Ahhh, today’s blog post isn’t so much of a post, but an announcement of a new addition to our Guide library. It could easily be its own post, but we felt it is more appropriate to segregate it into a guide. About a month ago, we announced our intentions in developing How-To guides to help aid you, our [...]
Last week I talked briefly about 過労死 (かろうし, karoshi) and the effects it has on the Japanese society. Branching off of the article and continuing the Japanese business series of articles, we’ll take a succinct look into the institution that fosters the karoshi problem and also helped fueled Japan towards becoming a global economic identity: the Japanese career system. [...]
You may have read or heard how hard working and dedicated the Japanese people are towards their jobs. Consistently they put in long hours and undying loyalty to their employer, and in return they get a cushy pension, benefits, and life-time employment (although the guarantee of life-time employment is not what it used to be). [...]
Continuing with our series of articles on minority groups in Japan (previous posts include the Burakumin and the Brazilian-Japanese), we’ll take brief look into the (now officially recognized with hanko-stamp of approval by the Japanese Government as of 2008) indigenous group, the Ainu. The Ainu population is concentrated in the northern islands of modern Japan, specifically Hokkaido and Honshu. They [...]
Sometimes it can be tough fitting in, especially as an outsider. One of the toughest parts about going to Japan is feeling out of place or not belonging in Japanese society. But fear not! You aren’t the only person who’s ever gone through this cycle of culture shock, and you definitely won’t be the last. [...]
One of the things Western visitors notice on their visit to Japan is the homogenous population. As an urban-living American, walking through the streets of the U.S. and seeing a wide, diverse range of ethnicities is an everyday occurrence that doesn’t cause more than a blink of an eye. Not so much in Japan. To the [...]
Man Force Trio: Ya, Ku, and Za Everyone’s most loved group, the Yakuza, is once again being brought down by “The Man.” The Japanese organized crime syndicates, known for their strict code of conduct and crimes such as extortion, prostitution, blackmail, protection money and fraud, are now in danger of losing a significant part of [...]
Today’s guest post comes from everybody’s favorite Kiwi, the awesome Hikosaemon. He’s an incredibly prolific video blogger living in Tokyo, and his post today is about coming to understand Japanese values. Enjoy! About five years ago now, I sat in a meeting room being interviewed by a very senior woman executive of the American company [...]
Retro style video game bars have popped up all over Japan this past decade. The main draw is that you can play home game consoles while getting tanked on sake. In public. It’s pretty much every little boy’s dream come true. There are places where you can game with maids who are paid to pretend [...]
A lot of people don’t know this, but the Japanese language is actually a big mishmash of several not-Japanese languages put together. At one time though, a long long time ago, the Japanese language was a slightly less mishmashy combination of several languages. This is what’s known as “Yamato Kotoba” ー the real Japanese language [...]
