Mad historical facts about Japan. Interesting and unusual facts about Japan and Japanese

Since this country was first mentioned in the ancient Chinese chronicles, only a few places in the world can compare with Japan as a bright and interesting history. And although many people have heard about stories, as the Mongolian invasion was torn by powerful tsunami or how Japan is cut off for a long time from the rest of the world during the Edo dictatorship period, but there are still many other little-known strange and amazing plots from Japanese history.

10. In Japan, there is meat was illegal

The Japanese government, who came to power in the middle of the 7th century, has established a ban on meat consumption. The taboo lasted almost 1200 years old! Perhaps inspired by Buddhist teaching, which is against the murder, in 675 by AT. The emperor of the Tenma issued a decree, under the fear of death forbidding beef, monkeys and other pets meat.
Initially, according to the law, the ban was distributed for a period of time from April to September, but later new laws and religious practices contributed to the complete to publish meat as a meal, especially beef. Contacts with Christian missionaries influence Japan, and the eating meat was again spread in the 16th century. And although in 1687 a new ban was imposed, some Japanese continued to eat meat.
By 1872, the Japanese authorities officially removed the ban, and the emperor himself became meat again. Although the cancellation of Tabu was not perceived with Yarym enthusiasm, especially monks, but soon the old ban on meat disappeared from the life of ordinary Japanese.

9. Kabuki Theater was created by a woman who loved men's clothing

Kabuki, one of the most iconic manifestations of Japanese culture, is a bright form of a dance theater in which women and men's roles are performed only by men. However, at the very beginning, Kabuki was associated with a completely opposite sex. All roles were played only by women.
The founder of the theater was urmo but perch (Izumo No Okuni), a priestess, which became famous for the performance of dances and parodies in men's clothing. Sensual and energetic perch view became very popular, and other curtains adopted her style in performances of whole female troupe. This "female Kabuki" has become so popular that dancers even began to invite to the daime (feudal) for the execution of private shows in their castles. And while most viewers only enjoyed this new type of art, the government was not as pretty taking place.
In 1629, after the raid on the speeches of Kabuki, who turned into Kyoto, women were forbidden to enter the scene. Men actors replaced them, and Kabuki, as we know it today, and remained an immortal view of a male acting game.

8. The capitulation of the Japanese army during World War II could not take place

On August 15, 1945, the Emperor Hirokhito announced the unconditional surrender of Japan to the united forces in the international radio broadcasting "Jewel Voice Broadcast". The entry was not broadcast, but was recorded in the evening. In addition, she was not from the imperial palace.
On the same night, when the Hirokhito emperor recorded his speech, a group of Japanese military, refused to surrender, initiated a coup. Major Keng Khatanaka, the leader of the rebellion, with his minions occupied the imperial palace for several hours. Khatanaka wanted to disrupt the broadcasting of the radio "Jewel Voice Broadcast". And although his soldiers met the whole palace met the entire palace, the emperor was not found.
Miracle, despite the searches of everyone who left the palace, the record was transferred to the outside in the basket with laundry for washing. But then Hatanaka was not ready to give up. He left the palace and went to the nearest radio station on his bike.
Khatanka wanted to exit live, but for technical reasons it did not happen. The affected uprising leader returned to the palace, where she shot himself.

7. Samurai sometimes experienced their swords, attacking random passersby

In medieval Japan was considered to be inglorious and shameful if the samurai sword could not cut the body of the enemy for one strike. For a samurai, it was extremely important to know about the quality of their weapons, and every new sword had to be experienced before the battle.
Samurai usually practiced cuts on the bodies of criminals and corpses. But there was another method called Tzujigiri (murder at the crossroads), according to which the warriors went to the night crossroads and struck any random passerby.
Such Tsujigiri was rare. But over time, they still became such a big problem that the authorities had to ban this action in 1602. According to the report from the time of the dictatorship period of EDO (1603-1868), which describes the early years of this era, people were killed daily at the same particular intersection of modern Tokyo.

6. Once upon a time, Japanese soldiers cut off the noses and ears as military trophies

During the reign of the legendary leader Toytoma Hideyashi, Japan invaded Korea twice from 1592 to 1598. Although Japan, in the end, brought his troops with someone else's territory, her raids were very cruel and took almost a million Korean lives.
The Japanese soldiers often cut off the heads of defeated enemies as military trophies, but their transportation was difficult to their homeland, and the aggressors began to cut off their ears and noses, because it was much more convenient.
At home in Japan, whole monuments were erected in honor of these terrible trophies, which were called the "grombins of the ears" and "tombs of noses." In one such monument in Kyoto, Mimitsuk, tens of thousands of trophies were discovered. Another monument in Okayam hid in itself 20,000 noses, which were returned to Korea in 1992.

