ALCHOHAL CULTURE IN JAPAN

Drinking plays an important role in Japanese society. Drinking parties, typically held at restaurants and izakaya, are a common activity that are used to strengthen both social and business ties. A large variety of alcoholic beverages can be foundin Japan. Some of the most popular ones are:

Beer : Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in Japan. The leading breweries are Asahi, Kirin, Suntory and Sapporo. The art of brewing beer was imported in the early Meiji Period from Germany as a development project for the northern island of Hokkaido.

Happoshu : Happoshu (lit. "sparkling alcohol",also known as low-malt beer) is arelatively recent invention by Japanese brewing companies.

Third beer : "Third beer" (also known as"Shin Janru" or "New Genre" is the most recent development in the Japanese beer industry. In order to counter tax changes that reclassified the malt content of beer and subsequently raised the price of happoshu, this beer-like beverage contains no malt, instead using pea, soya, or wheat spirits.
Rice Wine (nihonshu or sake) : Commonly called sake outside of Japan, nihonshu or sake (note that "sake" is also the general Japanese term for alcohol) is brewed using rice, water and white koji mold as the main ingredients.

Shochu, Awamori : Shochu is a distilled spirit with analcohol content usually between 20-40 percent. It is commonly made from rice, sweet potatoes, wheat and/or sugar cane. It is usually served mixed with water and ice, fruit juice and sparkling water, or oolong tea.


Chuhai : Chuhai (shortened from "shochu highball" are fruit-flavored alcoholic drinks with an alcohol content between 5-8 percent. Common flavors include lemon, ume, peach, grapefruit, lime, and mikan (mandarin orange).


Highball : Whiskey highball, often simply called highball, is a carbonated drink made of whiskey and soda water. Originally popularized in the 1950s, the drink has enjoyed a recent resurgence as it is successfully promoted as an alternative to beer. Highball has an alcohol content of between five and seven percent and is widely available at restaurants and sold in cans.

Plum wine (umeshu) : Umeshu is made of Japanese plums (ume), sugar, and shochu or nihonshu. Its sweet, fruity, juice-like flavor and aroma can appeal to those who normally dislike alcohol. Commonly made at home,

RELIGION IN JAPAN

Shinto and Buddhism are Japan'stwo major religions. They have been co-existing for several centuries and have even complemented each other to a certain degree. Most Japanese consider themselves Buddhist, Shintoist or both.
Religion does not play a big role in the everyday life of most Japanese people today. The average person typically follows the religious rituals at ceremonies like birth, weddings and funerals, may visit a shrine or temple on New Year and participates at local festivals (matsuri), most of which have a religious background.
Shinto ("the way of the gods" is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and as old as Japan itself. It remains Japan's major religion alongside Buddhism.
Introduction

• Shinto does not have a founder nor does it have sacred scriptures like the sutras or the bible. Propaganda and preachingare not common either, because Shinto is deeply rooted in the Japanese people and traditions.
• "Shinto gods" are called kami. They are sacred spirits which take the form of things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility. Humans become kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral kami. The kami of extraordinary people are even enshrined at some shrines. The Sun Goddess Amaterasu is considered Shinto's most important kami.

• Some prominent rocks are worshiped as kami.
• Shinto shrines are the places of worship and the homes of kami. Most shrines celebrate festivals (matsuri) regularly in order to show the kami the outside world.

• Important features of Shinto art are shrine architecture and the cultivation and preservation of ancient art forms such as Noh theater, calligraphy and court music (gagaku), an ancient dancemusic that originated in the courts of Tang China (618 - 907).

Shrines and Architecture

There are tens of thousands of shrines across Japan, some of which can be categorized into a few major groups of shrines. Some of these groups are:

* Imperial Shrines
* Inari Shrines
* Hachiman Shrines
* Tenjin Shrines
* Sengen Shrines
* Local Shrines

Japanese houses have thin walls because of the mild climate and overlapping, slanted, and slightly curved roofs because of the fact that there is plenty of rain especially during early summer. Timber is the traditional building material for Japanese houses. It makes them airy which is important during the humid summer months. The disadvantages are that the houses can be damaged easily by earthquakes and fires. Nowadays, concrete and steel are, of course, widely used as well.

• When Japan opened herself to the rest of the world around the year 1868, Western architecture began to displace traditional Japanese architecture. Nevertheless, some modern Japanese detached houses still have a typically Japanese appearance.

Traditional Japanese housing does not have a designated use for each room aside from the entrance area (genkan, 玄関), kitchen, bathroom, and toilet. Any room can be a living room, dining room, study, or bedroom. This is possible because all the necessary furniture is portable, being stored in oshiire, a small section of the house (large closets) used for storage. It is important to note that in Japan, living room is expressed as i-ma, living "space". This is because thesize of a room can be changed by altering the partitioning. Largetraditional houses often have only one ima (living room/space) under the roof, while kitchen, bathroom, and toilet are

Japanese History (till1336A.D.)

