Culture

Japanese culture has evolved greatly over the years, from the country's original Jomon culture to its contemporary hybrid culture, which combines influences from Asia, Europe and North America. Traditional Japanese arts include:

crafts (ikebana, origami, ukiyo-e, dolls, lacquerware, pottery)
performances (bunraku, dance, kabuki, noh, rakugo)
traditions (games, tea ceremony, budo, architecture, gardens, swords)
cuisine

Post-war Japan has been heavily influenced by American and European culture which has led to the evolution of popular band music (called J-Pop). The fusion of traditional woodblock printing and Western art led to the creation of manga, a typically Japanese comic book format that is now popular within and outside Japan. Manga-influenced animation for television and film is called anime. Japanese-made video game consoles have prospered since the 1980s.

Calligraphy

The flowing, brush-drawn Japanese language lends itself to complicated calligraphy. As in other East Asian countries, the rendering of text itself is seen as a traditional artform as well as a means of conveying written information. The art can consist of phrases, poems, stories or even single characters. The style and format of the writing can mimic the subject matter, even to the point of texture and stroke speed. The creation of the calligraphy is considered as much an art as the pictures themselves, and it can take over one hundred repetitions to produce the desired effect of a single character.

Literature

The earliest works of Japanese literature include two history books the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, and a poetry book Man'yoshu in the eighth century, all written in Chinese characters. In the early days of the Heian period, the system of transcription known as kana (Hiragana and Katakana) was created as phonograms. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest Japanese narrative. An account of Heian court life is given by The Pillow Book written by Sei Shonagon, while The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki is often described as the world's first novel.

During the Edo Period, literature became not so much the field of the samurai aristocracy as that of the chonin, the ordinary people. Yomihon, for example, became popular and reveals this profound change in the readership and authorship. The Meiji era saw the decline of traditional literary forms, during which Japanese literature integrated Western influences.

Natsume Soseki and Mori Ogai were the first 'modern' novelists of Japan, followed by Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Tanizaki Junichiro, Kawabata Yasunari, Mishima Yukio and, more recently, Murakami Haruki. Japan has two Nobel Prize-winning authors: Kawabata Yasunari (1968) and Oe Kenzaburo (1994).

Music

Japanese music is eclectic, having borrowed instruments, scales and styles from neighbouring cultures. Many instruments, such as the koto, were introduced in the ninth and tenth centuries. The accompanied recitative of the Noh drama dates from the fourteenth century and the popular folk music, with the guitar-like shamisen, from the 16th. Western music, introduced in the late nineteenth century, now forms an integral part of the culture, as evident from the profusion of J-Pop artists. Modern Japanese music generally uses Western instruments, scales and style.

Clothing

The Japanese word kimono means 'something one wears' and they are the traditional garments of Japan. Originally, the word kimono was used for all types of clothing, but eventually, it came to refer specifically to the full-length garment also known as the naga-gi, meaning 'long-wear', which is still worn today on special occasions by women, men and children. These garments are also often known as wafuku which means 'Japanese clothes'.

Kimono (the term is never pluralised) come in a variety of colours, styles and sizes. Men mainly wear darker or more muted colours, while women tend to wear brighter colours and pastels, and often with complicated abstract or floral patterns. The summer kimono, which are lighter are called yukata, often come just below the knee. Formal kimono are typically worn in several layers, with number of layers, visibility of layers, sleeve length, and choice of pattern dictated by social status and the occasion for which the kimono is worn.

Sports and Recreation

Traditionally, sumo is considered Japan's national sport and is one of its most popular. Martial arts such as judo, karate and kendo are also widely practiced in the country.

After the Meiji Restoration, many Western sports were introduced in Japan and began to spread through the education system. These sports were initially stressed as a form of mental discipline, but many Japanese have now come to enjoy them as recreational activities.

Baseball is the most popular spectator sport in Japan and the professional baseball league in Japan was established in 1936. One of the most famous Japanese baseball players is Ichiro Suzuki, who plays in North American major league baseball and won the Pacific League MVP Award for the three consecutive years of 1994, 1995, and 1996.

Since the establishment of a professional soccer league in Japan in 1992, football has also gained a wide following. Japan was a venue of the Intercontinental Cup from 1981 to 2004 and co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with South Korea.

Golf is popular in Japan, as is auto racing, the Super GT sports car series and Formula Nippon formula racing.

Every year, Japan observes the second Monday in October as Health and Sports Day. The date, originally October 10, commemorates the opening day of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Other major sporting events that Japan has hosted include the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.