Kimono

Kimono and yukata are traditional Japanese clothing.

Kimono are made of silk and are usually very expensive. Nowadays they are worn at formal or traditional occasions such as funerals, weddings or tea ceremonies. Only rarely kimono can still be seen in everyday life.

To put on a kimono needs some practice. Especially tying the belt (obi) alone is difficult so that many people require assistance. Wearing a kimono properly includes proper hair style, traditional shoes, socks, underwear, and a small handbag for women.

The yukata, on the other hand, is more of an informal leisure clothing. Yukata are relatively inexpensive and made of cotton. They are provided while staying at a ryokan (Japanese inn).

Tea Ceremony

The tea ceremony is a ritual way of preparing and drinking tea. The custom has been strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism.

Nowadays, the tea ceremony is a relatively popular kind of hobby. Many Japanese who are interested in their own culture, take tea ceremony lessons with a teacher. Tea ceremonies are held in traditional Japanese rooms in cultural community centres or private houses.

The ceremony itself consists of many rituals that have to be learned by heart. Almost each hand movement is prescribed. Basically, the tea is first prepared by the host, and then drunken by the guests. The tea is bitter matcha green tea made of powdered tea leaves.

Geisha

Geisha are professional female entertainers who perform traditional Japanese arts at banquets. Geisha are dressed in a kimono, and their faces are made up very pale.

Girls who wish to become a geisha, have to go through a rigid apprenticeship during which they learn various traditional arts such as playing instruments, singing, dancing, but also conversation and other social skills. In Kyoto, geisha apprentices are called "maiko". Contrary to popular belief, geisha are not prostitutes.

Japanese Gardens

Garden design has been an important Japanese art for many centuries. Traditional Japanese landscape gardens can be broadly categorized into three types, Tsukiyama gardens (hill gardens), Karesansui gardens (dry gardens) and Chaniwa gardens (tea gardens).

Tsukiyama gardens use ponds, streams, hills, stones, trees, flowers, bridges and paths to create a miniature reproduction of a natural scenery which is often a famous landscape in China or Japan.

Karesansui gardens reproduce natural landscapes in a more abstract way by using stones, gravel, sand and sometimes a few patches of moss for representing mountains, islands, boats, seas and rivers.

Chaniwa gardens typically feature stepping stones that lead towards the tea house, stone lanterns and a stone basin (tsukubai), where guests purify themselves before participating in the ceremony.

Sumo

Sumo is a Japanese style of wrestling and Japan's national sport. It originated in ancient times as a performance to entertain the Shinto gods.

The basic rules of sumo are simple: The wrestler who either first touches the floor with something else than his sole or leaves the ring before his opponent, loses. The fights themselves usually last only a few seconds and in rare cases up to one minute or longer.

Six tournaments are held every year, each one lasting 15 days.

Religion

Shinto and Buddhism are Japan's two major religions. They have been co-existing for several centuries and have even complemented each other to a certain degree. Most Japanese consider themselves Buddhist, Shintoist or both.

Religion does not play a big role in the everyday life of most Japanese people today. The average person typically follows the religious rituals at ceremonies like birth, weddings and funerals, may visit a shrine or temple on New Year and participates at local festivals (matsuri), most of which have a religious background.

Samurai

The samurai were the members of the military class, the Japanese warriors.

Samurai employed a range of weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and guns; but their most famous weapon and their symbol was the sword.

Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the ethic code of bushido ("the way of the warrior"). Strongly Confucian in nature, Bushido stressed concepts such as loyalty to one's master, self discipline and respectful, ethical behavior.

After a defeat, some samurai chose to commit ritual suicide by cutting their abdomen rather than being captured or dying a dishonorable death.