The Martial Art Used By Japanese Police

One of Japan’s biggest cultural exports is its martial arts: karate, judo, aikido, kendo. Back before anime got really big, Japanese martial arts was one of the big draws that got Westerners saying “I wanna move to Japan!” Beyond the romantic notions of Japanese martial arts as some kind of path to enlightenment or self-realization, [...]

Japanese Bullfighting More Sumo Than Spanish

You’ll see me write a lot about how Japan is a much more diverse country than people give it credit for, but people don’t always belive me. There are actually huge cultural differences between different parts of Japan, from the small things (like standing on different sides of the escalator) to bigger things—like bullfighting. Japanese [...]