Download About Japan - Rice University

About Japan
By Rodney A.
Culture
• Japan has different
•
•
•
performing arts like
Kabuki, Noh, Kyogen,
and Bunraku.
Kabuki is a classic
theater that was
involved in the early
seventeenth century.
Kyogen is a classic
comic theater that is
high styled actions
and lines.
Bunraku was popular
at the end of the
seventeenth century.
Government
• You have to be 20 years or older to
vote in Japan.
• Unlike American or French culture
they do not elect presidents directly.
Diet members elect a prime minister
from among themselves.
• Japan has a parliamentary system
of government like Britain and
Canada.
• The Diet comprises the 480 House
of Representatives and the 242
House of Councillors.
Government continued
• There are three
branches, the first
one is Legislative
Branch (Diet), the
second one is the
Judicial Branch
(Courts), then the
third one is the
Executive Branch
(Cabinet).
Languages
• Three types of
•
character are used to
write Japanese.
There are about
2,000 kanji in regular
use. Children learn
1,006 kanji in
elementary school
and another 939 in
middle school.
Foods
• The Japanese eat Miso soup,
•
Short grain rice, Meat,
Seaweed, and vegetables for
almost every meal.
Sushi, Tempura, Sukiyaki, and
other Japanese foods are
famous abroad are also
popular in Japan.
Nature and Climate
• Japan is surrounded
•
by sea. Warm and
cold currents flow
through the seas
around it.
The land area of
Japan is 378,000
square kilometers.
Sports
•
•
Traditional martial
arts, such as Judo,
Kendo, Karate-do,
and Aikido, thrive in
modern Japan thanks
to the devotion of
those who practice
them.
Many Japanese go to
the sea for surfing
and scuba diving in
the summer.
Flag
• Japan's national flag is
•
•
called the Hinomaru.
It came to be used as
the national flag in the
late nineteenth century.
The flag depicts the sun
as a red disc against a
white background.
Houses
• Shoes are taken off
•
when entering a
house to keep the
floor clean in Japan.
Traditional Japanese
homes are made of
wood and supported
by wooden pillars, but
today's homes usually
have Western style
rooms with wooden
flooring.
Clothes
• The traditional dress
•
of Japan is the
Kimono.
Kimonos are now
usually worn only on
special occasions,
such as the
Shichi-Go-San festival,
weddings, and
graduation
ceremonies.
School
• Japanese children enter the
•
•
first grade of elementary
school in the April after their
sixth birthday. Then they
leave the school in the 17th
grade.
Students learn traditional
Japanese arts like Haiku.
The kids have to clean the
school, so if they make a
mess they have to clean it.
School continued
• They get to take turns
•
cooking for their
classmates, and they
look forward to
lunchtime.
The subjects they study
include Japanese
mathematics, Science,
Social Studies, Music,
Crafts, Physical Education
( or P.E.), and Home
Economics.
Bibliography
• http://web-jpn.org/kidsweb/index.html