Shinto is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and it is as old as Japan itself. Today it remains Japan’s major religion alongside Buddhism and Christianity. Most people who have any interest in Japanese culture are aware of this, but how many people actually know the intricacies that make up Shinto and its beliefs? [...]
Sakamoto Ryoma is easily one of the most famous and influential people in Japanese history. Idealized by many Japanese boys, Sakamoto led a revolution to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate during the Bakumatsu period. Tales of his charisma and bravery have been heralded and praised in media ever since. His life was cut short by assassination [...]
During Tofugu’s recent trip to Japan, I racked my brain for what souvenirs I wanted to bring back home with me. After all, I don’t get to go to Japan very often, so I wanted to get as much as I could before coming back to the US. A lot of the souvenirs I bought [...]
There’s a little-known phenomenon in history called “dancing mania,” and it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: huge groups of people start dancing for no real reason until they’re completely exhausted. It’s a rare, incredibly interesting part of human behavior. In Japan, something similar happened a few hundred years ago. It was called ええじゃないか [...]
About a quarter of the world’s nations drive on the left side of the road, Japan being one of them. But why do they drive on the left side when so many other countries drive on the right? Have they always used the left side of the road? Do Japan’s reasons have anything to do [...]
It’s always strange to see the more human, adult side of people who were important to us as kids. I was weirded out when it was revealed last year that Charles Schultz used Charlie Brown to hook up with his mistress. So when I found out that Dr. Seuss made anti-Japanese propaganda, I was a [...]
Japan loves their mascots and all of us at Tofugu love writing about how much Japan loves their mascots. It’s a love-love relationship, really. Anyway, what could be better than a Japanese mascot? How about a Japanese mascot dancing? Yeah, now that’s more like it. There couldn’t possibly be anything more disgustingly adorable than that, [...]