5. Father of all Kamikadze made a seppuk (suicide) to redeem the death of killed pilots

In October 1944, Vice Admiral Takihiro Onishi believed that the only way for Japan would be able to win in World War II - it is to launch an inglorious operation of Kamikadze, in which Japanese pilots attacked the enemy aircraft of the united forces, knocking them on their own fighters and sacrificing their lives. Oniy hoped that shock from such attack would force the United States to surrender in this war. He so desperately, he was ready to sacrifice 20 million Japanese lives for the sake of victory.
Having heard the announcement of the emperor Hirokhito about the surrender in August 1945, Onishi mad from the thought that the gift was sacrificed by thousands of Kamikadze's pilots. He decided that the only faithful way out was suicide, and made a septuk (suicide plowing the abdomen) on August 16, 1945. In his suicide note, Vice Admiral asked for forgiveness from the "grieving families" and prayed the younger generation to fight peace on earth.

4. The first newly edged Christian-Japanese was a killer in the run

In 1546, the 35-year-old Samurai Anzhiro was hiding from the law. Wanted for killing a man during a fight, he hidden in the Kagoshima's trading port to avoid punishment. There he met the Portuguese, who squeezed over Anzhiro and sent him to Malacca.
During his stay on their vessel, Anzhiro learned Portuguese and was baptized by Paulo de Santa Fe, becoming the first Japanese Christian. He also met a famous missionary Francisco Xavury, the Jesuit priest, who sailed with Anzhiro on one ship for the evangelism of Japan in the summer of 1549. The mission turned into failure, and friends went away every way. The Portuguese priest tried to continue his business in China.
And although the evangelization of Japan was not so successful as Francisk would like, he was canonized and announced the patron saint of Christian missionaries. Anzhiro, who presumably died by pirate, was forgotten.

3. The Portuguese slave led to the abolition of slavery in Japan

Soon after the first contacts of the Western world with Japan in the 1540s, the Portuguese began to actively buy Japanese slaves. The slaves sold by the Portuguese by other Japanese were sent to Portugal and other parts of Asia. The slave trade as a result was so rummaged that even Portuguese slaves in Macau became hosts for the Japanese Unfortunate Slave.
Jesuit missionaries were unhappy with such a state of affairs. In 1571, they persuaded the king of Portugal to stop the enslavement of the Japanese, although Portuguese colonists resisted and ignored the new ban.
Toytoma Hidezi, the Japanese commander-in-chief and the leader, came to rage on the slave trade. And although at the same time Hideyashi did not embarrass the slave trade Koreans captured by him during the raids of the 1590s, the Japanese leader was openly expressed against the trade of Japanese slaves.
In 1587, he imposed a ban, declaring the slave trade outlawed, although the sale of Japanese slaves was still continued for some time and after that.

2. About 200 Japanese high school students became nurses during the battle when Okinawa

In April 1945, the united forces began their invasion to Okinawa. The three-month bloody bath claimed the lives of 200 thousand people, 94 thousand of whom were peaceful citizens of Okinawa. Among the dead civilians were the student detachment of Chemieuri, a group of 200 schoolgirls from 15 to 19 years old, which the Japanese forced to serve as nurses during the battle.
First, girls from Chemicals worked in a military hospital. But then they were transferred to dugouts and trenches as the bombing of the island was aggravated. They fed the wounded Japanese soldiers, participated in amputations and buried the bodies of the dead. Despite the fact that the Americans clearly won, the girls were forbidden to give up. Instead, they were specified to commit suicide, blasting hand grenades.
Some girls committed themselves, others died in battle. In one of the incidents known as the "Square of Virgins", 51 schoolgirl was killed under the shelling of the cave, in which they hid. After the war, a monument and a museum in honor of GIMEUR girls were built here.

1. Japan had its own nuclear weapon program during World War II

In August 1945, reset the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki shook Japan and the whole world, but one Japanese scientist was not surprised as the rest. Nisin Nisina's physicist-tidwner was worried about the possibility of such attacks since 1939. Nisin was the head of the first Japanese nuclear program, which began its research in April 1941.
By 1943, the Committee headed by Nisina concluded that the creation of nuclear weapons is possible, but too difficult even for the United States. The Japanese continued their research in another program called "F-Go Project", which was led by the physicist Bunsak Arakatsu.
And although the program of Arakatsu did not have the success of who knows, what kind of plot would the Second World War go, if the Japanese were the first to create atomic weapons? According to the writer Robert Wilcox (Robert K. Wilcox), Japan had all the knowledge to create an atomic bomb, but they lacked resources. In May 1945, the Naval Forces of the United States was intercepted by the German submarine, which was supposed to deliver 540 kg of uranium oxide in Tokyo.

