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It is known as the snowball fighting in Japan.

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A football game that is populat during the Heian period. People playing this sports are going to wear like an emperor and kick the ball.

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A kind of Japanese national sports. It orgininated in the ancient times as the performance to entertain Shinto.

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It is a sport that places great importance on etiquette. The contest begins with the competitor exchanging formal bows and ends with another polite postures.

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This play a significant role play in the Japanese culture. Sumo, Judo, Karate are traditional Japanese sports. Basketball, baseball and other kinds of sports are comes from other foreign countries.

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The largest traditional dance in Japan. This holidays celebrate during the middle year of August. Men, Women and children dance on the street in Tokushima City, their dressing is traditional uniform, Happi and Yukata.

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A Japanese national holidays. They celebrate it on the 5th of May. The purpose of setting this is to respect children's personalities and also to celebrate the happiness they have.

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Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers ex: Sakura and plum trees. They will also have Hanami Parties, which they will eat, drink, sing and dance together while enjoying the beauty of flowers.

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The largest holidays in Japan is the New Year's Celebration. During Spring and Summer Period it is the celebration for god of the land or sea take place. Matsuri will also takes place in different places.

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Japan leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC),  and start the commercial hunting, this action is to show that the government in Japan is trying to save the endangered whaling culture, and change to do sightseeing industry. Japanese aren't having whales meat.

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Japan plans to leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to resume commercial hunting, media reports say.

The government told its MPs of the decision, NHK reports. There has been no official confirmation of the move.

Commercial whaling was banned by the IWC in 1986 after some whales were driven almost to extinction.

For many years Japan has hunted whales for what it calls "scientific research" and to sell the meat, a programme widely criticised by conservationists.

The Japanese government is expected to cite the recovery of certain whale species as justification for the move, although it's thought to be considering whaling only in its own waters.

Officials in Japan say eating whales is part of its culture.

A number of coastal communities in Japan have hunted whales for centuries, but consumption in the country surged only after World War Two when whales were the main source of meat. It has plummeted in recent decades.

What's the reaction?

Wildlife protection groups have already criticised the planned withdrawal.

Despite Japanese media widely reporting the decision has been taken, there has been no official announcement yet.

Hideki Moronuki, from the Fisheries Agency of Japan, told the BBC that Japan was considering every possible option but has "not yet come up with a decision".

Citing unnamed government sources, Kyodo news agency said a formal announcement could come next week.

In September Tokyo tried to get the IWC to allow commercial catch quotas but the proposal was rejected.

What is the current whaling ban?

In 1986, IWC members agreed to a moratorium on hunting to allow whale stocks to recover.

Pro-whaling nations expected the moratorium to be temporary, until consensus could be reached on sustainable catch quotas.

Could the ban on killing whales end?

Japan and the whale

Japanese whaling: why the hunts go on

Instead, it became a quasi-permanent ban. Whaling nations, such as Japan, Norway and Iceland, however argue the practice is part of their culture and should continue in a sustainable way.

Today, whale stocks are carefully monitored, and while many species are still endangered, others - like the minke whale that Japan primarily hunts - are not.

Can Japan just leave?

If Japan wants to leave the IWC, it has to send a notification by the end of the year. It would then be able to leave on 30 June 2019.

Japan would, however, still be bound by certain international laws.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea binds countries to co-operate on the conservation of whales "through the appropriate international organisations for their conservation, management and study". The text does not say which international organisation that is.

Japan could either try to set up another international body if it manages to get enough other countries to sign up - or join an existing one like the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (Nammco) instead.

Like a smaller version of the IWC, Nammco is a grouping of pro-whaling nations - Norway, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands - born out of frustration with the IWC.

Hasn't Japan been whaling all along?

Yes, Japan has been hunting whales for the past 30 years but under a scientific programme, granted as an exception under the IWC ban.

Critics say the practice is a cover for what actually amounts to commercial whaling.

It means that whales can be taken for scientific studies and the meat can later be sold for consumption.

Japan has caught between about 200 and 1,200 whales each year, saying it is investigating stock levels to see whether the whales are endangered or not.

Why can't the IWC agree?

Japan has repeatedly tried to overturn the moratorium and secure agreement on sustainable catch quotas.

The last attempt to do so came in September at an IWC summit in Brazil.

Japan offered a package of measures, including setting up a Sustainable Whaling Committee and sustainable catch limits "for abundant whale stocks/species".

