This is an interesting introduction to the Japanese alphabet.
Here is a more formal lecture on the Japanese language.
This is an annotated timeline of Japanese historical periods.
Shintoism is Japan’s indigenous belief system.
Here is some discussion on the complementary nature of Buddhism and Shintoism.
Have you heard of Haiku, a very popular form of Japanese poetry? If you have, then do you know renga was an earlier form of poetry in Japan? Similar to Haiku in many ways (actually Haiku’s predecessor), renga is fun because each part is written by someone different, and the last stanza is always the beginning of the next person’s first stanza.
Here is a sampling of haiku by famous Japanese poets.
As Japan modernized, many Japanese were able to travel in Europe. Japanese artists in Europe were often influenced by impressionism and other schools of Western art. As Japanese art works were transmitted abroad, they also influenced Western artists. The famous Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige had an influence on Vincent van Gogh, for instance.
Anime stands for the Japanese word animeshon: animated features. Early Japanese animation, or anime, was influenced by American culture, such as Disney animations.
Anime in turn influenced many Western cartoons.
Here is another article on the transformative influence of anime on American cartoons.
Some of the popular anime features often accompanied by video games include: Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, One Piece, and Tokyo Ghoul.
Here is an interesting article about manga, or Japanese picture books.
Japan has had a steady development of high-level technology. This website provides a glimpse of the use of high-tech in daily life.
This website has a rather comprehensive introduction to Japanese pop culture.
The Japanese movie Drive My Car wins the 2022 Academy Award for International Feature Movie.