Japanese monarchy It is the oldest of the currently existing continuous hereditary monarchies of the world.

The National Flag of Japan is called "Hinomaru" (Hinomaru). It depicts a red circle on a white background. This red circle symbolizes the rising sun. The main Japanese goddess is considered the goddess of the Sun - Amaterasu Omikami. Not by chance japanese name of the country "Nippon" Translated means "the origin of the Sun."

The Japanese buy meat daily, fish and vegetables, because they prefer fresh, unknown food. That is why medium and small size use the greatest demand in Japan.

Rice is here the main type of nutrition, it is served during eating almost every time.

Misho-soup - Favorite Kushan at any time of the day, can be prepared for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The main ingredient of this dish is a paste of soybeans dissolved in algae broth.

Traditional Japanese breakfast - Parished rice with Natto (fermented soybean beans).

Served almost every meal.

Many women wear footwear on a platform with a height of 10-15 cm.

In the house we carry home slippers, but not shoes.

Slippers are always removed, sitting on tatami for meals.

It can last up to eight hours.

Allowed almost everywhere ,. Far recesses include special smoking areas.

During washing, the Japanese do not sit in the bath to lay their body. They are embedded outside the bath, and then rinsed, and only then immerse themselves in hot water to refresh me and relax.

During cooking, the Japanese in large quantities use fish, beef, pork, chicken meat and a variety of seafood. Moderate spices and various soy sauces are added to most of their dishes.

Japan - A country with left-sided movement, and the car's wheel is located on the right.

In japanese villages There is no need to send invitations to weddings or funeral. Such events are considered public, so the entire village helps in cooking and preparing the necessary work details.

During meals, a wand for food is never inserted vertically in food. In the past, thus offered food dead.

You love to the Chaguat while eating, but do not let yourself in society (with family, friends, colleagues, guests, etc.)? Then Japan was created for you. It is customary here to combine during the reception of liquid food, for example, soup. If you do not do this, it is believed that you don't like food, and the owner can even be offended.

And finally, - extremely polite people. If you need something, they will give up all their affairs and will try to help.

20 interesting facts about the Japanese and their lifestyle:

11. In the Japanese metro there are cars only for women. They are joined in the morning so that in the rush hour no one comes to them. Since freshly loving male representatives often enjoy fresh in the wagons and stick to girls.

12. Japan is a small country, but there is a lot of all the largest. Here is the most expensive amusement park in the world of Disney Sea, four of the ten highest American slides. In Tokyo, the most developed metro system in the world is located the largest railway hub and the largest mixed pedestrian crossroads.

13. In all the northern cities of Japan, where snow falls in winter, sidewalks and streets are heated. Holly does not happen, and it is not necessary to clean the snow.

14. There are no garbage tanks and landfills in the country. All garbage is processed. All waste needs to be sorted. So, there is a paper container, glass, organic waste, for plastic bottles and separate for paper labels with these bottles.

15. In Japan, cheap fish and meat, but very expensive fruits.
One apple costs two dollars, a bunch of bananas - five. The most expensive fruit is a melon, the price of which can reach up to two hundred dollars.

16. In Japan, you can eat, loudly chavkaya. In this country, this behavior is not unknown. Thus, the Japanese show that they like the dish. On the contrary, if you do not, for example, visiting, the owner will think that the dish is not to taste and can be offended.

17. The Japanese love to eat and are well versed in food. When traveling abroad, in addition to the inspection of local attractions, it is also important for the Japanese and eat something and then discuss it.

18. All toilet bowls are heated by stools and a large number of buttons. They know how to make the sound of current water to hide the natural sounds of what is happening in the toilet.

19. In Japan, a third of the weddings are taking place as a result of waldness organized by the parents and

20. In Japan, tips are categorically not accepted. It is believed that while the client pays for the service prescribed price, it remains with the seller on equal. If the buyer is trying to leave extra money, he thus devices the service or product provided to him.

Japan is an amazing country. Many expatures living here for decades still can not understand the Japanese soul, their amazing hardworking and sincere love for Russian Cheburashka. In this article we collected the most interesting facts about Japan.

1. Independent travelers from Russia to Japan get difficult. To get a visa, you need to invite the host or buy a tour.

2. Population of Japan - 126 million people (for comparison in Russia lives 146 million). Most apartments are very close here, and our villas here are considered a real luxury.

