The document provides information on various aspects of traditional Japanese culture. It discusses the country's geography and major islands. It then covers traditional Japanese performing arts like Kabuki theater, Noh theater, and Bunraku puppet theater. It also describes quieter arts like the tea ceremony, incense ceremony, flower arranging, woodblock printing, and bonsai trees. Finally, it discusses traditional Japanese cuisine such as rice, noodles, and sushi.

1. 11 – DESCARTES
GROUP 4
Prepared by: Hazel Lorenzo

2. IDENTIFICATION
 Nihon / Nippon – are alternative readings of
written characters that mean “origin of the sun”
(Land of Rising Sun)
 Yamato – used by archaeologists and historians to
distinguish Japanese artistic genres from their
Chinese counterparts.
 Japanese people often attribute personality traits to
people from particular regions, and regional identity
often is expressed through local culinary specialties
and dialects.

3. LOCATION AND GEOGRAPHY
 Has four major isands ( Hokkaido, Hunshu,
Shikoku and Kyushu)
 The southern island group of Okinawa (the Ryuku
Islands) is geographically, historically and cuturally
instinct.
 Japanese life has always been oriented toward the
ocean. The currents that converge offshore create
fertile and varied fishing grounds.
 The climate is shaped by Asian – Pacific monsoon
cycles, which bring heavy rains from the Pacific
during the summer and fall, followed by icy winds
from North Asia.

4. LINGUISTIC AFFILIATION
 The official and predominant language is Japanese
(Nihonggo).
 Hyojungo (the standard language) – was based on
the linguistic patterns of Tokyo’s samurai (warrior)
classes and has become the norm in the
educational system, the mass media, government,
and business.
 In addition to the adaptation of Chinese characters
to pre existing Japanese vocabulary, two phonetic
systems of writing were developed after the ninth
century.
 Romaji (Roman Characters) – is used to transcribe
Japanese into the Roman alphabet.

5. SYMBOLISM
 Red and White National Flag – portraying the
rising sun, and the chrysanthemum.
 Chrysanthemum – serve as the crest of the
imperial family.
 Cherry Blossoms – invoked in wartime
propaganda to represent the glory of kamikaze
suicide pilots.
 Kimigayo – Their national anthem.
 Mount Fuji, Geisha, Samurai – are not regarded
by Japanese people as symbols of contemporary
identity.

7. THE JAPANESE PERFORMING
ARTS HAVE MADE SOME
UNIQUE CONTRIBUTIONS TO
WORLD CULTURE

8. KABUKI THEATER
 Was largely popular entertainment for the masses.
 All female performances was due to their sensual
nature.
 The performers were prostitutes and male
audiences often got out of control that’s why
women were banned from performing by the
Tokugawa Shogunate.
 Changes were made, such as adding curtain and a
hanamichi (catwalk) thrugh the audience to allow
dramatic entrances and exits.

9.  Kamite – left stage , is often where yu will see the
important or high – ranking characters.
 Shimote – right stage, is occupied by lower –
ranking characters.
 Kata – forms, performed by actors. Example: Mie
– striking an attitude, often with one’s eyes crossed
and an exaggerated expression for dramatic effect.
 Aragoto – rough style of acting is exempified by
such exaggeration and dramatic make up and
costume.
 Chusingura – a tale of revenge and loyaty – owes
most of its popularity today to its many movie
adaptations.

11. NOH THEATER
 Oldest existing form of theater.
 Combination of Sarugaku(Chinese performing arts)
and Dengaku(Traditional Japanese dance).
 Butai – stage , retains its origina, outdor design
complete with pebbess and small pine trees.
 Shi-te – center stage, principal actor .
 Tsure – left stage, supported by a companion.
 Waki – far right , secondary actor.
 The performance is accompanied by three or four
traditional musical instruments, such as the
tsuzumi drum and shamisen , and a chorus of 6
or 8 people.

