There are many Traditions in Japan, for example there was Geishas and they were traditional Japanese artist-entertainers who sold themselves to American troops. Another tradition that they still have is a traditional tea ceremony. The tea is prepared by a skilled practitioner who severs it to a small group of guests in a setting of a tranquil room. The tea practitioner must be familiar with the production and types of tea, calligraphy, with kimono, ceramics, flower arranging, incense and a wide range of other disciplines and traditional arts in addition to his or her school's tea practices. The study of tea ceremony takes many years and often lasts a lifetime. Even to participate as a guest in a formal tea ceremony requires knowledge of sado, including the prescribed gestures and phrases expected of guests, and the proper way to take tea and sweets, and general deportment in the tea room.Japan has several types of Fashion which is Street fashion, Tokyo fashion, Ganguro, Lolita, Gothic Lolita, Cosplay, Maid café, and Harajuku fashion. Harajuku fashion has actually two types, which are Lolita and Gothic Lolita fashion. The Lolita fashion has a classic that is brightly colored and more mature looking, then there’s the sweet that has childish pastel colored clothes with lots of lace and ribbons. The Gothic Lolita fashion empathizes teenagers and young women to wear Victorian porcelain dolls clothes that makes them look cute and to the point of looking childish. Then there is Visual Kei that’s a type of Elegant Gothic Lolita Aristocrat rock look that helped many popularize Gothic Lolita. Another fashion is the maid cafes and they are typical manga-style maids that serve tea and cakes. In Japanese these are referred to as "Maido" or "Meido" cafe. When a customer enters the café, the maids typically give a flattering greeting such as "Welcome home, Master in order to play the role of a house servant. Unlike "ordinary" cafés, maids serve customers as if they were their masters, for example, the staff sometimes kneel on the ground to mix sugar or milk in teas or other drinks. The purpose of the maid cafés and their service is to make customers feel at home and relaxed. Although exemplary customer service is typical of Japan, maid cafés take special care to pamper their patrons. Then there is Cosplay which is the joining of two English words "costume" and "play". Typically the Japanese will dress as their favorite character from manga, anime, video games, J Rock or pop band or movie. Cosplay involves dressing in very elaborate costumes, normally made by themselves, with other people who like to do the same thing, while the cosplay is normally done for them, it has become a public spectacle in places like Harajuku, where interested members of the public, mainly western tourist, come to take pictures. Usually at times there are more photographers than there are cosplayers. Then there is also Ganguro and the basic look consists of bleached hair, a deep tan, both black and white eyeliners, false eyelashes, platform shoes that are usually sandals or boots, and brightly colored outfits. Also the typical of the Ganguro Gal look are cell phones covered with purikura stickers, tie-dyed sarongs, mini-skirts, hibiscus flower hairpins, and lots of bracelets, rings and necklaces. Then there’s the Street fashion which not all young Japanese wear outlandish street fashion, but there is certainly a dedicated following in large Japanese cities such as Tokyo and Osaka where you can see lots of Japanese Street Fashion. Then last of all is the Tokyo fashion which is all of the fashion types that have already been said, but they are not the regular type of fashion for the regular people.The Economy in Japan has their Government industry cooperation, which is a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defence that shares and have helped Japan to be advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically powerful economy in the world after the US and the third largest economy in the world after the US and Japan is China. One notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been guaranteed the lifetime of employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features of characteristics are eroding and still are today. The industry is the most important sector of the economy, because it is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Japan has to import rice and they must also import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth has been spectacular: There was a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. The growth slowed markedly largely in the 1990s, because of the aftereffects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. The government efforts to revive economic growth have met with little success and were further hampered in 2000-200 by the slowing of the US and Asian economies. The crowding of habitable land area and the aging of the population are two major long run problems in Japan. The robotics constitutes a key long term economic strength with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots". The domestic conflict over the proper means to reform the ailing banking system that would continue in 2003.The music in Japan has J Pop, Japanese Rock, Japanese Folk, Koto, Shakuhachi, Wadaiko Drumming, and Japanese Dance. The Japanese dance is many traditional dances in Japan, but the one of the most famous and common dances is the Bon dance, called "Bon Odori" in Japanese. People dance to the Bon Dance during the Bon Festival that is held every summer in districts and neighborhoods in every city in Japan. The Wadaiko Drumming has drums that are known as the taiko or wadaiko. The original concept for the large drums came from China over 1,000 years ago and these drums were made of slats of wood, but produced an inferior sound, because of the secondary vibrations and loss of energy through the joins in the slats. The Japanese then developed a new manufacturing method to improve the sound. They improved the manufacturing method by involving the use of a single piece of wood from the trunk of a very large zelkova tree. The larger drums normally use cow hide for the "heads" of the drums. Japanese Folk music has four main kinds of Japanese folk songs: work songs, religious songs such as sato kagura which is a form of Shintoist music, songs used for gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and festivals, and children's songs. Then there’s shakuhachi which means "one foot eight" and almost 55 centimeters and the standard length of a shakuhachi. Varies, because there are other types of length of the shakuhachi which goes to about 1.3 shaku up to 3.3 shaku. The longer the shakuhachi, the lower the tuning. Although the sizes differ, they are all still referred to generically as "shakuhachi". A recorder player