Japan is located at the east of asia continent composed of islands including 4 of the largest ones. "Japan consists of several thousands of islands, of which Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku are the four largest."Across the sea, the closest neighbor countries are china, south Korea and Russia. More than half of the countries are covered with forest and there are lot of mountains. "More than 50% of the country is mountainous and covered by forests."Japan has approximately 200 million population and the main language is Japanese. "The population of Japan as per June 2008 stands at 127.7 million. Japan the 10th most populous country of the world, contributes 2% of the total global population."
Japan was influenced greatly by china on culture and politics in the Japanese feudal period which was to last before 19th century, and affected greatly by the western ideas and technology. After WWII, japan’s economy has developed very fast and become the 2ndlargest economic nation around the world.
Japanese food cuisine has long history of ages. It’s know as it seasonality food and special way to cook. And ingredients play very important role in Japanese cooking."Japanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on seasonality food, quality of ingredients and presentation."
One of japan most famous traditional board game is baduk, which known in western countries as Go. There are same game in china and south Korean and there are lot of excellent players in those countries.
Judo and ai ki do are 2 of the most well known traditional sports in japan.
In traditional culture, there are different clothes in their daily life for visiting formal or informal friends, bathing, and holidays. There are also different design style for each kind. "Formal japanese clothing normally takes on either of two characteristics; very elaborate designs or a simple elegant designs. "
Fuji mountain is one of the most famous landmark of japan.
Japanese manga is very popular around the world as a very special comic and drawing style. China and korea have very similar style with japan manga even they name it differently in each country. Japanese manga industry has a very successful system after development of years and produced lots of excellent manga series such as dragon balls, saint saiya and slum dunk. Japan manga style is very different with the western animation. "unlike American comic book heroes, manga characters are usually drawn with large eyes, small mouths, skinny builds and long legs."
Location & Area Japan consists of several thousands of islands, of which Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku are the four largest. Japan's closest neighbors are Korea, Russia and China. The Sea of Japan separates the Asian continent from the Japanese archipelago. Japan's area is comparable to that of Germany or California. Japan's northernmost islands are located on a similar geographical latitude as Milan or Portland, while her southernmost islands are on a similar latitude as the Bahamas. More than 50% of the country is mountainous and covered by forests. Japan is politically structured into 8 regions and 47 prefectures.
Population: The population of Japan as per June 2008 stands at 127.7 million. Japan the 10th most populous country of the world, contributes 2% of the total global population. Population density in Japan is 339 persons per square kilometer and ranks 32nd in the world in respect to country population density.
History Japan is one of the world's most ethnically and culturally homogeneous nations, but down the ages its culture and society have been greatly influenced by foreign ideas and institutions, art and literature.
The wholesale importation of Chinese religious and political institutions during the sixth century was followed by a long and essentially 'Japanese' feudal period, which was to last until the 19th century.
The Meiji Restoration of 1868 brought to power rulers dedicated to the pursuit of national modern nation, under whose guidance Japan quickly became a world power. Although Japan's subsequent bid for empire ended in disaster, the years after 1945 witnessed an economic miracle which brought spectacular wealth as well as the western nation of much of Japanese life.
Japanese traditional culture Food The modern term "Japanese cuisine" means traditional-style Japanese food, similar to what already existed before the end of national seclusion in 1868. In a broader sense of the word, it could also include foods whose ingredients or cooking methods were subsequently introduced from abroad, but which have been developed by Japanese who made them their own. Japanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on seasonality food, quality of ingredients and presentation.
Japanese cuisine has developed over the centuries as a result of many political and social changes. The cuisine eventually changed with the advent of the Medieval age which ushered in a shedding of elitism with the age of shogun rule. In the early modern era massive changes took place that introduced non-Japanese cultures, most notably western culture to Japan.
Clothing Customarily, woven patterns, dyed clothing and repetitive patterns are considered informal japanese clothing. Examples of traditional informal japanese clothing are; cotton yukata, woven cotton haori and dyed ikat kimono. These types of japanese clothes would be used as daily wear, for bath houses or for informal friend and family visits.