12.  Chukei – folding fans , used to represent objects or
to express actions.
 Kyogen - is an elaborate art form in itself but is
most often considered as part of noh.
 There are 5 types of noh plays and traditional
programs include one of each in order. They feature
the following characters : Gods, warriors, beautiful
women, various figures ( often modern figures or
crazy women) and finally demons.

14. BUNRAKU PUPPET THEATER
 Most developed form of puppetry in the world.
 Large puppets was used, usually about ½ life size.
 Main characters are operated by three puppeteers.
 Bunraku is actuallly the name commonly used for
ningyo joruri – ningyo means puppet and joruri
being a kind of chanted narration

16. THE QUIETER AND MORE
CONTEMPLATIVE ARTS HAVE
DEVELOPED FOLLOWINGS
WORLD-WIDE

17. SADO - TEA CEREMONY
 There are several schools of Sado, or Japanese
tea ceremony, also known as Chado or Chanoyu.
 O-cha (green tea)
 The chaji, or tea ceremony is usually held in a cha-
shitsu (tea-room).
 Guests enter the tea-room through the nijiriguchi,
a tiny door which forces them to crouch, thereby
foregoing their worldly status.
 A celebrant of the tea ceremony holds
a chasen (bamboo brush) used to stir and mix the
tea.

18.  cha-ire- a ceramic container used for the powdered
tea.
 kama - (kettle) used for boiling water over a
charcoal fire.
 hashi (chopsticks) made of cedar wood used for
eating the simple food.
 cha-wan - (tea bowls) and many others.
 Koicha - (thick tea) is served first .
 later usucha - (thin tea).
 During the course of the ceremony, a kaiseki - light
meal.
 sake and higashi - (dry sweets) are also served.

20. KODO - THE WAY OF INCENSE
 Kodo literally means "way of the fragrance.“
 these days its modern cousin, aromatherapy, is all
the rage.
 When practicing kodo, a mica plate is placed on top
of smouldering coals and the incense or fragrant
wood is placed on the plate. So the wood is not
actually burned, but gives off its fragrance in a
subtle way.
 They sit in the formal seiza style (which soon
becomes very uncomfortable for those not used to
it)

21.  The fragrances of kodo are divided into rikkoku
gomi (lit. six countries, five tastes). The rikkoku are
six kinds of fragrant wood: kyara, rakoku, manaka,
manaban, sumatora, and sasora.
 The gomi are the tastes of amai (sweet)
 nigai (bitter)
 karai (spicy hot)
 suppai (sour)
 shio karai (salty)
 Becoming able to break down a given fragrance
into these different elements takes years of
experience and a very refined sense of smell.
 komoto - person who burns the incense.

23. IKEBANA - FLOWER ARRANGING
 Japanese Ikebana (literally 'flowers kept alive') is a
lot more complex.
 There are many schools, of which the most popular
are Ikenobo, Sogetsu and Ohara.
 Ikebana can be roughly divided into two styles - the
moribana shallow vase style and the nageire tall
vase style.
 The Sogetsu school uses a series
of kakei (patterns) for each style so that even the
beginner can quickly create their own
arrangements.

24.  The shushi are the three main branches -
the shin (truth) branch, the soe (supporting) branch
and the hikae(moderating) branch.
 Jushi or short supplementary stems are added to
support the shushi and give depth to the
arrangement

26. UKIYO-E
 The name of this art form literally means pictures of
the floating world.
 Later artists started depicting scenes from nature
and works such as Hokusai's views of Mt. Fuji are
among the most famous today.
 Ukiyo-e were often used for book illustrations but
really came into their own as single-sheet prints.
 Another role was that of posters for
the kabuki theater, which was also rapidly gaining in
popularity.

28. BONSAI - TREES IN MINIATURE
 means 'pot plant‘
 broom style - a tapered trunk topped by a
symmetrical area of foliage;
 cascading style - the pot is kept on a platform and
the branches 'cascade' down below it;
 windswept style - resembles a tree that has grown
up in an area exposed to strong winds.
 Saikei is similar to and often confused with bonsai,
but is actually closer to ikebana. Different species
of small trees as well as other plants, rocks and
sand are used to create miniature landscapes.

