Things You Don’t Know About Japanese Culture

One of the most fascinating cultures on modern Earth, Japan’s beauty lies in its uniqueness. Despite various cultural expansions from the West and back, it’s easy to notice Japan’s influence on various aspects of our lives – from personifying cities and sports teams with various mascots to highlighting emotions with weird sounds and visual effects on TV shows and Internet memes – the distinct approach of easy-to-recognize Japanese things is everywhere.

Still, there are a lot of curious facts most people don’t know about Japan – like words that everyone pretends to know the meaning of, cultural trends that get richer and more deliberate if one chooses to immerse themselves in them or exciting (or strange, to some) mating traditions, like online dating and offline courting traditions! Let’s delve into the five things you may not have heard about Japanese culture!

What about the Love for Manga and Anime?

To say the least, manga, Japanese comic books, and anime – animated shows based on them, conquered the planet in the wildest way is, to say nothing. If you think that manga and anime are huge – think about these numbers – Kimetsu No Yaiba, known in the West as the Demon Slayer, is a top seller in Japanese manga, in 2020 sold better than all comic books from Marvel and DC combined. And that’s only in the US; both of these industries much bigger in Japan! And 60% of the world’s animation is anime. It’s very common in Japan for a person to read manga or watch anime from their phone in any public space – on the street, train, or even in a bar.

Online Dating is a State-Sponsored Venue

The online dating industry is getting a huge boost during the coronavirus crisis, and it isn’t surprising. What else is there to do in isolation if not look for the one to get together with? After all, there’s so much free time! But it’s the whole other thing in Japan. The population is aging, and many Japanese men and women feel lonely and unable to find a partner, so what do they do? Finding an adult hookup site to meet a partner to release stress together and create a functioning couple is a popular solution, yet the Japanese government has taken it to the extreme. Since 2016, they have held state-sponsored speed dating events, creating couples all over Japan, and during the COVID crisis, they embraced the online dating phenomenon and invested in matchmaking platforms that use AI to connect people to make them stay together and have kids.

The Best Seasons for Dating

Many know Japan as a place to go when the Sakura trees bloom, and that stereotype is correct. Watching the cherry trees blossom is called Hanami, and that tradition has hundreds of years of history behind it. And yes, it is an important season for finding love, yet there is another one when going out with the Japanese boyfriend or girlfriend is just as important and symbolic – Koyo is the red leaves people are strolling under when autumn comes, and they are perfect place s to meet online and offline lovers.

Places to Keep Quiet and Go Out in a Loud Way

By the way, the Japanese aren’t always calm and collected as many imagine. However, there are distinctive places where keeping quiet is essential – and no, we aren’t talking about the libraries, but trains! Japanese trains are usually very quiet and used as places to read, think, or get an additional minute of sleep before work. But once the work is done and Japanese citizens begin to fill in the bars, they become unrecognizable – anyone who’s ever been to a Japanese bar knows that locals are not as quiet as many imagine them to be.

Geisha Actually Means “The Person of Arts”

A little fact many are unaware of. There are certain stereotypes based on the Japanese language, and the word “geisha” is one example. It doesn’t mean what many think it does, but it actually describes a performance artist! Another curious fact – first geishas were men, and it was a male-exclusive profession, just like acting in a traditional Japanese Kabuki theatre.