Martial Arts
It is widely thought that China and Japan are where the ancient martial arts were developed, but little is really know as fact. We do know that in 1532 Japan founded the takenouchi-ryu martial art system where jujitsu was taught, and over the next 700 years these namely self-defence arts were studied and practiced by [...]
Japanese Performing Arts
Performing arts are an important part of Japanese culture – these have emerged through the centuries and are still as popular today as they were hundreds of years ago. Below we explore some of the most well-known: Kabuki Kabuki has been part of the Japanese culture since the early 1600’s and is a traditional art; [...]
A Brief History of Japan
Japan has such a long history spanning thousands of years. It is thought that the first inhabitants of the islands were fisherman and hunter/gatherers – this early stage in Japan’s history was known as the Jomon period. In 300 BC invaders came from the Korean Peninsula, (the start of the Yayoi period) and slowly cultivated [...]
Japanese Food
The Japanese as a nation have always used fresh, simple ingredients to form their daily diet, realising the benefits in health from natural food products and shying away from artificial flavourings. The people of Japan see food as an integral part to their well-being. In 300 BC the cultivation of rice was introduced by the [...]
The Geisha
Another famous culture in Japan is that of the Geisha. Common misconception makes many believe that these girls were in fact part of the prostitution trade, but this really was not the case. The word “Geisha” means quite literally “Artist”. Geisha girls are recognisable by their costume – with brightly coloured kimonos and obi’s, white [...]