This article from the Daily Yomiuri discusses wa or social harmony in Japan. I found the following excerpt to be very interesting:
The researchers found that the Japanese were more than twice as likely as the Americans to opt for the ambiguous response … One of the question topics with the highest rate of ambiguous […]

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In Japan one of the traditional activities of the new year celebration is the pounding of mochi. We also pound mochi here in Hawaii to celebrate the new year and if you click on the picture to the left you can view more photos and a video on mochi pounding in action (via […]

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A newly graduated train conductor in Japan opened the doors of the train after it had started to move. This was reported by the Mainichi Daily News and I must admit that I wondered on how this had made the newspaper since no one had been hurt. I then pondered the discipline […]

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This has been a busy week for me but I did come across some interesting items that I wanted to share.
An article fro the Japan Times noted an exhibition that I will not be able to see in person titled Culture Filters. The artist, Osorio Zapata created the fabulous work to the right and […]

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This week I read a really cool article from the Daily Yomiuri on yokai or supernatural beings. Yokai stem from the Shinto belief system in which all things, living or inanimate, have a spirit and can turn into a supernatural being with mystical powers. Some yokai are simply mischievous and some are downright […]

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