Formal japanese clothing normally takes on either of two characteristics; very elaborate designs or a simple elegant designs. A few examples of elaborate designed japanese clothes worn for an event are uchikake wedding kimono and festive happi coats. The more elegant designs, subdued colors or solid pattern formal japanese clothes would be worn for paying formal visits, funerals or by married women for weddings or formal functions.
Japanese popular cultures Manga The word “manga” basically means “comics” in Japanese. A single manga volume is around the size of a paperback novel and a single manga series can take many volumes to tell a story. While many manga series are for children and teens, many more are in fact geared towards a very adult audience.
Shojo and shonen are two examples of the different types of manga available. “Shojo manga” (girls’ comics) typically have a romance focus and are created specifically for a female audience. On the other hand, “shonen manga” (boys’ comics) appeal to a male audience with storylines that revolve around action and adventure. Although aimed at children and teens, shojo and shonen can also appeal to adults.
An obvious difference between manga and American comics is in the artwork; unlike American comic book heroes, manga characters are usually drawn with large eyes, small mouths, skinny builds and long legs. Another difference is that manga are read right-to-left (the traditional way Japanese is read) rather than left-to-right. In the West many publishers honor this difference and offer manga in an “authentic” format.
1. be prepared of the equipment like recorder, paper, and more importantly the questions. review it before interview starts and try to memorize it.
2.be sure to do enough research on the interviewee's native culture. keep in mind what kind of question are not accepted in specific group, like ethical, political or religious.
3.prepare a copy of question so that interviewee could be clear of what they are being asked.
4.don't be late on interview
5.speak slowly and clear in the conversation. be patient when interviewee can't express themselves very well and help them with respect
6.write the paper with further research in the library. seek cultural details behind the conversation
Definition: lists of works written on a particular topic. They include enough information about each work (author’s name, title, and publication data) so that you can locate the book or article.
It contains abstract overview of work’s content and shows the author of the work has done work for you.
Consider doing field research
Start research around you in the group that you are more familiar with.
Ex: visit local historical society to research aspect of your town’s early history for a composition class
Study campus trends in classroom participation for a sociology class
Interviewing
Look for an expert who has firsthand knowledge of the subject or personal experience provides an enlightening perspective on the topic
Be clear about purpose and how to conduct it.
Planning effective questions, also avoid yes or no question.
Surveying opinions
Limit questions and frame them carefully
You could ask yes/no question since they are more quick and easy to answer.
Visiting &observing
Visit significant place enhances paper in a variety of discipline.
Ex: visit museum of modern art to study American folk art
Visit England Stonehenge to prepare physical anthropology
Contact organization
Could be both public & private, but use information judiciously because groups tend to promote their own interests, we can’t count on them to present balanced view.
Evaluating sources
Select sources worth your time and attention
Scanning search result.
Book catalogs: gives a fairly short list of hits. Click it for further info.
Databases: brief introduction of the books could help you to choose.
Web search engines: unreliable sites often masquerade as legitimate sources of information
Check the title, keywords date, sponsor and so on
Previewing sources
Previews source quickly to see whether it lives up to its promise.
Previewing a book: only parts of the whole book may prove useful.
Ex: Glance through the table of contents
Use index to look up few words related to your topic
If a chapter looks useful, read its opening and closing paragraphs and skim any headings.
Previewing an article: fairly straightforward.
Ex: consider the publication in which the article is printed.
Focus on headline and opening for newspaper articles
Skim headings at the content that might indicate the article’s focus and scope
Previewing a website: requires some detective work.
Search enough before locating clues about a site’s reliability.
Ex: look for name of an author or webmaster, assess his or her credibility.
Check for a sponsor name, and consider possible motives organization may have in sponsoring the site.
1. to prepare understandable question which could reflect how they feel about the differences when they get contact in completely different cultural environment. And more importantly, I'm more interested in how they deal with those problems or issues in the long process.
2. be prepared before get start, and to know more about themselves personally in the process of interview
3. to get quite objective understanding of their current situations and feeling
4. keep interviews feel relax and open during the interview. also keep myself in a good manner to act and talk friendly
5. write a report according what we go through with the interviewee later. learn more about their culture and how they feel and deal with the cultural differences, instead of just a record. additional research will also helps me to understand more about the cultures.
