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Top 10 Fun Facts about Japan

Japan is an island country situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. It spans an archipelago of, 6852 islands covering 377,975 square kilometers (145,937 sq mi) with the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the “mainland”), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Tokyo is the nation’s capital and largest city.

Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt, is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. Below are the top 10 fun facts about Japan;

1. It is good manners to slurp your noodles

Soba noodles – Unsplash

When eating noodles, most Japanese people slurp their noodles, a tradition that can be traced to ancient Japanese people. The Japanese slurp their noodles for two main reasons. Reason number one weirdly enough, slurping actually enhances the flavor of the food. Slurping the noodles allows one to take noodles and air into their mouth at the same time, which works to further bring out the flavor of the noodles.

Reason number two Japanese people have developed the habit of eating their noodles as quickly as possible before they start to soften in the soup. Thus, they slurp their noodles because of their intuition to eat noodle dishes quickly.

2. Japan has the highest number of vending machines in the world

Vending machines – Flickr

Japan has the highest density of vending machines worldwide. There is approximately 1 vending machine per every 23 people, according to the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association. The machines sell any number of types of soft drinks, coffee, tea, cigarettes, candy, soup, hot food, and even sake and beer.

There are various factors attributed to the high number of vending machines, with one of the many reasons focusing on Japanese work culture. Japanese people, and work a lot and therefore value convenience. Vending machines provide this convenience by reducing the time needed to prepare a meal.

Annual sales totals from the vending machines range around $60 billion.

3. People are hired to push people inside trains

Pusher – Wikipedia

A pusher is a worker who pushes people onto the mass transportation vehicle at a crowded stop during the rush hours. In Japan, they are known as oshiya and are tasked with ensuring every passenger has boarded and does not get caught in the doors.

When pushers were first brought in at Tokyo鈥檚 Shinjuku Station, they were called “passenger arrangement staff” and were largely made up of students working part-time. To distinguish themselves, they had a uniform and wore white gloves. Today, there are no dedicated 鈥減ushers鈥�. The station staff and part-time workers fill these roles during rush hours.

Fun fact, subway pushers were an American invention and originated in New York City, nearly a century ago.

4. The world鈥檚 oldest company is in Japan

Osaka Cattle – Flickr

Kong艒 Gumi Co., Ltd. is a Japanese construction company dating as far back as 578 CE. It was the world’s oldest continuously ongoing independent company and is currently the oldest company overall. The company majored on building Buddhist temples, but it also took up other projects, such as building the Osaka Castle, one of Japan’s most famous landmarks.

The company has been able to survive all these years because the founder’s descendants managed the company. The practice of sons-in-law taking the family name when they joined the family firm contributed to the Kong艒 Gumi’s long existence.

In January 2006, after falling on difficult times, it became a subsidiary of the Takamatsu Construction Group.

5. Japan has a suicide forest

Aokigahara Forest – Flickr

Aokigahara is a forest on the northwestern flank of Mount Fuji on the island of Honshu in Japan. The forest floor mostly consists of volcanic rock from the last major eruption of Mount Fuji in 864 CE. On the western edge of the forest there are several caves that fill with ice in winter.

The forest has a historical reputation as a home to ghosts of the dead in Japanese mythology. At least since the 1960s, Aokigahara has become associated with suicide, eventually becoming known in English as the “the Suicide Forest”, and gaining a reputation as one of the world’s most-used suicide sites. Because of this, signs at the head of some trails urge suicidal visitors to think of their families and contact a suicide prevention association.

6. Raised floors help indicate when to take off slippers or shoes

Genkan – Wikipedia

Genkan are traditional Japanese entryway areas for a house, apartment, or building, a combination of a porch and a doormat. It is usually located inside the building directly in front of the door where shoes are removed before entering the main part of the house or building.

The Genkan step is often raised about 6 inches and indicates where to remove the shoes. At the top of the step, clean sippers that you can wear within the house are found. When going out, you leave your slippers at the top of the step and put on the shoes at the bottom.

7. Norway introduced Salmon sushi to the Japanese

Salmon sushi – Flickr

Before the 90s, salmon in Japan was regarded as a garbage fish that you only ate cured or fully pan-fried or grilled that was used to fill out cheap meals. Without the current technological advancements, eating raw salmon was risky because of the Pacific salmon鈥檚 propensity for infection by parasites.

In the 60s and 70s, Norwegian entrepreneurs started experimenting with aquaculture farming. Being farm raised, the salmon had no parasites, and could be grown with higher fat content. After the success of the parasite free salmon, the Norwegians came up with the concept of salmon sushi, and spent the better part of a decade marketing and selling it in Japan.

8. The first Geishas were men

Taikomochi – Flickr

Today we know geisha also known as geiko as a class of female Japanese performing artists and entertainers trained in traditional Japanese performing arts styles. Their distinct appearance is characterized by long, trailing kimono, traditional hairstyles and oshiroi make-up.

However, the first geishas appeared in the 13th century and were originally men known as taikomochi. These men both advised and entertained their lord. By the 16th century, they became more akin to storytellers, focusing on creating conversation and inciting humor. Around the 17th-century women started becoming geishas, and by the 1750s, women geishas began to outnumber the men.

9. Japan sold the most expensive tuna in the world

Bluefin tuna – Flickr

The bluefin tuna is a commercially valuable species and several thousand tones are caught each year, making it overfished. It is considered threatened by the IUCN and PEW.

In 2019 a Japanese sushi tycoon paid a whopping $3.1m (拢2.5m) for a giant tuna, making it the world’s most expensive. He bought the 278 kg (612lbs) bluefin tuna at the first new year’s auction in Tokyo’s new fish market.

10. The depth of a bow in Japan is very significant

Bowing in Japan – Flickr

Bowing is very important in Japanese as it can be used for introductions, appreciation, apologies, and greetings. The specific intricacies of bowing are far more complex, with duration and depth of bow prescribed for every circumstance. This is why most Japanese companies provide training to their employees on the right execution of the act.

Bows are of three primary types: formal, very formal, and informal. Informal bows are usually made to a 15-degree angle: perhaps just tilting the head forward. More formal bows describe a 30-degree angle and are deeper. Apologetic bows tend to be deeper and longer than all the other kinds of bow. The back is bent for about 45 degrees, the bow lasts for more than three seconds, and the head is lowered.