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Tokyo, Japan’s busy capital, mixes the ultramodern and the traditional, from neon-lit skyscrapers to historic temples. The opulent Meiji Shinto Shrine is known for its towering gate and surrounding woods. The Imperial Palace sits amid large public gardens. The city's many museums offer exhibits ranging from classical art (in the Tokyo National Museum) to a reconstructed kabuki theater (in the Edo-Tokyo Museum).
For city we take Shibuya City .In this regard, Shibuya is one of Tokyo's most colorful and busy districts, packed with shopping, dining and nightclubs serving swarms of visitors that come to the district everyday .Shibuya is a center for youth fashion and culture, and its streets are the birthplace to many of Japan's fashion and entertainment trends. Over a dozen major department store branches can be found around the area catering to all types of shoppers. Most of the area's large department and fashion stores belong to either Tokyu or Seibu, two competing corporations.

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As you can see , on the model we chose shirakawaga village for rural landscape so that we can easily see . Shirakawa-go is the gassho-zukuri style housing that populates this tiny village.  Gassho-zukuri is a branch of Minka-style architecture, meaning housing for the people, and was an architectural style popular with farmers, artisans and merchants.

Gassho refers to the shape of the thatched roofs and is a style that made Shirakawa-go one of the most sought-after tourist destinations on the island of Honshu. This unique roof design was named gassho (meaning two hands in prayer), as the two sides of the roof are joined together. Another special feature of gassho-zukuri is that no nails or metal materials were used to construct the houses and all straw and wood was sourced from the forests surrounding the village.

In the winter, the roofs are covered in a thick layer of snow and the buildings almost resemble gingerbread houses coated in white icing - a magical sight to be seen. At such a high altitude, Shirakawa-go gets extremely cold, so not only does the thatch keep the houses insulated, but it also protects the wooden interiors from the weight of heavy snowfall. The steep slope of the roof sheds the snow easily and opens up spacious attics which were used to raise silkworms and house traditional tools.

Each house has at least three to five stories to ensure that there was enough space to store farming or sericulture equipment. Due to its rural location in the rugged mountains of Northern Gifu, Shirakawa-go was extremely isolated up until the 1950s, therefore the traditions and farming techniques are rather unique to the area. There are many houses that are still inhabited by local families but also double up as museums, with Kanda House being a prime example. The 160 year old gassho-zukuri structure housed generations of sericulture farmers and took over 10 years to complete. Kanda House has some great tourist gems like an original grain drying shelter, and displays of tools that were used to weave silk.

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Based on progress 2 we chose the Torii as our shrine
In order to understand the Torii, we must first know the basic belief of Shinto the shamanic religion, ethnic of the people of Japan. This religion is heavily based on its rituals and practices, held at the local shrines, built where the Shinto kami are believed to reside. This is the key principle needed to understand the meaning of the Torii.

MEANING OF TORII

Given this extremely basic introduction to the Shinto religion, we can finally explore the meaning of the Torii. The Torii is, in fact, a gateway, that signals the transition from the profane to the sacred, as it is usually located at the entrance to Shinto shrines, though it isn’t rare to find them even at the entrance of Buddhist temples. As a matter of fact, the first documentation of the Torii dates back to the mid-Heian period, in 922, when Buddhism had already been introduced in Japan. Because of this, and the existence of similar structures in the rest of Asia, typically associated with Buddhist sites, it is quite hard to find a clear cut origin of the Torii, there are many theories, none of which seems to satisfy the question of its origin. However it is a matter of fact that today, the Torii, though present in Buddhist sites as well, is more closely associated to Shinto, for instance, the Shinto shrines are signaled on maps with Torii icons.
On a final note, it’s worth saying that the Torii doesn’t necessary mark the entrance to a shrine, but is sometimes used to simply mark an area believe to have a deep religious meaning, such as the Torii of the Meoto Iwa.

CONCLUSION

Torii are a typical symbol of Japan’s culture, iconic in many ways, and their meaning alone is enough to fascinate, making you want to actually feel the passage into the sacred areas.

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A Shinto shrine is place of the god .Structure whose main purpose is to house enshrine one or more Kami .Its most important building is used for the safekeeping of sacred objects, and not for worship.

Shinto gods are called kami. They are sacred spirits which take the form of things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, rivers and fertility. Humans become kami after they die and are revered by their families as ancestral kami.

Shinto is an optimistic faith, as humans are thought to be fundamentally good, andevil is believed to be caused by evil spirits. Consequently, the purpose of most Shinto rituals is to keep away evil spirits by purification, prayers and offerings to the kami.

