Introduction Cultural of Japan

The culture of Japan has evolved greatly over the years, from the country's original Jomon culture to its contemporary hybrid culture, which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America. After several waves of immigration from the continent and nearby Pacific islands, followed by a heavy importation of more sophisticated culture from China, the inhabitants of Japan experienced a long period of relative isolation from the outside world under the Tokugawa shogunate until the arrival of the "The Black Ships" and the Meiji era. As a result, a culture distinctively different from other Asian cultures developed, and echoes of this persist in contemporary Japan.

Traditional Japanese arts

crafts (ikebana, origami, ukiyo-e, dolls, lacquerware, pottery),
performances (bunraku, dance, kabuki, noh, rakugo),
traditions (games, tea ceremony, budō, architecture, gardens, swords,festival)
and cuisine(kaiseki,sushi).

The fusion of traditional woodblock printing and Western art led to the creation of manga, a typically Japanese comic book format that is now popular within and outside Japan. Manga-influenced animation for television and film is called anime. Japanese-made video game consoles have prospered since the 1980s.

Japanese music

is eclectic, having borrowed instruments, scales and styles from neighboring cultures. Many instruments, such as the koto, were introduced in the ninth and tenth centuries. The accompanied recitative of the Noh drama dates from the fourteenth century and the popular folk music, with the guitar-like shamisen, from the sixteenth. Western music, introduced in the late nineteenth century, now forms an integral part of the culture.




Post-war Japan has been heavily influenced by American and European modern music, which has led to the evolution of popular band music called J-Pop. Karaoke is the most widely practiced cultural activity. A November 1993 survey by the Cultural Affairs Agency found that more Japanese had sung karaoke that year than had participated in traditional cultural pursuits such as flower arranging or tea ceremony.

Japanese literature

The earliest works of Japanese literature include two history books the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki and the eighth century poetry book Man'yōshū, all written in Chinese characters. In the early days of the Heian period, the system of transcription known as kana (Hiragana and Katakana) was created as phonograms. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest Japanese narrative. An account of Heian court life is given by The Pillow Book written by Sei Shōnagon 清少納言, while The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki is often described as the world's first novel. During the Edo Period, literature became not so much the field of the samurai aristocracy as that of the chōnin, the ordinary people. Yomihon, for example, became popular and reveals this profound change in the readership and authorship.The Meiji era saw the decline of traditional literary forms, during which Japanese literature integrated Western influences. Natsume Sōseki 夏目漱石and Mori Ogai 森 鷗外were the first "modern" novelists of Japan, followed by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke 芥川 龍之介, Tanizaki Junichirō 谷崎潤一郎 , Kawabata Yasunari 川端 康成 , Mishima Yukio 三島 由紀夫, and, more recently, Murakami Haruki 村上春樹. Japan has two Nobel Prize-winning authors—Kawabata Yasunari 川端 康成(1968) and Oe Kenzaburo 大江 健三郎,(1994).

Glossary of Terms

*Tokugawa shogunate 徳川将軍家 -was a feudal military dictatorship of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family

*Meiji era 明治時代 - During this time, Japan started its modernization and rose to world power status. This era name (年号, nengō, lit. year name) means "Period of Enlightened Rule."

*ikebana 生け花 - is the Japanese art of flower arrangement

*origami 折り紙 - is the art of paper folding.

*ukiyo-e 浮世絵 - is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints

*Bunraku 文楽, also known as Ningyō jōruri 人形浄瑠璃 - is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater

*kabuki 歌舞伎 - is a form of traditional Japanese theatre.

*Noh, Nō, 能 or Nōgaku 能楽 - is a major form of classic Japanese musical drama.

*Rakugo 落語 (literally "fallen words") - is a Japanese entertainment form based on comical monologues.

*Budō 武道 - is a Japanese term describing martial arts.

*Kaiseki 懐石 - was a light meal served at a Japanese tea ceremony but is now also used for a style of light meal, a tasting menu, served in a Japanese restaurant.

*Manga 漫画 - is the Japanese word for comics and print cartoons.

* koto 箏 - is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument.

* shamisen or samisen 三味線 ( literally "three taste strings"), also called sangen (literally "three strings") - is a three-stringed musical instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi.

*Kojiki or Furukotofumi 古事記, (also known in English as the Records of Ancient Matters ) - is the oldest surviving book in Japan.

*Nihon Shoki 日本書紀,( sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan) - is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history.

*Hiragana 平仮名 - is a Japanese syllabary.

*Katakana 片仮名 - is a Japanese syllabary.

*The Edo period 江戸時代 (also called Tokugawa period) - is the beginning of the early modern period of Japan.

*Samurai 侍 - was a term for the military nobility in pre-industrial Japan.

*Chōnin 町人 ("townsman") - was a social class that emerged in Japan during the early years of the Tokugawa period.

*Yomihon 読本 ("reading books") - is a type of Japanese book from the Edo period.

by Aeris XD