Life and Customs

• What are the national holidays in Japan?
• What do the Japanese do during the New Year holidays?
• What is setsubun?
• What is hinamatsuri?
• What is higan?
• When did the custom of flower viewing start?
• What do people do in hanamatsuri (the Flower Festival)?
• What is tango no sekku?
• What does the tanabata festival celebrate?
• What is Bon (Urabon)?
• What do people do on tsukimi?
• What does shichi-go-san celebrate?
• What do people do on New Year's Eve?
• What is the significance of festivals for the Japanese?
• What are the three largest festivals in Japan?
• What is the most common kind of wedding ceremony in Japan?
• How much does it cost to hold a wedding?
• What is the average age of marriage of the Japanese?
• What is the divorce rate?
• How many international marriages are registered every year?
• What is the most common type of funeral?
• How much does a funeral cost?
• How much money do people generally offer at funerals?
• Do the Japanese always cremate the dead?
• How do the Japanese spend their leisure time?
• What do children enjoy doing?
• What do men enjoy?
• When was pachinko, or the vertical pinball game, born in Japan?
• What is appealing about go?
• What is interesting about shogi?
• How many people travel outside Japan?
• What kinds of sports do the Japanese participate in?
• What sports are popular as spectator sports?
• Has sumo been the national sport from ancient times?
• What is the world of the sumo wrestler like?
• When was judo established?
• What kind of traditional martial arts of Japan are practiced as sports?
• How many professional baseball teams are there in Japan?
• What is professional soccer like in Japan?
• On the average, how many New Year's cards does a person send?
• What is the benefit of visiting shrines over the New Year holidays?
• To whom and for what reason are summer and winter gifts given?
• What is the correct way of bowing?
• Do Japanese dislike shaking hands?
• Do Japanese kiss when greeting?
• How do you play janken (scissors, paper, stone)?
• Do Japanese names have meaning?
• What kinds of plants are popular with Japanese?
• What kind of animals are popular in Japan?
• Why do the Japanese believe that pine trees, bamboos, plum trees, cranes, and tortoises are symbols of happiness and good luck?
• What forms of fortune-telling are popular among the Japanese?
• What are the twelve zodiac signs?
• What are butsumetsu (Buddha's death) and tomobiki (trail days)?
• What ghosts or spirits are common in Japanese folklore?