It is believed that before Buddhism was introduced in Japan, however, Shinto was born from an existing primitive form of religion that worshipped nature. The ancient people of Japan honored sacred spirits that they recognized in nature, manifesting in mountains, rocks, rivers and trees.

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A cherry blossom is a flower of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is called sakura after the Japanese.
The significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years. In their country, the cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beautyof life. It's a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short.
On Japan's southern, subtropical islands of Okinawa, cherry blossoms open as early as January, while on the northern island of Hokkaido, they bloom as late as May. In most major cities in between, including Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, the cherry blossom season typically takes place in early April.

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Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower in the Shiba-koen district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. At 332.9 metres, it is the second-tallest structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations.

Tokyo Tower's original purpose when it opened Dec. 23, 1958, in the Hamamatsucho district of Minato Ward was to serve as a TV broadcasting antenna for the Kanto region. Modeled after the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Tokyo Tower is nearly 333 meters tall and painted orange and white in accordance with aviation safety rules

Tokyo is the most populated of Japan's 47 prefectures. In Tokyo, there are 49 buildings and structures that stand taller than 187 metres (614 ft). The tallest structure in the prefecture is Tokyo Skytree, a lattice tower that rises 634 metres (2,080 ft), which was completed in 2012.

Tokyo Tower was erected in 1958 as a broadcasting tower.

The tower is also used for collecting weather and air pollution data. It soars 333 m (364 yd.) into the air. This makes it taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which was built to a height of 320 m (349 yd.) in 1889.

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Japan’s Mt. Fuji is an active volcano about 100 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. Commonly called “Fuji-san,” it’s the country’s tallest peak, at 3,776 meters. A pilgrimage site for centuries, it’s considered one of Japan’s 3 sacred mountains, and summit hikes remain a popular activity. Its iconic profile is the subject of numerous works of art, notably Edo Period prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige

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1. The Shoin-zukuri Style

Shoin-zukuri or study-built style houses are made with square posts and floors were completely covered in tatami mats from wall to wall. This style of housing is one big room with a main area seperated by slide doors. The main area is decorated with staggered shelves and desks. On the outter areas of the house are wooden halls and shutters meant to protect the room from the rain. The name Shoin comes from the word meaning study or place for lectures and this style of architecture is certainly cozy like one.  A simpler version of this style is called Sukiya-zukuri which is used in the architecture of traditional tea houses.
2. The Gassho Style
Houses built in the Gassho-style typically have a high pointed, thatched roof that is steep and has a 60-degree angle. The steepness of the roof helps protect the house from heavy snowfall. The slow allows the snow to slide off instead of build up and possibly cave the house in. Inside the house, there are usually three levels–the base level, and two levels in the attic. The different levels are used for different kinds of farm work like raising silkworms. Thick crossbeams are used to support the roof. There are also openings in the roof that allow natural lighting into the attic and allows the attic to have ventilation

3. The Kura-zukuri Style
The Kura-zukuri style was a turning point in residential Japanese architecture mainly for the fire resistant materials used to build this kind of house.The Japanese borrowed this technique from their warehouse design and began to build their houses using the Kura style. A typical house built in the Kura-zukuri style have the same basic wooden structure except in addition to the wood, the house is plastered with fire-resistant clay. The builders of these houses lay the clay on pretty thick at 18 centimeters around the entire house. With this style, the houses were not only resistant to earthquakes, but they were also fire-proof too.

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This is our first skeching Japan model .

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Folk Culture Music

Four Types: Work songs, religious songs, songs for gatherings, and children songs.

Shomyo - Buddhist chant

Music was adapted from China hundreds of years before, but it started to change into more of a Japanese style.

Folk Culture Food

Bentos-traditional Japanese box lunch consisting of lots of rice and seafood along with fruits and vegetables. Although this is folk culture, it is still very common in popular culture.

Shabu-Shabu - tender, slim slices of beef dipped in sauce

Folk Culture Sports/Leisure

Sumo Wrestling: two men get into a ring, and they try to knock each other out of the ring or off of their feet.

Kendo: The Japanese form of fencing.

Judo: A combative sport of self defense

Samurai: ere the military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan

Folk Culture Housing

Pit Dwelling house- columns are inserted into a big hole dug into the ground and then surrounded by grass; came from Southeast Asia

Some building materials include wood, earth, and paper.

Folk houses are usually built wide instead of tall.

