Japanese pottery
Japanese pottery and porcelain are one of the oldest crafts and art forms in Japan. There are many kilns and famous districts for pottery which are distinguished by the differences in local clay and traditional techniques.
Since ceramics are held in high esteem due to their connection to the tea ceremony, the artistic traditions are well-funded and popular even among modern Japa...
Temples in Japan
There are many temples and shrines in Japan. Temples are part of the Buddhist religion and Shrines are part of the Shinto religion.
Some of these places of worship are very famous and have a lot of daily visitors for sight-seeing and praying. But others are less well-known but often have some interesting back story as to their origin or specialize in one aspect of life (like chi...
Japan's Working Style Reform' initiative
Japan has had a long tradition of lifetime employment policies and time-based wages. But with the Abe government's initiative to reform the work-life balance of the labour force, there have been some changes in the market.
In this blog for Japanese learners, Japanese teacher Ayako Suzuki talks about how these reforms could affect how people take their new...
Japanese gardens
When people talk about Japanese gardens, they usually refer to the beautiful and artistic traditional gardens that can be found in every prefecture across the country. But one of the things that are also interesting to look at the gardens that belong to individual Japanese families. Many Japanese houses feature small but immaculately kept gardens that can be a wonder to look at.
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Japanese stationery
Japanese stationary can be a great gift to give as a souvenir of your travels to Japan. There are many unique and well-designed pieces of stationery, including pens, mechanical pencils and cute color-themed or branded goods that can only be bought in specific stores.
In this blog for Japanese learners, Maki Igarashi introduces some really unique and interesting stationery. Pl...
