日本 ( nihon) = Japan
Population: 126,3 millions
Capital city : Tokyo ( 東京)
Statut: Rich developed country, former "2nd world's powerful country"
Politics : Empire, Democracy (freedom of speech, etc..)
Money : ¥ or 円 (pronounced "en" ) or Yen
Official Language : Japanese
Grammar: Many grammatical particles (wa, wo, ni, de, no...) that connects the subject to the object, and the object to the verb. Verb is at the end of the phrase, Japanese is Subject + Object + Verb. Verbes change form depending on who you're talking to. It won't be the same verbs if you're talking to someone who needs to be highly respected (doctor, teacher, etc) , so the verbs would be "polite form", and the verbs are different if you're just talking to your friends or family members.
Prononciation: Japanese pronounciation is quite easy, the sounds are very basic (Ka, Ku Ke Ko, Na Nu Ni , MO, A, U, I, O...) and Japanese doesn't have tones, Unlike chinese, so it's easier to pronounce Japanese than Chinese. Most japanese words end with a vowel, the rare japanese words that end with a consonnant, is always the N as consonnant. Otherwise, most of the words are ending with a vowel.
Writting:
Japanese people use 3 different writting systems, that they mix all together in a phrase or text.
1. Kanji (borrowed from chinese characters, used to write important words)
2. Hiragana ( 46 Syllabic letters, made for words that don't have kanji. Hiragana are rather "curvy" shape/ strokes
3. Katakana : 46 syllabic letters, made for foreign words and names, the shape and strokes of katakana are rather rigid, not curvy like hiragana.
CULTURE: Japanese culture is in between traditional and modernity. Some places are very traditional (with japanese architecture, cherry blossoms, traditional gardens etc) and some other places are very futuristic-like , with lot of robots and advanced technology. Japanese people know how to be modern while still preserve their traditions and original culture. That's very honourable.
When you greet someone, you have to bow. The more the person is "highly respectable", the more you bend your back to bow. Japan culture is based on respect, politeness, according to some statistics, Japan is one of the countries with the LOWEST CRIME RATE. Things like murders, terrorist attacks, pickpockets, shootings and violent protests are VERY RARE IN JAPAN.
LOOKS & FASHION & TREND : The most popular trend in Japan is Kawaii. Kawaii means cute in Japanese. They dress with cute childish clothes, add ribbons or cute things on their hair, decorate their cellphones with glitters, cute stickers etc... Sometimes it's not only the looks or clothes, but this trend can also apply on personality, and behaviour. Japanese girls and women love to act cute and girly, and they're right to do so, unlike some girls who act too much "thug" I dislike it. Japanese trends and popular culture is very cute and adorable in my opinion! I love it.
Music: Japanese music is called J-pop. There is also J-rock (Japanese rock) and visual kei, and also J-ballads and also Hello Project songs (kawaii/cute pop music). The most popular Japanese female singers are Ayumi Hamasaki, Utada Hikaru, Ai Otsuka, YUI, Koda Kumi, Namie Amuro, Mika Nakashima, Nami Tamaki, etc...
TV SERIES : Japanese tv series (with real human actors, it's not anime or manga). are called DRAMAS. Or Dorama. Those generally contain only 11 episodes that last for around 1 hour. That short format of episodes is good, you don't have time to get tired of the series, unlike western tv series that are too long, (thousands of episodes and several seasons)
Japanese dorama has many topics: Some are about love stories in highschool (Hana Yori Dango, for example), some are also "engaged" and serious topics like the drama LIFE that relates the topic of BULLYING. And the drama 14 Sai No Haha that is about teenage moms. Japanese also make very sad and touching Tv series like for example "Ichi Rittoru No Namida" which is about a girl having a incurable disease. Very sad story.
MOVIES: Japan is very talented at making horror movies the most. Ringu (the ring) , Ju-On (The grudge), Chakushin Ari (One Missed Call) are all japanese movies that been "remade" by hollywood.
Food : Ramen: Big bowl of noodles dipped in broth, with pork meat slices, some vegetables (spinach, green onions...), seaweed and eggs. With this meal, you will feel full and not hungry after. (the bowl is huge and theres meat, veggies, broth, noodles ...)
Miso Soup: Japanese soup containing Miso paste (very salty), Dashi (fish broth), and small little tofu cubes, and some wakame seaweed.
Not to mix up wakame seaweed with nori seaweed: Wakame seaweed is good for salads (wakame salad), and also for making miso soup. Nori seaweed is used to make sushi.
Desserts: Daifuku: slightly flat ball with glutinous rice flour/paste on the outside, and sweet red bean paste on the inside. If the daifuku is strawberry flavored, there will be a full strawberry fruit (no flavor, but the real fruit) inside the daifuku.
Dango: little small sweet balls on a wooden stick, either flavored (strawberry, cherry blossom flavor, green tea etc) or plain ones but dipped in sweet soy-caramel sauce)
Things to know before travelling to Japan :
- You don't pay the ride of a bus when entering the bus. Usually you pay at the end of your ride, when you go out of the bus, you give money to the bus driver.
- When you're in a escalator, you have to stay on the left side, to let the people who are in a hurry go faster. You keep your luggage in front of you, to not block the road of the escalator with it.
- In Ramen restaurants, you have to make noise when eating, like slurrping the noodles. It means you are enjoying the food and that'll make the chef very happy about it.
- Tip is not a thing in Japan. If you give tip in japan, they might end up feeling offended, because they'd think you are giving them coins as if they were homeless broke people.
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