Jōmon period

The Jōmon period lasted from about 14,000 until 300 BC. The first signs of civilization and stable living patterns appeared around 14,000 BC with the Jōmon culture, characterized by a Mesolithic to Neolithic semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer lifestyle of wood stilt house and pit dwellings and a rudimentary form of agriculture.

Yayoi period

  The Yayoi period lasted from about 400 or 300 BC until 250 AD. This period followed the Jōmon period and completely supplanted it. This period is named after Yayoi town, the subsection of Bunkyō, Tokyo, where archaeological investigations uncovered its first recognized traces.

Prehistoric Japan

During the Jomon period, which began around 10,000 BC, the inhabitants of Japan lived by fishing, hunting, and gathering. The period is named after the cord-markings (jomon) on the pottery they produced. In the Yayoi period, beginning around 300 BC, rice cultivation was introduced from the Korean Peninsula. An account of Japan in a Chinese historical document of the third century AD describes a queen named Himiko ruling over a country called Yamatai.

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Kofun Period (ca. AD 300-710)

In the fourth century, ancestors of the present imperial family established Japan's first unified state under what is known as the Yamato court. During this period, manufactured articles, weapons, and agricultural tools were introduced from China and Korea. The period is named after the huge mounded tombs (kofun) that were built for the political elite. These tombs were often surrounded with clay cylinders and figurines called haniwa.

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Nara Period (710-794)

A centralized government, with its capital in what is now the city of Nara, was established under a Chinese-style system of law codes known as the Ritsuryo system. Buddhism became the national religion, and Buddhist art and architecture flourished. Provincial temples called kokubunji were set up throughout Japan. It was during this period that the Great Buddha at the Todaiji temple in Nara was built. Histories of Japan, such as Kojiki and Nihon shoki were compiled, as was the celebrated collection of poetry called Man'yoshu.

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Heian Period (794-1185)

After the capital moved to what is now Kyoto, certain noble families,especially the Fujiwara family, gained control of the government, ruling on behalf of the emperor. The Chinese-style culture that had dominated the Nara period was gradually replaced by a more indigenous style of culture closer to the lives of the people and their natural surroundings. The palaces of the emperor and the residences of the noble families incorporated beautiful gardens, with buildings in the shinden-zukuri style of architecture. Literary masterpieces such as Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji and Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book were written during this period.

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Kamakura Period (1185-1333)

The Taira family, a warrior family that had come to dominate the imperial court in the late Heian period, was overthrown by the Minamoto family. Minamoto no Yoritomo was given the title of shogun by the court, and he set up a military-style government at Kamakura - the Kamakura Shogunate - ushering in a period of de facto rule by members of the warrior class. In the arts, a vigorous, realistic style emerged that was in keeping with the warrior spirit. The statues of fierce guardian deities by Unkei and other sculptors at the Southern Great Gate of Todaiji Temple are examples of this powerful, realistic style. In literature, this period is noted for military tales such as the Tale of the Heike, which celebrated the exploits of the warriors.

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Important Dates Of Japan's History

Important Dates in Japan 660 BC According to myth, Jimmu Tenno became the first Emperor of Japan.

~AD 552 Buddhism came to Japan from China and Korea.
646 The Taika Reform began.
794 Emperor Kammu set up his capital in Heiankyo.
1192 Yoritomo became the first Shogun.
1543 Portuguese sailors became the first Europeans to reach Japan.
1592 and 1597 Japan tried to conquer Korea.
1603 The Tokugawa family of Shoguns took control of the government.
1639 The government forced all European traders except the Dutch to leave Japan.
1853 and 1854 Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the United States visited Japan and opened two ports to U.S. trade.

Japanse Culture

Japanese Culture

"A land of incredible diversity: modern yet steeped in custom; home of the friendliest of welcomes. A country of blazing neon lights and rugged mountains, coasts and valleys."

Japan has a fascinating and multifaceted culture; on the one hand it is steeped in the deepest of traditions dating back thousands of years; on the other it is a society in a continual state of rapid flux, with continually shifting fads and fashions and technological development that constantly pushes back the boudaries of the possible. It could therefore be said that Japan is a country of stark contradictions and is in part this that makes it such a fascinating country to visit and unique tourist destination. If you are looking for something different you are sure to find it here!

Traditional Dress
The kimono (着物) is a traditional Japanese dress. In modern day Japan, it is worn only sparingly or during special occasions such as weddings, tea ceremonies, formal traditional events and funerals. An appropriate style and color of kimono is to be worn depending on the occasion and the person's age and marital status.
Men's kimono usually have more subdued colors and are made typically from matt fabrics. Partly for this reason, it is the women's kimono that generate more interest because their beautiful designs make them art pieces as much as they are garments. The women's kimono is traditionally made of silk, but these days they are also made of polyester. Decoration techniques include embroidery, yuzen painting and dyeing.
The price of a kimono can range from around 10,000 yen for a simple set made of cheap fabric to millions of yen for a luxurious silk outfit with intricate embroidery or yuzen designs. The outfit is usually accompanied by geta footwear (traditional wooden clogs) and a small handbag for women.