Japanese Culture
Japanese is the official and primary language of
Japan, and is also used by most Japanese immigrant communities around the globe.
It is an agglutinative language and the sound inventory of
Japanese is relatively small but has a lexically distinct pitch-accent
system. Early Japanese is known largely on the basis of its state in the 8th
century, when the three major works of Old Japanese were compiled. The earliest
attestation of the Japanese language is in a Chinese document from 252 AD.
Japanese is written with a combination of three scripts: hiragana, derived from the Chinese cursive
script, katakana, derived as a shorthand from Chinese
characters, and kanji, imported from China. The Latin alphabet, rōmaji,
is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos,
advertising, and when inputting Japanese into a computer. The Hindu-Arabic numerals are generally used for
numbers, but traditional Sino-Japanese numerals are also common.
The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in
distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 (ongaku), combining the kanji 音 ("on" sound) with the kanji 楽 ("gaku"
music). Japan is the second largest music market in the world, behind the United States, and the largest in Asia, and most of the market is dominated by Japanese
artists.Local music often appears at karaoke venues, which is on lease from the record labels. Traditional
Japanese music is quite different from Western Music and is based on the intervals of
human breathing rather than mathematical timing. In
1873, a British traveler claimed that Japanese music,
"exasperates beyond all endurance the European breast."
Garden architecture is as important as building architecture and very much
influenced by the same historical and religious background. Although today, ink
monochrome painting still is the art form, most closely associated with Zen Buddhism. A primary design principle of a garden is the creation of a landscape based on, or at least greatly influenced
by, the three-dimensional monochrome ink (sumi) landscape painting,
sumi-e or suibokuga. In Japan, the garden has the status of artwork.
Japanese popular culture not only reflects the
attitudes and concerns of the present day, but also provides a link to the past.
Popular films, television programs, manga, music, and video
games all developed from older artistic and literary traditions,
and many of their themes and styles of presentation can be traced to traditional
art forms. Contemporary forms of popular culture, much like the traditional forms,
provide not only entertainment but also an escape for the contemporary Japanese
from the problems of an industrial world. When asked how they spent their
leisure time, 80 percent of a sample of men and women surveyed by the government
in 1986 said they averaged about two and a half hours per weekday watching television, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers or magazines. Some 16 percent spent an average of
two and a quarter hours a day engaged in hobbies or amusements. Others spent
leisure time participating in sports, socializing, and personal study. Teenagers
and retired people reported more time spent on all of these activities than did
other groups.
Many anime and manga are very popular around the world and
continue to become popular, as well as Japanese video games, music, fashion, and
game shows; this
has made Japan an "entertainment superpower" along with the United States and the United Kingdom.
In the late 1980s, the family was the focus of leisure activities, such as
excursions to parks or shopping districts. Although Japan is often thought of as a hard-working
society with little time for leisure, the Japanese seek entertainment wherever
they can. It is common to see Japanese commuters riding the train to work,
enjoying their favorite manga, or listening through earphones to the
latest in popular music on portable music players.
A wide variety of types of popular entertainment are available. There is a
large selection of music, films, and the products of a huge comic book industry,
among other forms of entertainment, from which to choose. Game centers, bowling
alleys, and karaoke are popular hangout places for teens
while older people may play shogi or go in specialized parlors.
Together, the publishing, film/video, music/audio, and game industries in
Japan make up the growing Japanese content industry, which, in 2006, was
estimated to be worth close to 26 trillion Yen (USD$ 400 billion.).
Some of the most popular animes are:
Dragon Ball
Black Butler
Naruto
Hellsing
Elfen Lied
Rurouni Kenshin
Bleach
Full Metal Alchemist
One Piece
Death Note
Code Geass
Japan, and is also used by most Japanese immigrant communities around the globe.
It is an agglutinative language and the sound inventory of
Japanese is relatively small but has a lexically distinct pitch-accent
system. Early Japanese is known largely on the basis of its state in the 8th
century, when the three major works of Old Japanese were compiled. The earliest
attestation of the Japanese language is in a Chinese document from 252 AD.
Japanese is written with a combination of three scripts: hiragana, derived from the Chinese cursive
script, katakana, derived as a shorthand from Chinese
characters, and kanji, imported from China. The Latin alphabet, rōmaji,
is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos,
advertising, and when inputting Japanese into a computer. The Hindu-Arabic numerals are generally used for
numbers, but traditional Sino-Japanese numerals are also common.
The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in
distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 (ongaku), combining the kanji 音 ("on" sound) with the kanji 楽 ("gaku"
music). Japan is the second largest music market in the world, behind the United States, and the largest in Asia, and most of the market is dominated by Japanese
artists.Local music often appears at karaoke venues, which is on lease from the record labels. Traditional
Japanese music is quite different from Western Music and is based on the intervals of
human breathing rather than mathematical timing. In
1873, a British traveler claimed that Japanese music,
"exasperates beyond all endurance the European breast."
Garden architecture is as important as building architecture and very much
influenced by the same historical and religious background. Although today, ink
monochrome painting still is the art form, most closely associated with Zen Buddhism. A primary design principle of a garden is the creation of a landscape based on, or at least greatly influenced
by, the three-dimensional monochrome ink (sumi) landscape painting,
sumi-e or suibokuga. In Japan, the garden has the status of artwork.
Japanese popular culture not only reflects the
attitudes and concerns of the present day, but also provides a link to the past.
Popular films, television programs, manga, music, and video
games all developed from older artistic and literary traditions,
and many of their themes and styles of presentation can be traced to traditional
art forms. Contemporary forms of popular culture, much like the traditional forms,
provide not only entertainment but also an escape for the contemporary Japanese
from the problems of an industrial world. When asked how they spent their
leisure time, 80 percent of a sample of men and women surveyed by the government
in 1986 said they averaged about two and a half hours per weekday watching television, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers or magazines. Some 16 percent spent an average of
two and a quarter hours a day engaged in hobbies or amusements. Others spent
leisure time participating in sports, socializing, and personal study. Teenagers
and retired people reported more time spent on all of these activities than did
other groups.
Many anime and manga are very popular around the world and
continue to become popular, as well as Japanese video games, music, fashion, and
game shows; this
has made Japan an "entertainment superpower" along with the United States and the United Kingdom.
In the late 1980s, the family was the focus of leisure activities, such as
excursions to parks or shopping districts. Although Japan is often thought of as a hard-working
society with little time for leisure, the Japanese seek entertainment wherever
they can. It is common to see Japanese commuters riding the train to work,
enjoying their favorite manga, or listening through earphones to the
latest in popular music on portable music players.
A wide variety of types of popular entertainment are available. There is a
large selection of music, films, and the products of a huge comic book industry,
among other forms of entertainment, from which to choose. Game centers, bowling
alleys, and karaoke are popular hangout places for teens
while older people may play shogi or go in specialized parlors.
Together, the publishing, film/video, music/audio, and game industries in
Japan make up the growing Japanese content industry, which, in 2006, was
estimated to be worth close to 26 trillion Yen (USD$ 400 billion.).
Some of the most popular animes are:
Dragon Ball
Black Butler
Naruto
Hellsing
Elfen Lied
Rurouni Kenshin
Bleach
Full Metal Alchemist
One Piece
Death Note
Code Geass