typhoons often bring heavy rain. [«Essential Info: Climate». JNTO]
3. Language
More than 99 percent of the population speaks Japanese as their first language. Japanese is an agglutinative language distinguished by a system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary indicating the relative status of speaker and listener. Japanese writing uses kanji (Chinese characters) and two sets of kana (syllabaries based on simplified Chinese characters), as well as the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals. [Miyagawa, Shigeru. «The Japanese Language»] Japanese, the Ryukyuan languages, also part of the Japonic language family, are spoken in Okinawa; however, few children learn these languages. [Heinrich, Patrick (January 2004). «L anguage Planning and Language Ideology in the Ry? Ky? Islands ». Language Policy 3 (2): 153-179.] The Ainu language, which has no proven relationship to Japanese or any other language, is moribund, with only a few elderly native speakers remaining in Hokkaido. [«15 families keep ancient language alive in Japan» 2008.] Most public and private schools require students to take courses in both Japanese and English. [Ellington, Lucien (1 September 2005). «Japan Digest: Japanese Education» 2006.]
4. Religion
Japan enjoys full religious freedom based on Article 20 of its Constitution. Upper estimates suggest that 84-96 percent of the Japanese population subscribe to Buddhism or Shinto, including a large number of followers of a syncretism of both religions. [Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (15 September 2006). «International Religious Freedom Report +2006»] However, these estimates are based on people affiliated with a temple, rather than the number of true believers. Other studies have suggested that only 30 percent of the population identify themselves as belonging to a religion. [Kisala, Robert (2005). In Wargo, Robert. The Logic Of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitar? pp. 3-4. ] According to Edwin Reischauer and Marius Jansen, some 70-8 0% of the Japanese regularly tell pollsters they do not consider themselves believers in any religion. [The Japanese today: change and continuity (2nd ed.). Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 1988. p. 215.]
Nevertheless, the level of participation remains high, especially during festivals and occasions such as the first shrine visit of the New Year. Taoism and Confucianism from China have also influenced Japanese beliefs and customs. [Totman, Conrad (2005). A History of Japan (2nd ed.). Blackwell. p. 72.] Japanese streets are decorated on Tanabata, Obon and Christmas. Fewer than one percent of Japanese are Christian. [Kato, Mariko (24 February 2009). «Christianity s long history in the margins». Japan Times] Other minority religions include Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Judaism, and since the mid - 19th century numerous new religious movements have emerged in Japan. [Clarke, Peter, ed. (1993). The World s religions: understanding the living faiths. Reader's Digest. p. 208.]
5. The People
Family
The ie (?, home), or «ideal/traditional» view of the Japanese family stems from the Edo period. This version of the Japanese family is more concerned with the extension of the household than the individuals. For example: if the eldest son is not capable of being the head of the family, the second son may replace him, or if a woman fails to please the in-laws or produce a child for the family, she may be divorced.
By extending their household, the family is concurrently expanding kin relationships. Another aspect of the traditional family is that the man is always the head of the household, which means he makes the decisions and provides income for the family, while the wife stays at home and manages the house and children.
A subtype of the «traditional» family structure is the multigenerational family. Multigenerational households are comprised of the paternal grandparents, a sarari-man father, a full-time stay at home mother, and the children. So this traditional or ideal view of family in Japan is actually not that different from the traditional view of family in other countries. However, just like in other counties, this view does not always correspond with the reality.
The most common type of Japanese family is the Nuclear family. The nuclear family is comprised of a married couple with or without children and does not focus on the extended family, as the ideal view does. However it is still common to find the husband providing the majority of the income, but the...