3. In restaurants where local residents have dinner, instead of the menu plastic Food Layouts. You choose your favorite dish and after a while you bring the present.

4. In Japan, it is not customary to change the work. A young specialist chooses a company in which he will work before retirement. Dismissal is considered a big shame. As a rule, before that, it does not reach: you just downgrade.

5. Come to work (how to leave it) is considered a bad tone. At least half an hour before the start of the working day you need to be in place. Therefore, foreign employees cannot work in local companies for a long time.

6. Death from recession - This is not a turn of speech, but a diagnosis with which 15 thousand people die every year.

7. In Japanese, almost no obscene vocabulary. The effect is achieved from the volume and intonation of the spoken word.

8. Levels of courtesy (Caigo) - the peculiarity of the Japanese language. There is a spoken, respectful (wife's dialogue with her husband), polite (Cashier's conversation in a supermarket with the buyer) and very polite (for example, the appeal to the head to the boss). In schools there are special courses on Caigo. Sometimes it comes to the absurd, the service workers believe that the longer the phrase, the more politeness sounds, so the purchase of buns in McDonalds can turn into a fifteen-minute dialogue with the cashier.

9. Japan occupies first place in the number of extra labor. For example, there are people who keep road signs. The workshop must be attached to the working traffic transmission. Four regulators (!) Will help the driver to enter the parking space. And there are special people who look for smokers on the city streets and tell them about the dangers of this habit or employees who follow that the subway passengers do not accidentally entered the escalator repaired.

10. Medical mask The Japanese has become almost an element of a national costume. It is all worn: from mototaxists, sellers in kiosks to office clerks and fashion students. It's not about urban dust, but that the Japanese is very afraid of cold. In Japan, it is not customary to go to the hospital, according to statistics, office workers do not go to work due to the disease only two (!) Day in the year.

11. Tokyo is the safest megalopolis in the world. The cars are rarely locked here, bicycles are not fasted when they leave them for the night, you can forget the handbag in the subway, and then someone will attribute it to the foundation bureau. No one steals here, so the Japanese rarely follow their own things. For the same reason, they fall into unpleasant situations being abroad.

12. In Japan you can not just buy a car. To get a special permission to buy it, you need to prove that you have a place where to store it.

13. There are no garbage tanks in the country. There are only urns along machine guns with food and street cafes. All waste needs to be sorted, for example, there is a paper container, glass, organic waste, for plastic bottles and separate for paper labels with these bottles. There is even a special container for those who are confused in which of them which garbage is throwing.

14. You can not throw out the TV. You need to buy a special sticker, glue it on TV and put in place where the garbers will export rubbish. Without it, TV will stand forever.

15. In no country in the world there is no such massive phenomenon as hikicomori. (they are sometimes called hiking) - These are people who refused social life. They do not work, sit at home in an isolated room, live at the expense of parents or receive unemployment benefits. 7% of men in Japan - Hikicomori.

16. Japanese restroomsturned into a real meme. In what other country can we meet the heated toilet with the stool and color illumination, the color of which can be adjusted in every way?

17. A foreigner is very difficult to figure out local addresses.. The house number is its cadastral number, so it is extremely difficult to find the right place. If the Japanese invites you to visit, he sends you a clear travel scheme or will meet you at the nearest metro station.

18. Japanese street fashion - Theme for a separate post. We can enter a huge amount of clothing and its absoluteness, which the Japanese love to wear. In fact, there is a lot of styles here. Living for some time in Japan you start seeing your aesthetics.

Japan is a mysterious and amazing country located on the 4 major islands. Its name "Nippon" is translated as "the origin of the Sun." The Japanese has long been worshiped the goddess of the sun, which they consider to be their patroness, and the symbol of the rising sun, as if her charm, occupies a central place on the state flag. Everyone who visits Japan, discovers a lot of interesting things about the nature of the country, the traditions and the nrules of its people, unusual for Europeans. The facts are evident eloquently.

Two thirds of the entire territory of Japan occupy mountain and forest arrays. Therefore, many natural phenomena are predetermined by the specific terrain and geographical position of the country.

1. Japan is called an earthquakes country, which happens more than 1500 per year and up to 20 jolts per day.
2. Most mountain peaks of the Japanese archipelago are volcanoes. Here they are about two hundred. Of the total number of volcanoes 67 are "alive": applicable or sleeping at the moment.
3. The highest peak of Japan - Fuji is private property. The gift of ownership of the mountain was discharged in 1609 by the ruler of the country to the Sintosoy Great Temple Hong Segen.
4. Throughout Japan, besides Hokkaido Island, the summer is preceded by the rainy season, lasting since mid-May until mid-June in the southern part of the country, and from mid-June to mid-July in its northern regions.
5. The caravel is considered as a bird in Japan, which is one of the largest birds of his species. Its growth reaches 158 centimeters, and weight from 7.5 to 11 kilograms.

