Being the cultured weebs we are here at LLA, most of us have a great appreciation not just for anime, but from its homeland Japan as well.
But as you know, just because you appreciate something and enjoy learning about it doesn’t mean you know EVERYTHING about it.
So in case you’re one of the Japanophiles (like us) that doesn’t know every single there is to know about this fascinating culture, we’ve made a list of 12 Things You Didn’t Know About Japan
***You might have known some of these prior to this list, but if you know all 12 you are a true Japan expert, and you should be the one writing these articles.***
12. Japan is Made Up of Over 6000 islands
Although the vast majority of the population lives on the 5 main islands of Japan, the country is made up of a total of 6582 different islands.
If you’ve ever wondered what might have inspired world class mangaka, Eiichiro Oda to make his famous One Piece manga take place on dozens of vastly different and hectic islands, this might have had something to do with it.
11. Next Level Vending Machines
It’s estimated that Japan contains just under 5 million vending machines. This means that right now there’s about 1 vending machine for every 25 citizens.
The sheer number is impressive, but what people find the most interesting about this isn’t just the volume, it’s what’s inside them. You could expect to find just about anything in a vending machine in Japan.
Watch 20 minutes of “japanese vending machine” videos on Youtube and you’ll see everything from cold beer and fully functional pizza kitchen machines to used panties and emergency protocol rations.
Now, I’ll admit, this is probably a fact about Japan you’ve heard before, but for those of us who haven’t it couldn’t be left out.
10. Crooked Teeth are Trending
Commonly known as Yaeba, which translates roughly into ‘folded tooth’ or ‘fang like’, the trend originated as an indication of natural beauty. People find people with more crowded teeth to be more youthful and attractive, especially when it makes the canine teeth look like fangs.
While this idea has been around for a while, it became increasingly popular for young women to go to dental clinics to have their teeth purposefully de-straightened around 2013.
9. The Numbers 4 and 9 are Cursed
Okay, so cursed might be a bit of an exaggeration, but the numbers 4 and 9 tend to be avoided because they sound like the words for death and suffering, respectively. Because of this, they both have a second pronunciation that sounds purposefully different.
Despite the alternate pronunciation most people use to avoid saying these, you will still hear accounts of large buildings in Japan that don’t have 4th or 9th floors, or how things like tea and sake sets are often sold with 3 or 5 cups instead of 4. This is similar to how buildings like hospitals often avoid having 13th floors in the United States due to superstition surrounding the number.
In case you were wondering what the lucky numbers are in Japan, 7 is said to be the luckiest number in Japan, and 8 is lucky as well. This comes in especially handy if buying somebody a gift, to make sure you get them something with good luck as opposed to bad.
8. Japan Has Almost No Gun Violence
Japan has had much lower gun violence than most other countries for many years now, but it is has been exceptionally low compared to other countries for the last few decades.
According to numbers from Nippon.com, Japan has had less than 50 gun-related per year since at least 1992 (the earliest year they provide info on), sometimes as low as just 2 or 3 instances a year. This is a stark contrast to countries like the US, where the CDC reported the amount of gun-related deaths from 2001 to 2017 totaled over 84 deaths per day, or nearly 31,000 per year.
Think about that for a minute: Japan has FAR less gun deaths and injuries every year than the US has every single day
7. Horse Meat is Commonplace
Horse meat is served in a large percentage of restaurants and grocers in Japan. It is usually referred to as sakuraniku which is a combination of the words for cherry blossom and meat, because the meat resembles the color of cherry blossoms.
If you live in the US, this may come as a shock, especially that the horse meat is often eaten raw, but keep in mind that the US is one of the very few countries that ban the sale of horse meat in the entire world.
6. Fast Food Can Be Luxurious
When most of us think of fast food, we probably imagine something greasy, unhealthy, and cheap, usually with a side of fries.
In Japan, however, the same chains that bring us deliciously flavored trans fat garbage in the west have been known to roll out luxury meals, especially for holidays or special occasions.
Perhaps the most famous of these is the KFC Christmas menu where people place pre-orders starting in early November for their Christmas meal.
Originally called “Kentucky for Christmas” and started in the 70’s, you can still pre-order your meal and included bottle of wine each year for around $40 USD, to be picked up Christmas Eve
5. Amazing Animal Encounters
Of the many tourist attractions in Japan, a clear favorite on blogs and Youtube channels is the animal villages and islands.
Unlike their western counterparts, these attractions are generally closer to animal sanctuaries than zoos, and usually focus on the preservation of the animal colonies and their habitats.
Amongst these, some crowd favorites are the cat islands of Aoshima and Tashirojima, the rabbit island of Okunoshima, the Zao Fox Village in the Miyagi Prefecture, and the Jigokudani monkey park where you can find Macaque monkeys bathing in the mountain’s hot springs.
In addition to these, there are also more commercial animal themed cafes like the Owl Cafes or Hedgehog Cafe in Tokyo. While more about impressing customers than habitat preservation, these can still be an insanely unique and intriguing destination to add to any visit to Japan.
4. They Have Anime Schools!
While most of us know that anime is extremely popular in Japan, what you might not realize is just how popular it is. For starters, it’s estimated that about 60% of all animated content on Earth comes from Japan.
For just voice acting alone, Japan boasts an impressive 130 different schools where students can learn all of the requisite skills to break into the voice acting industry for anime and games.
For other main parts of the industry, like animation and design, there are dozens of highly reputable schools and colleges around the country where you can go to learn anything from animation and illustration to producing and directing.
3. Baseball is Extremely Popular
While this one might be more interesting to some than others, it’s worth mentioning. The reason for this is that most people wouldn’t expect a sport known as “America’s favorite passtime” to be quite as popular in Japan.
Contrarily, baseball — known as yakyū, is so well-liked in Japan that even highschool championship games are often broadcast on national television.
2. It’s More Common for Adults to be Adopted than Children
Almost every year, adoption rates in Japan are 90% or more from the adoption of adults, as opposed to children. The adopted parties are mostly men between the ages of 20 to 30.
One prominent reason for this is so that a business owner can secure an heir for their business, known as Yōshi-engumi.
Another common use of this is for same-sex partnerships to legally inherit the other partner’s estate, by having the older partner adopt the younger (must be at least one day older than someone to adopt them)
1. Plethora of Crazy Cafes
Most of us know about maid cafes, butler cafes, and probably even a few more that we’d like to go visit one day. But in case you don’t, maid cafes are establishments where women in maid outfits make up the waitstaff, generally while acting within the persona of a maid character.
What people tend to overlook, though, is just how many of these zany establishments there really are. Beyond just the popular maid cafes, there’s entire other genres of cafe waiting to be explored in urban Japan.
There are cuddle cafes, where one can pay a time-based fee to cuddle with a staff member, cafes where the employees are monkeys and so much more.
If you can think of a cuddly critter, there’s a cafe for it. Got a favorite anime? Chances are there’s a cafe for it. Like retro gaming? There’s plenty of places for it. And so on.
It would be nearly impossible to list them all here, but the point is that there’s loads of them. If you’d like to see more, a quick Google or Youtube search will reveal a long list of different themes and styles, some of which you would have never guessed.
