There are over 15 declared national holidays celebrated in Japan. The most

popular is the first holiday of the year, the Japanese New Year. January 1st starts the

celebration of the Japanese New Year and typically lasts for several days. Locals and

visitors all gather at Buddhists temples to watch the first years sunrise as a reflection of

what the year has to offer. January 2nd is also a national holiday in Japan known as

Coming of Age Day. This day is used to celebrate all the teenagers who are turning 20

that year. The day is celebrated in surrounding cities and towns by throwing parties.

They serve alcoholic beverages since this is a privilege to adults only. On February 11th is

the celebration of National Foundation Day. This is a day of reflection on the founding

of the nation and to show the love one has for their country. One of the busiest travel

times in Japan is the Golden Week. This week holds four national holidays. This week

of festivals starts off with celebration of Emperor Showa birthday on April 29th. The rest

of the holidays are in May, consisting of Constitution Memorial Day on May 3rd,

Greenery Day on May 4th, and Children’s Day on May 5th. On the third Monday in July,

Marine Day is celebrated (Rodgers). This national holiday was established as a day to

pay respect and appreciation for the oceans. On the third Monday in September they hold

the national holiday known as Respect for the Aged Day. On this day media will take

time to feature the elderly, and report to the people the population while highlighting the

oldest in the country in local newscasts. The elderly gain much respect from these

announcements to the public. December 23rd is the emperor’s birthday and has been

declared a national holiday. On this date the Imperial Palace of Tokyo is open to the

public and thousands gather to show respect by waving flags outside for the emperor to

see.

Japanese culture is famous for two main ceremonies and rituals. The first is

known as Sado, also known as the Japanese Tea ceremony. The Japanese Tea ceremony

has very specific traditions that have been followed closely and heavily influenced by the

Zen Buddhism teachings. There are two different types of tea gatherings. Ochakai is the

more the laid back, simple tea party. Ochakai includes servings of usucha (thin tea) and

ten shin (a light meal. Chaji is the more formal of the two ceremonies. Chaji includes

kaiseki (a full course meal), as well as the koicha (thick tea) and usucha (thin tea). These

ceremonies can last up to four hours in length. The second most known ceremony in

Japan is the Japanese Incense ceremony, also known as kodo. This is a very refined art

that can take up to as many as thirty years to master. The legend says that agarwood

came to Japan when a log of the incense wood was washed up on the shoreline of Awaji-

shima Island in 595 CE. After the wood was put on open fire to burn, the people noticed

the pleasant aroma that it gave off. The wood was first burned at religious ceremonies

but after some time was simply burned for appreciation and became a popular art form.

Kudo consists of all the people sitting together taking turns sniffing a container filled

with the burning incense. Everyone takes his or her turn guessing what materials are

used to make the particular incense.

The workforce industry and career paths go hand in hand in the Japanese culture.

The culture is known for “lifetime employment”, a slogan used by large companies with

a reputation for making people work long hours to prove the devotion to their company.

In return the companies provide some form of security or benefits to the employee. This

could include housing, insurance, pensions, or the privilege to use other recreational

facilities. Similar to the United States work salaries, new hires at a job will start with low

to minimum wage and gradually receive a wage adjustment. Smaller companies that

provide jobs are unable to give the same luxury of benefits to the employees as the large

companies. Many businesses will give their employees the luxury of working over time

extended hours, without pay, to allow the worker to show how much they appreciate their

business. The top three high-level products in Japan are vehicles, aircrafts and robots.

Japan’s automotive companies currently maintain on average about 30% of the global

market share. Japanese manufacturers also account for 35% in the construction of the

new B787, which is the most fuel-efficient aircraft of its type in the world. This

improvement in the wing designed by Japan will provide a 20% increase in fuel

efficiency when compared to the B767 by drastic decrease in weight by using carbon

fiber composites in 50% of the aircraft. Japan’s two high-level components in their

industry are fine chemicals and carbon fiber. Japanese manufacturers represent 70% of

all carbon fiber production. Robot production is constantly on the up rise due to the

increasing technologies and advancements. Japan’s robot makers have more that 70% of

the global market and now profit the country as much as 700 billion yen annually with

the value set to increase to 2.9 trillion yen in 2020 ("Japan's manufacturing industry"

2010).

When comparing the Japanese to the American, typically the Japanese would be

described as shy and formal while Americans would be outgoing and casual. The

Japanese culture takes great pride in their unique set of values, customs and traditions

gathered from over the many years in practice. Japanese are very respectful to all

members of their society, especially the special members with higher status (Hoke).

Within the Japanese culture, people prefer to stand at an arms length away from one

another. The preferred distance is three feet for person, social or public dimensions.

When meeting strangers, the proximity would be greater than three feet. It is ironic at the

distance preferred since the transportation methods including subways and daily trips to

the market involve very close proximity to strangers and in very close quarters. In these

situations, space can be limited and pushing up against one another is very common. Eye

contact is preferred to be indirect. Japanese may take a direct eye contact as a threat or

someone trying to be intimidating. Indirect eye contact is looked at as a form of respect,

so it is utilized when speaking with superiors or elders.

There are two types of housing in Japan, consisting of single-family detached

homes and the multifamily dwelling. A common practice that the Japanese follow is that

ever 20-30 years the single-family homes are torn down and rebuilt. It is thought that

homes are not designed to be long-term buildings and should be reconstructed after this

time has passed. The modern single-family home is constructed similar to the way

homes are built in the United States, including wood and iron. Older homes are designed

of wood and paper and usually are single level. Modern and older style single-family

homes both have one room referred to as the “washitsu”. This room is furnished with

tatami mats as flooring and usually has a large sliding door. Multifamily dwelling

homes consist of apartment buildings, or large rooms in a building. Apartments in Japan

consist of one room and a kitchen. Both the single-family and multifamily dwelling

homes have an area or room known as the “genkan”. This is the entrance where the shoes

must be taken off to avoid bringing dirt into the house. The bathroom and toilet are kept

separated due to filth and design. The typical Japanese toilet consists of a fancy hole in

the ground. To enter the toilet, shoes are removed and special toilet shoes are put on.

This helps to prevent the spread of germs (“Housing information in,” 2001).

Japan is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government, which

means the country is ran by an Emperor and a Prime Minister. Japan has three branches

of government. They consist of the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. The Legislature

is composed of the Japanese parliament called the Diet. The Diet is made up for the

House of Representatives and the House of Councillors. The Japanese people elect all

members of the Diet. The Executive branch consists of the cabinet and is headed by the

Prime Minister. The cabinet also holds the ministers that are appointed by the prime

minister, and are also members of the Diet. The Prime Minister is also elected by the

Diet. The last and final branch of the government is the Judiciary. The highest court is

the Supreme Court. The cabinet appoints judges of the court systems. Elections for the

House of Representatives are held every four years, and half of the House of Councillors

is elected every three years. The Emperor does not have effective power, but represents a

symbol of the country (Darlington, 2014).

References

Darlington, R. (2014, January 4). Japanese political system. Retrieved from

http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Japanesepoliticalsystem.html

Hoke, B. (n.d.). Partners in a diverse community: Japanese culture. Retrieved from

http://sharonpluralism.org/cultural-protocols/japanese-culture/

Housing information in japan. (2011, July 31). Retrieved from http://www.allinjapan.org

Japan’s Manufacturing Industry. (2010, July). Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Retrieved from http://www.meti.go.jp/english/index.html

Rodgers, G. (n.d.). Japanese festivals. Retrieved from http://goasia.about.com/od/Events-

and-Holidays/tp/Japanese-Festivals.htm