In Japanese, the word for the first black belt a person receives is shogun, which means “beginning level.” Attaining your black belt means that you’re ready to start perfecting your karate techniques and that you have a basic understanding of how to do the various aspects of karate well...
Japanese smiths solved this problem by controlling the amount of carbon in the tamahagane steel very carefully. As they heated and cooled the metal during the process, they folded it back on itself many times to create multiple layers. The result is renowned the world over for its strength ...
Did Japanese royalty learn Chinese in feudal Japan? Was the Tokugawa shogunate feudal? Did feudal Japan and the Old West share any similarities? How much rice did peasants keep in feudal Japan? What was the role of the shogun in feudal Japan? How did the Tokugawa unify Japan? What were th...
Even today, if you ask any Japanese person who has any historical knowledge, they are all aware of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s physical appearance and his nickname. After Toyotomi seized Japan, the emperor bestowed the title of Taiko, or prime minister not shogun because of his family lineage, and ...
Toshiro Mifune in 1980’s “Shogun.”©NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection That script is nourished by the study, much like Clavell’s, of a real moment in Japanese history, complete with narrative lines structured around a social hierarchy that feels like new information for a Western viewer and...
Additionally, Shogun's Hiroyuki Sanada could very much become the first Japanese entertainer to win Best Actor in a Drama Series. His costar Tadanobu Asano is also aiming for the same historic first in the supporting performance category. For all the celeb reactions to this year's nomination...
ve always been strongly drawn to Japanese culture and I do recall I was looking at adapting a Yasunari Kawabata novella so maybe something was in the air. It was primarily the power of the love story between Fukase and Yoko that put the hook in me. His work is obviously powerful...
What powers did the shogun have in Tokugawa Japan? Who is the Emperor of Japan? What did Emperor Meiji do for Japan? How did Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere affect the Japanese military? How did medieval Japan influence the world? During the Meiji Era, how did Japan view China? Ho...
Update: I've updated this post substantially in these two articles, 10 years later: How to cook great Japanese style rice, and How to make sushi rice (shari). Please take a look there - you'll probably find them a lot clearer. I've learned a lot myself i
What is Japanese professional baseball? Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan. There are two professional baseball teams in the Osaka (Kyoto) area, each with their own unique charm. Its popularity with tourists from overseas is also increasing, and the number of tourists watching...