Visit Japan
Japan is an island with such a rich and extensive culture that people around the world have wanted to visit it for centuries. From ancient samurai and temples to some of the best automobiles ever engineered, anime, manga, and delicious food—Japan truly has everything. Why not visit?
Where is Japan?
Japan is an archipelago, or string of islands, on the eastern edge of Asia. It consists of four main islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—as well as nearly 4,000 smaller islands. Its closest mainland neighbors are Russia to the north and Korea and China farther south.
Facts about Japan
1. It’s good manners to slurp your noodles Japan values good manners highly, but when it comes to chowing down on bowlfuls of noodles, there’s only one way to eat: noisily. Slurping is a sign of enjoyment and also cools down the noodles as you eat. Get your chopsticks in one hand and lean over your bowl. Bibs are sometimes provided for foreigners, but by the time you leave, you should be able to polish off a bowl in a white top and walk out spotless
2. The traditional Christmas Eve meal is KFC Plenty of Japanese people celebrate Christmas, but the festive fare isn’t what you might expect. In Japan, it’s traditional to head to your local KFC on Christmas Eve. An estimated 3.6 million Japanese feast on the KFC Christmas Dinner and hours of queuing and ordering weeks in advance is expected. Some say turkey and chicken wasn’t widely available for the Christmas-curious Japanese, so Colonel Sanders stepped in to answer the demand…
3. Japan is not all about the cities Japan’s big-name stars are its densely populated cities, and it’s not a country you’d think of as a scarcely populated, mountain wilderness. However, around 70% of Japan is made up of forest and mountains that aren’t suitable for farming or living in. There are over 100 active volcanoes, and its tallest mountain is the famed Mount Fuji, with its elevation of 3,776 meters.
4. There’s a Rabbit Island in Japan Japan is made up of nearly 7,000 islands. The little island of Okunoshima in the Inland Sea is best-known for its curious, big-eared population. The island was used to test chemical weapons during World War II, and it’s said the test subjects roamed free after the war. Either way, the numbers flourished in a predator-free environment (dogs and cats are banned from entering), and today Okunoshima is a popular spot for cuddle-bunny tourists.
5. The number four is extremely unlucky The number four (‘shi’) is widely avoided in Japan since it sounds too similar to the Japanese word for death. Keep an eye out in Japan and you’ll notice buildings don’t have a fourth floor, items are sold in sets of three or five and special care is taken to avoid encountering the number in daily life.