Houses are meant to be close to nature

Folk Culture Clothing

Kimonos: Generally made from silk with large sleeves, and they are long and dress-like. They are usually worn on special occasions.

There are different types of kimonos for different stages of a person’s life.

For example, an unmarried woman wears a kimono called a furisode, but on her wedding day she will wear a shiromuku, and after that she will wear a tomesode.

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Music

Visual kei also known as "visual style" is a prominent wave in japan music world that encapsulates bands with androgynous appearances who play a variety of music style ranging of heavy mental to electronic .Not many of the band s include female members,however a majority of their audiences are young females for example AKB48 and BABY METAL

Anime

Anime is movie or television episode of sorts which utilizes an animated cartoon art style iconic to japan in order to convey a story.Most of the time ,anime is based on animated comics called manga,which is an ancient form comic writing which dates back to the 12th century. The world of animated films in Japanese popular culture has been growing trend since the 1920s.
The success of the Pokémon franchise has been credited by people such as Nissim Otmazgin and sociologist Anne Alison as popularizing anime in the United States.The anime market has also been described as owing greatly to the crucial role of fans as cultural agents, the dereterritorializing effects of globalization, the domestication and heavy editing of anime to suit local tastes, and being part of the wider global flow of Japanese pop culture and "soft power".
As anime has grown in its variety of viewers, genres, and themes, the industry has become more prevalent in society. Many producers will at some point create an anime that's inspired by Japanese lifestyle and reflect the culture. In modern Japan, anime has become so popular that memorable characters have frequently been made into byproducts such as figurines and video games.

Manga

The word Manga, when translated directly, means “whimsical drawings”. Manga are typically 'comic books' as the West understands them rather, they represent pieces of Japanese culture and history. The 'manga' style has an extensive history, beginning sometime in the 10th century; scrolls from that period depict animals as part of the 'upper class', behaving as a typical human would in similar situations.

Kawaii Mascots

Kawaii in Japan has been a growing trend for many Japanese markets; they have been used in school all the way to large enterprises. The use of cute childish figures representing a certain groups allows for those potentially frightened by them to have these playful mascots that represent them to create a sense of humanity between them. An example would be the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department mascot known as Pipo-kun, which is an orange-skinned, elfin creature with rabbit ears that are made to listen to the people and an antenna to stay in tune with what is happening. The use of Kawaii in public relations has been a large factor for many and will continue to be used by those who want to have an optimistic view of them

Fashion

Japan began to emulate Western fashion during the middle of the 19th century. By the beginning of the 21st century, this emulation has formed street fashion, a fashion style in which the wearer customizes outfits by adopting a mixture of current and traditional trends. Such clothes are generally home-made with the use of material purchased at stores.
At present, there are many styles of dress in Japan, created from a mix of both local and foreign labels. Some of these styles are extreme and avant-garde, similar to the haute couture seen on European catwalks.

Though the styles have changed over the years, street fashion is still prominent in Japan today. Young adults can often be found wearing subculture attire in large urban fashion districts such as  Lolita

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What are traditional Japanese houses called?

Minka, or traditional Japanese houses, are characterized by tatami mat flooring, sliding doors, and wooden engawa verandas. Another aspect that persists even inWestern-style homes in Japan is the genkan, an entrance hall where people remove footwear.
What are houses like in Japan?

Many homes include at least one traditional Japanese styled room, or washitsu. It features tatami flooring, shoji rather than draperies covering the window, fusuma (opaque sliding vertical partitions) separating it from the other rooms, an oshiire(closet) with two levels (for storing futon), and a wooden ceiling.

Get Know Of Tranditional Japan Houses Inside Out.
Traditional Japanese houses have unique architectural and interior features that are considered an important part of Japan's history and culture. These old features are often included in new homes because many people still find them charming.

1. Shoji

Japanese houses didn't use historically use glass, resulting in some interesting methods of natural lighting. A shoji is a sliding panel that is made of translucent paper in a wooden frame. They are used for both interior and exterior walls. They help to give Japanese houses their character by allowing diffuse light and shadow through
2. Fusuma

Fusuma are sliding panels that act as doors and walls. They give Japanese homes many possibilities as rooms can be dynamically reconfigured.
3. Wagoya

Japanese carpenters developed advanced joinery techniques and occasionally constructed large buildings without using any nails. Complex wooden joints tied with rope can be seen in the frames of old Japanese houses. Traditional frames, known as wagoya, have a post-and-lintel design.
4. Engawa