blows into a duct, also called "fipple" and as a result has limited pitch control. The shakuhachi player blows as if they would blow across the top of an empty bottle, but the opposite edge of the shakuhachi has a sharp edge, which allows the player substantial pitch control. The five finger holes are tuned to a pentatonic scale with no half-tones, but the player can bend each pitch as much as a whole tone or more, using a technique called meri, in which the blowing angle is adjusted to bend the pitch downward. The Shakuhachi has a range of two full octaves the lower is called Otsu, the upper is Kan and a partial third octave is Tai-Kan. The different octaves are produced by using subtle variations of breath and embouchure. Then the koto is one of the most popular Japanese traditional musical instruments. To many of the character of koto music is evocative of traditional Japan with the attributes of the western harp, dulcimer and lute. Many Japanese legends refer to the origins of the koto. Some say that the koto was formed in the shape of the crouching dragon, a charmed and mythical creature of ancient Japan and China. There is also Japanese rock which is a form of popular music, often abbreviated to "J-Rock" in much the same way that "J-Pop" is used as an abbreviation of Japanese Pop. J-Rock is one of the most popular forms of music in Japan. Psychedelic rock was invented in the 1960s by American and British counterculture figures. Arriving in Japan, psychedelic rock took on a different flavor. Previously known for the drug intake of its performers leaving an impact on the hazy, drugged out music, J-Rock performers tended to be drug-free, or even adamantly anti-drug. Then lastly there’s J-POP which the word began to be known all over the world since Japanese music industry became big enough to influence Japanese pop culture and young people. The music industry in Japan is now one of the biggest industries in the world and affecting the music scene in other countries. Along with the expansion of Japanese music industry, J-pop has been getting popular in some countries which are in ,Asia, Europe and the U.S., since internet makes it easier to access any information at home.The art in Japan is mostly anime and manga, but there’s also Japanese Calligraphy, Onsen, Tatami, Ofuro bath, and Go Game. Japanese Calligraphy is based upon Chinese calligraphy, but has a long and distinct history and style of its own.Japanese Calligraphy - Before Nara period: The oldest existing calligraphic text in Japan is the inscription on the halo of the Bhaisajyaguru statue in Hōryū-ji Temple. This Chinese test was written in Shakeitai style, famed in Six Dynasties. There are also bibliographic notes for the Lotus Sutra in same temple. This Hokkegisho have been said to be written by prince Shōtoku in 615, but some scholars criticised this assertion. Japanese Calligraphy - Heian period: Emperor Kammu moved the capital from Heijō-kyō in Nara, first to Nagaoka-kyō in 784, and then to Heian-kyō, Kyoto in 794. This marks the beginning of the Heian era. Chinese influences in calligraphy was not changed in the early period for example, under the Emperor Saga's reign royalty, the aristocracy and even court ladies studied copying Chinese poetry texts in artistic style. The Modern Japanese Calligraphy was adopted as one of the subject in elementary school of Japanese mandatory education system. In high school the calligraphy is one of the alternative among art subjects with music or painting. Some universities such as University of Tsukuba, Tokyo Gakugei University and Fukuoka Kyoiku University have the branch of calligraphic study and emphasize teacher training programs with calligraphy. Then there’s the Tatami mat which is the traditional straw matting that is used on the floor in Japanese homes. The Tatami evolved over a long period, the first beginning is a thin easily folded straw mat on which people sat or slept on. Later, more layers of tightly woven rice straw were added to the core to increase comfort. The core was then covered with woven rushes and the edges hemmed with cloth. In traditional Japanese society the Tatami came to be associated with privilege as exalted members of society sat upon them while others sat on the wooden floor. As shoes are a symbol of the life led outside the home is customed to remove them in the entranceway, here we enter a different world which is the private and personal world of the home. Then they had to take a bath, because it has always been an integral part of Japanese life. In the past, Japanese people enjoyed the daily ritual with their friends and neighbors in a public bath which is the sento or in a hot spring bath called the onsen. The Japanese bath means much more that just getting oneself clean. They would have there own terms which is having to shed one’s clothes and daily concerns, then lathered, scrubbed and rinsed oneself thoroughly, one steps into the ofuro and sinks slowly into the deep, pure and clean hot water. Then soaking, submerged to the chin, it is a time for relaxation and contemplation, a sensual pleasure and a feeling of well-being and harmony with the natural surroundings, perhaps the garden or landscape beyond. Then they had onsen which were located outdoors, although a large number of inns have now built indoor bathing facilities as well the onsen by definition use naturally hot water from geothermally-heated springs the onsen should be differentiated from sento, which is indoor public bath houses in the city where the baths are filled with heated tap water. Major onsen resort hotels often feature a wide variety of themed spa baths and artificial waterfalls in the bathing area. Then there’s also ‘Go’ which is a game which two players contest for territory. One of the two players uses black stones and the other white stones to mark out their respective territories. The player who has captured more territory at the end of the game is the winner. Since the players are to fight against each other over territory within a limited space, the game involves many varied forms of contest, which this is what makes ‘Go’ interesting. Then the last of the art for Japan is anime which is a style of animation originating in Japan. Anime is characterized by character and background styles which may be created by hand or may be assisted by computers. Storylines may feature a variety of characters and may be set in different locations and in different eras. Anime is aimed at a broad range of audiences because there are is a wide range of different genres that any series may be categorized under. Anime may be broadcast on television, distributed on media, such as DVDs, or published as a console and computer games. Anime is often influenced by Japanese comics known as manga. Anime may also be adapted into live action television programs.