The proposal was voted down. Since then there has been talk of the country simply leaving the body so it will no longer be bound by its rules.

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Japan plans to leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to resume commercial hunting, media reports say. The government told its MPs of the decision, NHK reports. There has been no official confirmation of the move. Commercial whaling was banned by the IWC in 1986 after some whales were driven almost to extinction.

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Whales are the biggest resource of meat in Japan after World War II when people is starving. Nowadays Japanese people rarely eat meat of whale, which is according to Asahi Newspaper, whales meat only made up 0.1% of all meat sold in Japan.

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It is probably the one issue that brings more international condemnation on Japan than any other. The BBC’s Rupert Wingfield- Hayes asks why Japan keeps on whaling?

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Fisherwomen like Ama risk their lives diving into the sea to collect oysters and other sea foods, this is an actual job before 3000 years ago. Now this culture is disappeared for long year.

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The women - who range from 60 to 80 years old - take to water during diving season, 10 months of the year

'I really feel like I am a mermaid among the fish, it's a fantastic sensation,' says a beaming Hideko Koguchi

Only 2,000 ama are left across Japan, down from more than 12,000 in the 1930s, according to records

A group of Japanese grannies emerges from a boat returning to shore. Clad in black wet-suits and bubbling with energy, they are part of a dwindling community of 'ama' - freediving fisherwomen.

As they compare the hauls of shellfish they have gathered, the women - who range from 60 to 80 years old - could be mistaken for teenagers underneath the water, gliding gracefully in the dark depths of the Pacific.

'I really feel like I am a mermaid among the fish, it's a fantastic sensation,' says a beaming Hideko Koguchi, who works as an ama in the coastal town of Toba.

Back on shore, she kneels and counts the turban shells - a type of sea snail - gathered by the group.

Dressed in her full ama outfit - a mask that covers her eyes and nose, flippers and a black wet-suit that replaced a white version worn until the 1960s - Koguchi sheds the weight of her years.

She has been an ama for three decades, and says proudly that she hopes to be diving 'for another 20 years'.

During the diving season, which lasts for 10 months a year, the local fishing association scrutinises weather forecasts and information on marine stocks each day, before issuing a call for the women from loudspeakers.

Each ama - which means 'woman of the sea' - has only rudimentary equipment: a buoyant ring to signal her presence at the surface while she dives, and a net to hold her haul.

Out at sea, the women set up their rings and then dip beneath the surface, sometimes holding their breath for more than a minute. They tirelessly resurface and dive over and over, dozens of times a session.

Only 2,000 ama are left across Japan, down from more than 12,000 in the 1930s, according to records kept by a marine museum in Toba.

The profession still exists in South Korea, where the divers are known as haenyo, but their numbers are also shrinking.

Historical artefacts suggest the tradition in Japan dates back 'at least 3,000 years,' said Shuzo Kogure, an ama specialist and researcher at the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.

And while the profession has never been restricted to women, it is the female ama who have attracted the most attention.

Old photos and postcards depict the divers fishing topless, a practice that ended in the 20th century but remains associated with the ama and the idea of them as 'exotic objects of fantasy', said Kogure.

But cliches aside, the women have long worked hard to feed their families in isolated rural regions where other types of jobs were limited.

'In the old days, young women would become ama when they left middle school,' like a rite of passage, explained Sakichi Okuda, director of the local fishing cooperative.

Like Koguchi and her older sister, who dive together, they usually learned the basics from a relative at a young age.

The sisters are part of an ama lineage that stretches back through their mother and grandmother, but their skills will not be passed on to the next generation - their children have left for the city, in search of more stable jobs.

Okuda admits that 'it is no longer viable to take on this job.'

To preserve the culture, 'we have to answer the question of how we can increase the revenue of these divers.'

The women, some of whom even walk with their backs bent over with age, acknowledge the work is poorly paid and dangerous.

'Of course I would love the kids to take over, but I know that being an ama diver is a difficult job and I don't recommend it, even to my own children,' says Koguchi's sister Michiko Hashimoto.

She sits warming herself up around a fire in a the hut where the women gather after fishing to catch up and recharge.

'If we want to protect and transmit the values of the ama, their way of life, we have to open the door to strangers, beyond the tradition of passing things through the family,' said Kogure.

'If we can accept that change, then the future need not be so dark,' the expert said, adding that the government and local authorities should offer financial support to the divers.

In the neighbouring village of Osatsu, young recruits are eagerly welcomed.

