Wildfires in Japan force residents to evacuate homes in mountains

The reopening of the country ushered in contact with the West and a time of unprecedented change. Japan Missav – Pussy sought to become a modern industrialized nation and pursued the acquisition of a large overseas empire, initially in Korea and China. By late 1941 this latter policy caused direct confrontation with the United States and its allies and to defeat in World War II (1939–45).

Bungo still has some relevance for historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many of the Japanese laws that survived World War II are still written in bungo, although there are ongoing efforts to modernize their language). Kōgo is the predominant method of both speaking and writing Japanese today, although bungo grammar and vocabulary are occasionally used in modern Japanese for effect. While deba and nakiri are traditional Japanese blades with unique features, some Japanese knives are modeled after Western-style ones.

Resource Roundup: Handpicked books and tools for your journey.

Osaka is much more of an approachable-sized city in terms of things to do and see. You have a strong food culture, known as Japan’s kitchen, and a lovely restaurant scene. A handful of temples, some nearby that are well worth seeing too, make it a convenient and often more affordable place to visit. The Shinkansen is one of the fastest trains in the world and connects cities in Honshu and Kyushu. Networks of public and private railways are over almost all the country.

The program is run by the Japanese government but your employer would typically be a local Board of Education who assigns you to one or more public schools, often deep in the countryside. No Japanese skills or formal teaching qualifications are required and your airfare is provided. Pay is somewhat better than the language schools, as is the working conditions. Many exchange programs bring foreigners to Japan, including at the university level.

Japan is known for its upscale department stores (デパート depāto), the nicest of which feature beautiful interior architectural ornamentation and still employ uniformed women to operate the elevators while informing customers where to find items. Depāto typically have a food court and groceries in the basement, while the roof often has a garden (which doubles as a beer garden during the summer) and some affordable eateries. IC cards of other regions, such as Kansai’s ICOCA or Chubu’s TOICA, can be used interchangeably with Suica and PASMO too. However, IC cards can only be refunded in the same region from which they were purchased. For example, Suica cards cannot be refunded in Osaka and ICOCA cards cannot be refunded in Tokyo. An exception is TOICA, which can be refunded at JR Central’s shinkansen ticket offices in Tokyo (Tokyo station or Shinagawa station), Yokohama (Shin-Yokohama station), Kyoto and Shin-Osaka.

The Japanese frequently wipe sweat from their face with a colorful handkerchief (ハンカチ hankachi), use a fan (扇子 sensu for a folding fan, 団扇 uchiwa for a flat fan) to keep themselves cool, or (for women) use umbrellas (傘 kasa) to shade themselves.
Place your personal towel in shared bathwater, and always thoroughly wash your body at washing stations before entering the communal bath.
So, bring a pair of socks in your bag while you’re sightseeing, if you aren’t wearing them.
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For example, the word tomodachi ‘friend,’ would become o-tomodachi when referring to the friend of someone of higher status (though mothers often use this form to refer to their children’s friends). On the other hand, a polite speaker may sometimes refer to mizu ‘water’ as o-mizu in order to show politeness. Since most relationships are not equal in Japanese society, one person typically has a higher position.

The largest summer festival is Obon (お盆), held in mid-July in eastern Japan (Kanto) and mid-August in western Japan (Kansai), which honors departed ancestral spirits. Everybody heads home to visit village graveyards, and transport is packed. Summer brings a spate of festivals designed to distract people from the intolerable heat and humidity (comparable to the US Midwest). There are local festivals (祭 matsuri) and impressive fireworks competitions (花火 hanabi) throughout the country. Tanabata (七夕), on 7 July (or early August in some places), commemorates a story of star-crossed lovers who could only meet on this day. The above map represents the four main islands of Japan, Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Okinawa.

Editor’s Note: How I Structured This 10-Day Itinerary in Japan

Know how to evacuate, and if an earthquake strikes, get under a table or cover your head and hold onto something to stay steady until the shaking stops. If you’re at the beach, evacuate to higher ground immediately to avoid tsunamis. Tune in to TV or check official apps such as NHK, Safety Tips, and Japan Travel for further information. The Meiji government originally classified Hokkaidō as a “Settlement Envoyship” (開拓使, kaitakushi), and later divided the island into three prefectures (Sapporo, Hakodate, and Nemuro).

Onset-glide clusters only occur at the start of syllables but clusters across syllables are allowed as long as the two consonants are the moraic nasal followed by a homorganic consonant. Many projects mentioned in my January 2025 round-up, including Jesse Ito’s dancerobot and Stephen Starr’s Borromini, are still under construction and will be for some time. Plant your bulbs in the fall, and with spring come fresh blooms. Along with daffodils and crocuses, the Philadelphia region is about to be blanketed by newcomers.

The United States occupied Japan from September 1945 to April 1952 and forced it to write a new constitution, in which it promised to never go to war again. This new contact with Europeans and Americans changed the Japanese culture. The Meiji Restoration of 1868 stopped some old ways and added many new ones. The Empire of Japan was created, and it became a very powerful nation and tried to invade the countries next to it.