Destination: Japan
What To See Japan Hokkaido & Northern Honshu   + Sapporo Central Honshu   + Tokyo Western Honshu & Shikoku   + Kyoto Kyushu & the Southern Islands   + Nagasaki Walk/Drive Food&Drink In The Know Did You Know?	Did you know ? Until the Meiji Restoration, Hokkaido was not formally part of Japan. Apart from one clan area, it was open to Russian occupation, a fact that hastened its incorporation into the new state. A typical Japanese address is preceded by numbers, for example 1-2-3. '1' refers to the smallest administrative town section, a 'chome'. The '2' refers to perhaps a block within the chome. The '3' refers to a single building. If you walk around the entertainment areas of major cities, you are sure to notice gaudy, kitsch buildings in the form of castles and other fantasies. These are 'Love Hotels' where rooms are rented by the hour to lovers in search of privacy. In many the rooms have themes to suit the moods of the customers. The novel Shogun by James Clavell was based on the life of the English sailor William Adams. After a storm blew his ship to Kyushu his shipbuilding skills were exploited by the shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. Adams spent the rest of his life in Edo, Japan, where he died in 1620. Geisha girls go through a long apprenticeship before being able to entertain their own clients. They learn to please men mostly through their cultural accomplishments, but their appearance is also important and traditionally they used nightingale droppings as a face cream. Many temples and pilgrimages are dedicated to Kannon. Nothing to do with firearms, the name in fact means 'the one who hears the cries of the world' and refers to a bodhisattva, one who vows to achieve enlightenment but who postpones buddhahood to help others and who is the personification of infinite compassion. There are three types of Japanese script. The basic script is called kanji and was introduced from China. To allow for the differences between Chinese and Japanese grammar, a supplementary script called hiragana was devised. Finally katakana has been created for words with foreign origins. The Japanese tend to avoid making direct statements, no matter how trivial they might seem to Westerners. Foreigners need to learn to look for indirect instructions - if, for example, it is time to leave, this might be expressed by a pointed reference to a waiting car. Although Japan is a highly advanced country technologically speaking, with over 95 per cent of Japanese companies having computers and fax machines, over a million people each year take the proficiency exams in the use of the soroban, or abacus. Although tea is widely drunk in a perfunctory fashion, the traditional tea ceremony, which was originally a meditative aid for monks, is an elaborate affair - utensils are polished, a special room is used, flowers are carefully arranged and the garden primped. The tea is important but is only part of a harmonious and contemplative experience.	COUNTRY Japan   Viewing   Top Ten   What To See   Where To ...   Practical Matters REGION CITIES MAPS World Europe TRAVEL BOOK Book Info Order Online