Japan has seen a recent increase in male suicides in the wake of the pandemic. In September 2020, 705 working-age men between 20-50 years old killed themselves. This is up by 8.6% from last year. Likewise in August, the number was 6.6% higher than in 2019 (Suicide, 2020). The pandemic is driving non-regular workers and…
Category: Culture
Book Addiction Has a Word: Tsundoku
I love books and suffer from a mild case of tsundoku. Tsundoku is the Japanese word for the tendency to buy books and not read them. My books clump together in great piles that mock me for not reading them fast enough. Of course, I come home from the library with books that I have…
Akita: Japan’s Bear-Hunting Dog
Most cultures have their own breeds of dogs. Dogs have provided us with companionship, protection, and help for thousands of years. Dogs were brought to the islands of Japan from China around 660 BC. But the Akita breed didn’t appear in documents until the early 17th century. A nobleman exiled to Akita Prefecture encouraged people…
Weekend Afternoons with NHK Japan
I grew up on a steady diet of PBS. I’m sad to say that Sesame Street wasn’t a part of my childhood. My PBS time consisted of shows like Sewing with Nancy, This Old House, Antique Roadshow, and The Joy of Painting and whatever watercolor series followed it. My parents watched the former shows. Bob…
Bushido: The 5 Acts of the Samurai Code of Conduct
Bushido is the code of conduct for the samurai. It isn’t a written code. Rather, it was taught through example and through stories. As with any ideal, few people lived according to the tenants of bushido, but many aimed at it. Bushido comes down to 5 ways of acting. The teachings of Confucius and Mencius…
Are You a Person of “Culture”?
We know culture when we see it. But have you considered what culture really is? At the most basic, it is how people approach life. It includes language, approaches, ideas, and items. Most of the time, we consider the external factors like buildings, doodads, and language as culture. Language grants access to the culture your…