‘Koi’ could mean two things in Japan, one is ‘Love’ and another is the main topic here – a specialty carp fish.
Both words are written in different Kanji though. Koi fish are actually the descendants of wild common carp that have been selectively bred since thousands of years ago for color, pattern, body shape, scales and personality. Yes, you can say it is another kind of Japanese art heritage that is cultivated through time. Now, the koi breeding has been spreading worldwide and there are various exhibition and competition held …

Here are the basic information of the indigenous Japanese religion, Shinto and Shintoism.
Japanese in short can be described as natural practitioners of polytheism. Since the earliest history of Japan and the ancient people of Japan, they have been worshiping a number of Gods that are largely related to nature, such as the Sun Goddess, God of the Sea, God of lightning and many more. This natural spirituality of the Japanese people is called as Shinto or ‘Way of the Gods’. The similar term or description first appears in the historical …

Today, we’re going to talk about the Japanese writing system. One drawback when you’re visiting Japan is the lack of English directions and help menu, especially in much less busy places outside the big cities. However, you’ll still find foreigners-friendly areas in major big cities like Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka as well as Yokosuka since there are a lot of foreigners and expatriates working at these places.
Is not impossible to learn and understand the basic Japanese writing. The first thing is that you have to know the fundamentals of Japanese writing …

It’s time to get a little more artsy and crafty with another post on Japanese Papercraft, which in case you didn’t know, an art that has last for centuries! Origami is a very old Japanese art that could have possibly been dated back to the Heian period (794-1185) – the same birth period of Geisha, the unique, beautiful and extraordinary sexy courtesans of the Japanese high-class ancient society.
If I were to go through the history of Origami, I have to say, like most Japanese arts, Origami too was based on …

One more aspect that the Japanese people of the old times have outsourced from their nearest neighboring countries is the zodiac system, which in nature has many linkages with Buddhism. The Japanese zodiac system is so much similar to that of the ancient Chinese zodiac system, but in truth that is it the same thing after all. The Chinese zodiac system is rather ‘karmatic’ in nature. Something that is very well related to Buddhism. Instead of the linear pattern of the western calendar, the Chinese zodiac system adopted a set …

Japan is a country with a multitude range of festivals, celebrations, holidays and traditional ceremonial occasions, be it of their own origin or those derives form other cultures and later integrated into theirs. For your information, in Japan, festivals falls into two main categories; which are matsuri (simply means festivals) and nenchu gyoji (meaning annual events). Nenchu gyoji is also pronounced as ‘nenju gyoji’. Matsuri are usually festivals of native Japanese and Shinto origin. It is held annually on established dates sometimes decided by the shrine. Festivals which fall under …

Here’s the tricky question – where do the Japanese people come from?
Most people would simply assume that the Japanese are either generations of the aborigines of the once isolated islands or people who happens to migrate into the island from the nearby mainland. However, the real answer is actually in both answers. Japanese people that lived on today are actually part of varying admixtures of the aborigines and the once continuously increasing immigrant population from the mainland, namely Korea and China.
Like the rest of the world, the Japanese land too …