29. WHAT MAKES A BONSAI?
 A bonsai may be developed from any woody plant (tree or
shrub), however you should bear in mind that:
 A bonsai is the tree and the pot.
 The trunk is what gives the tree its "stature", poor trunks make
poor bonsai. Ideally the trunk should have a good taper, with a
good root formation visible at soil level.
 Bonsai have larger branches at the bottom of the tree, the
branches decrease in size as they get nearer the top of the
tree. The distance between the branches decreases the
nearer the top of the tree they are.
 There should be "negative" (open) areas between the
branches, this gives the impression of a tree rather than a
shrub.
 A bonsai may have areas of dead wood to give an impression
of age.

31. ORIGAMI
 origami (from "oru" meaning to fold, and "kami"
meaning paper) has its origins in China.
 the most complicated design that most people
master is the tsuru (crane), which has developed
into a worldwide symbol of children's desire for
peace.

33. JAPANESE FOOD, SUSHI IN
PARTICULAR, IS POPULAR
AROULD THE WORLD AND
RENOWNED FOR ITS HEALTH
BENEFITS

34. JAPANESE FOOD: THE BASICS
 The typical Japanese meal consists of a bowl of
rice (gohan)
 a bowl of miso soup (miso shiru)
 pickled vegetables (tsukemono) and fish or meat.
 While rice is the staple food, several kinds of
noodles (udon, soba and ramen) are cheap and
very popular for light meals.

35. RICE
 Uncooked rice is called kome
 mochi (rice cakes)
 senbei (rice crackers)
 sake (rice wine)
 Rice can also be cooked with red beans (sekihan),
 seafood and vegetables (Takikomi gohan)
 as a kind of watery porridge seasoned with salt (kayu)
which is very popular as a cold remedy.
 Onigiri are rice balls with seafood or vegetables in the
middle, usually wrapped in a piece of dried seaweed
(nori).

37. NOODLES - UDON AND SOBA
 Udon noodles are made from wheat flour topped with
ingredients such as a raw egg to make tsukimi udon,
 and deep-fried tofu aburaage to make kitsune udon.
 Soba is buckwheat noodles, which are thinner and a
darker color than udon.
 Soba is usually served cold (zaru soba) with a dipping
sauce, sliced green onions and wasabi.
 When served in a hot broth, it is known as kake soba.
Served with the same toppings as udon, you get
tsukimi soba, kitsune soba and tempura soba.

39. NOODLES - RAMEN
 Ramen is thin egg noodles which are almost always
served in a hot broth flavored with shoyu or miso.
 This is topped with a variety of ingredients such as
slices of roast pork (chashu), bean sprouts (moyashi),
sweetcorn and butter.
 Ramen is popular throughout Japan and different
regions are known for their variations on the theme.
 Examples are Corn-butter Ramen in Sapporo and
Tonkotsu Ramen in Kyushu. Instant ramen (the most
famous brand is Pot Noodles), to which you just add hot
water, has become very popular in recent years.

41. SEAFOOD & MEAT
 Seafood is eaten in just about any form you can
imagine, from raw sushi and sashimi to grilled
sweetfish and clams.
 kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi)
 yakitori (grilled chicken),
 yakiniku (Korean barbeque)
 gyudon (beef bowl)
 The country buys up about three quarters of the
global catch of tuna

43. SOY PRODUCTS
 The humble soybean (daizu) is used to make a
wide variety of foods and flavourings.
 Soybeans and rice are used to make miso, a paste
used for flavouring soup and marinating fish.
 Together with soy sauce (shoyu)
 Tofu is soybean curd and a popular source of
protein, especially for vegetarians.
 These days, even tofu donuts and tofu icecream
are available.
 Natto, fermented soybeans, is one of the healthiest
but also the most notorious item on the menu.