Ayami Nagata, a 39-year-old mother of five, began her ama training last year, following in the footsteps of her grandmother.

'I don't know how to swim, but I am practising in shallow areas to start with,' she said.

She isn't joining the profession for the money: each catch goes for only around 10,000 yen ($88).

For Nagata it's about escape: 'these moments of freedom far from the family.'

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Japan's 'ama' grannies cling to their freediving fishing tradition

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The women - who range from 60 to 80 years old - take to water during diving season, 10 months of the year 'I really feel like I am a mermaid among the fish, it's a fantastic sensation,' says a beaming Hideko Koguchi Only 2,000 ama are left across Japan, down from more than 12,000 in the 1930s, according to records A group of Japanese grannies emerges from a boat returning to shore.

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Ukai is a traditional fishing method, that uses trained cormorants to catch the river fish like ayu. This kind of fishing has been around for over 1300 years. It now is most prominently along Naraganawa River in Gifu City , where the fisherman have official support by the emperor.

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Japan is an island surrounded by sea. Having a lot of sea food and fresh fish lead people to collect these using their own way. As the technology is developing, these life are either risking humans or animals, an ineffective fishing is eliminated.

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I am a volunteer author for the online community supporting Japan as my Kaleidoscope project. This Kaleidoscope project hopes to preserve the national cultures worldwide. My contribution to this project will be trying to preserve some lesser known and unknown culture in Japan. This project here are also going to offset the negative effects of globalization, (cultural imperialism and homogenization) on some weaker cultures, for the preservation of uniqueness. The platform I am using is the Padlet online, the structure of this project is going to be a campus, where the things that are similar can be connected, it is viewable for online audiences, and I would encourage them for sharing and let more people know the situation, and have action to preserve the national cultures worldwide in Japan.

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The main language spoken and written is Japanese. Old Japanese are originated from China, "Kojiki" the earliest Japanese text was written during the 8th century  for Ancient Chinese Characters.
During Edo period from 1603- 1868 modern Japanese was developed.

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Japanese are the major fish eaters in the world, it is the first fish importer which consume 12% of world's caught fish.
Japanese also eats pork and beef as part of their daily diets.

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Buy: This price is a good deal based on past prices for the app.

Details

Categorized Under: Education, Reference

Description

UPDATED: Now enhanced with writing technology from WACOM! Enjoy learning the Japanese kanji with Mirai Kanji Chart app! Feature List: - full kanji chart (Grades 1 - 6) - stroke animations - writing practice - flashcards and simple progress... Read More

UPDATED: Now enhanced with writing technology from WACOM!

Enjoy learning the Japanese kanji with Mirai Kanji Chart app!

Feature List:
- full kanji chart (Grades 1 - 6)
- stroke animations
- writing practice
- flashcards and simple progress tracking
- selection of various fonts and styles
- switchable app themes (Light & Dark)

The chart also includes several fonts to show you different forms of the kanji characters as they are used in a variety of scenarios: in newspaper and magazines, for casual handwritten notes, and even in horror-movies!

Seeing the different styles of the kanji characters will help you learn and remember them more easily.

Mirai Kanji Chart will be updated periodically. Feel free to email us at kanjichart@mirai-apps.com if you have any ideas or suggestions to improve this app! Collapse

Disclaimer

All app prices are tracked in USD. This price was last verified in the US App Store 18 minutes ago and is subject to change.

Disclaimer

All app prices are tracked in USD. This price was last verified in the US App Store 18 minutes ago and is subject to change.

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Mirai Kanji Chart - Japanese Kanji Writing Study Tool | App Price Drops

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Buy: This price is a good deal based on past prices for the app. Details Categorized Under: Education, Reference Description UPDATED: Now enhanced with writing technology from WACOM! Enjoy learning the Japanese kanji with Mirai Kanji Chart app! Feature List: - full kanji chart (Grades 1 - 6) - stroke animations - writing practice - flashcards and simple progress...

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It's unknown when human first settled at the island in Japan. It had been believed that there was no variant of Paleolithic in Japan.

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The 2 major religions are Shinto and Buddhism in Japan. In the 6th century, Buddhism was imported from China.
The recent poll find that 39% of Japanese beliefs in Buddhism, and 3.9% of Japanese beliefs in Shinto.

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A phonetic lettering system used for foreign words.

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A phonetic lettering system.  (Japanese alphabet)

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Logographic Chinese characters that used in the Japanese system.