Japan, which is among the most developed powers of the world, retains its identity even in business and social relations, whose scope is clearly unified in most countries.

• In Japanese, there are no names of months. They are indicated by sequence numbers. January - the first month, February - the second month and so up to twelve.
• Here do not sign documents with hand. For signatures apply a registered seal that has every adult inhabit. Such seals are sold in ordinary stores. The Japanese are constantly carrying them and enjoy them many times during the day.
• Employees in public institutions are always respectful about visitors and customers. Even the train conductor, going into the car, removes the headdress, greets, and then begins to check tickets.
• There are no guest workers in the country, because the government adopted the law on which the minimum salary of the foreigner should be at the level of the average wage of the Japanese. In this regard, employers are more advantageous to the staff of their fellow citizens.
• The academic year in Japan's schools begins on April 1 and is divided into trimesters: from April to July, from September to December and from January to March.
• Girls here are forbidden to wear tights. In any weather, they must come to study in golf and skirt.
• Adults here become at the age of 13, which is called consent in Japan. When a teenager turns 13 years old with him, it is possible to enter the sexual relationship. In Japan, this is not considered pedophilia. Maybe therefore the country is characterized by the lowest level of rape. According to statistics, they are 5 times less than in our country.
• In the Japanese metro at the rush hour, special wagons for women hide, where the entrance is forbidden by male faces. Make it in order for a man in a reproach, passenger las. In Japan, ride a woman in the subway, is the favorite entertainment of men.
• In this country, "knocking" on the surrounding. Since childhood, the Japanese is brought up in such a way that he to report to Comrade, if he violated the accepted social norms - the correct act deserving respect.

Japan is a small country, but the traction to everything large is a national feature of the Japanese. For example, Tokyo has the most extended subway system in the world, the world's largest railway transformation node and the largest mixed pedestrian crossroads.

• Tokyo is one of the largest gay regions in the world. It is called Shinduka-Nich Czech and became famous for the largest concentration of gay bars in the world.
• In large cities in winter during the snow dropping down road and sidewalks are heated. The Japanese counted that in this way they save on winter tires, clearing the streets from snow and avoid the appearance of ice. This is a very important moment for the country's social life, because more than 10 thousand people take place daily for each street.
• In Japan, you will not see the garbage tanks, because the whole garbage is processed. Waste here are divided into burning, non-burning, processed and glass. Each type of garbage is exported on certain days, so it is necessary to throw it out strictly according to the schedule. For violation of the established deadlines, a fine can be a thousand dollars.
• In Japan, there are no restrictions on the spread of pornography. It is sold almost every corner. In any grocery store, special shelves for pornographic products are assigned. In small bookstores "Hentai" (so the Japanese call porn) is almost a third part of the entire range, and in large stores, 2-3 floors are discharged in such editions

Interesting facts about the moral and life of the Japanese

The population of Japan has a unique national mentality, which they managed to preserve, despite the process of globalization. Features of the Japanese character adopted by the norms of behavior in society and in everyday life are of interest all over the world.

1. On the decency of the Japanese and the absence of a tendency to theft says the fact that according to statistics, 90% of all lost and forgotten somewhere can be found in the foundation bureau.
2. Before entering the room, the Japanese customized shoes. This custom is observed at the entrance to any house, so that the mat will not be dirty, on which they sit during the food reception. In addition, they are measured in many medical institutions, most restaurants and even in some offices. Therefore, the Japanese always monitors their socks to be holey.
3. In Japan, it is not customary to give tips. The correct behavior is considered to be equal to the seller or waiter. If you wish to leave them for delivery for goods or service, they may insult, considering such a gesture "handing" and your desire to show your financial superiority over them.
4. During food in Japan, you can loudly chakli. Such a strange behavior for us is not considered uncultured there. On the contrary, if you are on a visit you will not be cleaned, the owner will think that you did not have to taste a treat and will be very offended. During meals, it is impossible to put a stick in a dish with food vertically. It is believed that this is suggested dead.
5. In Japan, dolphins eat meat. Soups are boiled out of it, kebabs are made (Kusia) and even consumed in raw form.
6. The Japanese take a kind of bath. First they wash the body, then rinsed under the shower. And only after that they relax in the bathroom with hot water. It is noteworthy that after having accepted the shower, without changing water, all family members can take this bath, then this water is often used for washing.