44. JAPANESE FOOD: POPULAR DISHES
SASHIMI AND SUSHI
 Sashimi consists of thin slices of raw fish or other
seafood served with spicy Japanese horseradish
(wasabi) and shoyu
 while sushi consists of the same, served on vinegared
rice, but also includes cooked seafood, vegetables and
egg
 Another form of sushi is norimaki, or sushi roll, in which
the filling is rolled in rice with a covering of nori.
 Sushi can be breathtakingly expensive, in exclusive,
invitation-only restaurants where you eat whatever the
chef selects for you.
 Cheap sushi is available at supermarkets or at kaiten-
zushi restaurants, where customers sit at a counter and
choose what they want from an ever-changing conveyor
belt.

46. DOMBURIMONO
 These dishes consist of a bowl (domburi) of rice
covered with one of a variety of toppings such as
boiled beef (gyudon), chicken and egg (oyakodon),
deep-fried shrimp (tendon) or deep-fried pork cutlet
and egg (katsudon).
 They are often eaten as part of a reasonably priced
'lunch set', with miso soup and pickles.

47. TEMPURA
 Seafood or vegetables dipped in batter and deep-
fried, tempura is served with a dipping sauce and
daikon.
 The word 'tempura' comes from the Portuguese
'tempero' (gravy or sauce) and this dish dates from
the mid-16th century, when Portuguese and
Spanish culture was first introduced to Japan.
 Tempura can be served with a side bowl of rice and
soup or on a bowl of rice (tendon) or noodles
(tempura udon, tempura soba).

49. SUKIYAKI
 This is a savoury stew of vegetables and beef
cooked in a large nabe and dipped in a bowl of
beaten raw egg.
 The vegetables usually used are green onion,
shiitake mushrooms and chrysanthemum leaves
(shungiku).
 Also added are tofu and gelatinous noodles
(shirataki) and the ingredients are cooked in a
sauce made of soy sauce, sugar and sweet cooking
sake (mirin).

50. SHABUSHABU
 For this dish, diners dip paper-thin slices of beef in
a pot of boiling water and stock for a few seconds
and then dip the cooked beef in sesame sauce
(goma dare) before eating. Later, vegetables such
as enoki mushrooms and Chinese cabbage, tofu
and shirataki are added. When cooked, these are
dipped in a soy and citrus sauce (ponzu). After the
beef and vegetables have been finished, udon can
be added to the pot and eaten with the broth. Other
flavorings used include crushed garlic, chives and
daikon. Economical (for those with a big appetite)
all-you-can-eat meals are common in Shabushabu
restaurants.

52. OKONOMIYAKI
 This can best be described as a savory Japanese
pancake.
 Chopped vegetables and meat or seafood are
mixed with batter and cooked on a griddle.
 Like a pancake, the okonomiyaki is flipped over and
cooked on both sides.
 It is then topped with a special sauce and
mayonnaise and sprinkled with nori and dried fish
flakes (katsuobushi).
 Variations include adding a fried egg or soba.

53. YAKITORI
 Yakitori itself means broiled chicken.
 Various cuts of chicken, including heart, liver and
cartilage are cooked on skewers over a charcoal grill.
 Also cooked this way at yakitori restaurants (yakitoriya)
are an assortment of vegetables such as green peppers
(piman), garlic cloves (ninniku) and onions (negi).
 They are flavored using either a tangy sauce (tare) or
salt (shio).
 The menu will usually contain a variety of other foods as
well. Yakitoriya are usually laid-back places where the
food is a snack to accompany drinking.

54. YAKINIKU
 Japanese people started consuming a lot more
meat after WWII and a drop in beef prices in the
early 1990s led to yakiniku restaurants becoming
ubiquitous across the country. The term translates
literally as "grilled meat," and it consists of bite-size
pieces of beef (and to a lesser extent pork, chicken,
seafood and vegetables) that are grilled at the
diner's table. Though overseas it is usually called
"Japanese barbeque," in Japan it is often translated
as "Korean barbeque."