children’s Day - May 5th
 Tanabata Festival – July 7th
 Bon Festival – August 15th

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Education
In Japan the students haver very restrictive rules for education and learning.
 They spend 240 days a year at school
 School days begins at 8:30 always!
 Students’ behaviour on the way to school is regulated by school policy
 Teachers move from room to room (not the students)
 Cram school
 Most prestigious universities

Food

Japanese cuisine has been developed through centuries of political, economic, and social
changes.

The traditional cuisine of Japan (washoku) is based on rice with miso soup and mush more
dishes
There is an overuse of seasonal ingredients. Side dishes often consist of fish, pickled
vegetables, and vegetables cooked in broth. Seafood is common, often grilled, but also
served raw as sashimi or in sushi.

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Colombia

Many cultures, many voices | Maria Inês Carimbo Góis Nº18