An engawa is an outer corridor that wraps around a Japanese house. These were traditionally used as a separator between delicate shoji and outer storm shutters. When the storm shutters are shut, engawa feel something like a secret passageway that circles a house and can be extremely narrow. In some cases, large houses have a wide engawa that resembles a wrap-around veranda when the storm shutters are open.
5. Genkan

A genkan is the main entrance to a house that has a lower level floor where you remove your shoes. This area is considered extremely dirty. People leave their shoes facing towards the door and take care not to step in the lower part of the floor in their socks. There's usually a shoe closet directly beside the genkan. A spacious genkan is a popular feature of houses since that's where guests are greeted. Wearing shoes into a home in Japan is considered a shocking breach of manners that's akin to splitting on the floor.
6. Tatami Floors

Tatami are mat floors traditionally made of rice straw. They are a standard sizethat varies by region. Tatami are so common in Japan that houses andapartments are often measured using the size of a tatami as a unit. They represent a traditional lifestyle that involves siting and sleeping on the floor. Tatami have a soft, natural feel on your feet and have a pleasant smell when they're new. They are associated with a wide range of manners and customssuch as sitting seiza.
7. Kotatsu

Kotatsu are a low table with an inbuilt electric heater covered by a heavy futon blanket. People sit with their legs under kotatsu to relax, have a meal, study or watch television for hours on end. In many families, the kotatsu table is in high demand in winter. In most regions of Japan, houses aren't centrally heated and rely on various forms of space heating.
8. Kamidana

Kamidana are small Shinto Shrines that are used to remember departed loved ones in Japanese homes. It's common to light incense at a kamadana each morning. They are typically surrounded by lucky items and offerings of food or beverages.

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Urban Landscape in Japan

Many Japanese customs, values and personality traits arise from the fact that Japanese live so close together in such a crowded place. Everyday the Japanese are packed together like sardines on subways and in kitchen-size yakatori bars and sushi restaurants. A dozen lap swimmers may squeeze into single lane at a swimming pool. Bicycles and pedestrians fight for space on crowded sidewalks, which are especially packed on rainy days and sunny days, when umbrellas are out in force. If there weren't such strict rules and strong pressures to obey them people would be all over each other, in each other's face, and at each other's throats.

In Japanese cities there are recorded messages everywhere telling you what to do: at crosswalks, on buses, on subways. Regular announcements warn subway riders to stand back from the edge of the platform. Sometimes they tell you things like "don't forget your umbrellas," "please refrain form using mobile phones" and "keep the city clean and tidy." There are flagmen for sidewalks near construction sites.

Japan has managed to keep major department stores and shopping areas downtown rather than relying suburban shopping malls, which have kept downtown alive and prosperous. Urban activity is often concentrated around the train and subway stations.

Japanese cities are very clean. Graffiti is hard to find and when it found it often has an upbeat message like “Find Your Dream." It is not uncommon to see a uniformed man down on his knees scrapping a wad of gum the pavement or a policeman issue a ticket to someone for smoking on the streets. Even so the number of rats in the cities appears to be on the rise. They have been blamed for starting fires by nibbling through electrical wires and making nests in vending machines. Many of the rats are roof rats which are harder to control than the more common Norway rat.

Rural Landscape

In Shinto religion, the gods reside in all things, but there are natural places considered to have an unusually sacred spirit about them, and are objects of worship. They are frequently mountains, trees, unusual rocks, rivers, waterfalls, and other natural edifices. The idea of symbiosis with nature, of course, had strongly resided in the everyday life of the locals in Mt. Daisen in Tottori prefecture of Japan. When we talk about Mt. Daisen, we are apt to adore the majestic view and nature of the mountain, but if we take a closer look, we can also find tranquil rural scenery of traditional Japan. It is the sustainable human community in harmony with nature. You will find different culture here in rural Japan from a big cities like Tokyo and Osaka.

In this page, we would like to introduce some places off the map, where people are focused on their every day life, rather than making tourists happy.

Natural landscape

Japan is located upon the edge of several tectonic plates so that it has a number of active volcanoes like Showa-shinzan and Sakurajima. As a result, Japan has a variety of volcanic landscapes, including caldera and fuketsu (a cave from which cold winds blow) that were made because of volcanic activities. There are many geothermal areas that developed hot springs.

Surrounded by seas as well as much precipitation, Japan is a country rich in water so you can find a variety of water scenes. Coastal areas, in particular, you can see beaches, bluffs, sandy beaches, tidelands and coral reefs that serve as habitats for many birds and fishes.