Japans culture has evolved over hundreds of years from the millennia prehistoric period of Jomon to todays modern hybrid culture. The country took influences from Asia, Europe and North America and incorporates this into many different sectors of their culture.
Visual arts are an important part of Japanese culture with painting, calligraphy, and sculpture and flower arrangement being many of the most significant art forms in the country.
In Japan performing arts are a vital part to the countrys art culture. It consists of four theaters Noh, Kyogen, Kabuki and Bunraku each with different histories and features. Noh are the most theatrical with music and dance made by Kanami and Zeami Motokiyo. The characteristics are the masks, costumes, stylized gestures and fans that come to represent Japan as a whole. Kyogen, established in the 8th century consisted of humorous like scripts are a lot more simple then Noh theatre. Kabuki established in the Edo period eliminated female actresses from appearing on stage due to fears of prostitution occurring. Reminiscent of the western method of using males to act out female roles kabuki is still like it today. Japanese puppet theatre Bunraku was developed in the same period as Kabuki but is still running strong today.
Architecture in Japan was heavily influenced by Chinese architecture and includes many aspects of Indian buildings. This building style is reminiscent in traditional temples, Shinto shrines, and castles in Kyoto and Nara. Many buildings have traditional gardens that incorporate a lot of Zen ideas into their designs. Modern architects such as Tadao Ando are well known for their combining of both western architecture and traditional Japanese designs.
Traditional Japanese clothing has always resembled what many believe a typical Japanese person to wear. A Kimono used to be the common name for all clothes worn but over time the word has come to mean specifically the long garment that is worn on special occasions. There are a number of kimonos available for men, women, and children and styles and designs all vary based on whether a woman is single or married, season, occasion and social status. Due to the availability of western clothes Japanese people have adopted the clothing of their western cousins and only wear kimonos on special occasions.
Japan has a number of traditional sports such as samurai, martial arts and sumo, which were all established in the Edo period. Today western sports such as baseball, soccer and other popular sports were taken on during the Mejj period.
Japan is well known for its fondness of fish and longevity of life. Much of this is responsible for Japanese people living longer and over time such dishes as sushi, teriyaki and tempura have been accepted into Europe and the USA as popular food items.
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